Jesus According to Matthew

The book of Matthew begins the genealogy of Jesus with Abraham and continues to David for a total of fourteen generations, the book of Matthew continues with David’s descendants to the Babylonian exile for a total of another 14 generations and finally the final fourteen generations to “Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:16). Since Judaism is a matriarchal religion, tradition has the children take the religion of the mother; Since Jesus was the descendant of Mary, who was descended from king David through Nathan this gave Jesus a legal claim to the throne.

The Gospel of Matthew introduces several significant facts and vital lessons for Christians and Christianity. Initially it obviously establishes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah who was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Second it establishes that Jesus was the son of God; third, it records the miracles performed by Jesus; fourth it shows Jesus as a healer, fifth it shows Jesus as a teacher and finally as a Prophet. Birth and Lineage of Jesus of Nazareth

The star of Bethlehem revealed the birth of baby Jesus; the awaited Messiah. The maji (the wise men) heard of his birth and traveled to Jerusalem seeking out the new born king of the Jews in order to present him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Upon hearing of the birth of the king of Jews from the maji, King Herod summoned all the scribes and chief priests and inquired upon where the Christ child would be born.

And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written through the prophet (Matthew 2:5) King Herod then summoned the wise men to travel to Bethlehem and find where Jesus would be and then bring back word so King Herod could also worship him; this was only a ploy so he could have the baby Jesus executed. Upon the maji following the eastern star to Bethlehem and entering the house the star had led them too they discovered baby Jesus; they fell down and worshipped him and offered him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Being warned in a dream by God not to return to Jerusalem they returned to their respect countries from a different route. Jesus, son of God Matthew 1:18 states that Mary was found to be with child from the holy spirit, and just when Joseph had resolved to quietly dismiss her an angel of the lord appeared and instructed joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the child conceived in her is from the holy spirit (matt 1:20). Matthew 2:13-15 states that an angel had spoken to Joseph in a dream and warned him to escape to Egypt with baby Jesus and Mary because king Herod had plans to search out the baby and destroy him.

Joseph was to remain in Egypt until the angel instructed him to return thus fulfilling what was spoken by God through a prophet; “out of Egypt I have called my son” (Matt 2:15) When John the Baptist had finished baptizing Jesus the heavens opened up and they saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and a voice from heaven spoke “this is my son, the beloved one, with whom I am well pleased. ”(Matt 3:16-17) Miracles performed by Jesus Matthew documents a total of 21 miracles performed by Jesus.

Matthew 4:3 shows that even Satan recognized Jesus as the son of god as he made multiple attempts to lure Jesus such as prompting Jesus to transform stones into bread. In Matthew 8:22-27 Jesus and his disciples are in a boat when a great windstorm threatened to completely fill the boat full of water and sink the boat. The disciples awoke Jesus shouting that they were perishing, upon hearing this Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves and there was a calm after which Jesus said unto them “where is your faith”(Matt 8:25) Matthew 9:18-25 shows how Jesus performed miracles of raising the dead.

While Jesus was teaching with parables a synagogue leader approached and told Jesus that his daughter had just passed away and would Jesus lay hands on her so that she would live. Upon arriving at the house Jesus told all to leave as the girl was only sleeping. Jesus then went in and took the girl by the hand and she got up. Matt. 14:15-21 shows the miracle of Jesus feeding over 5000 men, women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish and still having 12 full baskets of broken leftovers.

Matthew 15:32-39 again has Jesus feeding over 4000 of his followers with only seven loaves of bread and a few small fish and still having seven baskets full of leftovers. “And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, it is a ghost! (Matt 14:25-33). Matthew 14:25-33 shows how Jesus walked on water out to the boat where his disciples were, upon noticing this Peter answered him “lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (matt 14:28).

Jesus answered this by allowing peter the ability to walk on water until he was frightened by the wind and started to sink, upon which Jesus took peter by the hand and took him back to the boat. Upon arriving in Capernaum the temple tax collectors asked Peter “does your teacher not pay the temple tax” (Matthew 17:24). Jesus then told his disciples so as to not offend them go to the sea and cast a hook, take the first fish that comes up and after opening its mouth a coin will be found. Take this coin and pay the temple tax for him and the disciples. Jesus the Healer

Part of Jesus’ ministry was healing; wherever he went people would come up to him or bring the sick to be healed. Jesus was motivated by compassion to bring relief to the suffering of the sick such as in Matthew 8:1-4 where Jesus cleansed a leper. Matthew 8:5-13 describes how when Jesus entered Capernaum a centurion from the Roman army confronted him and asked that he come to his home because his servant was at home paralyzed in terrible distress. When Jesus said that he would come and heal the servant the centurion stated that he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus enter his home but if he would just say the word his servant would be healed.

Jesus was so astounded by the centurion’s faith that he said the word and healed the servant. When Jesus walked into Peters house and saw that Peters mother in law was ill with a fever he touched her hand and the fever went away (Matthew 8:14-15). In Matthew 8:16 many brought Jesus people that had been possessed with demon spirits and he was able to cast them out with just a word. In Matthew 8:28 while in Gadarenes he came across two demons that were mocking him and asking Jesus “have you come here to torment us before the time? ” (Matthew 8:28). Jesus then cast them out and into swine.

Matthew 9:2-8 Jesus saw some men carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed, just then Jesus said “take heart, son; your sins are forgiven (Matt 9:2). Jesus was followed by two blind men and asked “have mercy on us, son of David” (Matt 9:27) Numerous scholars expunge Jesus’ healings from Matthews’s gospels with the assumption that these are legends only, that these miracles are scientifically impossible. While other scholars claim that even though Jesus’ healings occurred, they were only psychosomatic in nature; that since Jesus had such an impact on men and people that they were cured of their illness by a psychological nature.

For me though it is unfathomable to believe that Jesus could possibly attract so large of a following with only a winning disposition and a charlatan’s bag of tricks. Jesus as a Teacher Jesus enjoyed teaching in parables; it made the subjects easier to remember and was a common form of teaching in Judaism. When asked why he taught in parables Jesus answered “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been granted” (Matthew 13:11). What exactly did this mean?

His teachings and miracles had began to attract many, and by teaching in parables he was attempting to dissect the true believers from the non-believers, those whom believed and were committed to the kingdom of God would continue to seek further understanding. But those that were non-believers would more than likely reject his teachings as unintelligent babble. Jesus was not only a teacher to his followers but to Satan as well, in Matthew.

When Satan attempts to seduce him into following him by turning stones into bread, Jesus reminds him “one does not live by bread lone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matt 4:4), here he is teaching how to resist temptation. In Matthew 19:19 he instructs us on how to honor our mother and father and how to love they neighbor as yourself. Throughout Matthew Jesus teaches a multitude of practical lessons such as dealing with fear in Matthew 8:26, obeying god in Matthew 15:19, the correct way to give to others in Matthew 6:2, and resolving legal issues in Matthew 5:25 But out of all his teachings in Matthew the most famous is the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5; it is about righteousness that should come from the heart. Jesus as a Prophet

Throughout Matthew Jesus is described as a prophet, whether it may be from his lineage, his miracles, his healings or his teachings he is shown to be the last true prophet and the only son of god. Everything written in Matthew is still applicable to life today, but the main reason for the gospel of Matthew was to show to the Jews that Jesus was and still is the messiah whom they had been awaiting, and that he was the one that was put on earth to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. Jesus’ birth marked the end of the age of exile, his birth drew the Magi from the east and his birth elicited a fearful response from King Herod.

But most of all for me; he is my savior and lord! I cannot begin to comprehend the love he has for me nor the price he paid for my salvation. The experiences of Jesus’ resurrection as well as the memories of his teachings and ministry have transformed not only the disciples but me as well. Jesus the wandering teacher, healer and prophet who had proclaimed the kingdom of God and called people to repentance and love, has become the center of my faith. Not only his message but also his person and especially his death and resurrection; that is the focus of Christian belief……I know it is mine.