Teaching the Gospels

In a nutshell:

Most Scripture scholars currently think that:

• Matthew did not personally know Jesus

• Matthew's Gospel drew on the Gospel of Mark (as did Luke's Gospel)

• Matthew's Gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (CE70).  It was probably written ten or more years after this event.  This event was catastrophic for the Jewish people as the place of their religious identity was destroyed.  Matthew's community would have been struggling greatly with questions of religious identity and faith.  How can we remain Jewish?  Where is God now? 

• Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience (he does not explain Jewish rituals or culture to his audience)

• Matthew's infancy narrative is one of only two Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, and differs greatly from Luke's account.  Matthew's infancy narrative sets up his major themes for the whole Gospel.  Jesus was the person who has most fully showed us what God is like.  Jesus is the Messiah we have been waiting for.  Jesus is the new Moses. 

• Like all the Gospels, Matthew's Gospel is not a book of historical truths or scientific truths.  Rather, it is a book that conveys religious truth.  Readers are called to ask, "What does this story tell us about God or about Jesus?"  "What meaning does this story hold for me?" The questions of whether stories are then historically accurate fade to the background.