Discipleship in Matthew
Global discipleship - making disciples for the sake of the nations
A study of the Gospel according to Matthew
Introduction - Matthew’s handbook for the church
Why did Matthew write his gospel? John clearly had an evangelistic aim (Jn 20:31), but Matthew wrote his gospel for the church, for those who already follow Jesus. It is a teaching gospel, which arranges its material into subjects, summarising the teaching of Jesus and illustrating it with examples from his life. Matthew’s is the only gospel that mentions the church (16:18; 18:17). In short, Matthew wrote the first discipleship training course!
Matthew divides his material into 5 sections, each of which contains a number of stories from the life of Jesus, and concludes with a chapter (or two or three) of extended teaching by Jesus to his disciples, before finishing with the passion narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This fivefold division was no accident, for Matthew was a Jewish Christian (and former tax-collector), and all
Jewish writings of his time followed this pattern (based on the 5 books of Torah - Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).
Why did Matthew write this gospel for the church? He probably wrote it at a time when church and synagogue were growing apart, when the distinction between Jew and Christian was becoming more obvious. At first, most if not all followers of Jesus were Jewish. But over time, as more and more
Gentiles found new life in Jesus, an ‘either/or’ situation developed. Matthew’s church was probably made up of Jewish Christians, facing increasing pressure over their (apparently) divided loyalties. And he wanted to show them that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Messiah, fulfilment of the Hebrew
Scriptures, and that they were not being unfaithful to their roots by being Christians.
So how is this relevant to us? Matthew’s church has been described as “a community cut off from its roots......divided in itself
A study of the Gospel according to Matthew
Introduction - Matthew’s handbook for the church
Why did Matthew write his gospel? John clearly had an evangelistic aim (Jn 20:31), but Matthew wrote his gospel for the church, for those who already follow Jesus. It is a teaching gospel, which arranges its material into subjects, summarising the teaching of Jesus and illustrating it with examples from his life. Matthew’s is the only gospel that mentions the church (16:18; 18:17). In short, Matthew wrote the first discipleship training course!
Matthew divides his material into 5 sections, each of which contains a number of stories from the life of Jesus, and concludes with a chapter (or two or three) of extended teaching by Jesus to his disciples, before finishing with the passion narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This fivefold division was no accident, for Matthew was a Jewish Christian (and former tax-collector), and all
Jewish writings of his time followed this pattern (based on the 5 books of Torah - Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).
Why did Matthew write this gospel for the church? He probably wrote it at a time when church and synagogue were growing apart, when the distinction between Jew and Christian was becoming more obvious. At first, most if not all followers of Jesus were Jewish. But over time, as more and more
Gentiles found new life in Jesus, an ‘either/or’ situation developed. Matthew’s church was probably made up of Jewish Christians, facing increasing pressure over their (apparently) divided loyalties. And he wanted to show them that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Messiah, fulfilment of the Hebrew
Scriptures, and that they were not being unfaithful to their roots by being Christians.
So how is this relevant to us? Matthew’s church has been described as “a community cut off from its roots......divided in itself