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Books of the New Testament |
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The Gospel of Matthew[a] is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ), Jesus, his resurrection, and his mission to the world.[3] Matthew wishes to emphasize that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church that was increasingly becoming gentile.[4][5] The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes, chief priests and Pharisees[6] with the position that the Kingdom of Heaven has been taken away from them and given instead to the church.[7]
The gospel, though traditionally attributed to the Apostle Matthew, is anonymous. The predominant scholarly view is that it was written in the last quarter of the first century by an anonymous Jew familiar with technical legal aspects of scripture.[8][9] Most scholars think Matthew used the Gospel of Mark and the hypothetical sayings Gospel Q (which consists of the material Matthew shares in common with Luke)[10][11] and is the product of the second generation of the Christian movement, though it draws on the memory of the first generation of the disciples of Jesus.[12][13]
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