6.9

Distinctive Characteristics of Matthew’s Gospel

A. Matthew likes to organize.

• three sets of fourteen generations in the genealogy (1:17)
• five great speeches (see “B” below)
• twelve fulfillment citations (see “F” below)
• ten miracles (chaps. 8–9)
• seven parables (chap. 13)
• seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees (chap. 23)

B. There are five great speeches given by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.

• Sermon on the Mount (chaps. 5–7)
• Missionary Discourse (chap. 10)
• Parable Discourse (chap. 13)
• Community Discourse (chap. 18)
• Eschatological Discourse (chaps. 24–25)

C. Matthew likes pairs.

Double characters:

• two demoniacs (8:28–33; cf. Mark 5:1–14)
• two blind men (20:29–34; cf. Mark 10:46–52)
• two donkeys (21:1–11; cf. Mark 11:1–11)

Double stories:

• two requests for a sign (12:38–42; 16:1–4)
• two Beelzebul accusations (9:32–34; 12:22–24)
• two healings of two blind men (9:27–31; 20:29–34)

D. Matthew’s Gospel has a strong Jewish character.

• “Go nowhere among the Gentiles” (10:5).
• “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (15:24).
• Jesus pays the temple tax (17:24–27).
• “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat” (23:2).
• “Pray that your flight not be . . . on a sabbath” (24:20).

E. Matthew’s Gospel also displays anti-Jewish Polemic.

Castigation of Israel’s religious leaders:

• “evil” (9:4; 12:34; 16:4)
• “brood of vipers” (12:34; 23:33)
• plants that the heavenly Father did not plant (15:13; cf. 13:24–25)

Statements favoring gentiles at the expense of Israel:

• “Heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness” (8:12).
• “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you” (21:43).

Responsibility for Jesus’s blood:

• “Upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth” (23:35).
• Let “his blood be on us and on our children forever” (27:25).

F. The fulfillment of prophecy is important.

Twelve “fulfillment citations” that state, “This happened to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet”: 1:22–23; 2:5–6; 2:15; 2:17–18; 2:23; 4:14–16; 8:17; 12:17–21; 13:14–15; 13:35; 21:4–5; 27:9–10 (cf. 3:3–4; 11:10; 15:7–9; 26:54, 56)

Numerous other prophecies fulfilled in Jesus:

• offered vinegar to drink (27:48; cf. Ps. 69:21)
• tomb of a rich man (27:57–60; cf. Isa. 53:9)

Predictions by Jesus:

• destruction of the temple (24:1–2)
• worldwide mission (24:14; 28:18–19)
• end of the age (24:3–28)
• parousia (16:27–28; 24:29–31)
• final judgment (7:21–23; 25:1–13, 31–46)

G. The law is important:

Questions about Jesus’s relationship to the law and the interpretation of the law recur.

• Jesus fulfills the law (5:17–20)
• antitheses (5:21–48)
• tradition of the elders (15:1–20)
• binding and loosing (18:18; cf. 16:19)
• Jesus versus Moses on divorce (19:3–9)
• Pharisees preach but don’t practice (23:1–3)

H. Matthew’s Gospel presents an apocalyptic vision of the world.

• The world contains “children of God” and “children of the devil” (13:24–30, 36–43).
• People may be classed as “good” or “evil,” “righteous” or “unrighteous” (5:45).

I. Matthew is the only Gospel in which Jesus talks explicitly about the church.

• “On this rock I will build my church” (16:18).
• “Tell it to the church” (18:17).

J. Peter is important.

There are several references to Peter and stories about him found nowhere else.

• walks on the water (14:28–31)
• blessed by Jesus (16:17–19)
• finds the coin for the temple tax (17:24–27)
• asks about forgiveness (18:21–22)

K. The abiding presence of God/Jesus is important.

• Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us” (1:23).
• “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and . . . the one who sent me” (10:40).
• “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there” (18:20).
• “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did to me” (25:40).
• “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20).