An Investigative Study on the Book of Matthew Term Paper

An Investigative Study on the Book of Matthew - Term Paper Example By concentrating on the Jewish tradition, the writer leads to a conclusion that he must have been a Jew and that the book was written in a Jewish community. It is speculated that the book was written in the first century AD. Also, the writer concentrates a lot on the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of Messiah, and this, too, leads to the same conclusion, i.e. that he must have been a Jew. The chronology of the book of Matthew covers a vast spun of time. It dates back before the birth of Jesus Christ, as is revealed by the prophecies, dwells on the life and work of Jesus on the Earth and also touches on the future when Jesus would come again. Scholars have also noted that the book of Matthew borrows a lot from the book of Mark, the writings commonly referred to as the Q-source and Jewish custom material. The original language was Greek. Following the closeness between the book of Matthew and Luke, the conclusion follows that the book was written by Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples, who was a tax collector (Freeborn 156). David Sim, in his article â€Å"Matthew and the Pauline Corpus,† shows that the writer of this book had much knowledge of the epistles written by Paul. He argues that not only do the scriptures rhyme, but also the scriptures in the book of Matthew speak defensively on various topical issues that are addressed by the Apostle Paul in the epistles. Matthew is portrayed in his writings to be a strict law-obeying Jew, unlike the Apostle Paul, who is depicted as a gentile, by and large arrogant and ignorant of the law. The close comparison brings much of inter-textual relation to the two scriptural contexts. Matthew closely alludes to the ideologies addressed by the Apostle Paul and also borrows a lot from Mark. This is clearly illustrated in the narrative mode of describing Jesus’ lifestyle, and this, to a large extent, supports the thematic concern of inter-textuality (Sim 403). As a matter of fact, the comparison of the book of Matthew and other books written by the disciples simply affirms the possibility that the book was written by a Jew and that this happened after the ministry of Jesus on the Earth. There is a great correlation between the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and much contrast emanates from the epistles of Paul. A close evaluation indicates that just as Mark and Luke, Matthew is a Synoptic. However, critics point out that Matthew happened to live and write before the other gospels were created as a lot is likely to be borrowed from the scriptures of Matthew by the other gospels. However, the gospel, according to the book of John, is clearly distinct and cannot fit in such a comparison (Constable 3-4). Cartel Warren, in his article â€Å"Matthew and the Gentiles,† elaborates further on the purpose of the book as having been meant specifically for the gospel. The book, thus, engages in a very detiled discussion on the contemporary gentile world alluded to in the gospel. The writer highlights some key indicators from the book of Matthew that suggest an already predefined mission of writing the scripture. To begin with, the story of creation found in the book of Genesis is clearly addressed in the opening scripture of Matthew. The sovereignty of God’s purpose for Jesus is clearly depicted here. He compares the purpose of Jesus to Abraham’