Books of the Bible

The Book of Matthew

New Testament · The Gospels · Genre: Gospel · Author: Attributed by early tradition to Matthew the apostle · Chapters: 28

Matthew presents Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, the King of the Jews and the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. Rich with Jesus' teaching, including the Sermon on the Mount, it moves from his royal birth to his death, resurrection, and the Great Commission.

Start reading: Matthew chapter 1

A key verse

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 (KJV)

The setting and background of Matthew

Matthew is the first of the four Gospels and the opening book of the New Testament, and it forms a natural bridge from the Old Testament to the New. Early tradition ascribes it to Matthew, the tax collector whom Jesus called to follow him, and it was written especially with Jewish readers in mind, to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel.

The Gospel is carefully ordered, gathering Jesus' teaching into five great discourses, of which the Sermon on the Mount is the first and most famous. It repeatedly shows how Jesus fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures, and it moves from his royal birth in Bethlehem through his ministry, death, and resurrection to the Great Commission, where the risen King sends his people to all nations.

Matthew was written to present Jesus as the King in whom every promise of the Old Testament finds its yes, Immanuel, God with us. It became the most widely used Gospel in the early church. In the sweep of Scripture, it looks back across the whole Old Testament and shows it fulfilled in Christ, and its Sermon on the Mount and Great Commission have shaped Christian discipleship and mission ever since.

The story and structure of Matthew

Matthew is the Gospel that opens the New Testament, and it forms a natural bridge from the Old, presenting Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel. It begins with a genealogy tracing Jesus back to David and Abraham, establishing him as the royal son of David and the heir of God's promises to Abraham, and it tells of his birth in Bethlehem and the worship of the wise men.

Again and again Matthew shows how Jesus fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures, repeating the refrain that this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets. Written above all for Jewish readers, it presents Jesus as the one to whom the whole Old Testament had been pointing, the King in whom every promise finds its yes.

Matthew gathers Jesus' teaching into five great blocks, echoing the five books of Moses. The most famous is the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus unfolds the life of the kingdom, the Beatitudes, the call to be salt and light, the true meaning of the law, the Lord's Prayer, and the way of trust rather than anxiety.

The Gospel follows Jesus' ministry of teaching, healing, and confronting the religious leaders, and it builds toward the turning point at Caesarea Philippi, where Peter confesses him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. From there Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, the cross, and the resurrection.

Matthew ends on a mountain in Galilee, where the risen Jesus, given all authority in heaven and on earth, sends his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them, with the promise that he will be with them always, to the end of the age. The King's reign now extends to the whole world.

The great themes of Matthew

Key passages in Matthew

Matthew in the sweep of Scripture

Matthew's placement at the head of the New Testament is fitting, for it looks back across the whole Old Testament and shows how it is fulfilled in Jesus. It became the most widely used Gospel in the early church, treasured for its ordered teaching and its clear presentation of Jesus as King. Its Sermon on the Mount and its Great Commission have shaped Christian discipleship and mission ever since, and its portrait of Jesus as Immanuel, God with us, frames the whole book from beginning to end.

Where Christ is in Matthew

Matthew's entire aim is to show that Jesus is the Christ, the son of David and son of Abraham, in whom every promise of the Old Testament finds its yes. He is Immanuel, God with us, the King whose kingdom has no end, who fulfills the law and the prophets and who now reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth, sending his people to the nations with the promise of his presence.

How to read Matthew well

Read Matthew to see Jesus as the promised King and to sit under his teaching as a disciple. Let the Sermon on the Mount search and shape the way you live, not as a set of rules to earn God's favor but as the life of those who belong to his kingdom. Notice how carefully Jesus fulfills the Scriptures, and let that deepen your trust in God's faithfulness. And hear the Great Commission as a word to you, sent by the King who promises to be with you always.

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