The first book of the New Testament is the Gospel according to Matthew; in which Matthew kicks off his introduction to Jesus with a genealogical record beginning with Abraham—the father of Israel. This beginning of Matthew’s Gospel points to his clear picture of Jesus—the Jewish Messiah who came as God’s promised gift to bring salvation to the whole world (Strauss 214). Clearly, Matthew builds upon Mark’s account of Jesus in his Gospel, but with an extra emphasis on Jesus’ Jewish connection and his life being the God’s fulfilled promise for the nation of Israel. Matthew displays Jesus’ connection with God’s chosen people through his narration, similarities to Moses, and announcement of the Kingdom of Frist off, Matthew records Jesus’ speaking about the Old Testament more than any other Gospel writer (Strauss 247). In addition, Matthew appears to be “proficient in Hebrew as well as Greek and that his primary Bible was the Hebrew Scriptures” (Strauss 218). This means Matthew was well versed in Old Testament law, tradition and language giving him an advantage of connecting Jesus to the fulfillment of God’s Promise to rescue and …show more content…
Although this use of heaven over God seems subtle, the implication is one of reverence for Jewish customs of the divine name (Strauss 246), but also perhaps represents Matthew’s theology that heaven was literally breaking into his world through Christ. For instance, Matthew goes out of his way to highlight Jesus’ avoidance of political action but rather highlights Jesus’ healings and deliverances (Strauss 239). Also, Matthew highlights Jesus forgiving sins and knowing people’s thoughts which was clearly God’s ability who was no longer in heaven but on earth (Strauss