This is my experience of studying Matthew. The pervading theme in John is that Jesus really had a divine nature. Matthew offers several more recurrent themes. The text is just as clear as John's and Revelations: clearly a product of Greek culture.

First, the text gives much more information on what Jesus expects of his followers, apart from faith. There are also complete parables in it. Thus, the ethics expected from a Christian become a much clearer. Next, Matthew insists in many places on how the events of Jesus' life fulfill predictions of former prophets. Like in John, there is the theme of his divine nature, of course. Matthew also is a bit more menacing than John. The text contains a lot of expressions which have become proverbial (plank in the eye, camel through the eye of a needle, wolves in sheep's clothing etcetera).

So, over all, what we have, is that Jesus says we should have faith that he is divine. That our sins will be forgiven if we obey him. It is specified what we should obey, and there are miracles and prophecies to convince us that Jesus is correct.

So what should Jesus' followers do ?

They should follow his version of the commandments, which are the commandments in the Old Testament (5:19, Chapter 19 is from Lev 19:18), with some slight variations (5:21 and on). Murder, adultery, divorce, stealing, honouring parents, loving neighbours, testimony are looked upon like in the older scriptures. The rules for oaths and an eye-for-an-eye are reversed by Jesus, to a prohibition on swearing by something, and a rule to go along with evil people rather than resist them. Further a prohibition of contempt, an admonition to settle problems quickly, and a prohibition of looking lustfully at women (5:28).

Charity gives a reward (25:31-45), and people should be a bit forgiving, or God will not forgive them (18:35). The reward for this, of course, is in the afterlife (5:1-10), and we should not postpone bettering our lives because "the kingdom is near" (4:17). Matthew gives us hints that we should put spiritual life first: you cannot both serve God and Money (6:19), do not worry about material life but put God first.

A major theme is hypocrisy. People already had their religions, of course, which were big and institutionalised. The hypocrisy within those religions is always an easy target. So Jesus tells us to do good, pray, and fast, but be discrete when doing it (6:1-2). Also when judging others, one should take care of hypocrisy (Chapter 7). A recurring theme is leaders who do not practice what they teach (eg. 23:1-3). Matthew is a bit more menacing than John. He warns the Pharisees of Jesus, who will separate the wheat from the chaff, and burn the latter (3:12). And 11:22/24 "I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." 10:37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me 10:33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven".

Matthew starts his text by convincing us that the events he writes about, fulfill old prophesies. Messiah is supposed to be born in Bethlem (2:5-6), to come from Egypt (2:15), which is achieved by Jesus parents going to Egypt for a while to avoid Herod's slaying of the infants (2:18). John the Baptist has been predicted by Isaiah (3:3), and so is Jesus' life in Capernaum (4:15). One day, after healing on a sabbath, Jesus goes incognito to avoid problems as predicted by Isaiah (12:17, 13:35). Continuing, Matthew regularly pauses in his text to point out to the reader that there is a situation or an event, which has been predicted by a prophet.

For the miracles, most often mentioned is the healing (eg. 4:23-24). Matthew points out from time to time that Jesus has a divine nature. Jesus has the authority to forgive sins (9:6), and is above the sabbath (12:6 "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath").
Jesus worries about competition at least twice, where he warns against "false prophets" (7:15, and 24:24 Abomination of Desolation). He clearly anticipates problems in evangelizing in Chapter 10, saying (10:34) "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. because converted will be pitted against non-converted."
When Jesus sends his apostles out, they can heal the sick, too. (10:8)

It is not all peace and kindness in the text. Jesus sits with sinners and disadvantaged ((9:11-13: "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. 9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.), but, as told in John also, kicks hawkers out of the temple (21:12).

A bit creepy is 12:30: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."
Heey, I remember George Bush saying this about America after the Twin Towers collapsed! That brings me to torture: there is no commandment against that, and the Gospel is quite casual about it. In a parable in chapter 18, a landowner who finds out that a slave who owes him, is, himself, not so forgiving with a debtor as he has been with the slave, has this slave tortured (18:34). Jesus says about it (18:35): "So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart."

A bit ugly, also, is Jesus' reaction when he cannot find a fruit in a tree. 21:19 "After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, "Never again will there be fruit from you!" And the fig tree withered at once."

As I said in an earlier post, reading Matthew got a bit tedious. That He is the Man old prophets had talked about was very important in his day: this was getting him followers. It is much less interesting for the modern reader, however. And the moral rules are common now in the Western world. But, there are the parables. There are quite a number of them. Some are a bit clumsy, but some are intriguing because they indeed do not say what you would expect.

Here are a few.

There is the parable of talents (25:14-30). A landowner gives money to a few slaves when he goes on leave. One slave hides it, so that nothing can happen to it, and he can give all of it back. But this is wrong! The other slaves have taken a risk and invested the money, and this is rewarded. The slave who hid the money gets the reproach not to have put it with bankers, to get interest. His money is taken from him and goes to the richest slave. 25:29 "For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him".

Wow!

Here is another one.

The workers in the vineyard story (20:1-16): Each daylaborer gets the same pay, no matter if he started early in the day or later. When the guys who have worked the most hours, complain, the owner invokes his right of private property 20:15 "Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me?". It is completely up to him what he will do, and so is it to the kingdom of heaven. (20:16 "So the last will be first, and the first last")

Another one

There is a parable of ten virgins, five of whom prepare for the coming of a bridegroom and five do not. The five who prepare, refuse to share their lamp oil with the unprepared. These have to go to the store for it, and miss the wedding. The righteous ones are the five who refused to share what they had (25:1-13).
This one shows that you should think about the context a bit. Earlier Matthew says (6:25-34, 6:34) "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own".


At the end of the text, the story gets familiar. It is the same as in John's Gospel. There are some differences in the details. I was surprised that, in the story, when Jesus is arrested, Peter cuts off the ear of one of the men coming to get Jesus, and that this does not cause him any major trouble when following the police and Jesus. Matthew does not say it was Peter who did this, by the way (26:51).
For the rest, the end is the same. The day after the crucifixion, soldiers go seal the tomb. This is a sabbath in John 19:31, when soldiers go break the legs of the crucified three. The day after this, women go to the tomb, are told by an angel that Jesus is gone, and shown the tomb. The soldiers claim in 28:15 that they have fallen asleep and the body was stolen, while in the lines before this, Matthew explains this is a trick to avoid suspicions of resurrection.

O, yeah, for the smiles: in Chapter 17, Jesus and some others go up a mountain where they meet the dead Moses and Elijah, and God speaks to them from a cloud.