Let’s dig right into Matthew’s writing to see what we can discover about him.

Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy of Jesus’ heritage in relation to Joseph, Mary’s husband. Right away we see that Matthew has an affinity for numbers and organization. He breaks the “begats” into sections—each with two sets of seven, the perfect number.

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. Matthew 1:17

Another organizational aspect is that Matthew has three turning points:

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matthew 4:17

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders… and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Matthew 16:21

From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26:16

Matthew groups many of Jesus’ teachings into one teaching session that we call “The Sermon on the Mount.”

He groups several parables together in chapter 13 and groups teachings on how we relate to God and each other in chapters 18 and 19.

The idea of grouping and organizing often begins at an early age. My daughter used to tease my husband and me about being so organized, but she turned out just like us. I saw it at an early age. For instance, when she put her crayons in the box, they always had their points straight up—none could be upside down!

She thrived on hearing me say, now we’re going to such and such place to see this particular person, and we will do this particular thing—laid out and planned.

So if I were going to write about Matthew as a boy, I would see him playing with a pile of stones there in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee.

Perhaps his propensity for organizing would show up in his play. For example, he might group large stones together in one pile and small stones in another pile. Maybe he would form circles, one with large stones, one with medium stones, and another with small ones. He may have even learned to count with his stones.

Well, to be quite honest, I’ve just given you a peek into my first few chapters! We will discover how his organizational tendencies play out in endeavors with his father’s business. Later, these characteristics will make him a viable candidate for tax collector.

Do you see how we can look at Bible characters and envision their lives to a greater extent by the little things we are given? We’re given plenty examples of Peter’s impetuous nature, always quick to act, passionate, unbridled, unplanned. So different from Matthew. Imagine the work Jesus had cut out for him with twelve different temperaments and personalities to deal with. 

Next week, what passages are unique to Matthew?

~ Joyce ~