Written on the heart Matthew

The author of each New Testament gospel does not identify himself directly. Therefore, Biblical scholars search the text for convincing clues to determine the authorship of each gospel. That Matthew wrote this book has not been disputed seriously. In addition, early church tradition supports this conclusion.

Matthew was one of the twelve disciples of Christ; therefore, he was an eyewitness to many of the events recorded. His own conversion is described in the scripture quoted below:

“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. ” (Matt. 9:9-13)

Prior to following Christ, Matthew was a tax collector; consequently, the public despised him. No doubt his inclusion among the other disciples caused considerable concern for the disciples and the general population of Israel.

It is interesting to note that this gospel, written by a former tax collector, often uses monetary terms not found elsewhere in scripture. Only Matthew’s gospel refers to “talents” (Matt. 25:14-30), the “stater” (a piece of money – Matt. 17:27), and the “drachma” (tribute or double drachma – Matt. 17:24). Only in this gospel is the story of Jesus paying the temple tax recorded (Matt: 17:24-27). Also, this is the only gospel that records the amount, thirty pieces of silver, for which Jesus was betrayed (Matt. 26:15).

Some of the parables found in Matthew’s gospel use money as a teaching tool: the story of a treasure hidden in a field (Matt. 13:44), a merchant seeking beautiful pearls (Matt. 13:45-46), the foolish virgins who needed to buy oil for themselves (Matt. 25:1-13), and a man traveling into a far country who leaves his goods in the hands of his servants who are to do business on his behalf (Matt. 25:14-30). The lessons of forgiving others (Matt. 18:21-35) and the parable concerning the first and the last (Matt. 19:30-16) are illustrated by using monetary terms. Though other gospels do this to a lesser degree, these stories may suggest the personality of the author, giving weight to the traditional belief that Matthew is indeed the author of this gospel.

Taken from Chapter 1.