Matthew

Author
The text of the gospel does not explicitly state who the author was, but from the earliest times the authorship of this gospel was always attributed to Matthew (Mt 9:9-10), also known as Levi (Lk 5:27-29, Mk 2:14). He was one of the Twelve apostles (Mt 10:3, Acts 1:13) and a former tax collector.

Recipients
The text of the gospel does not explicitly tell us to whom this was written. Whatever determination we make about the original readers of this gospel must be based on internal considerations.

Place of Origin and Date
The place of origin and date of the gospel is not given by any internal details, but it was probably written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. After this date, Palestinian Judaism no longer existed and Matthew's substantial discussion of it would have been irrelevant.

Immediate Occasion
The text of the gospel does not state an immediate occasion for its writing, so whatever conclusion we reach about its occasion must be derived from internal considerations.

Main Theme and Focus
The gospel is concerned primarily with the kingdom of God. The term "kingdom" is used 53 times. The main thrust of Matthew's discussion is that Jesus came to bring the kingdom (Mt 4:17) and that the kingdom would be taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles (Mt 3:11-12, 8:12, 21:43). This theme is seen in the denunciation of the existing status quo in Palestinian Judaism (Mt 4:17, 6:1, 15:1-20, 23:1-36). It is culminated in the great commission to take the gospel-- and the kingdom-- to all nations and not the Jews (Mt 28:18-20).

Along the way, Matthew shows Jesus discussing the nature of the kingdom. Jesus is concerned about entering the kingdom (Mt 7:21), Peter's role in bringing the kingdom (Mt 16:18-19) and the ethics of the kingdom (Mt 5:3-12). He refers to secrets of the kingdom (Mt 13:11) and the place of importance of the word of God in the kingdom (Mt 13:18-23).

Seeing how Matthew discusses the kingdom helps us see who he was writing for. His denunciation of the religion of the Jews may have been a response to a mentality in the church that revered Judaism too much, failing to see how corrupt it had been. The discussion of the ethics of the kingdom may have been a response to a lax moral conviction of the church in Matthew's time. Finally, the continual emphasis on the kingdom going from the Jews to the Gentiles was probably his response to his readers' questions of why the Jews were no longer the people of God, but that the church had now taken up that role.

Key Passages for Today
Mt 4:17 The kingdom comes with repentance.
Mt 5-7 The Sermon on the Mount: the ethics of the kingdom.
Mt 10 The limited commission.
Mt 13 The parables of the kingdom.
Mt 18:10-35 Dealing with sin in the kingdom.
Mt 28:18-20 The great commission