men would have forgotten the original author of the most often quoted gospel of the first centuries. Indeed, as one commentator notes, the author would have most likely been the last thing that the early fathers would have forgotten. Early tradition credits Matthew as the author, and until more convincing evidence to the contrary appears, I think it is wisest to accept its testimony. Even if Matthew was not the author, however, this gospel has been accepted as a part of the inspired canon of God and is completely true and trustworthy.

Matthew, who was also called Levi by some, was part of the most hated group of men in the first century: he was a tax collector. With the authority of the Roman government behind them, these men were responsible for collecting the income and land taxes that burdened their fellow Jews. Every penny they were able to collect above the required amount, they were free to keep for themselves. Thus, tax collectors tended to be cruel and greedy. Furthermore, they were viewed as traitors by their own people, since they had chosen to work for the Roman government that held power over Israel.

Matthew was probably not a very religious man; tax collectors tended to be shunned from the local synagogues and even from the Temple. His friends were probably other tax collectors and disreputable sinners. He records the story of his calling in one verse:

"As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him." (9:9)

It is difficult to appertain what caused Matthew to immediately leave his life's work and follow Christ. He almost certainly had already heard of Jesus and His miracles, and may have even heard him preach before. Whatever the reason, Matthew became one of Jesus' most devoted followers.

Matthew's life was one of unfettered dedication to Christ. This man of greed was converted to a man of sacrificial love. Foxe's Book of Martyrs records Matthew's death this way:

"[Matthew], whose occupation was that of a toll-gatherer, was born at Nazareth. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into Greek by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah, A.D. 60."

It is no wonder, then, that Matthew's gospel contains some of Jesus' most pointed statements about the cost of discipleship. Matthew knew first hand what it was to labor and suffer for the cause of Christ.

MAIN THEMES

It is by divine design that Matthew is the first of the gospels and the first book of the New Testament. It best connects the teaching and promises and prophecies of the Old Testament with their fulfillment in the New. Matthew references the Old Testament as many as sixty times and quotes it close to forty times, often using phrases like "all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet?" Unlike Mark, Matthew's gospel is less concerned with chronology and more thematic in nature. He groups many of Jesus' miracles together into sections, and provides several blocks of teaching, including the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7) and the Olivet Discourse (chapters 24-25).

The central message of Matthew's gospel is that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised King, the long awaited Messiah. In a sense Matthew's gospel is an apologetic work, seeking to defend the claims of Jesus by providing a Scriptural foundation. It should be noted that Matthew was a Jew writing primarily to his contemporary Jews. This is not to say that this gospel has no benefit for 21st century Christians; indeed, for those longing to be disciples of Jesus, it is a goldmine of instruction. Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that though God's providence saw fit that this gospel be written for us, it was not written to us. To properly understand Matthew, we must remember the audience to whom it was directly addressed.

3 Revolutionary Truths

Matthew's gospel presents three truths that would have been absolutely revolutionary to the original readers: First, Matthew declares that the kingdom of God is not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual one. Jesus' kingdom is not a nation, but the "kingdom of heaven", a phrase that appears thirty-two times in Matthew's gospel. Instead of a military hero come to save the Jews from the Romans, the Messiah is a lower-class carpenter from Nazareth who lives thirty-three years and is brutally murdered. His reign is not over the nation of Israel, but over all who trust in Him for the f

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