The Basics of: Matthew
As in, The Gospel According to Matthew and Other Fun Things
There are a lot of Matt’s out there.
Matthew McConaughey.
Matt Damon.
Matthew Broderick.
Lizzie McGuire’s little brother Matt.
But, today…
Today we are talking about Matt from the Bible and what he contributed to the Bible:
The Gospel According to Matthew
I remember when I was a kid, I thought it was hilarious that everyone called it The Gospel According to Matthew because of the show According to Jim, (the show that everyone got confused with King of Queens, including me 90% of the time). He was a hard working dad with a wife that has a full-time career in nagging, a couple of kids who are always getting into trouble and sibling-in-laws that are a stereotypical pain in the tush? Hilarious.
I, of course, believed that The Gospel According to Matthew and According to Jim were on the same side of the coin. So…you’ll understand my disappointment to find out that they were, in fact, not and were, in fact, two very very very different stories.
Wow, what a rant.
Anywho, you know the deal: I’m going to give you a small tidbit about Matthew (the person) and then about Matthew (the book).
Our Dude, The Matt
Let me break it down for you:
Matthew (pronounced: muh-thigh-yus) was a tax collector, i.e. he was that guy you call on April 14th when you’re panicking because you forgot to file your taxes.
He was detail oriented.
He was an incredibly hard worker.
He was a gentle human.
He was a little bit of an outsider, maybe even a bit introverted.
So, picture this: Matt is working at his usual tax collector booth in Capernaum. He has a little succulent at his desk with a calendar, maybe some nice weather channel music playing in the background when some guy who seemed a little other-worldly appears out of the blue, calls his name and tells Matt to follow.
Obviously, Matt drops everything to follow Him.
Here’s the dealio though:
If you have ever read Matthew, you maybe have noticed that there is an odd amount of detail. Granted, was this part of the point in writing the Gospels? Yes…but also, no. In other words, it’s obvious that Matt was a little bit different comparatively. His name means “gift of Jehovah” in Greek.
In every way, Matthew was a gift.
“So what, Rev?”
Jesus called everyone, including “outsiders.” That’s the point of the whole Jews vs. Gentiles argument you see throughout the New Testament. No one is above one another. We are all the same. He called all of us.
More on that later.
The Gospel According to Matt
The Gospels, historically, have been the easiest to read because they’re the easiest to understand (minus Jesus’ riddles), especially compared to an Old Testament book like Leviticus.
Quick Reminder with the Rev. Dr.: If you need a refresher on the Gospels (Matt, Mark, Luke and John-Boy), click here.
Because of that, there are two ways to read Matthew to really truly understand it:
THE STANDARD WAY
Beginning of Jesus (Matthew 1-3)
Middle of Jesus (Matthew 4-25)
End of Jesus…and also the Beginning Again (Matthew 26-28)
or
THE COOL FACTOR™ WAY
Part One: The Genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17)
The Cool Factor™: Five women are mentioned in this genealogy of Jesus (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah and Mary). Historically, women were never added to genealogies. Not only did Matt add women, but he added women who were a smidgen questionable in Jewish culture. For bonus Cool Factor™, the biblical number 14 means spiritual perfection (you read about it in Matthew 1:17).
Part Two: The Birth of Jesus and the Subsequent Birth of Jesus’ Drama (Matthew 1:18-2:23)
The Cool Factor™: There was a prophecy back in the early Israelite days from the book of Numbers that said a “star will come out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel,” and it would essentially be the sign of the Messiah. The ever-famous Three Wise Men noticed the star, and the Bible makes it quite clear that it wasn’t some average star that made up the Big Dipper. It was very much suppose to be some supernatural phenomenon, where the star would be oddly bright and in a very specific place (there are, in fact, recorded reports from that time about night sky anomalies from all over the Ancient Near East). Here’s the deal though…no matter who you were at that time, a really bright star that may or may not have been predicted only meant one thing: there was a new sheriff in town. Or in this case, a King.
Part Three: The Bug Eating Hippie (Matthew 3)
The Cool Factor™: Not only did John the Baptist eat bugs, but he also didn’t bathe. He was too busy preaching and calling people “vipers.” He was a certified evangelical Jeremiah Johnson, and I respect the heck out of him for that.
Part Four: Jesus’ Kind-of World Tour (Matthew 4-25)
The Cool Factor™: We get the major Jesus preaching moments in this montage, which makes this section relatively easy to read and highlight. The Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer…even end-times stuff is touched (and now rudely misinterpreted). Monty Python’s Life of Brian does an adequate job with the Beatitudes, if you were curious.
Below is a nice little outline of what Jesus talks about:
“Let’s talk about the Kingdom” (Matthew 4-9)
Jesus’ Mission Statement (Matthew 10-12)
Riddles! (Matthew 13)
“Who’s the Messiah? Oh yeah! Me! And here’s another riddle!!”(Matthew 14-20)
“I’m the Captain now.” (Matthew 21-23)
The New York M.E.T.S, i.e. Misinterpreted End Times Stuff (Matthew 24-25)
Part Five: The End of the Tour and Beginning of a New One (Matthew 26-28)
The Cool Factor™: Jesus died and then resurrected. It speaks for itself.
There’s a reason why so many churches focus their preaching from the Gospels: they’re easier to understand, both contextually and literally, than any book from the Old Testament. They’re easier, yes, but that doesn’t make them easy.
If you have ever been someone who has read anything in the New Testament and thought, “what in the HECK does that mean,” you are not alone. Anyone who says they’ve never felt that way is lying. They are LYING!
My recommendation when something is confusing?
Anything you don’t understand, underline. Take some time and then go back to it. Give yourself the space, time and grace to understand it. If you still find it to be confusing, that’s why I’m here. We can be confused together!
What I don’t recommend? Pretending you understand something in the Bible because it’s supposed to be easy and everyone else says they understand it.
Odds are that if you don’t understand something, a majority of folks don’t understand it either…they just don’t want to admit it.
Nothing about the Bible is easy. I often compare it to reading some obscure Russian Literature book in Russian when you very obviously only speak English. Give yourself a break.
Give. Yourself. Grace.
And most importantly, don’t give up just because the Bible can be a little confusing (in the Bible’s defense, you can be a little confusing too).
Go read with confidence. Thanks for being here.
