Introduction

Introduction

Almost nothing certain is known about the identity of the author of our first Gospel except what is reported about him in the Gospels themselves. He was originally a tax collector, or publican, and was called Levi and Matthew (the latter—donum Dei, that is, gift of God, the same as the Greek Theodoros, Russian Theodore). With high probability it can be established that before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, Matthew was engaged in spreading Christianity in Palestine among the Jews, and at their request wrote his Gospel for them. The information about Matthew provided by some later historians (Rufinus, Socrates, Nicephorus Callistus) concerning his activity outside Palestine is extremely scanty and moreover somewhat contradictory, so that complete reliance cannot be placed on it. According to these accounts, Matthew preached Christianity chiefly in Ethiopia, Macedonia, and in Asiatic countries, and died a martyr’s death either in Hierapolis, which is in Phrygia, or in Persia. But others say he died a natural death either in Ethiopia or in Macedonia.

Nothing is known about the occasion for the writing of the Gospel according to Matthew, and one can only make suppositions about it. If Matthew actually first preached his Gospel to his own countrymen, then, upon the apostle’s departure to other pagan lands, the Palestinian Jews might have requested him to set forth in writing for them the information about the life of Christ, which the apostle did accomplish. Unfortunately, this, it appears, is all that can be said on the subject. As for the purpose of writing the Gospel, it too can be determined only by supposition, based on its internal content. This purpose was, of course, first of all the presentation of information about the historical person of Christ. But if Matthew was preaching initially among Palestinian Jews, then it was entirely natural that, in presenting information about the person and activity of Christ in his Gospel, he also had in mind certain special goals that answered to the wishes and disposition of Palestinian Christians. The latter could only recognize as the Messiah a person who had been the subject of the expectations of the Old Testament prophets and who fulfilled the ancient prophetic predictions. This goal is satisfied by the Gospel according to Matthew, where we encounter a series of Old Testament quotations, skillfully and at the same time naturally and without the slightest straining applied by the evangelist to the Person, Whom he himself undoubtedly recognized as the Messiah sent by God.

As for the time of its composition—this is the earliest of all four Gospels, written shortly after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, in any case before the destruction of Jerusalem.

The plan of the Gospel according to Matthew is natural and is determined by the material or information about Christ that the evangelist possessed. He clearly and concisely presents the earthly life of Christ, beginning from His birth and ending with His death and Resurrection. In executing such a plan we do not encounter any artificial grouping of the material, although we should note that, due to the desire to maintain brevity, we encounter numerous gaps in the Gospel, and, on the other hand, we find that many events which occurred over more or less lengthy periods of time are connected to one another mostly only by external links. But this in no way hinders either the wholeness of the narrative or its general sequence. One is positively amazed at how over the course of only a few pages of the Gospel, such artistry and such simplicity and naturalness have concentrated, one might say, inexhaustible material in its richness of content.

As for the general content of the Gospel, we encounter here very diverse divisions. The general content of the Gospel according to Matthew can be divided into four main parts:

1) The preliminary history of the earthly life of Christ before the beginning of His public ministry (Matt 1:1-4:11).

2) Activity in Galilee—a period of increasingly growing glory of Christ as a Teacher and Miracle-worker, which ended with His highest earthly glorification on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 4:12-17:8).

3) The intermediate period of Christ’s ministry in Galilee and adjacent regions, which serves as a link between His glorification and suffering in Jerusalem (Matt 17:9-20:34).

4) The final days of the earthly life of Christ, His suffering, death, and Resurrection (Matt 21:1-28:20).

Literature

Origen (186–254). “Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew” (Migne, PG.13).

Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 320–368). “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” (Migne, PL.9).

John Chrysostom (347–407). “Commentary on the Holy Evangelist Matthew” (Migne, PG.57–58).

Eusebius Jerome (340–420). “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” (Migne, PL.26).

Gregory of Nyssa (370–after 394). “On the Lord’s Prayer” (Migne, PG.44). “On the Beatitudes” (ibid.).

Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354–430). “On the Harmony of the Evangelists” (Migne, PL.34). “On the Sermon on the Mount” (ibid.).

Paschasius Radbertus, Catholic theologian (9th c.). “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” (Migne, PL.120).

Rabanus Maurus (9th c.). “Eight Books of Commentaries on Matthew” (Migne, PL.117).

Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria (†ca. 1107). “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” (Migne, PG.123).

Euthymius Zigabenus (†1119 or 1120). “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” (Migne, PG.129).

Foreign commentators: Cornelius a Lapide (1857), Bengel (1860), De Wette (1857), Lange (1861), Meyer (1864), Alford (1863), Morison (1902), Merx (1902), Holtzmann (1901), Zahn (1905), Alien (1912).

Russian commentators: Bishop Michael. “Explanatory Gospel according to Matthew”; Professor M. Tareev. “Philosophy of Gospel History”; Archpriest A. V. Gorsky. “Gospel History and the Church of the Apostles”.