Matthew
The story of Jesus, told to show he is the king Israel was waiting for.
Who wrote it: Anonymous; attributed to Matthew the tax collector, one of the Twelve, from the second century on. Most scholars date it to the 70s or 80s AD, some argue for the 60s.
What it is
Matthew opens with a family tree. That sounds like the worst possible start, but it is doing something: it plants Jesus in the story of Abraham and David, and it includes four women with awkward histories, which is a quiet statement about who this king is for. Then come the birth, the wise men, the flight to Egypt, and thirty silent years before John the Baptist appears at the river.
The book is built around five big blocks of teaching, and the first is the one everyone has heard of: the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 to 7). Blessed are the poor in spirit. Love your enemies. Don't worry about tomorrow. The Lord's Prayer is in there. If you only read one section of Matthew, read that one, and notice how often Jesus says 'you have heard it said, but I tell you'. He is not lowering the bar. He is moving it inside you.
Between the teaching blocks, Jesus heals, argues with religious leaders, tells parables about a kingdom that starts small and grows, and slowly turns toward Jerusalem. Matthew keeps pointing out where the Old Testament predicted this, sometimes a little insistently. The first readers were almost certainly Jewish Christians who needed to know that following Jesus was not abandoning their scriptures. It was where their scriptures had been going.
The last third is the last week: the entry into Jerusalem, the temple confrontation, a long warning about the future (chapters 24 and 25), the Last Supper, the arrest, the trial, the cross. Matthew's account of the crucifixion includes an earthquake and the temple curtain tearing in two. Then the tomb is empty, and the book ends on a mountain with the risen Jesus giving eleven confused men a job that covers the whole world.
Read it for the teaching. Matthew is the Gospel that tells you what Jesus actually expects from the people who follow him, and it ends with him promising to be with them while they try.
Verses worth keeping
14“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 16Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsYou're the light of the world. A city on a hill can't be hidden, and nobody lights a lamp and then shoves it under a bucket; you put it on a stand so it lights the whole house. So let your light show. Let people see the good you do and give the credit to your Father in heaven.
Said to a crowd of ordinary people, not a room of leaders. The light is you, and the point is not to hide it.
33But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsPut God's kingdom and what he calls right first, and the rest will be given to you too. So don't be anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
Not a promise that nothing bad will happen. A reordering: one thing first, one day at a time.
7“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. 8For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsAsk, and you'll be given it. Look, and you'll find it. Knock, and the door will open. Because everyone who asks gets, whoever looks finds, and whoever knocks gets let in.
Read the next two verses too: the picture is a parent who gives good things, not a machine that gives anything.
28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsCome to me, all of you who are worn out and carrying too much, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I'm gentle and humble at heart, and you'll find rest for your soul. My yoke fits, and what I ask you to carry is light.
A yoke is a farm harness. Jesus is not offering no work; he is offering work that fits and a partner who pulls with you.
19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsGo and make disciples in every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do everything I told you. And look: I'm with you always, right to the end of the age.
The last words of the book. Some of the people hearing them were still doubting (verse 17). They were sent anyway.
Read Matthew
The full text, every chapter, from the World English Bible, a modern public-domain translation. Pick a chapter below. The highlighted verses are the place to start if you have never read it.
Matthew 5
1Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
2He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
10Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 16Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
17“Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. 19Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
21“You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
23“If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Agree with your adversary quickly while you are with him on the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. 26Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there until you have paid the last penny.
27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ 28but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. 30If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.
31“It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ 32but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
33“Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’ 34but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. 37But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. 41Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 48Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Questions about Matthew
Why are there four Gospels?
Because four different communities wrote down what they had received, for different readers, with different emphases. Matthew writes for people who know the Old Testament. Mark is fast and raw. Luke is careful and wide. John is reflective and theological. The early church chose to keep all four rather than blend them, which means you get four angles on one person. They agree on the big things and differ in details and order, the way honest witnesses do.
Did Matthew the tax collector actually write this?
The book never says. The name was attached in the second century, based on a report that Matthew collected Jesus's sayings in Hebrew. Most scholars today think the Gospel was written in Greek by someone who used Mark as a source, which makes direct authorship by an eyewitness less likely, though not impossible. Christians disagree here and it does not change what the book says.
Why does Matthew's Christmas story have wise men and no shepherds?
Matthew and Luke tell the birth from different sides. Matthew follows Joseph, the star, the magi and the escape to Egypt. Luke follows Mary, the census, the manger and the shepherds. Nativity scenes mash them together. Neither Gospel says how many wise men there were, and neither says they arrived the night Jesus was born.
Is the Sermon on the Mount meant to be lived, or is it just an ideal?
Christians have argued this for two thousand years. Some say it is a picture of a perfection nobody reaches, meant to send you to grace. Others say Jesus meant it and the church has mostly dodged it. Matthew's own ending, 'teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you', suggests he expected people to try. Trying and failing is a different thing from not trying.