Sermonette: June 10, 2024

Usually my writings for these Sermonette articles are on the informal side. I try to take everyday-type experiences and tie them into our faith and responsibilities as Christian people. I'm changing things up a bit for this series and will be discussing the Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If it plays out the way I'm thinking it may seem more like a Bible study series than what you are used to reading from me. If you decide that you don't like this path, just let me know and I'll go back to my previous type of articles.

I should note here that the books of the New Testament are not arranged in chronological order. Although the Gospels are listed first, they were not the first ones written. It is quite likely that they were not written until sometime after Paul's death. Another example is the three letters of John. You can find them toward the end of your Bible. Although listed as I, II and III, they could have been written in any order. There is no evidence that tells us one way or another. Also, although Matthew is the first Gospel presented, it is generally agreed upon by biblical scholars that of the four Gospels, Mark was the first one written. Matthew is placed first, in that it can be considered a bridge that connects the Old Testament to the New Testament.

Let's begin with a definition of some sort. What is a gospel? Basically, in the context of our Scriptures, it is a biography of Jesus of Nazareth. There are some questions that many of us have probably had on our mind at one time or another. Why do we have four Gospels in our New Testament? Why not just one? Our process of buying a vehicle might provide a good analogy. Do you walk into the showroom or the used car lot and just look at a car head on? We give it a look and say, yep, that's the one? Or, do we walk around it and look at it from all angles? Do we “kick the tires” so to speak? My guess is not only that, but you probably sit in it to see how it fits and take it for a test drive to help make up your mind if it is acceptable to you. In other words, the more you can learn, the better.

The same goes for the Gospels as we read them to learn about our Savior. The four Gospels all deal with the life of Christ and all were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Yet, they had a separate focus. Each Gospel reported miracles that Jesus performed. Each have parables Jesus used in his preaching. They record discussions between Jesus and his disciples. But not every Gospel contains all of them. Each author included the ones he thought were important to his story. For example, Mark does not have the Christmas story. His Gospel begins with Jesus' baptism. All four of the Gospels conclude with the story of Jesus' arrest and trial, crucifixion and resurrection.

This week, we are looking at the Gospel accorded to Matthew. Nowhere in the book is the author mentioned by name, but tradition has it that Matthew was the author and without verifiable evidence to the contrary, we still call it Matthew's Gospel.

The Israelites are known as God's chosen people. However, they were neither a people nor a nation when God chose Abraham. God chose Abraham to be his leader and told him that he would become the father of many nations. As time went on the people of Israel, in defense of their faith, would say “our God is the God of Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob.” It is mainly these people, the Jews, that were Matthew's audience. He wished to impress upon them that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, began his human life as a Jew. Matthew wants to show them that Jesus grew up in a Jewish family and observed the Jewish traditions and festivals; that he was not an outsider, but one of them. Matthew places special emphasis on the identity of Jesus as the son of God. Matthew begins his writing with a lengthy genealogy of Jesus' family, beginning with Abraham and ending with Jesus, and called him the Messiah.

Matthew could also be referred to as the “teaching Gospel." He focuses heavily on Jesus' teaching ministry. He stresses the need for leaders to learn and understand the word and to teach it to others. The Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes in Chapter five teaches on a wide variety topics. At the end of Chapter seven, we are told the people were astounded at Jesus' teaching because it was so different from what they were used to hearing from the scribes. We also find the Lord's Prayer in Chapter six and the Golden Rule in Chapter seven. Much of the teaching of Jesus in Matthew deals with how God wants us to live. Matthew's Gospel is the only one of the four that has the Great Commission. You can find it at 28:16-20. There are a number of parables also that you won't find elsewhere.

This is only a brief review and does not really do Matthew's Gospel justice. I urge you to read it on your own. It is rather lengthy so don't plan on reading it in one sitting. As you read it, try to think of those people who read Matthew's writing for the very first time. What would they have thought about the author or the writing itself? If this is your first time reading large parts of the book, what do you see happening? Do you see what Matthew intended?

Matthew presented Jesus as the Messiah. He presented Jesus as the true son of God, who became human born into a Jewish family. Jesus spent a great part of his ministry traveling and teaching others what God the Father expected of them and that the Kingdom of Heaven would be their reward.