Book of Matthew Summary

Matthew opens the New Testament by connecting it to the Old. Its first line calls Jesus the son of David and the son of Abraham, and from there it keeps pointing back to Israel's Scriptures to show that Jesus is the King they promised. It is the most Jewish of the four Gospels, the one with the most teaching, and the one the early church quoted most. It begins with the name Immanuel, "God with us", and ends with Jesus' promise to stay with his followers to the end of the age.

Matthew at a glance

Who wrote Matthew, and why?

Like the other Gospels, Matthew does not name its author. From the early second century, Christian writers such as Papias credited it to Matthew, also called Levi, the tax collector whom Jesus called from his booth (9:9). That fits some details. Only this Gospel calls him "Matthew the tax collector" in the list of the Twelve (10:3), and it has more stories about money than any other: a coin in a fish's mouth (17:27), the vineyard workers' wages (20:1-16) and the talents (25:14-30). Many modern scholars think a later Jewish-Christian writer used Mark's Gospel as a source and wrote between AD 80 and 90, possibly in Antioch in Syria. Others place it before Jerusalem fell in AD 70.

The purpose is easier to see than the authorship. Matthew wanted to show Jewish readers that Jesus is the Messiah their Scriptures promised. He quotes or alludes to the Old Testament more than any other Gospel, often noting that an event fulfilled what a prophet had said (1:22; 2:15; 21:4). He also wanted to shape a community of disciples. His Gospel is the only one that uses the word "church" (16:18; 18:17), and it ends with orders to make disciples of all nations (28:19).

How Matthew is structured

Matthew alternates stories with long blocks of teaching. Five times a teaching section closes with a note that Jesus had finished speaking (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). Many see these five discourses as a deliberate echo of the five books of Moses, presenting Jesus as a teacher greater than Moses.

chapters 1–4: the King arrives

Matthew begins with a family tree from Abraham through David to Joseph, arranged in three sets of fourteen generations (1:1; 1:17). It includes four women with irregular stories, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, showing that God's plan always ran through unlikely people (1:3; 1:5-6). Mary is found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and an angel tells Joseph to name the child Jesus, because he will rescue his people from their sins (1:20-21). Matthew links the birth to Isaiah's sign of a child called Immanuel, God with us (1:23).

Only Matthew tells of the magi from the east who follow a star to worship the newborn king, and of Herod's slaughter of Bethlehem's boys (2:1-2; 2:16). The family escapes to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth (2:14; 2:23). Like Israel, Jesus comes out of Egypt, passes through water at his baptism, where the Father calls him his beloved Son (3:17), and spends forty days tested in the wilderness, answering the devil each time with words from Deuteronomy (4:1-10). Then he begins to preach that people should turn from sin, because the kingdom of heaven has come near (4:17).

chapters 5–7: the Sermon on the Mount

Like Moses, Jesus goes up a mountain to teach (5:1). He begins by calling blessed the people the world overlooks: the spiritually poor, the grieving, the gentle, the merciful, the peacemakers and the persecuted (5:3-10). His followers are to be salt and light (5:13-14). He has not come to cancel the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them (5:17). In six contrasts he goes to the root of the law: anger as well as murder, lust as well as adultery, love for enemies as well as neighbors (5:21-44).

He warns against religion done for show and teaches a model prayer that asks for God's name to be honored, his kingdom to come, daily bread, forgiveness and rescue from evil (6:1; 6:9-13). He tells his hearers not to worry but to make God's kingdom their first concern (6:25; 6:33), to treat others as they want to be treated (7:12), and to build on his words like a man who builds on rock (7:24). The crowds are amazed, because he teaches with his own authority (7:28-29).

chapters 8–13: power, mission and parables

Matthew then groups ten miracles. Jesus cleanses a leper, heals a Roman officer's servant from a distance and praises the soldier's faith, calms a storm, frees two demon-possessed men, forgives and heals a paralyzed man and raises a dead girl (8:3; 8:13; 8:26; 9:6; 9:25). He calls Matthew from his tax booth and eats with sinners, explaining that the sick are the ones who need a doctor (9:9-12). Then he sends the Twelve to proclaim the kingdom, warning them they will be like sheep among wolves (10:1; 10:16).

Responses to Jesus divide. John the Baptist wonders from prison whether Jesus is the one (11:3). Jesus invites all who are weary to come to him for rest (11:28). The Pharisees accuse him of working by the power of Satan (12:24). In chapter 13 he answers with parables: the sower and four kinds of soil, the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, the pearl and the net (13:3; 13:24; 13:31; 13:44-47). The kingdom starts small and meets resistance, but it is worth everything.

chapters 14–20: who is the Messiah?

After Herod beheads John the Baptist (14:10), Jesus feeds five thousand men (14:21) and walks on the lake. Only Matthew adds that Peter stepped out on the water too, then began to sink (14:29-30). Later Jesus feeds four thousand (15:38).

At Caesarea Philippi Jesus asks who his disciples say he is. Peter answers that he is the Messiah, the Son of the living God (16:16). Jesus renames him Peter, meaning rock, promises to found his church on that rock, and gives him the keys of the kingdom (16:18-19). From then on he tells them plainly that he must suffer, die and rise on the third day (16:21). On a mountain he is transfigured before Peter, James and John, his face shining like the sun, with Moses and Elijah beside him (17:1-3).

The fourth discourse teaches how to live together: become humble like a child, seek the one lost sheep, confront a brother privately, and forgive without limit, as the parable of the unforgiving servant shows (18:3-4; 18:12; 18:15; 18:21-35). On the road to Jerusalem Jesus teaches about marriage and riches, tells of vineyard workers all paid the same, and says he came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (19:6; 19:24; 20:1-16; 20:28).

chapters 21–25: conflict in Jerusalem

Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah, while crowds shout praise to the Son of David (21:5; 21:9). He drives the traders out of the temple (21:12) and tells parables against the leaders who reject him (21:33-45). They try to trap him with questions about taxes, resurrection and the greatest commandment. He answers that the greatest commands are to love God with everything and to care for others as much as for oneself (22:21; 22:37-39).

In chapter 23 he pronounces seven woes on the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites and weeps over Jerusalem (23:13; 23:37). The final discourse, on the Mount of Olives, predicts the temple's destruction and his return in glory (24:2; 24:30). Three parables urge readiness: the ten bridesmaids, the talents, and the sheep and goats, where the King counts every kindness to the most overlooked of his family as kindness to himself (25:1; 25:14; 25:40).

chapters 26–28: death and resurrection

Judas agrees to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins (26:15). At the Passover meal Jesus gives the bread as his body and the cup as his blood of the covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of sins (26:26-28). In Gethsemane he prays that the Father's will be done (26:39). He is arrested, condemned by the high priest's council and denied three times by Peter (26:57; 26:75).

Matthew adds details found nowhere else. Judas throws the money into the temple and hangs himself (27:5). Pilate's wife warns her husband after a dream (27:19). Pilate washes his hands before the crowd (27:24). Jesus is crucified as King of the Jews and cries out the opening words of Psalm 22:1 (27:37; 27:46). When he dies, the temple curtain tears in two, the earth shakes and tombs open (27:51-52). A Roman centurion says he truly was the Son of God (27:54). Guards are posted at the tomb (27:66).

At dawn on Sunday an angel shows the women the empty tomb: Jesus has risen, just as he promised (28:6). The guards are paid to claim the body was stolen (28:12-13). On a mountain in Galilee the risen Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth is his. He sends the eleven to make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey him, and he promises to be with them always (28:18-20).

Matthew chapter by chapter

Click any chapter number to read it.

Main themes of Matthew

Jesus the promised Messiah

Son of David and fulfillment of prophecy (1:1; 5:17).

The kingdom of heaven

God's rule arriving through Jesus (4:17).

God with us

The book opens and closes with his presence (1:23; 28:20).

True righteousness

Obedience from the heart, not for show (5:20; 6:1).

Discipleship and mission

Following Jesus and making disciples of all nations (4:19; 28:19).

Lessons from Matthew

• God keeps his promises. Centuries of prophecy meet in Jesus (1:22).
• Put the kingdom first. Worry loosens its grip (6:33).
• Forgive freely. We have been forgiven a huge debt (18:32-33).
• Serve the least. Kindness to them is kindness to Christ (25:40).
• Go and make disciples. Jesus goes with those he sends (28:19-20).

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