Gospel Of Matthew Essay
The Gospel of Matthew was written with the intention of bridging the gap between the prophecies of the Old Testament, and their fulfillment by Jesus in the New Testament. In order to make this connection, Matthew’s Gospel takes on a specific mode. It is mainly composed of stories that relate to the teaching aspect of Jesus’ life. Matthew uses his role as an instructor to portray Jesus as a “humble and compassionate Messiah.” Matthew’s perspective is also focused; the Romans are seemingly less culpable for Jesus’ death than the Jewish leaders and people. Perhaps the writer’s intentions shine through as an effect of this focus, and it seems probable that, “[Matthew] was likely intended to shock both Jewish Christians and their Jewish neighbors
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The reasons for its frequent use lie in its literary form and inclusion of certain events. Both of these aspects, however, can be seen as choices of the author. The genius behind the Gospel of Matthew is unfortunately unknown; although, historians speculate about the sources from which Matthew was composed. Matthew is supposed to have been reliant upon both the Gospel of Mark, written by an unknown author, and another source, called the “Q” source. For this reason, there may be similarities seen across Luke, Matthew, and Mark. Another disputed fact relating to Matthew’s composition is its birth date. Because of its inclusion of events of the first Jewish Revolt, scholars deduce that Matthew was written around the 70-110 CE as the time frame for its arrangement. The place of Matthew’s birth is also imperative to discerning the writing’s purpose and audience. Using the frequently talked about subjects in Matthew, it is surmised that the author’s “familiarity with Judaism and acquaintance with the geography of Palestine” are evidence that a heavily populated, primarily Jewish city would likely be its place of origin. Again, nothing is certain because of the time frame that historians and theologians work in. Possibly the most important aspect to learning about the significance of the Gospel of Matthew is its literary form. Matthew seems to “[Emphasize] Jesus’ divinity, [the] fulfillment of the prophecy, [the]
The reasons for its frequent use lie in its literary form and inclusion of certain events. Both of these aspects, however, can be seen as choices of the author. The genius behind the Gospel of Matthew is unfortunately unknown; although, historians speculate about the sources from which Matthew was composed. Matthew is supposed to have been reliant upon both the Gospel of Mark, written by an unknown author, and another source, called the “Q” source. For this reason, there may be similarities seen across Luke, Matthew, and Mark. Another disputed fact relating to Matthew’s composition is its birth date. Because of its inclusion of events of the first Jewish Revolt, scholars deduce that Matthew was written around the 70-110 CE as the time frame for its arrangement. The place of Matthew’s birth is also imperative to discerning the writing’s purpose and audience. Using the frequently talked about subjects in Matthew, it is surmised that the author’s “familiarity with Judaism and acquaintance with the geography of Palestine” are evidence that a heavily populated, primarily Jewish city would likely be its place of origin. Again, nothing is certain because of the time frame that historians and theologians work in. Possibly the most important aspect to learning about the significance of the Gospel of Matthew is its literary form. Matthew seems to “[Emphasize] Jesus’ divinity, [the] fulfillment of the prophecy, [the]