Introduction
Introduction
“In grandness of conception and in the power with which a mass of material is subordinated to great ideas no writing in either Testament, dealing with a historical theme, is to be compared with Matthew. In this respect the present writer would be at a loss to find its equal also in the other literature of antiquity.”1 In these words a great scholar of an earlier day brought out something of the majesty of our first Gospel.2 We should bear this in mind when we recall how much this Gospel has suffered in modern discussions in comparison with the others. Mark is usually seen as the earliest of the four and as having a freshness about it that demands attention if we are looking for accurate information about Jesus. Luke is much fuller, and the beauty of his writing is so impressive that E. Renan called it “the most beautiful book that there is.”3 John is very different from the other three and more theological. The result is that in modern times Matthew has often been slighted. It is good that such views are becoming outmoded.4
To disparage Matthew is a great mistake. Nobody should minimize the importance of the Gospel that contains the infancy stories, the Sermon on the Mount, and a rich collection of parables (many of which we find in this Gospel only), to name but a few of its contents. All four Gospels emphasize the passion narratives (giving rise to the view that they are all passion narratives with extensive introductions). But each has its own way of doing this, and while Matthew is usually held to rely heavily on Mark, his Gospel includes matter not found elsewhere (e.g., Jesus’ threefold prayer in Gethsemane, Jesus’ confidence that he could call on more than twelve legions of angels, and the suicide of Judas). This Evangelist makes it clear that the death of Jesus was in fulfilment of the plan of God; sometimes he brings out its meaning explicitly, as when he says that Jesus came to give his life “a ransom for many” (20:28) or when he reports that Jesus spoke of the wine at the Last Supper as “my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (26:28).
We should not overlook the fact that throughout most of the centuries of the Christian church this Gospel has been held to be the most important we have. In the ancient MSS it is the first of the four, and in common use it was clearly held to be the most important.5 R. T. France writes, “it is a fact that mainstream Christianity was, from the early second century on, to a great extent Matthean Christianity.”6 We must not read back our prejudices into the early church; while few interpreters these days would endorse the verdict of the early church on the importance of this Gospel, we should not minimize the force of the considerations that produced that verdict.7 The contribution our first Gospel has made to the church throughout the centuries must not be overlooked nor minimized. And it still has much to say to the church today.