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THE ARGUMENT OF MATTHEWS GOSPEL

David Gunn

Introduction
The primary issue with which Matthew is concerned is the Messiahship of Jesus.
Specifically, his aim is to portray Jesus as the promised Messiah who has been rejected by His
people, Israel. Matthews tone is simultaneously evangelistic and eschatological: he writes to a
predominantly Jewish audience urging them to believe in the One whom they previously
rejected. When Jesus offer of the kingdom was not accepted on His terms, He withdrew it and
changed the focus of His program. If the Jewish people will finally believe in and accept their
Messiah, perhaps the offer of the kingdom will finally be realized. Matthew is concerned with
offering proof of Jesus Messiahship, as well as depicting His rejection in such a way that
unbelievers will be motivated to accept Him.
Several literary and theological sub-themes run through this gospel, including the
following:
-In Jesus, God has come to dwell with His people. This is one of the chief reasons the
Jews rejected Him: they had no room in their theology for a Divine Messiah.
-Though Jesus mission was to the Jews, He was routinely recognized and accepted by
gentiles. With the inclusion of this motif, Matthew seems to be saying, Even the
gentiles, who do not have the Scriptures and are not descended from Abraham,
recognized the Messiah for who He was! We who are Jews should know better, and not
be outdone by outsiders.
-Jesus life bears striking thematic parallels to the history of Israel. Matthew presents
Jesus as the Israel par excellence who would succeed in doing the work of God where
Israel had failed.
-Even though His disciples accepted and believed in Him, they nevertheless continually
misunderstood Him. One need not be a great theologian or genius to believe in Jesus;
acceptance of Him is predicated upon humility and brokenness, not intellectual
achievement.

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I. Messiahs Inception, 1:1-2:23
A. Messiahs Earthly Roots, 1:1-17
Matthew wastes no time in presenting Jesus Messianic credentials. Because He is
descended from David on His adopted Fathers side, He is eligible for Messiahship. Note
that the way for gentile inclusion is paved in this section with the mention of Rahab and
Ruth in the Messiahs genealogy.
B. The Announcement of Messiahs Birth, 1:18-25
The first official Messianic announcement is made, in Matthews gospel, to Joseph. This
is appropriate, since the right of kingship would pass through the fathers line. The
announcement indicates the content of the Messiahs mission (v. 21,
) and also implies His deity (v. 23, ,
).
C. Initial Recognition of Messiahs Kingship, 2:1-12
Although it is said of Jesus that He is
, nevertheless it is gentile kingmakers from the Parthian Empire who come and
genuflect before Him. Already, we see foreshadowing of His rejection by Israel and
acceptance by the nations.
D. Messiahs Exodus and Bethlehems Lamentation, 2:13-23
Like the people He has come to save, Jesus life begins with a flight to Egypt, a brief stay
there, then a return to the Promised Land. Bethlehems tragedy, on the other hand, is
compared to the Babylonian deportation. Just as God had previously promised comfort
through Israels return to the land, He now promises deliverance from horrors like
Herods butchery through the coming of Messiah and the (eventual) establishment of His
kingdom, in which such crimes would not be permitted.
II. Messiahs Ministry, 3:1-10:42
A. Prelude to and Inauguration of Messiahs Ministry, 3:1-17
Johns fulfillment of Isaiahs prophecy asserts the Messiahship and Deity (v. 3, ;
cf. in Isa. 40:3) of Jesus. The baptism serves as the inauguration of Jesus ministry,
and identifies Him with the message of John, which was a call to repentance. This will be
the core of Jesus message, too.
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B. Messiahs Ministry Begins, 4:1-22
After the temptation, which establishes incontrovertibly His moral qualifications to
Messiahship, Jesus begins His public ministry. Jesus message is a call to repentance,
. This suggests that offer of the Messianic
kingdom to Jesus generation is conditional, predicated upon their acquiescence to His
call.
C. Messiahs Preaching on Orthodoxical Orthopraxy, 4:23-7:29
Jesus great ethical discourse specifies concretely what Jesus means when He calls for
repentance. This is the kind of life to which He is calling His people Israel. This is the
only kind of people on whom He will bestow His kingdom. Note that throughout the
sermon, the authority of Kingship resides in the Messiah, and it is essentially underived.
D. Messiahship Demonstrated through Various Miracles and Teachings, 8:1-9:38
Jesus various acts in this section demonstrate His power to effect perfectly Gods will in
the world, and thus they demonstrate His Messiahship. As this section begins, we see
another instance of gentile belief in Jesus. The Messiah Himself remarks in 8:10,
, . In one instance (8:24-26)
the disciples are depicted as lacking faith and failing to understand Jesus.
E. The Deputation of the Twelve, 10:1-42
Jesus now endows His disciples with the ability to perform many of the miracles He
Himself had performed publicly. They are commissioned to go abroad proclaiming,
(v. 7). Given the heightened Messianic expectation
of the time and the fact that Jesus disciples were representing Him as their rabbi, such
proclamation amounts to the assertion that Jesus Himself is the promised king, and the
kingdom has drawn near because the king has arrived. The miracles performed by the
disciples serve to authenticate their message. Jesus warns them that they will be rejected
and hated by many. This is more foreshadowing of the ultimate rejection that Jesus
Himself will experience.


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III. Messiahs Rejection, 11:1-20:34
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Jesus rejection by Israel, a foretaste of Calvary, begins with His cousin and forerunner
John doubting His Messiahship. Throughout this section, He will be rejected by Chorazin and
Bethsaida, His hometown of Nazareth, and the Jewish religious leaders on three separate
occasions. The first of these three rejections by the Scribes and Pharisees (12:22-32) marks a
major turning point in the book. They have committed the unpardonable sin, and their generation
is now dubbed, . The offer of the kingdom to Jesus generation has
been revoked. Never again will He proclaim to them, . In
fact, in 12:46-13:52 He will indicate that a shift in the Messianic program has occurred. (This
will be stated more explicitly in 21:43.)
There are several items of particular interest in this section. First, the flashback to Johns
death in 14:1-12 can seem jarring and unnatural. It is possible, however, that it is intended to
foreshadow Jesus coming death. If the Messiahs forerunner was executed because of his
preaching, what is to become of the Messiah Himself? Since this pericope occurs in the middle
of a section which emphasizes Jesus rejection, this seems likely. Second, yet another gentile is
depicted accepting and believing in Jesus (15:21-28), right in the middle of widespread Jewish
rejection! Third, the disciples of Jesus are again portrayed as lacking faith and misunderstanding
their rabbi (14:13-36, 16:21-23, 17:10). Fourth, the main thrust of Matthews all-encompassing
argument is voiced explicitly in Peters confession:
(16:16). Fifth, Jesus Messiahship is portrayed visually in His transfiguration. This is a
preview of how He will appear in His kingdom. Here, Jesus appears alongside Elijah and
Moses, who were also rejected prophets, but He is declared to be far superior to them (17:5).
IV. Messiahs Pronouncements, 21:1-25:46
After His so-called Triumphal Entry, Jesus proceeds to pronounce judgment against
His rejecters. This begins dramatically with the cleansing of the temple. The sanctity of Gods
temple has been violated, and it is Jesus duty as the Messiah to set things right. From this point,
most of Jesus judgmental pronouncements and parables in this section come as direct responses
to challenges by the religious leaders who have rejected His Messiahship. This judgment reaches

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For the sake of space, I have elected to summarize this entire section rather than discuss each sub-section
separately. In my outline, I break it down into eleven different sub-sections.
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fevered pitch in the woe discourse of 23:1-39, which concludes with the assertion that the
kingdom is being postponed until such a time as people will repent and accept the Messiah on
His terms, not their own. This point is reinforced in the Olivet Discourse of 24:1-25:46. The
eschaton will come, but the timing is unknown even to Jesus, and when it does arrive it will be
accompanied by terrible judgments and tribulations.
VI. Messiahs Destiny, 26:1-28:20
A. The Passion and Crucifixion of the Messiah, 26:1-27:66
The hour of betrayal and power of darkness. In preparation for His crucifixion, Jesus
institutes the Lords Supper, and in doing so again indicates that the kingdom has been
postponed (26:29). In Gethsemane, the level of rejection reaches an unprecedented high
as Jesus is betrayed into the hands of His enemies by one of His own disciples, and will
shortly be denied by His right-hand man. Before Caiaphas, Jesus confirms His own
Messiahship and Deity, and for that He is judged worthy of death. Despite Pilates
attempts to save His life, Jesus is condemned to crucifixion. In an ironic twist, this
Roman Prefect acknowledges Jesus Messiahship with the sign above His cross even as
he has Him crucified, and that at the behest of the Messiahs own people. The sky
darkens and the earth quakes, bearing wordless testimony that the man hanging on a cross
is in fact the Messiah, the Son of God. This is recognized and affirmed by another
gentile, the centurion keeping watch over Jesus as He dies. In spite of this, the Jewish
religious leaders still maintain that Jesus was a (27:63), and will neither repent of
their sin nor accept their Messiah. Though the rejection and murder of Jesus is the height
of tragedy, it too proclaims His Messiahship, for these things were prophesied of the
Messiah (cf. especially Ps. 22).
B. The Resurrection and Vindication of the Messiah, 28:1-20
Victory! The crucified Messiah rises from His grave, forever vindicated of the charge that
He was a fraud and proclaimed by this miracle to be more than a mere man. One might
expect the newly-risen Jesus to begin preaching repentance yet again, this time buttressed
by the evidence of His resurrection, but the privilege to repent and receive the kingdom
has already been forfeited. Instead, He commissions His disciples to go and evangelize
the world until His return. As Matthews gospel closes, we have come full circle: He
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whose birth signaled the arrival of God to be with His people now tells His chosen few,
.
Conclusion
With the onset of Christians preaching that Jesus was the Messiah, and that this was
proven by His resurrection, doubtless the Jewish response was, If Jesus was the Messiah, then
why do we not see His Messianic kingdom being established? Matthews gospel provides the
answer: Because you rejected the Messiah, the kingdom will not be given to you. But there is
still a place in the Messianic program for you if you will but acquiesce to the Messiahs call.
Repent, and believe in Him!





















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Appendix: Outline of Matthews Gospel
I. Messiahs Inception, 1:1-2:23
a. Messiahs Earthly Roots, 1:1-17
b. The Announcement of Messiahs Birth, 1:18-25
c. Initial Recognition of Messiahs Kingship, 2:1-12
d. Messiahs Exodus and Bethlehems Lamentation, 2:13-23
II. Messiahs Ministry, 3:1-10:42
a. Prelude to and Inauguration of Messiahs Ministry, 3:1-17
b. Messiahs Ministry Begins, 4:1-22
c. Messiahs Preaching on Orthodoxical Orthopraxy, 4:23-7:29
d. Messiahship Demonstrated through various Miracles and Teachings, 8:1-9:38
e. The Deputation of the Twelve, 10:1-42
III. Messiahs Rejection, 11:1-20:34
a. Messiah Questioned by John, 11:1-19
b. Messiah Rejected by Chorazin and Bethsaida, 11:20-30
c. Messiah Rejected by Religious Leaders, 12:1-45
d. Messiah Announces a Shift in the Messianic Program, 12:46-13:52
e. Messiah Rejected by His Hometown, 12:53-58
f. Messiahs Violent Rejection Foreshadowed by Johns, 14:1-12
g. Messiahs Disciples Exhibit their Lack of Faith, 14:13-36
h. Messiah Rejected by the Religious Leaders, Round Two, 15:1-20
i. Messiah Accepted by a Syro-Phoenician Woman, 15:21-28
j. Messiah Rejected by the Religious Leaders, Round Three, 15:29-16:12
k. Messiah Prepares His Disciples for the Coming Terror, 16:13-20:34
IV. Messiahs Pronouncements, 21:1-25:46
a. Messiahs Triumphal Entry, 21:1-11
b. The Messiah Cleanses His Fathers House, 21:12-17
c. The Messiah is Rejected by the Religious Leaders, Round Four, 21:18-22:46
d. The Messiah Judges His Enemies, 23:1-39
e. Messiahs Eschatological Prophecy, 24:1-25:46
V. Messiahs Destiny, 26:1-28:20
a. The Passion and Crucifixion of the Messiah, 26:1-27:66
b. The Resurrection and Vindication of the Messiah, 28:1-20