Dana Anderson,
Mark Gilbertson,
Jason Perkowski,
Sarah Pranno
April 11, 2000
Matthew’s gospel is thoroughly Jewish in character. Matthew is a converted rabbi, still faithful to the religious traditions and was written for a church that has separated from the synagogue (Rhein 101). The language that Matthew uses is polished Greek, well written by one who understood Christ’s teaching. Overall the work has a strong Jewish flavor to it. Matthew orders his gospel into six petitions, which is a reflection of Matthews’s love of order. It is a narrative with a beginning, middle and an end. The dominant influence that Matthew would have in subsequent Christianity suggests that it served as the Gospel of a major Christian church in an important city, such as Antioch. Since Matthew was written in the Antioch area, it can be assumed that it was written before the time of Ignatius, ca 110 (Carson 14). It can not be certain that is was written then but it is possible that we can find evidence that Matthew was writing after the war between the Romans and the Jews which ended in the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (Fenton 12). We can then assume that the gospel of Matthew was written between about A.D. 85 and 105 or in the last quarter of the first century, or the early years of the second century. This then tells us that the book might have been written not much more then forty or fifty years after the crucifixion. Most of Matthew’s writings deal with the relationship of Christ to Judaism; however, they come from a different era of those gospels written by Mark. Matthew emphasizes the work of Jesus as a teacher.
The gospel of Matthew tells the good news that Jesus is the promised Savior, the one through whom God fulfilled the promises he made to his people in the Old Testament. Matthew believed that the events, which he describes, had been foretold by God (Fenton 17). Matthew’s writings are a gospel which were written for Jewish Christians in Palestine (Blair 23). It was also thought to have been written for a mixed community of Jewish and gentile Christians who lived in a relatively prosperous urban environment during the latter part of the first century (Powell 13). The gospel was read as a catechism, a lectionary, or an administrative manual. Matthew’s gospel was the most read and valued in the early churches, the position that it occupies in the order of the gospels in the New Testament. The early church regarded it as not only the first of the Gospels written but as the primary authority for the information concerning Jesus. The people in which Matthew uses in his gospel are real historical figures who once lived.
The intention of Matthew’s gospel is that he took Mark’s gospel and enlarged it by the addition of a few narratives, and the teaching of Jesus, which was available from other sources. He seemed to have revised Mark, sometimes making some small alterations in the text, sometimes adding Old Testament references, and sometimes re-arranging the order of events. However, his purpose was to make clearer to his readers the claim of Jesus to be believed and to be obeyed.
Immediately before these verses about judging others is another passage that talks about how minor the things are in life that people worry about. Most of what causes worry is things which cannot be controlled. Verse 34 says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." The passage that follows Matthew 7:1-6 is a clear declaration of help. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (verses 7,8). All three of these passages can be related to one another because Jesus is stating truths that aren’t new, they fulfill rather than abolish the Old Testament law. This is a very important concept in Matthew. It’s also interesting to point out that these scriptures are words of Jesus, not someone else.
240 more verses appear in Matthew’s gospel when compared to Mark’s. These verses are attributed to a source designated at Q. Matthew includes many symbolic values within his work. First, the symbolic speck that is seen within the brother’s eye is not meant to be taken literally. The eye has often been considered the window to the soul. This being said, the speck itself can be viewed as a tarnish on someone’s soul. The reader must look within and free them self from sin before they may attempt to help free others. This is done through the new objective view through the eyes of a sin free soul. The eye that is blinded by the speck is the eye of the sinner. It is impure and unable to see the truth (McKnight 354). The line "the measure you give will be the measure you get" appears each of the synoptic gospels. It may be interpreted that harsh as the judgments you pass on others are as harsh as the judgement you shall receive before the hand god. This idea furthers the Christian ideals of loving thy neighbor as you love yourself.
This passage is Matthew’s attempt to explain the ideals of "love-of-enemies- and non-retaliation" as found in Mark (Porter 489). The audience is meant believe that judging others is not the Christian path. Furthermore, Matthew attempts to illustrate the necessity of a sin free soul.
This passage is Matthew’s attempt to force the audience to look within before looking outwardly at others. Matthew is suggesting "Judgements of condemnation upon one’s neighbor and refusal to pardon him entail loss of God’s pardon for one’s own sins" (j’s bible). Matthew looks to the audience to receive these ideas and apply them to their everyday life.
Subtle in his language, Matthew conveys his concepts in a concise and straightforward fashion. This language includes various sentences in which the subject is implied. This subject, the reader, is actually accused of being hypocritical. Finally, in line 5, Matthew comes straightforward and directly calls the reader a hypocrite, a point that he has gradually been working up to.
Although society today is can not be compared to the God-fearing Jewish converts to Christianity at the time this gospel was written. Still, those who await God’s judgement will take the warning of Matthew’s gospel to heart. In a world which people constantly seek perfection, judgement of others is a way of life. In the information age which we life knowledge is more accessible. Since this information is readily available everyone becomes an expert on everything. No one ever thinks they are wrong, thusly finding themselves to be the ideal of perfection.
This passage in its entirety is about the final judgement before God. It states that only God has the right to judge because God is the only perfection.
Works Cited