Matthew is the doorway to the New Testament. It stands first for a reason. Everything the Old Testament promised walks onto the page in the person of Jesus Christ.
Matthew is about Jesus Christ the King. From the opening genealogy to the final command on the mountain, this Gospel presents Jesus as the promised Son of David, the Messiah Israel had waited for through the centuries. Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than any other Gospel, and his message never changes: this is the One the prophets spoke of.
The writer was Matthew himself, also called Levi, a tax collector Jesus called away from his booth with two words: Follow me. Tax collectors were despised men, regarded as traitors who worked for Rome against their own people. Jesus called one anyway, and that man gave us the first book of the New Testament. The early church consistently recognized Matthew as its author, and the Gospel’s careful attention to money, records, and details fits the hand of a man who once kept ledgers for a living.
Matthew was written sometime between A.D. 50 and 70, while many who had seen Jesus with their own eyes were still living. He wrote primarily for Jewish readers, which is why he begins with Abraham, traces the royal line through David, and assumes his readers know the Law, the prophets, and the promises God made to Israel.
Several great themes run through all twenty-eight chapters. Jesus is King, but His kingdom is not what Israel expected. Righteousness is not what the Pharisees taught—it must exceed theirs, yet no man can produce it by his own effort. Fulfilled prophecy appears at every turn, revealing that nothing in the life of Christ happened by accident. Above all, Matthew moves steadily toward the Cross, because the King came to give His life for His people. His own name declared His mission before He was born.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
— Matthew 1:21
The chapters below walk through Matthew one chapter at a time, in order. Start at the beginning. Let the King introduce Himself.