The gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew,
the apostle, is the first book in the English language New Testament. This
gospel was written to convince Jews that Jesus of Nazareth, was indeed
the long awaited Messiah. In no other gospel do we find so many fulfilled
Old Testamere prophecies. A phrase that runs throughout Matthew is "this
is that which fulfilled what the prophet said..." or some such words. Matthew
wanted his readers to understand that all
the prophecies concerning the Messiah were indeed fulfilled in Jesus,
plus many prophecies that they did not understand to be Messianic also.
Matthew painted the picture of Jesus as the son of David therefore He was in line to be king. This is whom the wise men from the east asked about in chapter two. They asked in Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews.? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." Later as Jesus stood before the Roman Governor, Pilate asked "Are you King of the Jews?" (Matthew 27:11). Matthew painted a picture of one who was indeed in close contact with our Lord, using many phrases and words that the Jewish people were accustom to using in their daily lives. Matthew recorded that when Jesus taught the people were astonished at His teaching and so are we even today.