The Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew
First, what does “Gospel” mean? It comes from the Old English word god-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. It is specific to the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Matthew is one of four canonical gospels and one of three synoptic gospels. Canonical refers to the books that were approved by the Council of Rome in 382 CE and the Synod of Hippo in 393 CE. There are other gospels but they were excluded from the list due restrictions that were placed on what could and could not be included.
Synoptic gospels refer to Matthew, Mark and Luke for the main reason that so much of the material is the same (prefix –syn- meaning same, opt-related to eyes). This is as opposed to the Gospel of John which presents a different viewpoint of Jesus, his life and his ministry.
Most scholars do not believe that the apostle Matthew wrote the book. This is because of the dating of the book is usually placed between 75-90 CE. It is probable that Matthew did collect some sayings of Jesus and that these were included but most of Matthew is a direct copy of Mark. If Matthew was an eyewitness (and Mark was not), surely Matthew would have included more detail, more intimate knowledge, and really, more different material. The additional material in Matthew and also in Luke is called “Q” for quella meaning sayings. These are the sayings of Jesus that are common to both Luke and Matthew although they do appear in different places occasionally. An example would be the Beatitudes.
What we do know is that Matthew was written by someone who was immersed in Jewish history, story, legend, and prophesy. He was also writing to an audience of like-minded people since he almost never explained any of the customs or traditions that are so causally thrown in.
The background of his congregation is one that is experiencing severe financial stress. We talk of Jesus’ statements on money as prevalent over his statements on marriage simply because it was the focus of attention to what passed for middle class and definitely for the lower and bottom classes of society in the Roman world of 70-90 CE. If this is what you are experiencing, this is what you write about.
Rome burned twice during this period and the emperorship changed hands 8 times. Taxes were somewhere between 50 and 75% for any of the Roman provinces. Rome itself was exempt from taxation. Every time a new emperor came to power, the title came with extremely large payments to the Praetorian Guard and the troops. These funds came sometimes from booty from wars but by this period, mostly from taxation from the provinces.
Matthew was written in Koine Greek. This means “common Greek” especially the language that used for writing in and around Alexandria, Egypt. Our oldest piece of a manuscript containing Matthew’s gospel is from 250 CE and is called the Chester Beatty. It has parts of Matthew. The oldest intact manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew is from 325 CE and is called the Codex Vaticanus, closely followed by Codex Sinaiticus.
http://www.usefulcharts.com/religion/oldest-new-testament-manuscripts.html
The Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus form the bases from which our modern day translations arise.
What is unique about Matthew? Well, for one, which is extremely relevant to modern day America, Matthew is the only gospel with Magi, hence our extravagant gift buying at Christmastime. Actually, the whole of the infancy narrative is uniquely Matthew. While Luke does have parts of the birth story that is somewhat close to Matthew’s, there is none of the Magi nor the travel to Egypt.
Only in Matthew does Peter attempt the water walk. Don’t try that one on your own, folks. Wait for Jesus.
The Beatitudes are greatly expanded in Matthew but do not contain the woes of Luke.
Many of the unique teachings in Matthew are directed against the leadership of the Jewish rulers such as the Pharisees and the scribes as well as against oath making and hypocrisy in ritual activities. To some scholars this suggests and anti-Jewish slant.
Sources:
Wikipedia, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, the Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/, list of Roman Emperors http://www.roman-emperors.org/impindex.htm, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, Palestine in the Time of Jesus by K.C. Hanson