MATTHEW

I. BACKGROUND

1. Author - the apostle Matthew according to church tradition

2. Date - uncertain, but before A.D. 70

3. Setting - Matthew, a Jewish tax collector, called by Jesus wrote primarily to an audience with a Jewish past to reveal

to them the gospel of Jesus.

II.PURPOSE OF THE BOOK

1. To convince Jews and Jewish Christians that Jesus is the Christ of God (for significance of Christ: see 1 Kings 19:16

and Exodus 30:30). The following points are different types of evidence that the author presents to create and develop

faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

1) Genealogy: 1:1-17 Shows Jesus was a descendant of David and thus could be the Messiah predicted by the

prophets.

2) Angels: 1:20-25; 28:5-8 Shows God's witness of Jesus through His messengers at His birth and His resurrection.

3) Prophecy: 1:22; 2:5; 15; 17-18; all. Shows that Jesus fulfilled the predications concerning the coming of the Messiah.

4) God, the Father: 3:17; 17:5 Shows that the Father Himself was willing to give witness to Jesus as His only Son.

5) Jesus' Teachings: 5:1-7;27; 7;28-29; all. Shows Jesus' knowledge and authority which He had not learned or

received as the son of the carpenter (13:54-56).

6) Jesus' Miracles: 8:5-13; 8:23-27; 9:1-7; 14:22-23; all. Shows Jesus' power which none other than God Himself

can have.

7) Demons: 8:28-34: Shows that even the demons and evil spirits knew that Jesus was the Son of God.

8) Gentiles: 2:1-12; 8:5-13; 15:21-28: all Shows that even the Gentiles who were not schooled in the Old Testament

could recognize that Jesus was powerful and greater than all.

9) Jesus' Own Testimony: 16:20-28; 28:18; all. Shows that Jesus realized who He was and He was willing to identify

Himself on certain occasions.

10) Jesus' Death and Burial: 27:33-61 Shows Jesus' identity through the fulfilled prophecy and the understanding of

those who saw Him crucified. His great sacrifice witnessed.

11) Jesus' Resurrection: 16:21; 28:1-20; Shows Jesus' power and authority, not only to predict His resurrection, but

to have the ability to give life to Himself. Only the True God has power to give life, therefore, Jesus is the True God!

III. APPLICATIONS - LESSONS

1. Since the above evidence proves Jesus is the Christ:

1) Be His disciple: 28:19

2) Be baptized because of your faith in Him: 28:19

3) Obey all the things He has commanded: 28:20

2. God and His kingdom must be first (1st) in our lives: 6:33

1) Therefore, do not put earthly riches first: 6:19-21

2) Therefore, do not be anxious about food or clothing: 6:25-32

3) Therefore, set the eyes of your heart on God: 6:22-23

4) Serve God above all else: 6:24

3. Use all the evidence in the PURPOSE OF THE BOOK to help your own faith and other's faith.

4. Jesus is not a normal king:

1) He is willing to die for His kingdom: 16:21; 20:28

2) He has the power to rise from the dead: 16:21

3) He sets His mind of the things of God, not of man: 16:23

4) He seeks to serve others, not to be served by them: 20:25-28

5. Jesus' whole life and teachings will help us know how to follow an "abnormal" king in an "unusual" kingdom.

6. Many will not believe Jesus despite the evidence:

1) Some will only honor God by mouth, not by heart: 15:8

2) Some will honor the teachings of men above the teachings of Jesus: 15:1-9

3) Some will deny Jesus because they do not see how the scriptures point to Him: 22:29-33

4) Some will be persuaded by the pressures of men rather than the clear evidence of Jesus: 27:15-26

7. The Word of God works as a seed in men's hearts: 13:1-23

1) Roadway - no reception; almost no faith at all: 13:19

2) Rocky - very shallow faith, cannot bear troubles: 13:20-21

3) Thorny - distracted faith that cares for worldly: 13:22

4) Good Ground - deep, abiding faith that bears fruit: 13:23

MATTHEW QUESTIONS

True or False:

_____1. Jesus only ministered to Jews.

_____2. Matthew was a tax collector.

_____3. The genealogy in Matthew shows Jesus was a descendant of Aaron.

_____4. The thorny soil of Jesus' parable will produce many fruits.

_____5. All Christians need to make disciples.

Matching: Match the faith-building evidence with the story:

___1. miracle a. 16:21 and 28:16-20

___2. fulfilled prophecy b. 27:54

___3. Jesus' teachings c. 8:28-34

___4. His death d. 21:1-11

___5. an enemy e. 2:21-48 and 6:28-29

List 5 reasons from Matthew why people did not believe in Jesus:

Complete these sentences:

1. I could use Matthew to develop a persons faith by __________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

2. When I get discouraged, I could read _____________________ in Matthew.

3. I am most impressed by Jesus' _____________________________________ because

__________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________.

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