Together the four Gospels describe the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus – the most important historical events of all time. Each Gospel has something unique to offer; the Gospel of Matthew is filled with the discourses of Jesus, and presents an exceptionally Jewish view of Jesus' life and his fulfillment of Scripture. Because of its tremendous power and importance, Matthew, like the other Gospels, has been under constant attack from modern scholars. Despite arguments to the contrary, there is rich evidence that Matthew’s Gospel was written prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, and that Matthew actually took down Jesus' words verbatim.
Early Origin
As quoted by Eusebius in Hist. Eccl. 3.39, Papias states: "Matthew put together the oracles of the Lord in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could."
Many scholars now believe that the Gospels were written before Paul's first imprisonment of AD 57-60, and Risto Santala argues in The Messiah in the New Testament, p.47-48, that virtually all of the New Testament books were written before Jerusalem's destruction. There is no hint in the New Testament of Nero's persecutions after AD 64, nor of the execution of James, the Lord's brother, in AD 62. There is not the slightest mention of the Jewish revolt against the Romans which began in AD 66. These historic events would have been irresistible in making many of the arguments in the New Testament documents.
Textual evidence suggests that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. In hundreds of places the Greek sentence structure betrays a Semitic influence and implies a translation from the Hebrew. Jesus' teachings in Matthew contain significant numbers of Hebrew/Aramaic puns, alliterations, and word connections. What’s more, Matthew is the most specifically Jewish Gospel, clearly written for a Jewish audience with a focus on Jesus as the Messiah in fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Papyrus Discovery
In 1994, a segment of the Greek text of Matthew's Gospel appears to now have been dated before AD 66. Known as the Magdalen Papyrus, P64, it contains segments of Matthew 26:23, 31 on both sides of three fragments.
Carsten Peter Thiede, then Director of the Institute for Basic Epistemological Research in Paderborn, did the research on the Magdalen Papyrus. According to The Times of London, December 24 1994, he determined, "that the Gospel according to Matthew is an eyewitness account written by contemporaries of Christ."
It appears that within five years after the death and resurrection of Christ, most of His words and deeds had been committed to a simple written Hebrew form and Matthew is, of course, assumed to be part of this compilation. Within a decade, this corpus would have been translated into a Greek version for church requirements. This body of information is often called the "Q-document" (for German, quelle, source). Around the year AD 50 the original material was developed into written Greek form and the "synoptic" Gospels were composed, probably since the persecutions were imminent. The key point is that eyewitnesses were still around to verify the details.
While some argue that Matthew, as an eye-witness, would not have depended on other sources for his Gospel, it can also be argued that he didn’t need to reinvent the wheel regarding the narrative of Jesus' life. It had been sufficiently written down, and Matthew verified it by accepting much of it. Rather, the information unique to Matthew’s Gospel demonstrates that Matthew was indeed with Jesus – and with his pen in hand.
Stenographic Skill
There is, in fact, reason to believe that Matthew had the skills of a tachygrapher, or shorthand writer. As a former customs official, he would have had a working knowledge of tachygraphy, and thus may have been able to transcribe the Sermon on the Mount verbatim, just as Tertius and others were able to transcribe Paul's more verbose utterances. (The reason Matthew's Gospel is so much longer than Mark's is that he includes these extensive discourses.) For more information on this skill, see our article, "The Bible in Shorthand."
Your Challenge
Matthew's thoroughness and precision lends many special insights as one delves into his detailed presentations. His rendering of the Seven Kingdom Parables in Chapter 13 are remarkably parallel to the Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3. His presentation of Jesus' confidential briefing to His disciples about His Second Coming in Chapter 24 is an essential foundation in any eschatological (end-time) study. He also focuses specifically on Jesus' fulfillment of Old Testament Scriptures.
This very basic book of the Bible is a most rewarding study to both novice and experienced Bible students who are willing to diligently dig in.
Related Links:
• The Gospel Of Matthew - Crandall University Religious Studies