Matthew
Promises are meant to be kept. Read the book of Matthew to find out how God kept an ancient promise by sending Jesus to be the Savior of the whole world.
Start readingWhat makes Matthew special?
Like the other Gospels, Matthew tells about the life and teachings of Jesus. It also describes what it means to be part of God's people and includes instructions on how God expects them to live.
Why was Matthew written?
The writer of Matthew was writing for people who knew the Jewish Scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament. The writer often points out how these earlier texts look forward to Jesus as the Messiah sent from God.
What's the story behind the scene?
Matthew shows that the message Jesus taught was based on the laws and teachings found in the Old Testament. On Mount Sinai God gave Moses the laws that the people of Israel were to live by. In the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus goes up on a mountain and tells his followers how God wants them to live. The section of Matthew that tells about Jesus' work and teachings is arranged in five parts, just like the Law of Moses contains five parts in the Old Testament—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Matthew also wanted to show that much of what Jesus said and did was predicted hundreds of years earlier by the prophets of Israel, and that Jesus expresses in a new way the hope that all nations will share the faith of Israel (for example, Isaiah 2.2,3). Jesus' message was new and was offered to all people, not just to those who lived by the Law of Moses. Jesus invited everyone to trust and serve God and to love their neighbors.
How is Matthew constructed?
Matthew can be outlined in the following way:
Chapters
28 chapters