The Writings of Matthew

The writings of Matthew are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the entire Text. Matthew's use of wordplay in the first two chapters to identify Jesus as the Messiah is brilliant. Of the entire book, the genealogy in the first chapter is one of my all-time favorite passages. In this chapter Matthew uses the Hebraic philosophy of Gematria to prove to his primarily Hebrew readers that—in his view—Jesus was the Messiah, a descendant of David.

I love this kind of writing. This is the stuff that makes me want to dig deeper into the Text to see what else is there.

Another aspect of this Text that really grabs me is the fact that Jesus first called Matthew to be one of His closest disciples. Matthew was hated by the Jewish population because he was a tax collector. Not to mention that he—along with all the other selected twelve—had been previously rejected by the religious establishment and denied the privilege of rabbinic study. Yet, Jesus—a rabbi Himself—thought that Matthew was completely qualified to follow Him and learn His yoke.

This demonstrates to me that my past and my present sins are merely the foundations upon which God will begin a work in my life that will catapult me into the future that He has purposed for me. If God could use Matthew, He can use me.