Biblical Criticism 1 – Catherine Nguyen
World behind the text: The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel (which mean ‘good news’ in Old English) of Matthew was written in the late 70’s to the early 80’s (during the first century). The author is believed to be Matthew (Mark 3:18, Matt 9:9, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13), who was a tax collector. Matthew was also a ‘trained scribe’ (Matt 13:52) who could speak multiple languages such as Aramaic and Greek.He was a Jew until Jesus called him to become one of his disciples and became a Christian. After Jesus healed a man who could not walk (Matt 9:1-8), Jesus spotted Matthew who was sitting down collecting taxes. He asked him to ‘follow him’ (Mark 9:9) and later that night, they had dinner at his house. It is believed that he wrote this book to teach a community with internal divisions and external enemies (Jews and Gentiles who believed in Jesus, but argue over the Jewish laws) about Jesus’ heritage (Jewish)
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The teaching goes ‘If you do good deeds, don't try to show it off. If you do, you will not get a reward from your father in heaven’. ‘Your father in heaven’ will not give you a reward as you have already received praise from others. ‘When you give to the poor, don't blow a loud horn. That's what show-offs do in the synagogues and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward’. Show offs in this world have received their praise as they brag to others about what they have done. Praise from others is their reward and will not receive more from their father. ‘When you give to the poor, don't let anyone know about it. Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret and will reward you’. Giving is something we do not brag about nor let anyone know about. So when we give to others in secret, only our father will know and when the time comes he will reward