New Piney Grove Baptist Church's Monthly theme commentary for January 2014.

1. NEW PINEY GROVE
MONTHLY THEME
COMMENTARY
2014

2. JANUARY
The
Gospel
According To
MATTHEW

3. It is fitting that the New Testament
begins with four accounts of the life of
Jesus Christ. These accounts are called
“gospels.” We get this word from the
Greek word eu-ange-lizō. The original
definition was a “reward for bringing a
good message.” The word became a
general term for the triumphant
message from the battlefield, and it
was used for joyous proclamations or
for personal messages of good news.

4. Eu-ange-lizō describes a good report
from the battlefield, a message of
victory. This is its essential meaning in
the New Testament. The gospel is the
message of Christ’s victory over the
enemy. It is the story of His life on
earth and His death on the cross for
the sins of mankind. The strong one
(The devil) has been conquered by One
who is stronger (Jesus). This is indeed
“good news.”

5. The first three Gospels - Matthew,
Mark and Luke - take a similar view of
the facts surrounding the life of Jesus
Christ, while the Fourth Gospel is
unique in its presentation. Because of
this common view of Jesus Christ the
first three New Testament books are
called the Synoptic Gospels. The term
Synoptic means to “see together;”
they present the life and ministry of
Jesus from a common point-of-view.

6. The first of these four New Testament
books is the Gospel according to
Matthew. Matthew was an outcast
Jew named Levi. He was a tax
collector for the Roman Government
and thus was hated by the Jewish
community. But meeting Jesus not
only changed his name, but changed
his life. Matthew wrote primarily to a
Jewish audience and portrays Jesus
as the Eternal King.

7. Matthew wrote his gospel to persuade
his Jewish audience that Jesus was
the Messiah, despite of the fact that
Jesus did not set up an earthly
kingdom as they expected. Matthew
did this by connecting Jesus with
Jewish tradition and Old Testament
prophecy. The Book of Matthew
places
great
emphasis
on
the
teaching ministry of Jesus Christ
more than the other three.

8. WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• How Matthew’s Gospel exposed
the inadequate religious practices
of the Jewish leaders
• How Matthew’s Gospel explained
to Christians how their religion is
the fulfillment of God’s promises
and patterns of activity in the Old
Testament

9. WHAT CAN WE LEARN
• The Book of Matthew includes some
“mysteries”
about
the
kingdom, which had not been
revealed in the Old Testament.
These “mysteries” show that the
kingdom has taken a different form
in the present Age which, will be
instituted at a future time when
Jesus Christ returns to earth to
establish His rule.

10. FINAL THOUGHT
While Christians of “this present age”
await the “Kingdom to come,” we are
to “prepare the way of the LORD.” We
do this by living a life of witness. The
rejected and despised tax collector
became a witness of the Kingdom. His
writing reflects his love and devotion
for the Master. He shared the good
news in his book. How are we sharing
it?