Before the Beginning
“The gospel according to Matthew”
According – Of course, you will recognize where this is found in the Bible but it doesn’t have a chapter and verse number. In the Greek text, it is merely KATA MATTAION. The words for the “gospel” are understood. We don’t think much about the title of the book of Matthew (or Mark, Luke or John) because we just assume that there isn’t much to learn in a title. After all, the real meat is in the story and that doesn’t begin until I start reading chapter 1 verse 1.
But maybe we are a little too quick to jump past the title. There is something quite profound in this “according to Matthew” phrase that we will miss if we aren’t patient.
All of the gospels are introduced in the same way. That introduction is important because it tells me that this “good news” is not Matthew’s good news. It is only the good news as reported by Matthew. That’s the intention of the Greek preposition kata. It is a preposition that shows the relationship between two things. Specifically, it tells us that Matthew’s reporting stands in relation to God’s revelation. Matthew is simply telling us what the good news of God is from his point of view. But it doesn’t depend on him. It depends on God.
Skipping over the title makes us miss the tenor of the entire story. This is not Matthew’s considered theology. It’s not Matthew’s researched history. It’s not Matthew’s guide for better living. It’s God’s good news! Matthew is just relaying the message to us.
This little fact helps us focus on two important things. First, we should recognize that the inspiration, motivation, direction, conditions and application of the message of Matthew come from God. If I want to argue about something Matthew writes that slaps me on the head, I need to take up that argument with God, not with God’s scribe. But of course, most of us already treat Matthew’s words like God’s words. So what we need to remember more than the authorship issue is the resemblance issue. You see, if Matthew is writing the good news God gave him from his experience, so are you! You might not write a God-breathed book (the real meaning of “inspiration”), but you are certainly writing a God-breathed life and it is supposed to reflect God’s good news too. Not your revision of God’s good news. Not your adaptation of God’s good news. It’s not your life. It’s His. Just like it is not Matthew’s book. It’s God’s.
When I look at your life, I am supposed to see God’s good news in the flesh, written by your choices. Is that what you see? Or does your “book” require an editorial staff?
