Matthew: The King and His Kingdom
Come and meet Jesus as Matthew presents Him – Israel’s promised Messiah, the authoritative King, the compassionate Saviour and the Son who calls people not merely to hear His words, but to follow Him.
Welcome to Matthew
Matthew opens the New Testament by taking us immediately into a story that has already been unfolding for centuries.
“Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Those opening words matter.
Matthew does not introduce Jesus as though He has appeared without context. He places Him within the long history of God’s dealings with Israel – the promises to Abraham, the royal line of David, the Scriptures of Israel and the expectation that God would accomplish His saving purposes.
Then Jesus arrives.
He teaches with astonishing authority.
He announces the kingdom of heaven.
He heals the sick.
He welcomes the overlooked.
He confronts hypocrisy.
He forgives sins.
He commands the wind and waves.
He sends His disciples into the world.
And throughout the Gospel, one question becomes increasingly difficult to avoid:
Who is this Jesus, and what does it mean to respond rightly to Him?
Matthew does not allow Jesus to remain merely an admired teacher.
He is presented as the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Man and the Son of God. His authority extends over sickness, nature, spiritual powers, sin, the interpretation of God’s commands and ultimately death itself.
Yet His kingship does not unfold according to ordinary human expectations.
The King serves.
The King welcomes children.
The King touches those others avoid.
The King teaches His followers to forgive.
The King rides into Jerusalem humbly.
And the King is crucified.
What appears to be defeat becomes the place from which the Gospel moves towards resurrection and worldwide mission.
Matthew therefore invites more than admiration.
It confronts the reader with the authority of Jesus.
His words are meant to be heard and obeyed.
His kingdom challenges competing loyalties.
His mercy exposes self-righteousness.
His holiness reaches beneath outward behaviour into the heart.
And His resurrection changes everything.
Matthew begins with “God with us” and ends with the risen Jesus declaring:
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Between those two declarations stands the life, teaching, death and resurrection of the King.
Before You Begin
Matthew is deeply rooted in the Old Testament.
Again and again, the Gospel draws attention to Israel’s Scriptures and presents events in Jesus’ life in relation to God’s earlier promises and purposes.
That means Matthew is best read with the whole biblical story in view.
Abraham matters.
David matters.
Moses matters.
Israel’s history matters.
The prophets matter.
The temple matters.
The covenant story matters.
Matthew wants us to understand that Jesus’ arrival belongs within the story God has already been telling.
At the same time, care is needed when reading Matthew’s fulfilment language. Sometimes Matthew points to direct messianic expectation. At other times he recognises patterns in Israel’s Scriptures and history that reach a fuller significance in Jesus.
We should therefore allow Matthew himself to make those connections rather than inventing symbolic parallels of our own.
The expression “kingdom of heaven” appears repeatedly throughout Matthew. It does not simply mean going to heaven after death. It speaks of God’s kingly rule breaking into history through Jesus and moving towards its ultimate completion.
The kingdom is already present in important ways because the King has come, yet its final fullness still lies ahead.
Matthew also contains strong confrontations between Jesus and certain religious leaders. These passages should not be turned into hostility towards Jewish people. Jesus, His disciples and the earliest believers were themselves Jewish, and the disputes recorded in Matthew arise within that historical setting.
Another important feature of Matthew is discipleship.
Jesus does not merely gather people who agree with certain statements about Him.
He calls followers.
They listen.
They learn.
They misunderstand.
They fail.
They are corrected.
They are sent.
And they gradually discover that following Jesus means bringing every part of life beneath His authority.
That makes Matthew deeply transformational.
Not because every event in Jesus’ ministry becomes a promise about what will happen in your circumstances, but because Matthew steadily reveals who Jesus is.
And once you begin to see Him clearly, the question becomes unavoidable:
What does a life look like when Jesus really is King?
The Story of Matthew
Matthew moves from the arrival of Israel’s Messiah through His teaching and ministry, growing opposition, journey towards Jerusalem, crucifixion and resurrection.
Along the way, Jesus teaches extensively about life under God’s rule and forms disciples who will eventually be commissioned to carry His teaching to the nations.
Movement One – The King Arrives
Matthew 1-4
What Happens Here
Matthew begins with a genealogy tracing Jesus through the story of Israel, highlighting Abraham, David, the exile and finally the Messiah.
The genealogy includes unexpected people and complicated histories. God’s redemptive purposes have moved through generations marked not only by faithfulness, but also by human weakness, sin, suffering and disruption.
Jesus’ birth is then described from Joseph’s perspective.
Mary is found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Joseph initially intends to end the betrothal quietly, but an angel tells him that the child has been conceived through the Holy Spirit and instructs him to name the child Jesus:
“For He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew connects His birth with Isaiah’s language concerning Immanuel – “God with us.”
Wise men later arrive seeking the newborn King of the Jews. Their worship contrasts sharply with Herod’s fear and violence.
Jesus’ family flees to Egypt before eventually returning and settling in Nazareth.
Then John the Baptist appears calling Israel to repentance because the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.
Jesus is baptised, the Spirit of God descends upon Him, and the Father’s voice identifies Him as His beloved Son.
Immediately afterwards Jesus is led into the wilderness, where He resists the devil’s temptations and remains faithful to His Father.
He then begins proclaiming:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
And He calls His first disciples:
“Follow Me.”
What to Notice About God
God has not abandoned the story.
Generations have passed. Israel has experienced monarchy, division, exile and foreign domination. Yet Matthew opens by showing that God’s redemptive purposes have continued moving towards Jesus.
Notice also what Jesus comes to address.
The angel does not primarily announce that Jesus will rescue His people from uncomfortable circumstances.
He says:
“He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew begins by placing humanity’s deepest problem beneath the surface of circumstances.
We need more than improved conditions.
We need salvation.
A Thread to Follow
Watch the language of Son throughout these opening chapters.
Jesus is the Son associated with David’s royal line. He is identified by the Father as His beloved Son. Matthew also applies Israel-shaped language to Jesus’ journey from Egypt and into the wilderness.
Yet where Israel’s history included repeated unfaithfulness, Jesus remains obedient under temptation.
Matthew is already preparing us to see that Jesus stands at the centre of God’s purposes for Israel and ultimately the nations.
Pause & Notice
- What titles, promises and Old Testament connections does Matthew use to introduce Jesus?
- What do Jesus’ baptism and temptation begin to reveal about His identity and faithfulness?
- When you think about what you most need from Jesus, are you willing to let Scripture define your deepest need rather than beginning only with the circumstances you want changed?
Movement Two – The King Teaches
Matthew 5-7
What Happens Here
Jesus goes up on a mountain and begins what has become known as the Sermon on the Mount.
He describes those who are blessed within God’s kingdom – the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those persecuted because of righteousness.
He calls His followers salt and light.
He explains that He has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them.
Then Jesus repeatedly moves beneath external behaviour into the heart.
Murder is considered alongside anger.
Adultery is considered alongside lust.
Love must reach beyond friends to enemies.
Religious practices such as giving, prayer and fasting must not become performances designed to gain human admiration.
Treasure must not be centred on earth.
Anxiety is confronted by the Father’s knowledge and care.
Judgement of others must be accompanied by honest examination of ourselves.
Jesus teaches His disciples to pray for God’s name to be honoured, His kingdom to come and His will to be done.
The sermon concludes with a series of contrasts.
Two gates.
Two kinds of fruit.
Two responses to Jesus.
Two foundations.
The wise person is not simply the one who hears Jesus’ words.
The wise person hears them and acts upon them.
What to Notice About God
God is concerned with more than religious appearance.
He sees what is hidden.
He sees motives.
He sees secret generosity and secret prayer.
He knows what His children need.
He values reconciliation, mercy, faithfulness, integrity and wholehearted devotion.
Jesus’ teaching dismantles the idea that righteousness can be reduced to managing outward appearances while leaving the inner life untouched.
A Thread to Follow
Matthew will repeatedly return to the difference between appearance and reality.
Someone can look religious and remain inwardly far from God.
Someone can speak impressive words without actually obeying Jesus.
Someone can even call Jesus “Lord” while resisting His authority.
The Sermon on the Mount therefore presses beyond religious familiarity.
Jesus is forming people whose inner and outer lives increasingly come under God’s rule.
Pause & Notice
- Where does Jesus move from outward behaviour to the motives and desires of the heart?
- What does the Sermon on the Mount reveal about the character and priorities of God’s kingdom?
- Is there an area where you have become more concerned with appearing right than allowing Jesus’ teaching to address what is actually happening within your heart?
Movement Three – The Authority and Compassion of the King
Matthew 8-10
What Happens Here
After Jesus teaches with authority, Matthew shows Him acting with authority.
A man with leprosy is cleansed.
A centurion’s servant is healed.
Peter’s mother-in-law is restored.
Jesus calms a storm.
Demons obey Him.
A paralysed man is healed after Jesus first declares his sins forgiven.
Matthew the tax collector is called to follow Him.
Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners, provoking criticism from religious leaders.
His response reveals something central to His mission:
“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.”
Jesus raises a ruler’s daughter and heals a woman who has suffered for years. Blind men receive sight. A man unable to speak is restored.
The needs around Jesus seem endless.
Matthew tells us that when Jesus sees the crowds, He feels compassion because they are distressed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus then sends the twelve disciples out to Israel, giving them authority and preparing them for both ministry and opposition.
They are not promised ease.
They are warned that following and representing Jesus can bring rejection, conflict and persecution.
Their allegiance to Him must run deeper than fear of people.
What to Notice About God
Jesus’ authority is extraordinary, but Matthew does not present it as cold power.
Authority and compassion belong together.
Jesus sees suffering.
He touches the unclean.
He responds to faith.
He notices the overlooked.
He welcomes sinners.
And He sees crowds not as interruptions, statistics or problems, but with compassion.
Yet His compassion does not mean discipleship will always make life comfortable.
The same Jesus who heals also prepares His followers to endure opposition faithfully.
A Thread to Follow
Watch the relationship between authority and discipleship.
Jesus has authority over disease, creation and spiritual powers.
But His authority also reaches the person who hears:
“Follow Me.”
It is possible to admire what Jesus can do while resisting His claim over our lives.
Matthew will not allow those things to remain separated.
Pause & Notice
- Over what areas does Matthew demonstrate Jesus’ authority in these chapters?
- What do Jesus’ interactions with suffering, marginalised and sinful people reveal about His character?
- Are you more comfortable asking Jesus to exercise His authority for you than allowing His authority to reshape you?
Movement Four – Responses to the King
Matthew 11-13
What Happens Here
As Jesus’ ministry continues, different responses to Him become increasingly visible.
John the Baptist, imprisoned and facing circumstances very different from what might have been expected, sends messengers asking whether Jesus truly is the One who was to come.
Jesus directs attention to what is happening through His ministry in language echoing prophetic expectation.
Some towns witness Jesus’ works and still refuse to repent.
Religious leaders challenge Him over Sabbath practices and eventually accuse Him of acting through demonic power.
Jesus warns about the seriousness of hardened resistance to the work of God’s Spirit.
Yet in the middle of growing opposition comes one of Matthew’s gentlest invitations:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus does not merely offer a technique for rest.
He says:
“Come to Me.”
Matthew 13 then gathers a series of parables about the kingdom.
A sower scatters seed onto different soils.
Wheat and weeds grow together until the harvest.
A mustard seed begins small.
Leaven quietly works through dough.
Treasure hidden in a field and a pearl of extraordinary value portray the kingdom’s surpassing worth.
The kingdom has arrived, yet not everyone responds to it in the same way.
What to Notice About God
God’s kingdom does not always arrive in ways human beings expect.
Jesus’ ministry can be witnessed and still rejected.
Truth can be heard without being welcomed.
Religious knowledge does not automatically produce repentance.
Yet Jesus continues inviting the weary to Himself.
His gentleness is not weakness, and His authority is not harshness.
He describes Himself as gentle and humble in heart.
A Thread to Follow
The parable of the soils introduces an important question:
What happens when the word is heard?
The difference is not merely exposure to truth.
The issue is reception, endurance and fruitfulness.
This prepares us to examine not simply whether we have heard Jesus’ words, but what His words are producing within us.
Pause & Notice
- What different responses to Jesus appear across these chapters?
- What do the kingdom parables teach about hearing, receiving and responding to God’s word?
- When Scripture challenges something you already believe, desire or prefer, what tends to happen within you – resistance, defensiveness, temporary enthusiasm or a willingness to let truth take root?
Movement Five – Recognising the Messiah
Matthew 14-17
What Happens Here
The shadow of opposition deepens with the execution of John the Baptist.
Jesus withdraws, yet crowds follow Him.
He feeds thousands with a small amount of food and later walks across the sea towards His disciples.
Peter steps onto the water at Jesus’ command but becomes afraid as he notices the wind.
The disciples worship Jesus and confess:
“You are truly God’s Son!”
Conflict with religious leaders continues, particularly concerning traditions and purity. Jesus teaches that defilement is not merely an external matter; evil proceeds from the human heart.
Matthew also records Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman whose persistent appeal results in Jesus commending her great faith.
Then comes a decisive moment.
Jesus asks His disciples:
“Who do you say that I am?”
Peter answers:
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
But Peter’s correct confession does not mean he yet understands what Jesus’ messiahship will involve.
When Jesus begins explaining that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed and be raised, Peter objects.
Jesus rebukes him sharply.
Human expectations of victory must be corrected by God’s purposes.
Jesus then teaches that discipleship involves self-denial and taking up one’s cross.
Soon afterwards, Peter, James and John see Jesus transfigured before them. Moses and Elijah appear, and the Father’s voice declares:
“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!”
What to Notice About God
It is possible to say something true about Jesus while still misunderstanding His ways.
Peter knows who Jesus is before he understands what the Messiah must do.
Jesus will not reshape His mission around human expectations.
He moves towards suffering and death because the path of God’s saving purpose runs through the cross.
A Thread to Follow
Listen to the Father’s words:
“Listen to Him.”
That command reaches directly into discipleship.
Jesus must be allowed to define Jesus.
We do not begin with the Messiah we would prefer and then fit Jesus into that expectation.
We listen.
And sometimes listening means allowing Him to overturn assumptions we have carried for years.
Pause & Notice
- What do these chapters reveal about the disciples’ growing understanding of Jesus?
- Why is Peter’s confession important, and what does his immediate misunderstanding teach us?
- Are there places where you gladly confess Jesus as Lord but still resist what His words require because His way conflicts with your expectations?
Movement Six – Life Together Under the King
Matthew 18-20
What Happens Here
The disciples ask Jesus who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus places a child among them and overturns their assumptions about status and greatness.
He warns against causing others to stumble and speaks about the Father’s concern for those who wander.
Matthew 18 also addresses relationships within the community of disciples.
Jesus gives instruction concerning sin between believers, correction, forgiveness and restoration.
Peter asks how often he must forgive.
Jesus answers with a parable about an unforgiving servant who has received extraordinary mercy yet refuses mercy to another.
Jesus later addresses marriage and divorce in response to a question from the Pharisees, welcomes children whom the disciples attempt to send away and encounters a rich young man whose possessions expose the depth of his attachment to wealth.
The disciples are astonished by Jesus’ teaching about riches.
Jesus then tells a parable about labourers in a vineyard that confronts assumptions about entitlement and generosity.
For a third time, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection.
Yet immediately afterwards, the mother of James and John asks for positions of honour for her sons.
Jesus responds by redefining greatness:
“Whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant.”
Then He points to Himself.
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.
What to Notice About God
God’s kingdom overturns ordinary measurements of greatness.
Status is not greatness.
Visibility is not greatness.
Possession is not greatness.
Power over others is not greatness.
Jesus places service at the centre and embodies what He teaches.
The King Himself serves.
A Thread to Follow
Notice how often relationships reveal whether kingdom truth has actually reached the heart.
Forgiveness.
Humility.
Marriage.
Money.
Status.
Service.
Jesus does not describe discipleship as an abstract spirituality disconnected from ordinary relationships and desires.
Life under His rule reaches into the way people treat one another.
Pause & Notice
- What human ideas about greatness, wealth, entitlement and forgiveness does Jesus challenge?
- How does Jesus Himself become the model for authority and greatness?
- Where might your desire to be recognised, vindicated, secure or important be shaping the way you treat other people?
Movement Seven – The King Enters Jerusalem
Matthew 21-23
What Happens Here
Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey as crowds spread garments and branches before Him and cry:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
He enters the temple and drives out those buying and selling there, challenging what the temple courts have become.
Tensions rapidly intensify.
Religious leaders question Jesus’ authority.
Jesus responds with parables that expose rejection, hypocrisy and failure to respond rightly to God.
Questions are brought to trap Him.
Should taxes be paid to Caesar?
What about resurrection?
Which commandment is greatest?
Jesus answers each challenge and identifies love for God and love for neighbour as the great commandments upon which the Law and Prophets depend.
Then Matthew 23 records a severe denunciation of scribes and Pharisees.
Jesus condemns hypocrisy, love of status, distorted priorities and religious appearances that conceal inner corruption.
Yet the chapter ends not with triumph over opponents but lament:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem…”
Jesus speaks of His longing to gather her children and of their unwillingness.
What to Notice About God
Jesus’ opposition to hypocrisy reveals God’s concern for truth in the inner life.
Religious language cannot substitute for love of God.
Public appearance cannot compensate for injustice, faithlessness or pride.
Spiritual leadership does not place someone beyond examination.
And Jesus’ judgement should not be separated from His grief.
He speaks hard truth while lamenting Jerusalem’s refusal.
A Thread to Follow
The conflict has now become unmistakable.
The rightful King has entered Jerusalem.
But His authority is being resisted.
Matthew’s Gospel repeatedly shows that proximity to sacred things is not the same as surrender to God.
The temple can be entered.
Scripture can be studied.
Religious titles can be held.
And the heart can still resist the One to whom all of those things were meant to point.
Pause & Notice
- What specific attitudes and behaviours does Jesus condemn in these chapters?
- What do His confrontations reveal about God’s concern for sincerity, justice, mercy, faithfulness and love?
- Is there any place where familiarity with Christian language or practice could be allowing you to avoid a more searching question about whether your heart and behaviour actually reflect what Jesus teaches?
Movement Eight – The King Speaks of What Is Coming
Matthew 24-25
What Happens Here
After leaving the temple, Jesus speaks with His disciples about coming judgement and future events.
These chapters contain some of Matthew’s most difficult teaching, and faithful interpreters differ over how particular details relate to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, later history and events associated with Christ’s return.
The central emphasis, however, is much clearer than every chronological question.
Jesus tells His followers not to be deceived.
They must endure.
They must remain watchful.
They must not assume that they can calculate the moment of His coming.
“Of that day and hour no one knows.”
Jesus then tells several parables emphasising readiness and faithfulness.
The faithful servant continues doing what the master entrusted to him.
The wise bridesmaids remain prepared.
The servants entrusted with resources are accountable for what they do with what belongs to their master.
Finally, Jesus portrays the Son of Man coming in glory and judging the nations, with the treatment of “the least of these” playing a central role in the scene.
What to Notice About God
History is not ultimately directionless.
Jesus speaks of accountability, judgement and His return.
But His teaching about the future is not given merely to satisfy curiosity.
It calls for faithful living in the present.
Watchfulness is not presented as endless speculation.
It is readiness expressed through enduring allegiance, responsible stewardship and obedience.
A Thread to Follow
Matthew repeatedly joins future hope with present faithfulness.
The question is not simply:
“When will these things happen?”
The more searching question is:
How should disciples live while they wait?
Jesus’ answer repeatedly moves towards faithfulness.
Pause & Notice
- What commands and warnings does Jesus repeat throughout these chapters?
- How do the parables connect future accountability with present faithfulness?
- Does thinking about Christ’s return make you primarily curious about timelines, or does it deepen your desire to live faithfully with what He has entrusted to you now?
Movement Nine – The King Gives His Life
Matthew 26-27
What Happens Here
The final movement towards the cross begins.
Religious leaders plot to arrest Jesus.
At Bethany, a woman pours expensive perfume upon Him, an act Jesus connects with His coming burial.
Judas agrees to betray Him.
During the Passover meal, Jesus takes bread and wine and interprets them in relation to His approaching death.
Of the cup He says:
“This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
In Gethsemane, Jesus is deeply distressed.
He prays to His Father and submits Himself to the Father’s will.
His disciples repeatedly fall asleep.
Judas arrives.
Jesus is arrested.
His disciples flee.
Peter, who had confidently declared that he would never deny Jesus, denies Him three times.
Jesus is brought before the Jewish council and then before Pilate.
The crowd calls for Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be crucified.
Roman soldiers mock Him as king.
A crown of thorns is placed upon His head.
He is crucified beneath the charge:
“THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Darkness falls.
Jesus dies.
The temple curtain is torn from top to bottom.
A centurion and those with him respond in fear:
“Truly this was the Son of God!”
Jesus is buried in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
A guard is placed at the tomb.
What to Notice About God
Matthew has spent the Gospel revealing Jesus’ authority.
Yet at the cross, the One with authority submits Himself to arrest, humiliation and death.
This is not because Jesus has ceased to be King.
The cross belongs at the heart of His mission.
Earlier He explained that the Son of Man came to give His life “as a ransom for many.”
At the final meal He speaks of His blood being poured out “for forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew therefore gives us categories supplied by Jesus Himself for understanding His death.
It is sacrificial.
It is covenantal.
It is connected with forgiveness.
And it is voluntarily embraced in obedience to the Father.
A Thread to Follow
Notice the collapse of human confidence around Jesus.
Judas betrays.
Peter denies.
The disciples flee.
Religious leaders condemn.
Pilate compromises.
Soldiers mock.
The crowds participate.
No human character emerges from the passion story as the triumphant hero.
Jesus remains faithful.
The Gospel does not invite us to stand at the cross congratulating ourselves for being unlike everyone else.
It invites us to see the seriousness of sin and the astonishing significance of what Jesus willingly does.
Pause & Notice
- What explanations has Jesus already given for the meaning of His approaching death?
- How does Matthew contrast human failure with Jesus’ faithfulness throughout these chapters?
- When you look at the cross, do you mainly see something familiar, or are you allowing it to confront you again with both the seriousness of sin and the depth of God’s saving grace?
Movement Ten – The King Is Risen
Matthew 28
What Happens Here
At dawn after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb.
An earthquake occurs.
An angel descends, rolls away the stone and announces:
“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.”
The women are told to inform the disciples.
Then Jesus Himself meets them.
They take hold of His feet and worship Him.
Meanwhile, the guards report what has happened, and the chief priests arrange for an alternative explanation of the empty tomb to be circulated.
The disciples travel to Galilee, where Jesus meets them on a mountain.
Some worship.
Matthew also tells us that some doubt.
Then Jesus speaks:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
On the basis of that authority, He commissions His disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded.
Matthew ends with Jesus’ promise:
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
What to Notice About God
The cross is not the end.
Jesus has risen.
And the One who was mocked as king now declares universal authority.
Notice what He does with that authority.
He sends His followers outward.
The Gospel that has been so deeply rooted in Israel’s story now opens explicitly towards all nations.
And disciples are not simply to produce converts who know that Jesus exists.
They are to make disciples.
People who learn Jesus’ teaching.
People who obey Jesus.
People who live beneath His authority.
People who then participate in His mission.
A Thread to Follow
Matthew begins with:
“Immanuel… God with us.”
Matthew ends with:
“I am with you always.”
The Gospel has travelled through birth, teaching, miracles, conflict, betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection.
And the risen King sends His disciples into the world with His authority and His presence.
Pause & Notice
- What does Jesus claim about His authority after His resurrection?
- What does the Great Commission reveal about the nature of Christian discipleship and mission?
- If following Jesus means learning to obey everything He taught, what part of His teaching might need to move from something you agree with into something you more deliberately live?
See Matthew as a Whole
Matthew begins with a genealogy and ends with the nations.
It begins with Abraham and David and ends with disciples being sent throughout the world.
It begins with a child identified as Immanuel – God with us and ends with the risen Jesus promising:
“I am with you always.”
Between those two declarations, Matthew reveals the King.
Jesus announces the kingdom.
He teaches its values.
He demonstrates its authority.
He exposes false righteousness.
He welcomes sinners.
He shows compassion.
He confronts hypocrisy.
He calls disciples.
He predicts His suffering.
He gives His life.
He rises from the dead.
And He sends His followers into the world.
But Matthew also shows the many ways people respond to Jesus.
Some worship.
Some follow.
Some hesitate.
Some misunderstand.
Some want His miracles without His authority.
Some fear losing their status.
Some openly oppose Him.
Some initially promise loyalty and then fail.
The question running beneath the Gospel is therefore not merely:
Who is Jesus?
Matthew answers that with increasing clarity.
The question eventually becomes:
What will you do with the Jesus Matthew has shown you?
Not the Jesus constructed by culture.
Not the Jesus reduced to a source of encouragement.
Not the Jesus reshaped around personal preference.
Matthew presents the Messiah who teaches with authority, exposes the heart, commands allegiance, gives His life for sinners, rises from death and possesses all authority in heaven and on earth.
The proper response is not merely admiration.
It is discipleship.
Seven Great Threads to Carry With You
1. Jesus Is the Promised Messiah and King
Matthew deliberately places Jesus within Israel’s story.
He is introduced as the son of David and son of Abraham. The Gospel repeatedly connects His life and ministry with Israel’s Scriptures and messianic expectation.
Yet Jesus’ kingship repeatedly overturns ordinary expectations of power.
He serves.
He suffers.
He gives His life.
Then, after His resurrection, He declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.
Matthew’s King cannot be reduced either to a political revolutionary or to a private spiritual comfort.
His authority is comprehensive.
2. The Kingdom of Heaven Has Drawn Near
The kingdom stands near the centre of Jesus’ preaching.
God’s reign has entered history decisively through the King.
Jesus demonstrates kingdom authority through His teaching, healing, deliverance and forgiveness.
But the kingdom is not yet seen in its final fullness.
Matthew therefore teaches disciples to live between arrival and completion.
The King has come.
The King reigns.
The King will come again.
Until then, His people are called to faithfulness.
3. Jesus Is Concerned With the Heart
Matthew repeatedly moves beneath external behaviour.
Anger matters.
Lust matters.
Motives matter.
Forgiveness matters.
The love of money matters.
The desire for status matters.
Religious performance matters.
Jesus refuses to let righteousness become a costume.
This does not make outward obedience unimportant. It means genuine obedience grows from a life increasingly brought under God’s rule from the inside out.
4. Hearing Jesus Requires Responding to Jesus
Matthew contains repeated warnings about hearing without responding.
The Sermon on the Mount ends with two builders.
The kingdom parables describe different responses to the word.
Jesus confronts people who possess extensive religious knowledge yet resist Him.
The Great Commission includes teaching disciples to obey everything Jesus commanded.
Biblical knowledge is precious.
But Matthew refuses to let knowledge become the destination.
Truth is meant to be heard, received and lived.
5. Greatness in God’s Kingdom Looks Different
The disciples repeatedly struggle with status.
Jesus repeatedly redirects them towards humility and service.
Children become illustrations of lowliness.
The first may be last.
Leaders are warned against loving titles and prominence.
And Jesus ultimately says that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.
The cross permanently challenges every attempt to use Christianity as a means of self-exaltation.
6. The Cross Is Central to the Mission of Jesus
Jesus does not stumble accidentally into crucifixion.
He repeatedly tells His disciples that He is going towards suffering, death and resurrection.
He describes His life as a ransom.
At the final meal He connects His blood with covenant and forgiveness.
Matthew therefore does not allow us to celebrate Jesus’ teaching while treating His death as an unfortunate ending.
The King came to save His people from their sins.
The road leads deliberately towards the cross.
7. The Risen Jesus Makes Disciples and Sends Them
Matthew ends not with the disciples settling into safety, but with a commission.
Because Jesus possesses all authority, His followers are sent to all nations.
They are to baptise.
They are to teach.
They are to make disciples.
And the disciples they make are themselves to learn obedience to Jesus.
Christian mission therefore involves more than spreading information about Jesus.
It invites people into a life of following Him.
Where Matthew Leads
Matthew stands at a remarkable place in the biblical story.
Its opening words reach backwards.
Abraham.
David.
Israel.
Exile.
Messianic expectation.
Its final words reach outward.
All nations.
The Gospel shows how God’s purposes announced throughout Israel’s Scriptures reach a decisive stage in Jesus the Messiah.
The promise to Abraham had always contained a horizon wider than one family alone. Through Abraham, God had promised blessing that would reach the nations.
The Davidic covenant had created expectation around a royal descendant.
The prophets had spoken of God’s coming salvation, His reign, His Servant and the future restoration associated with His purposes.
Matthew gathers these threads around Jesus.
But Jesus does not merely repeat Israel’s story.
He brings God’s saving purposes forward in a decisive way.
The New Testament will continue unfolding the significance of His death and resurrection.
Acts will show the gospel moving from Jerusalem towards the nations.
The letters will explain more fully the implications of Christ’s saving work for Jews and Gentiles united in Him.
Revelation will portray the Lamb worshipped by people from every tribe, language, people and nation and will look towards the final establishment of God’s reign in a renewed creation.
Matthew therefore stands between promise and mission.
The Messiah promised within Israel’s story has come.
The crucified King has risen.
And His disciples are sent into the world.
Before You Leave Matthew
Before moving on, stay with Matthew’s central question a little longer.
Who is Jesus to you in practice?
It is easy to answer correctly in words.
Peter did.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Yet moments later Peter resisted Jesus’ explanation of the cross.
Matthew shows us that correct confession and transformed thinking do not always arrive at exactly the same moment.
You can know the right words about Jesus while still discovering how deeply your assumptions need to be reshaped by Him.
Matthew invites you to examine what happens when Jesus’ authority touches the places you would rather control.
Your relationships.
Your money.
Your anger.
Your fears.
Your ambitions.
Your forgiveness.
Your desire for recognition.
Your treatment of people who cannot advance your interests.
Your private motives.
Your response to those who hurt you.
Your willingness to obey when obedience costs something.
Jesus does not address these things to make disciples anxious about whether they have performed perfectly.
Matthew openly shows the weakness of Jesus’ first disciples.
They misunderstand.
They argue about greatness.
They fall asleep.
They flee.
Peter denies Jesus.
Even when the risen Jesus appears, Matthew tells us that some doubted.
The Gospel is remarkably honest about imperfect disciples.
Yet Jesus continues teaching, correcting, restoring and commissioning them.
That should protect us from two opposite mistakes.
One is pretending that following Jesus means never struggling, doubting or failing.
The other is assuming that because grace is real, transformation does not matter.
Matthew permits neither.
Jesus welcomes sinners.
And Jesus teaches sinners to follow Him.
Grace does not make His authority irrelevant.
Grace brings us into relationship with the King whose teaching increasingly reshapes the way we live.
Matthew may therefore leave you with a different understanding of transformation.
Transformation is not becoming impressive.
It is not constructing a polished religious appearance.
It is not learning enough Christian language to sound spiritually mature.
It is becoming increasingly truthful before God.
Increasingly willing to listen.
Increasingly quick to repent.
Increasingly free from the need to impress.
Increasingly willing to forgive.
Increasingly able to serve without needing recognition.
Increasingly secure beneath the authority of Jesus rather than your own need for control.
And increasingly willing not merely to hear His words, but to build your life upon them.
Matthew does not ask you to manufacture this transformation through sheer determination.
It asks you first to see the King.
See His authority.
See His compassion.
See His holiness.
See His gentleness.
See His courage.
See His faithfulness.
See His cross.
See His resurrection.
Then ask what becomes possible when the truth about who He actually is begins reaching the places within you that still live as though everything depends upon you.
Pause Before You Continue
- After reading Matthew as a whole, which aspects of Jesus’ identity and authority stand out most clearly?
- What does Matthew teach you about the difference between outward religion and a heart genuinely being brought under God’s rule?
- Where might you be comfortable receiving comfort, help or forgiveness from Jesus while remaining more resistant to His authority over a particular part of your life?
- Is there an attitude Jesus repeatedly confronts in Matthew – pride, fear, unforgiveness, love of status, hypocrisy, anxiety, judgement of others, attachment to wealth or desire for control – that you need to examine more honestly in yourself?
- If you genuinely lived today believing that the crucified and risen Jesus possesses all authority and remains with His people, how might that truth reshape the way you trust, love, forgive, serve or obey?
Now Open His Word
Now return to Matthew itself.
Do not rush.
You are not merely collecting information about Jesus.
You are watching Matthew reveal Him.
Begin with the genealogy in Matthew 1.
It may be tempting to skip it, but stay there for a moment.
Notice Abraham.
Notice David.
Notice the exile.
Notice the unexpected names.
Ask why Matthew begins here.
Then read the birth narrative carefully.
Watch how often Matthew connects Jesus with Israel’s Scriptures.
Do not immediately turn every fulfilment quotation into a statement about your own circumstances.
First ask:
What is Matthew showing me about Jesus?
When you reach Matthew 3 and 4, watch the sequence.
Baptism.
The Father’s declaration.
The Spirit.
The wilderness.
Temptation.
Faithful obedience.
The announcement of the kingdom.
The call:
“Follow Me.”
Then slow down dramatically when you reach Matthew 5-7.
Do not read the Sermon on the Mount simply as a list of impossible rules, nor as inspirational sayings detached from discipleship.
Listen to Jesus describing life beneath God’s reign.
When He speaks about anger, do not immediately think of the angriest person you know.
Ask what His words expose in you.
When He speaks about prayer, ask whether your relationship with God has become performative.
When He speaks about money, ask where your sense of security is actually resting.
When He speaks about worry, notice that His teaching points repeatedly towards the Father’s knowledge and care.
When He speaks about judging others, allow His words to turn your attention towards your own heart before using them to diagnose somebody else’s.
And when you reach the two builders, stop.
Jesus does not contrast someone who knows His words with someone who has never heard them.
Both hear.
The difference is what they do with what they hear.
Carry that question through the rest of Matthew:
What happens when people hear Jesus?
Then enter chapters 8-10 and watch His authority.
Notice what happens around Jesus.
Disease.
Demons.
Nature.
Sin.
Death.
All come within the scope of His authority.
But resist turning each miracle into a guarantee that Jesus will reproduce the same earthly outcome for every believer in every circumstance.
Matthew’s purpose is first to show us who Jesus is.
Let the miracles enlarge your understanding of Him before you turn them into expectations about yourself.
In chapters 11-13, pay attention to responses.
Some receive.
Some question.
Some resist.
Some harden themselves.
Some hear without understanding.
Some begin well but do not endure.
Some bear fruit.
When Jesus tells the parable of the soils, do not spend all your time identifying which category other people belong to.
Allow the parable to examine how you hear.
When you reach:
“Come to Me…”
notice where the rest is found.
Not first in a method.
Not in escaping every burden.
In Him.
Then read chapters 14-17 watching the disciples learn who Jesus is.
Peter’s confession is magnificent.
But do not stop there.
Watch what happens immediately afterwards.
Peter correctly identifies Jesus and then tries to correct Jesus.
There is something deeply revealing here.
You can possess correct theology and still resist the implications of that theology.
So when the Father says:
“Listen to Him!”
stay there.
Ask yourself whether you are genuinely allowing Jesus to define His way, or whether you sometimes want Him to endorse yours.
In chapters 18-20, watch how kingdom life enters relationships.
Pay attention to humility.
Forgiveness.
Marriage.
Children.
Money.
Status.
Service.
Do not separate spiritual maturity from the way you treat people.
When Peter asks how often he must forgive, listen carefully to Jesus’ answer and the parable that follows.
Forgiveness does not mean pretending evil did not happen, removing every appropriate boundary or refusing justice where it is needed.
But neither does Jesus permit His followers to nurture an unforgiving heart as though receiving mercy from God has no implications for the mercy they extend to others.
Then enter Jerusalem with Jesus in chapters 21-23.
Feel the tension rising.
Watch how religious leadership responds to His authority.
Read Jesus’ condemnations carefully.
Do not use Matthew 23 primarily as ammunition against religious people you dislike.
Let it warn you about the human capacity to construct an impressive spiritual exterior while neglecting what matters to God.
When you reach chapters 24-25, resist the temptation to make prediction the centre.
There are difficult interpretive questions here, and faithful Christians have understood some details differently.
Hold those questions with humility.
But do not miss what is unmistakable.
Do not be deceived.
Stay awake.
Remain faithful.
Be ready.
Live responsibly with what the Master has entrusted to you.
Then slow down again as you enter chapters 26 and 27.
Do not hurry through the familiar story.
Watch Jesus at the table.
Watch Him in Gethsemane.
Watch the disciples sleep.
Watch Judas betray.
Watch Peter promise and then deny.
Watch the leaders accuse.
Watch Pilate hesitate and capitulate.
Watch the soldiers mock.
Watch Jesus endure.
Listen carefully to the explanations Matthew has already given you.
“He will save His people from their sins.”
“The Son of Man… came… to give His life as a ransom for many.”
“This is My blood of the covenant… poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Let Scripture tell you what the cross means.
And then turn the page.
Matthew 28.
The tomb is empty.
Jesus is risen.
The women worship.
The disciples gather.
And the One who was crucified declares:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
Stop there.
Do not rush immediately to the Great Commission.
Consider the foundation beneath it.
All authority belongs to Jesus.
Therefore, go.
Make disciples.
Baptise.
Teach them to obey everything He commanded.
And remember His final words:
“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew began with God with us.
It ends with Jesus with His people.
Now close the Overview and open Matthew.
Let Matthew show you Jesus.
Let Jesus’ words correct the version of Him you may have constructed.
Let His compassion deepen your trust.
Let His holiness expose what needs repentance.
Let His cross humble you.
Let His resurrection strengthen your hope.
Let His authority challenge your desire for control.
Let His teaching reach beyond what you know into how you live.
And as truth moves from the page into the heart, allow it increasingly to shape the way you see God, think, trust, love, respond and live.
Continue Your Journey Through Matthew
The Overview has helped you step back and see Matthew as a whole.
Now come closer.
Walk slowly through the Gospel chapter by chapter, watching Jesus’ identity, teaching, authority, compassion, conflict, cross and resurrection unfold within the text itself.
Take your time.
Notice what Matthew actually says.
Follow the connections.
Ask honest questions.
And above all, keep your attention on the One Matthew has been revealing from beginning to end:
Jesus Christ – the Messiah, the risen King and the One whose words are worth building your life upon.
→ Explore Matthew Chapter by Chapter
→ Continue to Mark