Serampore College, Faculty of theology

The New Testament Assignment.

Topic: An outlined of the Gospel of Matthew.

Submitted by: Mr. Lewanki Roy Bareh, BD 1st year (2nd Semester).

Submitted to: Rev. Dr. Dipankar Haldar.

Dated: The 28th Jan 2019.

Introduction

The Gospel of Matthew is being written by Matthew himself who happens to be one of Jesus disciples.
The gospel consists of 28 chapters and 1071 verses and it is the longest by chapter count. Matthew being
a Jew, and his writings taking from the Jewish perspective gives a detail account of the birth of Jesus and
his life, his divine existence in this world has fulfilled what has been prophesied by God’s great prophet
Isaiah, saying, The Son of God shall be born through virgin Mary and he shall be called the Messiah, the
son of God whom he have sent into this world that whosoever believed in him shall be saved from the
filthy sin of this world. Matthew carefully outlined the life teachings of Jesus to his disciples and to the
people of this world. Teachings were mainly about discipleship and pastoral care of the church which
indeed consist mostly about Faith, the faith which God wants us the people to believe in his son Jesus
Christ. Here is an outlined of the gospel of Matthew which are in the following ways.

Chapter 1: The Nativity story or the Genealogy of Jesus.

(1-17):- Matthew chose to include the Genealogy of Jesus right from the First generation of Adam to
Abraham to David which is fourteen generations and from David to the deportation of Babylon and to the
messiah, the birth of Jesus Christ, twenty eight generations altogether.

(18-25):- This portion gives a brief description of the birth of Jesus- the virgin birth. The heroic act of
Joseph and the adoration of the wise men.

Chapter 2: The Journey to Egypt, the murder of the innocents and the return to Nazareth.

(1-12):- The ways in which the human birth of Jesus is bathed in supernatural and miraculous happenings.
Early evidence of Matthew’s persuasive purpose to prove that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah and the
Kingship of Christ acknowledged by the wealthy and the wise of the world.

(13-15):- The wakeup call for Joseph and his family to travel to Egypt to save Jesus from getting killed
and not to return to Egypt until the demise of King Herod.

(16-18):- Herod ordered to kill all children in Bethlehem under 2 years old, for the wise men had annoyed
him and knowing that he was fooled by them.
(19-23):- God appeared to Joseph and told him to go to Israel for the enemies are all dead. Joseph moved
immediately to the land of Israel. It was the reign of Archelaus in the land of Judea, the son of Herod.
Joseph being uncomfortable with the reign of Herod’s son, he went away to the district of Galilee and
made his home in a town called Nazareth.

Chapter 3: John, the Baptist, forerunner.

(1-12):- Matthew here narrates the story of John who fills the role of preacher of repentance who
preached in the wilderness. John’s outlook appearance seems a little awkward, his clothing were of
camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and honey. And this preacher happens to
be the Baptizer of Jesus who himself considers is not even worthy to carry Jesus sandals.

(13-17):- The arrival of Jesus in Galilee which claims to be one of the most priceless and historic event
that took place while he was being baptized by John at the Jordan River. The spirit of God appearing like
a dove and lights him on, with a voice from heaven uttered, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I
am well pleased”.

Chapter 4: The temptation of Jesus.

(1-11):- Satan tries to lure Jesus from his innocence, his love for God and most importantly his Faith. This
temptation has brought life teachings from Jesus that he had been able to overcome all the three great
temptations of Satan, which Jesus Christ is the Victor over Satan and evil.

(12-17):- Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee. When Jesus learned of John‘s arrest, he withdrew to
Galilee, went to Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea.

(18-22):- Jesus calls his first disciples. As Jesus was walking by the sea shore, he saw two brothers Simon
(Peter) and Andrew, they were fishing. Jesus told them “Follow me and I will make you fish people”, and
they left their work, their business and followed Jesus.

(23-25):-Jesus ministers to crowds of people by his great teachings at the Synagogues, proclaiming the
good news of the kingdom healings every sickness and bondage. His fame had spread all over the region
and great crowds followed him and received blessings.

Chapter 5: The Beatitudes.

(1-12):-Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Jesus outlines the life that is required of those who would follow him
in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says nothing about institutions and instead locates virtue in the human
soul in obedience to God and under his blessing.

(13-16):-Jesus preached about Salt and Light of this world which is we the people may see the good
works and give the glory to God, the Father in Heaven.

(17-20):-Jesus clarifies the meaning of the Old Testament law and intensifies its application. Jesus
declares the principle that he himself is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus also states that his followers must
apply the law much more fully than the Pharisees.
(21-26):-With this principle as the foundation, Jesus then applies the principle of exceeding the
righteousness of the Pharisees in the areas of murder and anger.

(27-30):-Jesus is strongly against adultery. Therefore, one must know where his eyes and heart desires
which is good in the eyes of the Lord.

(31-32):-Concerning divorce also a major crisis when a married man commits adultery while leaving his
wife. It is truly a great sin.

(33-37):-Swearing oaths falsely is against the Lord. Therefore, we must not bear false witness or swearing
before anyone especially the word, ‘Heaven’, for it is the throne of God.

(38-42):-Teachings on Retaliation. No revenge shall be taken by any form for it is said that if someone
slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek round.

(43-48):-The Love for enemies is one of the great teachings of the Lord. Perhaps it is one of the hardest
thing to do in life. And if anyone who does the will of the Lord, “You therefore must be perfect as your
heavenly father is perfect”.

Chapter 6: Instructions on Three religious practices.

(1-18):- Again Jesus states a Principle and then applies it to specific situations. Jesus proceeds to apply
the principle of secret and inner piety to the three spheres of giving offerings in public worship. Praying
and Fasting and the so-called The Lord’s Prayer is highly patterned, it follows from invocation to
petitions to a concluding doxology. And note that the prayer is a family prayer for the people of God.

(19-24):-The three religious practices in the preceding are now supplemented by a threefold command
about choosing right values- choosing heavenly rather than earthly treasure, being full of light rather than
darkness and serving God rather than money.

(25-34):-Jesus discourse against anxiety. This passage is also highly rhetorical and Jesus uses
interspersed, issues direct commands and employs a subtle logic as in leading us to see that worrying is
both useless and evidence of lack of faith in God.

Chapter 7: Instructions on four practices

(1-12):- He issues commands on not judging others without attention to our own faults, not profaning to
what is holy, asking God for what we need, and doing to others as we wish them to do to us.

(13-29):-As Jesus nears the end of his sermon; he nudges his listeners to make a choice by posing three
great contrasts that shows that we need to make a decision. True and false prophets and a house built on a
rock versus one built on the sand. The concluding verses show the impact of Jesus sermon on his
listeners.
Chapter 8: A collection of miracle stories.

(1-34):- In keeping with the back and forth rhythm of the book, Matthew tells stories of miracles that
Jesus performed. We can profitably note the range of miracles that Jesus performed, the range of people
with whom he came into contact as he performed his miracles and the picture of Jesus that emerges from
his miracles. We can ponder what we learn about Jesus that we had not yet seen in Matthew’s gospel.

Chapter 9: A miscellany of material.

(1-38):- Matthew tells three more miracle stories in this chapter- a calling story, a pronouncement story
and Jesus explanation of why his disciples did not fast and Jesus comment on the need for laborers to
harvest the field.

Chapter 10: Commissioning of the Disciples.

(1-42):- The instructions to the disciples unfold as follows- a roll call of the disciples whom Jesus called,
specific instructions regarding how the disciples would be persecuted as they went forth in Christ’s name.
An exhortation not to be fearful, an explanation that Jesus had come into the world in order to force
people to take sides for or against him, an outline of spiritual rewards that will come to a faithful disciple.
Although some of the instructions were uniquely intended for the original disciples and principles for
Christian ministry in any age, lending us to ponder what we are called to do for Jesus and what we can
expect in return both from the world and from God.

Chapter 11: Conflict stories involving the crowd.

(1-30):-Here we can see, there is an edge to Jesus interactions with various onlookers. For example; a
questioned by John the Baptist’s followers about whether Jesus was the promised Messiah. In that
context, Jesus discourse about taking his yoke upon oneself has the force of being an antidote to the
unbelief that has just been denounced.

Chapter 12: Conflict stories involving the religious leaders.

(1-50):- Conflict stories pits Jesus against the religious establishment designated as the Pharisees. The
conflicts grow out of Sabbath observance, casting out a demon and seeking a sign from Jesus. Even the
brief epilogue in which Jesus family asks to see him has an edge to it, as Jesus remains aloof from his
earthly family and states that “ whoever does the will of my father in heaven”, is his brother and sister.

Chapter 13: Collected parables.

(1-9):- While Mathew’s general plan is to narrate the life of Jesus in chronological sequence. As Jesus
travelled through Galilee, the various ingredients that Matthew clusters together were doubtless mingled-
miracles, parables, altercations, encounters and the like. Taken as a group, these parables are known as
the parables of the kingdom because they use the introductory formula, “The kingdom of heaven”. The
parables of the sower and the weeds.

(24-30):-The parable of the mustard seed.

(31-32):-The parable of the yeast.

(36-43):-Second, at the end of the chapter we learn, to our surprise, that the parables of Jesus elicited
antagonism from the people of Jesus hometown.

44:- Pearl of the great value.

(45-46):- The net of fish.

(47-50):-New and old treasures.

(51-52):-To know what these parables teach us, we need to apply the usual rules of interpreting parables.

(53-58):- Overall, the parables of the kingdom assert the supreme value of entering God’s kingdom. The
response that the parables encourage is to believe the gospel as the means of entering the kingdom.

Chapter 14: Tragedy and miracle.

(1-12):- At the beginning of this chapter, Matthew includes the narrative of the death of John the Baptist,
which does not involved Jesus at all.

(13-21):-This is followed by two miracles – the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on water.

(22-36):- Both stories incorporate lessons of faith and provide strong evidence for the divine identity of
Jesus Christ as the God of providence and creation.

Chapter 15: Conflict and miracle.

(1-20):-The conflict story involving the complaint of the religious leaders about Jesus casualness
regarding ceremonial cleansing.

(21-28):- And is followed by two miracles – the healing of the demon possessed daughter of the
Canaanite woman.

(32-39):- And the feeding of the four thousand. This story gives us a wealth of insight into the spiritual
life and into Jesus power and compassion.

Chapter 16: Stories of Jesus with his disciples.

(1-4):-Matthew chose to include Jesus interactions with his disciples as follows- Jesus warning to avoid
the false teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

(5-12):-Peter’s great confession of Jesus as the Christ.

(13-20):-Jesus preparing of his disciples for his suffering, death and resurrection.

(21-23):-Jesus discourse about the need to deny oneself as a pre-requisite for following him, combined
with further statements about his coming death.
(24-28):-Peter’s confession and Jesus follow-up words. Peter’s confession concludes the case Matthew
has made that Jesus is the Christ. With his identity clarified, Jesus turns at once to his work and the story
now moves inexorably to the cross.

Chapter 17: Varied events in the life of Jesus.

(1-13):- Capturing the varied nature of Jesus life – the Transfiguration.

(14-21):- Healing the epileptic boy.

(22-23):- Prediction of Jesus death and resurrection.

(24-27):- A miracle related to the question of paying taxes, which each of these events contributes to the
characterization of Jesus.

Chapter 18: Discourse on not hindering entrance into the kingdom and on forgiveness.

(1-5):- The entire remainder of this chapter is a discourse by Jesus, the need to become like a child to
enter the kingdom of heaven.

(6-9):- A further warning to avoid temptations to sins that would prevent one from entering the kingdom.

(10-14):- The parable of the lost sheep as further evidence that God does not want any of these little ones
to perish.

(15-20):- Instructions on what to do if your brother sins against you accompanied by the possibility of
being excluded from the kingdom.

(21-35):- Instructions about forgiveness accompanied by the parable of the unforgiving servant.

Chapter 19: Lessons for the Disciples.

(1-12):- Chapter 19 starts out as a conflict story in which the Pharisees try to trip Jesus with a trick
questioning him regarding divorce.

(13-15):- The disciples learned a second lesson when they try to prevent children from coming to Jesus.

(16-22):- Following that Jesus standing up to the rich young man who values possessions over entrance
into the kingdom of God leads Jesus to instruct the disciples further about the requirements of entering the
kingdom.

(23-30):- Teaches the additional point that heavenly reward depends on divine grace rather than human
merit. As always, what the disciples learned we as readers today are expected to learn.

Chapter 20: The vineyard and Jesus journey to Jerusalem.

(1-16):- The first collection of these stories constitutes a travel story in which Jesus and his companions
go up to his Jerusalem and about the kingdom of heaven who is like the landowner who went out early in
the morning to hire laborers for the vineyard.
(17-28):- Jesus tells his disciples about his impending passion and death. Jesus has to contend with the
ambition of the mother of James and John and the follow up anger of the other disciples.

(29-34):- Jesus heals the two blind men on the outskirts of Jericho.

Chapter 21: Jesus Triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

(1-11):- Jesus makes the triumphal entry. As we ponder the individual units, we learn about Jesus and his
sacrifice. Further his triumphal entry fits in with Matthew’s overall purpose to show that Jesus is the
prophesied Messiah and also the true king.

(12-27):- The cleansing of the temple, the barren fig tree, accompanied by Jesus teaching about the power
of faith. The effect of these events at the temple is to intensify the plot conflict between Jesus and his
opponents.

(28-32):-The parables of the two sons and their father’s vineyard.

(33-46):-The wicked tenants who killed their owners son.

Chapter 22: More parables of the Kingdom.

(1-16):- Good interpretive works of these parables are – what they teach about the kingdom of heaven and
what they say about Jesus identity and how they constitute a conflict story towards Jesus death at the
hands of the Jewish authorities.

(15-22):- The hostility of the religious establishment becomes more intense in this threefold series of
questions and answers. The Jewish leaders wrangle with Jesus with three questions-the paying of taxes.

(23-40):- The nature of married relationships and what the greatest commandment is.

(41-46):- The questions about David’s son which led to Jesus crucifixion.

Chapter 23: Jesus attack on the Pharisees.

(1-39):- This is a swing chapter that has affinities which led Jesus to denounces scribes and Pharisees.
Jesus Conflict with the Pharisees in which their teachings and practices were wrong and if they were
wrong for the Pharisees to practice, they are wrong for us to practice.

Chapter 24:- Destruction of the temple.

(1-28):- Next to revelation, comes destruction of the temple, the sign of the times, the persecution of
God’s servants and believers and false prophets or false messiahs.

(29-51):-Earthly disaster, the second coming of the Son of God, the preparation of the faithful and
believers and the unexpectedness of the End times.

Chapter 25: The parables and the Judgement of Nations.

(1-13):- Two eschatological parables – the wise and the foolish virgins.
(14-30):- The stewards entrusted with talents and the awe inspiring narrative of the separation of the
sheep and goats when the son of man comes in his glory.

(31-46):- There is a need to be prepared at all times for the end times can come anytime and the
judgement day.

Chapter 26: Schemes to kill Jesus, the anointing and the Last supper.

(1-13):- The plot to kill Jesus after he foretold about his future. And the anointing at Bethany that
prepares Jesus for his burial.

(14-16):-Judas betrays Jesus by selling him.

(17-30):- The Passover meal that Jesus eats with his disciples, during the Lord’s Supper.

(31-35):- Jesus foretold about Peter’s denying him by an act of foolishness.

(36-46):- Jesus agony in Gethsemane.

(47-56):-Jesus betrayal and arrest.

(57-68):-Jesus furtive trial before the high priest Caiaphas.

(69-75):-Peter’s denial of Jesus.

Chapter 27: Final maneuverings before the crucifixion

(1-26):- It is well attested that the trials to which Jesus was subjected in the hours just before his
execution were a mockery of justice. The action that unfolds the binding of Jesus and delivery of him to
the Roman governor Pilate. Judas Iscariot regrets and returns of the thirty pieces of silver. Jesus trial
before the Pilate. Pilate’s release of Barabbas in exchange for Jesus and hands over Jesus for crucifixion.

(27-31):- The procession to Golgotha.

(32-49):- The events that transpired there during the crucifixion, the moment of death, accompanied by
an awe inspiring miracles.

(50-53):- Responses to onlookers.

(54-56):- The burial of Jesus at the end of the day.

(57-61):- The sealing of the tomb.

(62-66):- The details of the story carry a greater than themselves, that this is what it took to accomplished
the salvation of sinners. The sadness is unbearable.
Chapter 28: The resurrection and its aftermath.

(1-10):- Matthew’s account of the resurrection is businesslike and brief consisting of three narrative units
– the discovery of Jesus, resurrection and the bribing of the soldiers to perpetuate the false story to the
theft of Jesus body.

(11-15):- Jesus meeting with his disciples on a mountain where he delivers to them what became known
as the great commission.

(16-20):- The effect of this chapter is to propel us outward from the atoning life of Jesus on earth to the
lives for the rest of the human history. Jesus lives on forever and eternal, he has entrusted his followers
with the global mission of proclaiming the gospel and baptized them.

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Bibliography.

1. Ryken Leland and Philip Graham Ryken, The Literary study bible ESV. Good news publishers,
Illinois, USA. 2007.