The Gospel According to Matthew
Who Was Matthew in the Bible?
Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples. His gospel, along with Luke’s, John’s, and Mark’s, is an inspired, accurate, and true history of the life of Christ. A tax collector or “publican,” he was also called Levi. Tax collectors were absolutely despised by their own culture because they worked for the Roman government and enriched themselves by collecting taxes from their own people, which was sinful.
When Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, with many other tax collectors and sinners present, the Pharisees questioned the disciples about Jesus’ choice of companions. Jesus’ response is one of the clearest explanations of God’s heart and gospel to man: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12–13).[1]
• Enjoy this 2020 high-definition video (full movie, 4 hrs.): Jesus (Bruce Marchiano), Mary (Joanna Weinberg), John (Kevin Smith), Caiaphas (Gordon van Rooyen), Joseph (Tony Caprari); presented word for word in the NIV.
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Matthew uses many titles for Jesus in his gospel, including Messiah, King, Lord, Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, Immanuel, etc. All have Old Testament roots pointing in one way or another to the theme of fulfillment and the coming of the kingdom of heaven.[2]
Watch this animated video (8 minutes) by The Bible Project, which provides a biblical overview of “Matthew’s gospel,” chapters 1 through 13. The follow-up overview video of the second half of Matthew’s gospel can be seen here.
