Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew
Selected Passages from the Gospel
From the Gospel according to St. Matthew
The call at the tax booth
Editor's note
Matthew opens his account of his own conversion with the same matter-of-factness with which he wrote the rest of his Gospel. He gives no speech, no inward struggle, no farewell to the takings of the day. He records only what happened: the Lord passed, the Lord spoke, and the customs officer stood up and went. The Fathers note that no other evangelist tells the story so briefly. Matthew the publican is unwilling to make a memorial of himself.
Matthew 9:9-13 (KJV)
ScriptureVerbatim Scripture.
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The opening of the Sermon
Editor's note
Matthew alone gives the Sermon on the Mount as a single continuous discourse. He sets it in the fifth chapter as a new Sinai, the Lord ascending a hill in Galilee, sitting down as the rabbis sat to teach, and laying upon his disciples the law of the kingdom that has come near. The Beatitudes are the gate of that law: a portrait, the Fathers say, of the soul that is being remade in Christ.
Matthew 5:3-10 (KJV)
ScriptureVerbatim Scripture.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Great Commission
Editor's note
Matthew closes his Gospel on a mountain in Galilee, where the Eleven meet the Risen Lord. There is no dialogue, no ascent into a cloud; he is concerned only with what the Lord said. The words have been read by every Christian generation since as the founding charter of the Church's mission: a commission, a method, and a promise. The Greek word translated 'teaching' has the sense of patient instruction. Matthew, who in his Gospel has been doing exactly that, lays down his pen with this command on his lips.
Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)
ScriptureVerbatim Scripture.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.