Daily Devotions

Why is Matthew so important?

The apostle Matthew, a Jew himself, offered a decidedly Jewish perspective on the ministry of Jesus. He included more than fifty direct citations—and even more indirect allusions—from the Old Testament. This exceeds any of the other gospels and indicates that Matthew had the Jewish population in mind when he sat down to write. Matthew’s extensive connections between Jesus and the Old Testament provide ample prophetic evidence for Jesus’s ministry but also give contemporary readers a glimpse into how first-century readers approached the Old Testament with a Christ-centered mind-set.

In addition, Matthew’s gospel answers the question on the mind of every Jewish reader: “If Jesus is the King of the Jews, then where is God’s promised kingdom?” Matthew reveals that Jesus did offer the kingdom to Israel, but the offer was rejected (Matthew 4:17; 16:13–28; 21:42–43). God’s primary work in the world is now accomplished through the building of Christ’s church, after which Jesus will come again to earth and establish His kingdom—ruling the world from Israel.

https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-gospels/matthew

Day 1 (May 19)
Matthew 16:1-28
Key Verses: 13-15

Day 2 (May 20)
Matthew 17:1-27
Key Verse: 22

Day 3 (May 21)
Matthew 18:1-35
Key Verses: 34-35

Day 4 (May 22)
Matthew 19:1-30
Key Verses: 13-15

Day 5 (May 23)
Matthew 20:1-34
Key Verse: 23

Day 6 (May 24)
Matthew 21:1-27
Key Verses: 12-13

Memory Verse
Matthew 16:16
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

What’s the Big Idea?

Matthew wrote his account of Jesus’s ministry to show that Jesus was and is indeed the King, Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. He reflected this concern in his opening line, “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). From there, Matthew consistently took his readers back to the Old Testament, providing Old Testament testimony regarding the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem as the location of Jesus’s birth, the flight to Egypt, Herod’s slaughter of the infants, and the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. In a world where many in the Jewish community had claimed the role of Messiah for themselves, Matthew’s commitment to grounding the life of Jesus in the Old Testament raised Jesus above the multitude of these false messiahs. The apostle painted a portrait of our Lord that highlights His uniqueness among all others to ever walk this earth. 

https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-gospels/matthew

Day 1 (May 26)
Matthew 21:28-46
Key Verse: 31

Day 2 (May 27)
Matthew 22:1-22
Key Verse: 13

Day 3 (May 28)
Matthew 22:23-46
Key Verses: 30-31

Day 4 (May 29)
Matthew 23:1-39
Key Verses: 13-15

Day 5 (May 30)
Matthew 24:1-22
Key Verses: 5-6

Day 6 (May 31)
Matthew 24:23-51
Key Verse: 42

Memory Verse
Matthew 17:20
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

How do I apply this?

After enduring four hundred years of prophetic silence, God’s people must have wondered whether or not He had deserted them. After centuries of regular communication from God, the people found themselves without a genuine prophet or spokesman for God. However, the ministries of John and Jesus reminded God’s people that He had not forgotten them. God’s silence during that period was merely a precursor to pulling the linchpin of His redemptive plan. God hadn’t forgotten—He remembered His people. Matthew made that clear.

It was true then, and it is certainly true today. Do you ever feel as though God has deserted you or that He sits in silence in the face of your requests? As we read through the pages of Matthew, not only do we see Jesus Christ revealed as Israel’s King and Messiah, but His coming to earth as God in the flesh reminds us of His deep love for us. Now resurrected and ascended, the Lord Jesus will always be with us, even to the end of time (Matthew 28:20).

Christ’s commission to His followers is still His mandate to us today: “Make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). Christ’s work of building His church is the work He does through each of us.

https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-gospels/matthew

Day 1 (June 2)
Matthew 25:1-30
Key Verse: 13

Day 2 (June 3)
Matthew 25:31-46
Key Verse: 31

Day 3 (June 4)
Matthew 26:1-35
Key Verse: 31

Day 4 (June 5)
Matthew 26:36-75
Key Verse: 50

Day 5 (June 6)
Matthew 27:1-34
Key Versed: 23-34

Day 6 (June 7)
Matthew 27:35-66
Key Verse: 60

Memory Verse
Matthew 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Where Are We?

Matthew is the most Jewish-centric of the four gospels. The apostle regularly invoked the writings of the Old Testament prophets in an effort to illustrate Jesus’s identity as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah.

However, the gospel of Matthew has been notoriously difficult to date. Several factors speak to a date ranging from AD 60–65. First of all, the book makes no mention of the destruction of the temple, an event which occurred in AD 70. Such a cataclysmic event likely would have received some comment, particularly in a book so clearly influenced by Judaism. The largely Jewish character of the book also suggests it was written at a time when much of the evangelism by Christians was directed more exclusively at Jews, something that became less and less common as the decades passed. Finally, many scholars believe Mark to have been the first gospel composed, making it most probable that Matthew was written soon after.

https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-gospels/matthew

Day 1 (May 12)
Matthew 10:1-42
Key Verses: 5-8

Day 2 (May 13)
Matthew 11:1-30
Key Verses: 16-19

Day 3 (May 14)
Matthew 12:1-50
Key Verse: 12

Day 4 (May 15)
Matthew 13:1-58
Key Verses: 31-32

Day 5 (May 16)
Matthew 14:1-36
Key Verse: 30

Day 6 (May 17)
Matthew 15:1-39
Key Verse: 5

Memory Verse
Matthew 5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Who wrote the book?

The title of the book of Acts comes from the Greek word praxis, a word often used in early Christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers. This title accurately reflects the contents of the book, which is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of key apostles (especially Peter and Paul) in the decades immediately following Christ’s ascension into heaven.

Luke’s identification as the author of this work was unquestioned throughout ancient times. It shows a clear progression from the gospel according to Luke, picking up just where that book left off. An ancient prologue to Luke’s gospel indicates that Luke was first a follower of the apostles and then became close with Paul.¹ This is exactly how the book of Acts unfolds, beginning with Peter and ending with Paul. Luke even began to speak in the first person plural in the latter portion of Acts, as he traveled the Roman Empire alongside Paul (Acts 16:10).

https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-history-of-the-early-church/acts

Day 1 (June 9)
Matthew 28:1-20
Key Verses: 19-20

Day 2 (June 10)
Acts 1:1-26
Key Verse: 8

Day 3 (June 11)
Acts 2:1-21
Key Verses: 1-3

Day 4 (June 12)
Acts 2:22-47
Key Verse: 41

Day 5 (June 13)
Acts 3:1-26
Key Verse: 19

Day 6 (June 14)
Acts 4:1-37
Key Verse: 29

Memory Verse
Matthew 28:19-20
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 always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.