Handbook on the Gospels (Handbooks on the New Testament)

Benjamin L. Gladd, Gladd, Benjamin L.

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781540960160
• eBook ISBN: 9781493429257
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

A leading New Testament scholar provides an easy-to-navigate resource for studying and understanding the Gospels. Written with classroom utility and pastoral application in mind, this accessibly written volume summarizes the content of each major section of the biblical text to help students, pastors, and laypeople quickly grasp the sense of particular passages. The series, modeled after Baker Academic's successful Old Testament Handbook series, focuses primarily on the content of the biblical books without getting bogged down in historical-critical questions or detailed verse-by-verse exegesis. The book covers all four Gospels and explores each major passage, showing how Jesus is the central figure of each plot. It also unpacks how the Old Testament informs the Gospels.

CHAPTER ONE
The Gospel of Matthew

Introduction

Authorship and Date

While contemporary scholars often deny that Matthew wrote the First Gospel, a great deal of evidence exists for attributing the authorship of the First Gospel to him. One line of argumentation is the title itself. The extant manuscripts of all four Gospels include the titles. For example, the title of the First Gospel reads, “According to Matthew” (kata Maththaion), and the title of the Second Gospel reads, “According to Mark” (kata Markon). Luke’s and John’s Gospels follow suit. Many commentators supposed that the early church tagged the four Gospels after their publication to differentiate them from one another. But recently, a handful of scholars have argued that these titles are original. If the titles were present upon publication, then they go a long way in determining authorship. Matthew, also known as Levi (Mark 2:14 // Luke 5:27–28), was a Jewish tax collector and one of the Twelve (Matt. 9:9; 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). This explains why within the First Gospel an emphasis on taxation is discernable (see 9:9; 10:3; 17:24–27). The early church, too, assumes that Matthew wrote this Gospel (e.g., Irenaeus, Haer. 1.26.2, 3.1.1; Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.7.10, 3.24.5, 3.39.16).

The dating of the First Gospel turns on its relationship to Mark’s and Luke’s Gospels and on the predictive nature of the Olivet Discourse (24:1–25:46). Since it appears that Matthew depends on Mark, a Gospel likely published in the early to mid-60s, and many of the events outlined in the Olivet Discourse were initially fulfilled in AD 70, Matthew’s Gospel was likely published in the mid to late 60s.

Purpose

Matthew, possibly writing from Antioch of Syria, writes to a largely Jewish audience and to some gentile Christians. Jesus of Nazareth, the First Gospel argues, is the centerpiece of the history of redemption. All of Israel’s institutions, events, and individuals as chronicled throughout the Old Testament anticipate Jesus as the long-awaited Davidic King and true Israel. Jesus is also “Immanuel”—God has drawn near to humanity (Matt. 1:23). Mark highlights the preparation and mysterious arrival of the kingdom, Luke underscores its scope, and Matthew puts his finger on the growth of the kingdom.

Outline

Matthew, Mark, and Luke generally trace Jesus’s ministry along geographic lines, moving from Jesus’s baptism in Judea to his public ministry in Galilee and then to Jerusalem. Matthew, though, intersperses five blocks of teaching that outline a particular dimension of the eternal kingdom (5:1–7:29; 10:1–11:1; 13:1–53; 18:1–19:1; 23:1–26:1). Jesus’s teaching also explains and reinforces his actions.

Prologue (1:1–3:17)

The Genealogy (1:1–17)

The Birth of Jesus (1:18–25)

Flight to Egypt (2:1–18)

Home in Nazareth (2:19–23)

John the Baptist (3:1–17)

Baptism of a Remnant of Israelites (3:1–12)

Baptism of Jesus as True Israel (3:13–17)

Stage 1: Jesus in Galilee (4:1–18:35)

The Wilderness Temptation and the Beginning of Jesus’s Public Ministry (4:1–25)

Success in the Judean Wilderness (4:1–11)

Announcing the Kingdom in Galilee (4:12–17)

Calling the First Disciples and Healing the Sick (4:18–25)

The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29)

The Nine Blessings or “Beatitudes” (5:1–12)

Jesus and the Law (5:13–48)

Participation in the New Temple (6:1–18)

Social Implications of Living in the Overlap of the Ages (6:19–7:12)

Three Warnings (7:13–29)

Faith That Heals and Perseveres (8:1–34)

Cleansing the Leper, the Centurion, and a Multitude (8:1–17)

Following the Lord of Creation (8:18–34)

Following King Jesus as the Life-Giving Son of God (9:1–34)

The Healing of the Paralytic and the Calling of Matthew (9:1–13)

New Wineskins and the In-Breaking of the New Age (9:14–26)

An Unexpected Messiah and the Hardening of the Jewish Leaders (9:27–34)

Appointing the Twelve Disciples (9:35–10:42)

The Need for a Faithful Shepherd (9:35–38)

The Twelve Disciples as Faithful Shepherds (10:1–42)

Galilee’s Rejection of John and Jesus (11:1–30)

John the Baptist (11:1–19)

Judgment upon Unbelieving Cities (11:20–24)

The Hidden Wisdom of God (11:25–30)

Growing Conflict with the Jewish Leaders (12:1–50)

Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath (12:1–14)

Jesus as Isaiah’s Suffering Servant (12:15–21)

Continued Blindness (12:22–50)

Parables of the Kingdom (13:1–52)

The Parable of the Sower and the Mysteries of the Kingdom (13:1–50)

Comprehension of the Mysteries of the Kingdom (13:51–52)

Rejection and Revelation (13:53–14:36)

Rejection at Home (13:53–58)

Herod’s Rejection of John the Baptist (14:1–12)

The Feeding of the Five Thousand (14:13–21)

Walking on the Water (14:22–36)

The End-Time Restoration of the Gentiles (15:1–39)

Eating with Unwashed Hands (15:1–20)

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman (15:21–28)

The Feeding of the Four Thousand (15:29–39)

The Heresy of the Jewish Leaders and the Truthful Confession of Peter (16:1–28)

Jewish Leaders Test Jesus (16:1–4)

The False Teaching of the Jewish Leaders (16:5–12)

Peter’s Confession and Jesus’s Prediction of Death (16:13–28)

Jesus as the Enthroned Son of Man and Faithful Israel (17:1–27)

The Transfiguration (17:1–20)

The Suffering Son of Man and the Temple Tax (17:22–27)

Relating to One Another within the Kingdom (18:1–35)

A Kingdom Outlook (18:1–5)

Persevering in the Kingdom (18:6–9)

Promoting the Worth of Kingdom Citizens and Preserving the End-Time Temple (18:10–35)

Stage 2: The Journey to Jerusalem (19:1–20:34)

On the Road to Jerusalem (19:1–30)

Disputation with the Jewish Leaders on Divorce (19:1–12)

Entry into the Kingdom (19:13–30)

A Suffering Son of David (20:1–34)

Parable of the Vineyard Workers (20:1–16)

Third Passion Prediction and a Request for Honor (20:17–28)

Healing Two Blind Men (20:29–34)

Stage 3: Jesus in Jerusalem (21:1–28:20)

The Arrival of Israel’s King and Its Implications (21:1–22:46)

Triumphal Entry (21:1–11)

Judging Israel’s Temple and the Cursing of the Fig Tree (21:12–22)

Parables of the Two Sons and the Wicked Tenants (21:23–46)

Parable of the Banquet (22:1–14)

War of Words (22:15–46)

Judgment upon Israel’s Religious Authorities (23:1–39)

Hypocrisy (23:1–12)

The Seven Woes (23:13–39)

Destruction of Israel’s Temple and the Return of the Son of Man (24:1–25:46)

Jesus as the Crushing Stone (24:1–3)

Judgment upon Israel’s Temple (24:4–35)

The Second Coming (24:36–25:46)

The Son of Man’s Betrayal and Trial before the Sanhedrin (26:1–75)

Jesus as the Anointed King (26:1–16)

Jesus’s Faithfulness as the Passover Lamb (26:17–46)

Jesus’s Arrest and Trial and Peter’s Denial (26:47–75)

The Son of Man’s Death (27:1–66)

The “Handing Over” of Jesus and the Death of Judas (27:1–10)

Jesus’s Trial and Sentencing before Pilate (27:11–26)

Jesus’s Crucifixion and Burial (27:27–66)

The Exalted Son of Man and the Great Commission (28:1–20)

The Empty Tomb (28:1–10)

The Great Deception (28:11–15)

The Great Commission (28:16–20)

Prologue (1:1–3:17)

The Genealogy (1:1–17)

Two of the four Gospels include a genealogy. Luke squeezes his between John’s imprisonment and the wilderness temptation (Luke 3:21–37), but the First Gospel is the only one that leads with it (1:1–17). Matthew not only opens his Gospel with a genealogy; he introduces the genealogy (and the prologue) with a critical phrase: “the genealogy [biblos geneseōs] of Jesus Christ.” The wording alludes to two salient texts from the Genesis narrative: “this is the account [hē biblos geneseōs] of the heavens and the earth” (2:4) and “this is the written account [hē biblos geneseōs] of Adam’s family line” (5:1). The connection is intentional, setting the whole of Jesus’s ministry on a redemptive-historical trajectory. Jesus, the last Adam, has come to reverse the effects of the first Adam’s transgression and establish the new age—the age of righteousness and obedience. The first creation was marked with a genealogy, and now the new creation will follow suit. By opening the genealogy with an allusion to Genesis 2:4 and 5:1, Matthew indicates that all of the First Gospel, at some level, should be read as an account of Jesus bringing life to a fallen world.

Matthew explicitly describes Jesus as “the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). By ordering David’s name before Abraham’s even though Abraham came first, the evangelist draws attention to Jesus’s royal pedigree. Above all, the genealogy impresses upon Matthew’s readers that Jesus is the long-awaited Son of David. He’s cut from the same royal cloth. The structure of the genealogy, too, reflects an emphasis on Jesus’s messiahship. Matthew’s arrangement contains three chronological sections: premonarchical period (1:2–6a), monarchical period until the exile (1:6b–11), and the deportation until the long-awaited Messiah (1:12–16).

In addition to the genealogy’s Davidic focus, one can discern God’s sovereign hand in the unfolding of Israel’s history. As we read about the people of God in the OT, we may wonder why biblical authors included so many odd stories with seemingly incidental details. But if we take a step back, as Matthew does, and look at the history of redemption from God’s perspective, we discover that there are no random events. God plans all of it, from beginning to end, so that a redeemer would arrive and bring his glory to the ends of the earth.

Why does Matthew include the patriarch Abraham in a genealogy so focused on David? Matthew does so for at least three cardinal reasons: God assured Abraham that he would be the father of a “great nation,” the nation would occupy the promised land (Gen. 12:1–9; 15:4–20, etc.), and Israel would bless the nations (Gen. 12:3). Jesus is not simply a descendant of Abraham—he is the descendant, and as such he fulfills God’s promises to Israel’s patriarchs. Jesus is true Israel who, on account of his obedience, inherits the true land of promise (i.e., the new creation) and “blesses” the gentiles. All three dimensions of the Abrahamic covenant—innumerable descendants, des...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Series Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Abbreviations
• 1. The Gospel of Matthew
• 2. The Gospel of Mark
• 3. The Gospel of Luke
• 4. The Gospel of John
• Scipture and Ancient Writings Index
• Subject Index
• Back Cover