Reading Matthew: what to look for

Matthew tells the story of Jesus with sustained attention to His teaching and its connection with Israel’s Scriptures. The book begins with a genealogy linking Jesus to Abraham and David and ends with the risen Jesus commissioning His disciples. For a first reading, follow those connections alongside the events: who Jesus is, what He teaches and how people respond.

Start with the opening, including the names

Matthew 1 introduces Jesus through a genealogy before recounting His birth. Abraham and David appear in the opening sentence, and the list is arranged around major stages of the history being recalled. Even when individual names are unfamiliar, notice how this beginning places Jesus within an existing story rather than introducing Him without a past.

You do not have to research every person before continuing. Mark names you recognize and keep a question beside those you do not. Read the account of Joseph and Mary after the genealogy. Matthew then uses a reference to prophetic Scripture in explaining the birth. This is an early example of a pattern worth watching throughout the book: a narrated event is read in relation to earlier Scripture.

Follow the relationship between action and teaching

Matthew contains extended passages of teaching as well as accounts of encounters and events. If you read only the familiar sayings, you can lose track of who is listening and how the teaching fits the story. At the beginning of a speech, note where Jesus is and who has come to Him. At its end, look for the response or the event that follows.

Compare the opening of chapter 5 with that of chapter 13. The first places Jesus on a mountain with His disciples approaching Him. The second describes a crowd beside the sea and Jesus speaking from a boat. These settings give an immediate context for reading. Recording the listeners and setting is more useful than treating every sentence as if it were addressed in exactly the same situation.

Read a familiar saying within its paragraph

Matthew 5 opens the teaching commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. Read the Beatitudes together before isolating a line. Then observe how the chapter moves through images of salt and light and into a discussion of the Law and the Prophets. In verses 17–20, Jesus explicitly addresses His relationship to them. The sequence helps the reader see why the earlier Scriptures remain part of the conversation.

For a small exercise, choose Matthew 5:21–26. Write down the command referred to, how the teaching develops and the practical situation that follows. Keep the whole passage together. A book overview cannot settle every interpretive question in the Sermon on the Mount, but it can help you locate such questions within the argument instead of leaving them as disconnected quotations.

When Matthew refers to earlier Scripture

When an edition identifies an Old Testament reference, open that passage if possible and read its surrounding paragraph. Note separately what the earlier text says and how Matthew uses it. A cross-reference is an invitation to read more, not a substitute for reading. If the connection remains difficult, keep both references beside your question.

Translations and editions may display these connections differently, through footnotes or marginal references. Their editorial notes are distinct from the biblical text. Our guide to the Old and New Testaments explains where to find the books. You can return to a reference later without stopping the whole reading whenever a new name or quotation appears.

Notice the questions around the parables

Chapter 13 brings several parables together. In the account of the sower, the story is followed by the disciples’ question about why Jesus uses parables and by an explanation of the sowing. Read those sections in their order. That will help you distinguish the image, the question it prompts and an explanation that the text actually supplies.

Resist assigning a symbolic meaning to every incidental detail before checking the explanation. Where the passage names a connection, record it. Where you are making an inference, label it as your suggestion. This practice makes discussion easier: another reader can see whether you are quoting the text or proposing a way to understand it.

Let the ending shape your reading of the book

Matthew 28 recounts the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection and ends with His meeting with the disciples. In verses 18–20, authority, making disciples, baptism and teaching are brought together. Notice the instruction to teach people to observe what Jesus commanded. It sends the reader back to the teaching encountered earlier in the narrative.

Reading the ending alongside the beginning is a useful exercise. What questions about Jesus have developed as the story has unfolded? Which instructions now sound different because you have seen the disciples learning, misunderstanding or responding? Keep those observations tied to passages. Avoid reducing the whole book to a slogan before you have followed its movement.

A realistic pace for a first reading

Choose a complete scene or section of teaching for each sitting. Write one observation and one question rather than copying everything. After several sections, look back at your notes for recurring words or questions. You can adjust the pace to the passage; a long speech may need more attention than a short transition between scenes.

For help comparing Matthew with another account, see why there are four Gospels. The first reading guide offers a smaller passage exercise. When discussing Matthew, bring a reference and explain which part of the passage you find difficult.