Gospel According to St. Matthew
St. Matthew was a Jewish citizen collecting taxes for the emperor of Rome. Jesus walked by as he was working and summoned him. Matthew immediately dropped everything he was doing to follow Jesus.
St. Matthew recounts the genealogy of Jesus through St. Joseph as opposed to St. Luke whose genealogy account is through our Blessed Mother. He provides a great narrative on the birth of Jesus – Emmanuel: God with us. This gospel contains the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, the visits of the shepherds and the Wise Men. His account reminds us of the demands of Christian discipleship.
St. Matthew wrote to convince the Jewish people that Jesus was the awaited Messiah.
It is in Matthew’s gospel that we find Jesus’ Sermon on the mount in its entirety, highlighting the Beatitudes.
It is St. Matthew who quotes Jesus:
- “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
- Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
- I did not come to call the righteous but sinners”
