10 Fast Facts about the Gospel of Matthew

If you want a quick overview of the Gospel of Matthew, you can check out the Top 20 Bible Verses from the Gospel of Matthew.

10 Fast Facts about Matthew

1. The earliest traditions of the church are unanimous in attributing the first Gospel to Matthew, the former tax collector who followed Jesus and became one of his 12 disciples.

2. Matthew looked back and referred to Hebrew prophecies about sixty times.

3. The phrase, “Son of David,” referring to the Davidic line, occurs 9 times in Matthew, but only 6 times collectively in Mark, Luke, and John.

4. As the first book in the NT, the Gospel of Matthew serves as a gateway between the two testaments.

5. Many scholars have suggested that the prominent church in Antioch of Syria, whose members included both Jewish and Gentile Christians, was the intended audience of Matthew’s Gospel.

6. The Book of Matthew is one of the three synoptic gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke have a lot in common, sharing many of the same accounts in the same order, with similar wording.

7. Matthew introduces Jesus as “Messiah,” which means he is the one who was promised, the long-awaited king of the Jews from the line of David.

8. Matthew is the only gospel that mentions the magi at Jesus’ birth.

9. The phrase, “kingdom of heaven” appears 55 times in Matthew.

10. Matthew shows that God’s redemptive plan is well even after 400 years of prophetic silence.

* These facts have been compiled from many resources such as the CSB Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, Reformation Study Bible, and BibleCharts.com.