Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Introduction].
be one of the Twelve Apostles, a business man called into the
ministry as was true of the fishermen James and John, Andrew and
Simon. In the lists of the Apostles he comes either seventh or
eighth. There is nothing definite told about him in the Gospels
apart from the circle of the Twelve after the feast which he gave
to his fellow publicans in honor of Jesus.
Matthew was in the habit of keeping accounts and it is
quite possible that he took notes of the sayings of Jesus as he
heard them. At any rate he gives much attention to the teachings
of Jesus as, for instance, the Sermon on the Mount in chapters
Mt 5-7, the parables in Mt 13, the denunciation of the
Pharisees in Mt 23, the great eschatological discourse in Mt
24; 25. As a publican in Galilee he was not a narrow Jew and so
we do not expect a book prejudiced in favor of the Jews and
against the Gentiles. He does seem to show that Jesus is the
Messiah of Jewish expectation and hope and so makes frequent
quotations from the Old Testament by way of confirmation and
illustration. There is no narrow nationalism in Matthew. Jesus is
both the Messiah of the Jews and the Saviour of the world.
There are ten parables in Matthew not in the other
Gospels: The Tares, the Hid Treasure, the Net, the Pearl of Great
Price, the Unmerciful Servant, the Labourers in the Vineyard, the
Two Sons, the Marriage of the King's Son, the Ten Virgins, the
Talents. The only miracles in Matthew alone are the Two Blind
Men, the Coin in the Mouth of the Fish. But Matthew gives the
narrative of the Birth of Jesus from the standpoint of Joseph
while Luke tells that wonderful story from the standpoint of
Mary. There are details of the Death and Resurrection given by
Matthew alone.
The book follows the same general chronological plan as
that in Mark, but with various groups like the miracles in Mt 8;
9, the parables in Mt 13.
The style is free from Hebraisms and has few individual
peculiarities. The author is fond of the phrase the kingdom of
heaven and pictures Jesus as the Son of man, but also as the Son
of God. He sometimes abbreviates Mark's statements and sometimes
expands them to be more precise.
Plummer shows the broad general plan of both Mark and
Matthew to be the same as follows:
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