St Matthew
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Today’s Friday on Faith is on the Gospel of Matthew.
Tradition suggests that Matthew was Jesus’ scribe.
That’s unlikely. The Gospel of Matthew was written early 80 years after the crucifixion. The author is unlikely to be Matthew the Tax Collector, one of the apostles.
Who wrote it is secondary to what it tells us. Some of Christs’ most comforting words are here. The meek inheriting the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers. It is here that Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy; come and He will give you rest.
Only Matthew attempts to give us Jesus’ lineage, which would be critically important to Jewish readers. Only Matthew tells us about Jesus walking on water, and Peter beginning to sink when his faith falters. We are told that those who sow generously shall reap generously. We are told the parable of the wayward son, one of the most complicated and important teachings of Christianity – how we are to be reconciled to God and to one another.
And Matthew tells us that Jesus death on the cross is not the end of the story. He appears to his disciples, and tells them that He goes on: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And it is Matthew, the only Gospel, that tells us ‘when two or three of you are gathered in my name, I am there among you.’
Matthew tells us that from that day to this very day, Jesus is with us. Good news, indeed.
Chris Conley
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