Matthew was a tax collector despised by most Jews simply because of his job. In truth he was most likely placed in this position by GOD to balance the scales of justice in a Roman dominated society.
May we all, as believers, strive to have the mind of Christ.
mind (Gk. dianoia, nous) Strong’s #1271; 3563: Four separate Greek words account for nearly all instances of “mind” in the NT. They all mean much the same thing: understanding, thought, mind, reason. While today we think of a person’s mind in a morally neutral way, in the NT the mind was clearly thought of as either good or evil. Negatively, the mind may be “blinded”, “corrupt”, and “debased”. On the positive side, humans may have minds that are renewed and pure. They may love God with all their minds and have God’s laws implanted in their minds. Since Christians have “the mind of Christ”, they are instructed to be united in mind.
Matthew 22:34–40 (NKJV)
The Greatest Commandment is Love
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew
Matthew’s Gospel serves several purposes beyond presenting a mere biography of Jesus. One purpose is to prove to Jewish readers that Jesus is their Messiah and promised King. The genealogy in chapter 1 points to Christ as the One who inherited God’s promises to David of an eternal dynasty. Jesus’ use of a familiar messianic psalm in Matthew 22:41–44 would have clearly implied to any Jew that He was the heir of the Davidic throne. Even though many Jews of Jesus’ time were blind to Jesus’ identity, Gentiles (such as the wise men) identified Him as Israel’s promised King when He was a baby. Finally, the charge that hung above Jesus’ head on the Cross clearly highlights His royalty: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS (27:37). But most important, the Book of Matthew proves Jesus’ legitimate authority by highlighting His wise teaching and righteous life (7:28, 29).
Another purpose of the book is to outline the characteristics of the kingdom of God, both for Israel and the church. Orthodox Jews would typically scoff at any assertion that Jesus is their Messiah, let alone their King. They would retort, “If Jesus is King, where is the promised restoration of the kingdom of Israel?” Many Jews of Jesus’ day rejected Him as Messiah, even though both Jesus and John the Baptist continually preached that the kingdom was “at hand”. This rejection of Jesus by the Jews is a dominant theme of Matthew (11:12). Because of this rejection, God postponed the fulfillment of His promises to Israel and subsequently extended His blessings to both Jew and Gentile in the church.
Matthew is the only Gospel writer who speaks directly of the church (16:18). He points to the Gentile composition of this church by including several stories of the Gentiles’ faith in Jesus: the wise men, the centurion, and the Canaanite woman. He records Jesus’ prediction that the gospel will be preached to all nations (24:14), and the commission to the disciples to “make disciples of all the nations” (28:19). Jesus’ teaching pointed to the blessings of the kingdom being extended to Gentiles. But one day, Israel will be restored to its place of blessing (Romans 11:25–27).
A final purpose of Matthew is to instruct the church. An obvious clue to this is in the Great Commission: “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (28:20). The discipling process involves instruction in the words of Christ, and the Gospel of Matthew revolves around five of Jesus’ discourses. Instead of emphasizing a narrative of Jesus’ life as Mark does, Matthew uses the narrative elements in his Gospel as a setting for Jesus’ sermons. NKJ Bible.
Matthew 22:41–44 (NKJV)
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
They said to Him, “The Son of David.”
43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?
Matthew 27:37 (NKJV)
37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS
Matthew 7:28–29 (NKJV)
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Matthew 3:2 (NKJV)
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Matthew 12:28 (NKJV)
28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 24:14 (NKJV)
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Romans 11:25–27 (NKJV)
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Matthew 28:20 (NKJV)
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
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