Matthew’s Gospel for today

Abstract

In this article I offer an interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew in its originating context with a view to making some suggestions about how Matthew may still speak today. Working by inference from the shape and content of the Gospel, I suggest that, against the backdrop of the partings of the ways between synagogue and church, Matthew wrote for the following reasons: to establish and display Jesus’ identity; to help his readers understand better who they are; to strengthen his readers’ faith; to provide a warrant for Gentile inclusion in the people of God; and to show how God’s new people are to live. I then reflect on what may be considered responsible ways of appropriating Matthew for today, including the way in which his apocalyptic theology generates an ethos of moral seriousness.