The first of the synoptic Gospels (see the previous article) is that according to St. Matthew. St. Matthew was a tax collector whose conversion is described in Matthew 9:9-13.
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
We have to remember that tax collectors were hated because they were people who worked with the Roman authorities to collect tax money from the local people. The Romans permitted tax collectors to extort as much money as they could for themselves.
Historically, it has been believed that this Gospel was written in Aramaic or Hebrew and then translated into Greek. However, scholars say that the Greek Gospel we have is not a translation from the Aramaic or Hebrew. For example, Papias, who wrote in the 2nd century stated that St. Matthew wrote a collection of Christ’s words in Aramaic which became the basis of the first Gospel.
St. Matthew is usually considered the most “Jewish” of all the Gospels. It was written to convince Jewish Christian and non-Christian Jews that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. For example, this Gospel begins with Christ’s genealogy. It shows that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham and King David. This is important because the Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham and David. Incidentally, although St. Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, an adopted son is considered his father’s legal descendant.
One of the characteristics of this Gospel is that it shows that a word or a deed of Jesus Christ’s was a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. For example, Matthew 1:22 shows that the circumstances of Christ’s birth fulfilled Isaiah’s’ prophecy.
“All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,..”
Similarly, Matthew 8:14-17 shows that Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law fulfilled this prediction of the Prophet Isaiah.
“…when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and served him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Fr. John