Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew - Structures

Comparing the Markan and Matthean Structures Overall

A. Beginnings and Endings

Beginning: Matthew has a genealogy and birth story which is not in Mark.

Ending: Matthew has the women tell the disciples and they are reunited with Jesus in Galilee where they receive the Great Commission

B. Five Major Discourses or Sermons in Matthew

1. The Sermon on the Mount (5:1‑7:28)

2. The Missionary Discourse (10:1‑42)

3. The Parable Discourse (13:1‑53)

4. The Community Discourse (17:22‑18:35)

5. The Apocalyptic Discourse (24:1‑25:46)

Matthew Chart

There are five major discourses or long sermons in Matthew. These are marked off from the narrative by a repeated transitional verse which concludes the discourse and forms a transition to the narrative section that follows (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; and 26:1). Some interpreters such as B. W. Bacon have compared Matthew to the five books of Moses. Each sermon with associated narrative material is analogous to one of the five books of Moses. These interpreters have seen the five sermons as the key to the gospel's structure. Other interpreter's have focused on the plot of the gospel, especially the conflicts between Jesus and the Jewish leaders and Jesus and the disciples. Others have argued that the gospel is structured by a series of overlapping verbal and thematic echoes (some examples are illustrated on the charts in Barr. 10.1 and 10.2).

C. Patterns of Repetition

1. Echoes - Barr's Charts of overlapping verbal and thematic echoes 10.1 and 10.2

2. Repeated Stories - Another technique the evangelist uses to organize material is the repetition of stories with variations. For example there is a chiastic (x) pattern connecting a number of repeated stories:

A Two Blind Men (9:27‑31)

B Sign of Jonah (12:38‑42)