MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF, placed first in all armngernents of the four gospels, and -also probably one of the first written, was from the beginning acknowledged and widely diffused as one of the canonical books of the New Testament. From Papias, who -closely followed the apostles, there is .continuous chain of trustworthy witnesses that Matthew the apostle wrote a gospel, and the abundant quotations in the fathers,•dowia Irenmus and Justin Martyr, prove that the gospel then received as his was the same as that which we have. These early witnesses agree also in saying that Matthew wrote his gospel with primary reference to the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and their state ment is confirmed by internal evidence. One great object of the author plainly was to exhibit Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah whom the types of the Old Testament prefigured and its prophets foretold. This the opening sentence of his gospel shows, declaring Jesus Christ to be the son of David and of Abraham, and this the advancing chapters, recording events as " realized prophecy," keep constantly in mind. Still no evangelist 'exhibits more clearly also the ultimately universal diffusion of the gospel message through the world. Even the beginning of the .-ninistry of Jesus, as Matthew records it, gave light not only to Jews, but also to Galilee of the Gentiles; and, at the close, the first gospel gives, equally with the second and third, the universal command, " Go ye and make disciples of all nations." The general testimony of the early writers is that Matthew wrote his gospei in Aramaic; that is, in the dialect of the Hebrew which was then spoken in Palestine. Yet, while ail the fathers of the church assert the Hebrew origin of the gospel, itS Olshausen remarks, " They, without exception,make use of the existing Greek text as canonical Scripture, and that without doubt or question, or any thing that would lead to the belief that they regarded it as of less authority than the original Hebrew, or possessed it in any other form than that which w-e now have." And if the Hebrew gospel had ever been clothed with supreme authority as the onlyt one written by -Matthew, a Greek translation could not have been substituted for it without opposition, or without leaving some traces of the process by which it had been done. But nothing of the sort occurred. The Greek text itself also, according to the judg ment of careful critics, presents no marks of being a translation, but many of being an original work. The correspondence of the Greek text with the Greek of Mark and of Luke points also to a Greek original. All the ancient versions also, even the Peshito Syraic—the very language which corresponds with the Aramaic—were taken from the present Greek text. The summing up of the testimony, therefore, favors two orig-inals, both from -Matthew, both used at first as occasion required, and the Greek, diffused abroad much more widely, finally remaining alone in circulation and use. That a full account of the life of Jesus should be needed at first among the Jews, in both Hebrew and Greek, is illustrated by Pilate's action in writing above the cross, in three languages, the single declaration, " This is Jesus, the king of the Jews, and by the apostle John's record that one reason why many of the Jews read the title was that it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
The contents of the gospel may be divided into eleven sections: I.—The ministry of -Jesus: Chapters i.–iv. containing his genealog,y. coming down from Abraham, and his birth at Bethlehem; the visit of the wise men, the flight into Egypt and the return; the ministry of John, the baptism of Jesus, followed by the descent of the Spirit and the voice from heaven; the temptation of Jesus, the beginning of his ministry, the calling of his first four disciples, and his first circuit in Galilee, accompanied with an outburst of power over all kinds of disease. IL—The new law given in the sermon on the mount, v.–vii.: The beatitudes; his disciples compared to the salt of the earth and the light of the world; the law and the prophets to be fulfilled; new expositions of various com mandments; directions for alms-giving, for prayer—of which a model is given in " the Lord's Prayer"—and for fasting; counsels against laying up earthly treasures, and against anxious thought; command not to judge others or to mark their faults; counsel not to cast pearls before swine; promise that prayer shall be answered; the " golden mle" given; exhortation to enter the strait gate and narrow way; warning against false ?rophets and false professors; the emblem of houses built on the rock and on the sand.
III.—Record of events exhibiting Jesus as a doer of mighty works, viii., ix. : The leper ,cleansed; the centurion's servant healed; Peter's mother-in-law cured; multitudes of sick persons healed and many demons cast out; the storm on the lake calmed; the legion;of demons cast out of the man and allowed to enter the swine; the man sick of the palsy forgiven and healed; MattliMv called and publicans and sinners received; the woman that touched his garment healed, and the ruler's daughter raised; the two blind men restored and the dumb demon cast out; the second circuit of Galilee and the general cure of sickness aud disease. IV.—The choice of the twelve apostles, x.: Their nanies given and the varied instructions to them recorded. V.—Doubts expressed and oppo sition exhibited, xi., xi'. : The inquiry sent by John from the prison, the answer returned, the testimony of Jesus concerning him; the unrepentiwr cities condemned; thanksgiving to the Fathe'r• invitation to the weary; authority claim% over the Sabbath, the withered hand healed, the Pharisees silenced, and their council against him; his withdrawal, fol lowed by tne healing of great multitudes; a demon, blind and dumb, cast out; the oppo sition of the Pharisees and their consequent condemnation. VI.—Parables relating to the kingdom of heaven, xiii. : 1-52: Of the sower; the tares among the wheat; the mustard seed; the leaven: the treasure hid in the field; the pearl of great price; and the net cast into the sea. YIL—Effects of the ministry of Jesus on various classes of people, xiii. 53--xvi.: 12: On the inhabitants of Nazareth; on Herod, explained by his treat ment of John the Baptist; on the men of Gennesaret ; the multitudes whom he feeds; the Pharisees and Scribes; the woman of Canaan. VIII.—Revelation concerning.his divine nature and his sufferings, with instructions to the disciples, xvi.: 13—xvni.: Simon Peter's confession of faith in him; his sufferings foretold; his transfiguration, follotved by the casting out of a demon from a child; the temple-tax paid; instructions concerning humility, illustrated by a child, and concerning forgiveness, enforced by the parable of the debtors. rx.—Events during the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, xix.-xxiii. Law concerning divorce; benediction on little children; answer to the inquiry concern ing the attainment of eternal life, and rewards promised to the disciples; parables con cerning the laborers in the vineyard; his sufferings again foretold; the ambitious request of James and John; two blind men restored to sight; the entrance into Jerusalem,. the cleansing of the temple; the hosannas of the children; the fig-tree withered; the chief priests and elders silenced; the parables of the two sons and the vineyard, of the hus bandinen and the vineyard, and of the marriage of the king's son; the hypocritical ques tion of the Pharisees, the scoffing question of the Sadducees, the earnest question of the lawyer, a.nd the silencing question of Jesus; woes pronounced on the Pharisees and on. Jerusalem. X.—Last discourses, xxiv., xxv. • The destruction of the temple foretold to be attended and followed by wars, tribulations, false Christs and prophets, and, at some unknown thne, by the coming of the Son of Man; the suddenness of his corning compared to the flood and enforced by the parables of the servant and his lord, of the virgins and their lamps, of the talents, and of the shepherd dividing the sheep from the goats. XI.—The crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and final commission to the isci pies.