Matthew

Our life is in God’s hands...past, present and future...it is all to be used for His purpose and for His glory. 

Matthew targeted a specific group of people with skills that he used in his life. He was a keeper of numbers and facts as a tax collector.  By using the facts of genealogy and passages that the Jewish people held true he proved the validity of Jesus in the Scriptures. We can use these same procedures with passages from the Scriptures to allow us to reach others that are in circumstances similar to ours in our social circles. Paul became all things to all people that he may save a few. We may need to make our past more transparent and open to criticism but it may be the catalyst that someone needs to seek forgiveness, be restored and in the process be able to forgive themselves. 

Matthew, as a Jew, unashamedly shapes his account about Jesus’ life so it is understood by a Jewish audience. His goal is to convince his peers that the King of kings has come. With this in mind, he uses terms and names that Jews will resonate with. By quoting more passages from the Old Testament than any other New Testament writer, he attempts to validate that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah. No less than 12 times Matthew presents Jesus as Israel’s Messianic King. Also unique to Matthew is the expression, “that it might be fulfilled” which was spoken by various prophets. By footnoting familiar passages the Jews accepted as God’s inspired Word, Matthew builds his case for Christ with the precision of a former tax collector.