Fr. Charles with a Review of the Gosepl of Matthew

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                                                                 Exegesis on Part One of the Gospel of Matthew

This exegesis is to help the members of Annunication of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church of the PNCC to have a better understanding of Part One of The Gospel of Matthew.

The Gospel of Matthew appears to be written for an audience versed in Jewishness and an understanding of the Old Testament and is derived from approximate 80% of the Gospel of Mark and from the Q writings. This writing to a Jewish audience can be well demonstrated in part one of the analysis of Matthew is entitled "Proclamation of the Kingdom (3:1-7; 29)" (Brown pg. 127) which includes the ministry of John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, the temptation, beginning of the Galilean ministry and the Sermon on the Mount.


Matthew follows Mark's introduction of the Jesus' ministry with the introduction of John the Baptist and writes that the appearance of John the Baptist is the fulfillment what the prophet Isaiah said "A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord make straight his paths" (Mt 3:3).
In the narrative of the baptism of Jesus, Matthew describes how John recognizes Jesus as the one greater than himself but does Jesus bidding by baptizing him in order to fulfill God's plan for salvation and referred to here as "righteousness". According to the commentary written in the New American Bible, this act of receiving baptism was a demonstration by Jesus to be identified with the sinners (Mt 3:14-15). At the completion of the baptism narrative, Matthew writes that Jesus walks from the water, the heavens were opened and a voice is heard saying "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased" (Mt 3:17) which is a more widely used than Mark's version which says, "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased" (Mk 1:11).
Matthew continues to demonstrate the humanness of Jesus using both Mark and Q for his source. Matthew has Jesus being tempted three times in order to "divert the proclamation of God's kingdom so that it will become a kingdom according to the standards of this world" (Brown pg. 177). During the three temptations, Jesus refused to use his powers for his own benefit and chooses to follow God's will; Jesus does not test God as the Israelites did (Dt 6:16) and Jesus refuses to worship Satan but instead remains steadfast worshipping only God as written in Deuteronomy 6:13, "The Lord your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve".

The discourse of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-7:2) is considered a "masterpiece of ethical and religious teaching" (Brown 178). Matthew's narrative has Jesus speaking with the authority of God and pronounces a new way of living not just for his disciples but for the crowd listening to his sermon. He calls these people the "Salt of the Earth" (Mt 5:13).
Like Moses, Jesus goes up to the mountain and like Moses teaches the people about God's will but unlike the Ten Commandments, these beatitudes are not laws but the value statements of Jesus. Matthew's use of the word "Blessed" which is taken from the Wisdom Books of the Old Testament and is meant to convey someone who is revered, worthy of respect, or that which brings happiness. Specific phrases used by Matthew have direct relationship to the Jews at the time such as "Blessed are the poor in Spirit" (Mt. 5:3) which relates to those in the Old Testament that had no possessions but had confidence in God. Here, the phrase relates to those who have acknowledged of their need for complete dependence upon God despite their social status. "Blessed are the clean of heart" (Mt 5:8) relates to not to the Old Testament requirement to be clean in order to worship in the Temple but the opening of the new Kingdom of God to all who follow God's will.

The teachings continue in Chapters 6 and 7 which go beyond the eight beatitudes to include teaching about the law, anger, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, enemies, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. These narratives give a deeper understanding of Christology and show Jesus' authority to modify and correct the Laws of Moses while attempting to have the crowd understand that just knowing the law was not enough, they must have a personal deeper understanding and observance of the law.