Matthew is the gospel written by a Jew, to Jews, about a Jew. Matthew is the writer, his countrymen are the readers and his subject is Jesus Christ. Matthew presents Jesus as Israel's promised messianic King. The phrase "the kingdom of heaven" appears twenty-eight times in Matthew but nowhere else in the New Testament. To show that Jesus fulfills the qualifications for the Messiah, Matthew uses more Old Testament quotations (almost 130) than any other book.
As a Jewish tax collector, Matthew writes to a Jewish audience to convince them that the King of the Jews has come. Everything about this King is unique: His miraculous birth and carefully prophesied birthplace, His flight into Egypt, His announcement by John, His battle with Satan in the wilderness, all support the only possible conclusion- Jesus is the culmination of the promises delivered by the prophets over a period of a thousand years. God's redemptive plan is alive and well!
Chapter 3 gives us the account of John the Baptist working hard to prepare people's hearts for "the kingdom of heaven". Jesus arrives from Galilee at the Jordan river coming to be baptized by John. After coming up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened and the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and behold a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased."
What an incredible sign for all those witnessing! And a title is given that is unmistakable. Jesus' sonship did not begin on that day. He was already in Spirit because God is Spirit and Christ was the Son of God before He assumed a human body. But God wishes to express the sonship of Jesus. That He was begotten of God in a sense that no one else is. It is a title that shows equality. The Son of God is no less than God. Now Jesus is prepared to go forth and reveal all which is His Father, through Himself, His Son.
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