The Gospel of Matthew

Although there is no certain evidence that the book of Matthew was written by the apostle of the same name it is a popular, and not challenged assumption that it was. Jesus first meets, and calls Matthew in Matthew 9:9-13. This is a beautiful scene where Jesus is walking by a tax collector's booth, where Matthew is the tax collector, and simply says "Follow me" to which Matthew responds by simply dropping what he doing and got up and followed Christ from that day onwards. Mark and Luke call him 'Levi', which may have been his birth name, in which case Matthew would be the name Jesus gave him, as he had given Simon the name Peter. The name Matthew actually means 'God's gift' which I think is awesome. A Tax collector, one of the lowliest professions of the time, given the chance to be an apostle of Jesus and from then on is called 'God's gift'.

This is also symbolic of what becoming a Christian truly is. Being able to heed the call of Jesus and follow Him surely is by Grace alone and is a privelige which could never be earned. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Being a Levite, Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. All the subtleties of Matthew focus on Jesus fulfilling this specific role. His genealogy begins with the "first Jew," Abraham, and continues through David and the royal line to the legal father of Jesus, Joseph.

Matthew places great emphasis on Jesus' fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament.

As a Tax Collector, Matthew would have been skilled in shorthand, an essential asset in a culture that did not have the advantages of printers, computers and copiers. Matthew focuses on what Jesus said, and includes the extensive discourses, which he probably was able to record as they were spoken.

The first miracle recorded by Matthew is the cleansing of a leper, a Jewish metaphor for sin itself. Matthew concludes with the resurrection, also a distinctive Jewish preoccupation.

It has taken a long time but here is my completed walk through Matthew:

Matthew chapter 1
Matthew chapter 2
Matthew chapter 3
Matthew chapter 4
Matthew chapter 5 (the Sermon on the Mount #1)
Matthew chapter 6 (the Sermon on the Mount #2)
Matthew chapter 7 (the Sermon on the Mount #3)
Matthew 7:13-23 in more detail by Antonio da Rosa
The Sermon on the Mount (Chuck Missler)
Matthew hapter 8
Matthew chapter 9
Matthew 9:20-22 - Why touch the hem of His cloak?
Matthew chapter 10
Matthew 10:38-39
Matthew chapter 11
Matthew chapter 12
Matthew chapter 13
Matthew chapter 14
Matthew chapter 15
Matthew chapter 16
Matthew chapter 17
Matthew chapter 18
Matthew chapter 19
Matthew chapter 20
Matthew chapter 21 (part 1)
Matthew chapter 21 (part 2)
Matthew chapter 22
Matthew chapter 23
Matthew chapter 24
Matthew chapter 25
Matthew chapter 26 (part 1)
Matthew chapter 26 (part 2)
Matthew chapter 27 (part 1)
Matthew chapter 27 (part 2)
Friday or Wednesday
A foretelling of the Cross
Matthew chapter 28