Topical Arrangement.
The mode of arrangement is clear and orderly. It is topical rather than chronological. It far
surpasses Mark and Luke in the fulness of the discourses of Christ, while it has to be supplemented
from them in regard to the succession of events. Matthew groups together the kindred words and
works with special reference to Christ’s teaching; hence it was properly called by Papias a collection
of the Oracles of the Lord. It is emphatically the didactic Gospel.
The first didactic group is the Sermon on the Mount of Beatitudes, which contains the
legislation of the kingdom of Christ and an invitation to the whole people to enter, holding out the
richest promises to the poor in spirit and the pure in heart (Matt. 5–7. The second group is the
instruction to the disciples in their missionary work (Matt. 10). The third is the collection of the
parables on the kingdom of God, illustrating its growth, conflict, value, and consummation (Matt.
13). The fourth, the denunciation of the Pharisees (Matt. 23), and the fifth, the prophecy of the
destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world (Matt. 24 and 25).
Between these chief groups are inserted smaller discourses of Christ, on his relation to John
the Baptist (11:1–19); the woe on the unrepenting cities of Galilee (11:20–24); the thanksgiving
for the revelation to those of a childlike spirit (11:25–27); the invitation to the weary and heavy
laden (11:28–30); on the observance of the Sabbath and warning to the Pharisees who were on the
way to commit the unpardonable sin by tracing his miracles to Satanic powers (Matt. 12); the attack
on the traditions of the elders and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Matt. 15 and 16); the prophecy
of the founding of the church after the great confession of Peter, with the prediction of his passion
as the way to victory (Matt. 16); the discourse on the little children with their lesson of simplicity
and humility against the temptations of hierarchial pride; the duty of forgiveness in the kingdom
and the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt. 18); the discourse about divorce, against the
Pharisees; the blessing of little children; the warning against the danger of riches; the parable of
the Laborers in the Vineyard and the nature of the future rewards (Matt. 19 and 20); the victorious
replies of the Lord to the tempting questions of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 22).
These discourses are connected with narratives of the great miracles of Christ and the events
in his life. The miracles are likewise grouped together (as in Matt. 8–9), or briefly summed up (as
in 4:23–25). The transfiguration (Matt. 17) forms the turning-point between the active and the
passive life; it was a manifestation of heaven on earth, an anticipation of Christ’s future glory, a
pledge of the resurrection, and it fortified Jesus and his three chosen disciples for the coming crisis,
which culminated in the crucifixion and ended in the resurrection.^917
Peculiar Sections.
Matthew has a number of original sections:- Ten Discourses of our Lord, namely, the greater part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.
5–7); the thanksgiving for the revelation to babes (11:25–27); the touching invitation to the heavy
laden (11:28–30), which is equal to anything in John; the warning against idle words (12:36, 37);
(^917) For a full analysis see the critical monograph of Weiss, and Lange’s Matth., pp. 43-46. Keim, who builds his Geschichte
Jesu—the ablest and least objectionable of the purely critical biographies of Christ,—chiefly on Matthew, praises its plan as
sorgfältig, einfach und einleuchtend, durchsichtig und sehr wohl durchgeführt (I. 52). He divides it into two chief sections: the
entry upon the public ministry with the Bussruf and Reichspredigt (4:17: απὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς κηρύσσειν, κ. τ. λ.), and the
entry upon the path of death with the Leidensruf and the Zukunftspredigt (Matt16:21: ἀπο τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰης., κ. τ. λ.). He also
finds an ingenious symmetry of numbers in the collocation of 10 miracles, 8 [7] beatitudes, 7 woes, 4 and 3 parables, 3 temptations,
etc.
A.D. 1-100.