Blog (3) Blake Bernier

The most significant point that stands out in the Gospel of Matthew is the way Jesus is characterized. This Gospel emphasizes the factor that Jesus was Jewish and stresses the fact that he was a Messiah. Unlike other Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew includes a genealogy of Jesus, which traces his roots all the way back to the father of Judaism himself, Abraham. Aside from the genealogy, there is also another significant factor that ties Jesus into the Jewish community. The number "fourteen" is continuously used to stress the connections between significant events in roots of Judaism. "Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations." [1] Some question this sequence of fourteen because there were seen to be some problems that occurred when reviewing it, such as in verse 8 when it is said that Joram is the father of Uzziah. The number forty was also stressed in the Gospel of Matthew with the connection to Moses. Moses was tested in Sinai for forty years and Jesus was tested in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights.

One other way this Gospel emphasizes the Jewish community is the fact that Matthew's audience was Jewish. The way we had realized this was because Matthew did not explain parts in his stories about Judaism. In other Gospels some of them would explain things of this nature because they were speaking to a non-Jewish community. Matthew, however, was not.

I find this Gospel extremely interesting for the main and most prominent factor of Judaism. Matthew relates many aspects of his Gospel to Judaism. I also really enjoyed how Matthew does not use the word "God." Jews do not say the word "God" and instead of saying that, Matthew uses the word "Heaven." After reading the footnote in my Bible I was educated that by using Heaven, it does not only let his audience know that he is referring to God, but also the effective rule of God over his people.

The most important part that stood out to me the most was at the end of Matthew. When we had read the Gospel of Mark, the ending stated that the women fled out of the tomb and were terrified and trembling with fear. They were told to tell Jesus' disciples that they saw, but they never said a word. However in Matthew it says "The the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. The go quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Behold, I have told you. Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples." [2] This is fascinating to me that in one Gospel, these women were so terrified that they kept to themselves and did not say a word, but in Matthew, they were "overjoyed" and told everyone. It fascinates me how similar these stories are, yet extremely different if you look close.




Matthew 28:5-8 (NAB)
Matthew 1:17 (NAB)