Introduction to the Gospel According to Matthew-1
Tradition accords the Gospel of Matthew the primacy of order due to a variety of factors. One reason was that it was attributed to a disciple of Jesus, and thus it carried a great authority in the nascent church. Secondly, the content of the gospel itself was highly regarded (it contains highly -regarded material, such as the Sermon on the Mount, the Our Father, etc) to the extent that it is the most-often quoted gospel by early Fathers of the Church. Another reason I can surmise for the placing of the gospel at the beginning of the collection that came to be known as the New Testament, is that it very easily acts as bridge of sorts between the Jewish Scriptures, or Old Testament, and the writings of the New Testament. Not only has Matthew’s Greek been described as “biblical” in its resemblance to Old Testament Greek, also, the genealogy section in chapter one serves to show the continuity of Jesus with Israel’s salvation history.
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