Matthew About this book
About this book
The Holy Bible has 4 books about the things that Jesus did, and the messages he told to people when he was here on the earth, about 2,000 years ago. Those books are in the 2nd part of the Holy Bible, called the New Testament. The men that wrote them were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They wrote their books after Jesus went back to heaven. Most of the things in their books happened in the country we now call Israel.
In each of those 4 books we can read about some of the things that Jesus did and said. This Bible has everything that Mark and John wrote about Jesus in their books, but we have not yet translated everything that Matthew and Luke wrote. We have only translated the stories and messages that Mark and John didn’t write about, but that Matthew and Luke did write about.
This book has those stories and messages that Matthew wrote. They are important for us today because they tell us about the good things that Jesus did, and they tell us God’s messages that Jesus taught to people.
Matthew had another name. He was sometimes called Levi. At first, he was a tax man. He took money from the Jewish people and gave it to the Roman government. But one day, Jesus told him, “Follow me,” and Matthew left his money job and followed Jesus (see Mark 2:13-14). Later, Jesus picked Matthew to be one of his 12 special workers (see Mark 3:13-19). Those 12 men went everywhere with Jesus. So Matthew saw and heard most of the things that he wrote about in this book.
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Matthew About this book: PEV
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Matthew Intro
Intro
Matthew’s purpose is to show that God has kept his ancient promises to Israel through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The long-expected reign of heaven is now coming to earth, bringing the Jewish story to its climax. Matthew begins by highlighting that Jesus was the son of David, Israel’s most famous king, and the son of Abraham, Israel’s founding patriarch. Jesus is the true Israelite and God’s promised Messiah.
The Messiah is shown as reliving the story of Israel—going down into the Jordan River, facing temptation in the wilderness, gathering twelve disciples as twelve new tribes, ascending a mountain to deliver a new Torah, etc. The author highlights the idea of Jesus as a new Moses by collecting his teachings into five long speeches. These are marked off by some variation of the phrase When Jesus had finished saying these things. Just as the Torah had five books, Matthew presents five major sections.
The book concludes by telling how Jesus brought about the great new act of redemption for his people. As in the story of Israel’s Exodus, a Passover meal is celebrated and then deliverance comes. Jesus gives his life for the sake of the world and is then raised from the dead. At the beginning of the book, Jesus is given the name Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” At the end, Jesus sends his followers into the world with the promise that surely I am with you always.
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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