V. Is It True That Matthew Was Written To And Only For the Jews, and Therefore Matthew 24 Does Not Apply To Us, The Elect?

Throughout the remainder of this presentation, there are going to be many references made to Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.  These three books are the only ones that give a detailed account of the Mount of Olives Discourse.  The same conclusions that have been arrived at in this entire paper could also be conclusively arrived at by using either of the almost identical writings of Mark or Luke.  There are many who will endeavor to minimize this presentation simply because Matthew 24 is the basis used in writing it.  Most Pre-tribulation teachers claim Matthew was written only for Jewish consumption, and that the church (elect) will have already been Raptured before all the testing described in Matthew 24, and for that same reason, all the testing in Revelation would also apply only to the Jews.  This whole 24^th chapter then, according to pre-tribulation teachers, is assigned to be a description of what happens to the Jews before Jesus returns to earth at the end of the seven-year period as the conquering King.  Jesus makes at least three references to the elect, us, and in verse 24 Matthew wrote that now His angels are going to gather together all “His” elect, the church, and take us to Heaven, the Rapture.  So, why then would I even try to make a comparison study using Matthew 24 almost exclusively?  The answer follows.

Of the three writers, Matthew was the only one that was a disciple and a constant companion of Jesus during the three plus years of His earthly ministry, and therefore was the only one of the three who was an eyewitness observer of all the things Jesus did, the love and concern he showed for those round about Him, what He said during His earthly ministry and just how He said it, His trustworthiness and believability, and the compassion, authoritativeness, and fervor of His speech.  Also, Matthew was the only Apostle to record at length a detailed account of all five great discourses delivered by Jesus, which teaching centered on the themes 1, Discipleship; 2, Mission or Apostleship; 3, Parables of the Kingdom; 4, Discipline and Fellowship of the Church; and 5, Great Apocalyptic Discourse on the End Time Events.  The whole Gospel was woven around these five discourses.  The overall theme of Matthew is The King, Son of David.

Mark was likely somewhat younger, was converted from Judaism to Christianity at an early age, his residence was in Jerusalem, and he was a close associate, disciple, and interpreter of Peter. (Acts 12:12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.)  Peter was also one of the disciples who had first hand eyewitness knowledge, and Mark likely learned much of what he wrote in his gospel from the first person preaching of Peter.  The Gospel of Mark is even referred to by some as the “Memoirs of Peter.”  Mark also spent considerable time ministering with the Apostle Paul and gained much knowledge from him.  The theme of Mark is Jesus as the Servant.

Luke was very likely a native of the city of Antioch, or possibly Philippi, and after much schooling became a Physician.  Luke was a Gentile and well educated in the Greek language, and is the only Gentile to pen a book(s) of Scripture.  Luke spent at least ten years of ministry service with the Apostle Paul, and in Luke 1:2 he tells us he wrote his Gospel from the knowledge he gained through eyewitness reports, much of it likely from the Apostle Paul. (Luke 1:2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,)  Luke must have thoroughly researched and confirmed all of the reports he obtained as he interviewed those who ministered with and knew Jesus personally, which indicates he was not an eyewitness.  After Luke penned the Gospel of Luke, he also wrote the Book of Acts.  The theme of the Gospel of Luke is Jesus as Fully Human.  As far as the authenticity of each writer’s writings, we know each was led of the Holy Spirit in penning their Gospels, and can fully trust the accuracy and originality of each based on John 14:26, and II Timothy 3:16. (John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you, and II Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction for instruction in righteousness,)  Because of the first hand relationship Matthew had with the daily life of Jesus as detailed above, I chose to use the Gospel of Matthew as the basis of this presentation.

Since so many years have passed since these three Gospels were written, there are considerable questions and discussion as to the dates each was written.  I would not say there is a controversy, but there are those who claim one was written earlier, and other writers used that as a basis for their writings.  Whether or not this is true, I can assure you this will not be completely resolved until we meet these dear writers in glory and ask them.  My research of what various historians wrote indicates the following.  Matthew is claimed to have been written in: 1, the late AD 50’s or the 60’s; 2, in the AD 70’s; 3, in the early AD 50’s; 4, prior to AD 70; and 5, as early as AD 50.  Mark is claimed to have been written in: 1, AD 50’s or early 60’s; 2, most likely AD 65 to 70; 3, AD 50 to 70; 4, AD 50 to 80; 5, after AD 67; and 6, sometime soon after AD 50.  Luke is claimed to have been written in: 1, AD 59 to 63; 2, in AD 70’s; 3, prior to AD 62; 4, could be AD 58; and 5, most likely AD 60 to 61.

My conclusions, for what they are worth, are that Matthew was likely the first written while he was in the Palestine area, or possibly in Syrian Antioch as a Palestinian Jew, to and for the benefit of Hellenistic Jewish Converts (elect) living elsewhere, around the mid AD 50’s.  Mark was likely written second in the mid to late AD 50’s, written in the regions of Italy, or in Rome, targeted to the Roman believers, particularly Gentiles.  Luke was likely written about AD 60 or 61, and he wrote the Gospel of Luke while living in the area around Caesarea.  Luke wrote with the intention of strengthening the faith of all new early converts to Christianity, and also to correct unfounded reports about Jesus.  From this we can conclude that none of the three Gospels were written until at least twenty years after Jesus ascended up to Heaven, and some could have been written at least thirty years later.  Remember, each spent a great deal of time in research, and these were all laboriously written on scrolls, and it could have been months or years before the intended addressee received them.  So it wasn’t like the writers of these three Gospels could go down to the city library with their lap-tops and research what the other writers wrote, and use that as a basis for their writing.  Let us all come to the conclusion that the writing of each author was God breathed, and therefore totally dependable.

So, what about the teachings we have been exposed to over these many years that say Matthew was written only to and for the consumption of Jews, and therefore all the teaching in Matthew 24 cannot apply to the church, the elect.  Matthew 24 closely correlates with Revelation 6, and both of these chapters were written from the direct personal dictation of Jesus.  If Matthew 24 does not apply to the elect, and if pre-tribulation teachers say that all of Revelation after chapter three does not apply to the church, then from there it becomes an easy conclusion to accept pre-tribulation Rapture, and all believers can forget about the seven years of testing and wrath.  This is exactly what these teachers teach and want us to accept.  It is the purpose of this paper to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this conclusion is incorrect.

In writing his Gospel, Matthew filled it with facts and expressions that would appeal to the Jewish reader.  It was written in the Greek language, which means it was likely meant for a Greek speaking audience.  He uses a great deal of Jewish terminology, but also makes Gentile references, such as the coming of the magi, (Matthew 2:1-2, 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”) and the whole world is the field for the Gospel, (Matthew 13:38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.) and the great commission verses to His disciples and all future disciples, (Matthew 28:18-20, 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.) which shows Matthew was written for Jewish as well as Gentile consumption.  He made over 100 quotations from, or references to, promises given in various texts in the Old Testament, and there is an emphasis  made continually that Jesus was the fulfillment of all those promises, and that there was not a doubt that He was the Jews’ prophesied Messiah.  All major themes of the Gospel of Matthew are rooted in the Old Testament.  Matthew quotes Jesus over 65 times when He made reference to the Kingdom of Heaven (32 times), Father in Heaven, or a comparison of the Heaven Jesus left behind with His sojourn on earth.  Some historians write that Matthew had a great sense for business, which he learned while being a tax collector.  They also claim he had a knowledge of some method of shorthand, which would have given him the capability to fully record the five discourses of Jesus at the time of delivery almost word for word.  Reference is often made of Matthew’s familiarity with figures, and that he was knowledgeable in statistics as is revealed in Chapter one.  There he gives the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, and the generations totaled 42, and Matthew divided them into three groups of 14 each.  I do not know if Jesus revealed this lineage to Matthew, or if Matthew had to research it from Old Testament scrolls, or if any genealogical records were kept at that time in history, but it must have been a very extensive study.

After God the Father resurrected Jesus from the dead and gave Him a glorified body, Jesus spent another 40 days on earth, proving His resurrection as He presented Himself on several occasions to His disciples and friends, and was seen by over 500 brethren at once. (I Corinthians 15:6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.)  He then ascended into Heaven while in the presence of his followers.  These privileged Apostles were very keyed-up to tell this Gospel they witnessed first hand to anyone who would listen.  Their initial emphasis, especially in the first several years, was to their fellow Jewish brethren, wherever they were, about the unbelievable things they saw with their eyes, and that there could be no question that Jesus indeed proved himself to be the Son of God, the giver of eternal life.  This message was soon carried to Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, and Italy.  For the first several years, they went first to the Jewish Synagogues, and to their fellow Jews who were scattered all over these areas for hundreds of years as a result of the dispersion.  These Jews made up their early audiences, and many, many were converted to Christianity, and became an important part of Christ’s early church, the elect.  The Apostles had no trouble at all convincing these Jews of the authenticity of their Gospel since they were first-hand eyewitnesses of these great miracles and the resurrection of Jesus.  But the Jews needed more than this.  They had to be convinced that Jesus was truly their Messiah that had been prophesied in the Old Testament.

I do not know if Matthew ever went to Asia Minor to minister, but it seems certain to me that as this news, whether Jesus was the true Messiah or not, trickled back to Matthew in Palestine, and as these news reports became very numerous over the years, I believe it became a passion of Matthew to write his Gospel out of his love for the salvation of his own people.  His Gospel had to be written in such a way that any Jew reading it would be absolutely convinced, and proved beyond a doubt, that indeed this Jesus was their promised King and Messiah who would establish the promised kingdom of Heaven.  Almost all the historians I studied seemed to be in total agreement that the Gospel, which Matthew wrote, was to prove to the Jewish converts to Christianity that Jesus was their true Messiah.  In writing, Matthew paid a great deal of attention to demonstrate that Jesus indeed fulfilled the Messianic prophecy, and therefore was Israel’s true Messiah.  Thus, the over 100 references Matthew made to Old Testament scripture was to prove this point.

Yes, Matthew was written to Jews who were early converts to Christianity, and who also became the elect, the early church.  So all three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, were written to the great number of converts, elect, who made up the early church, but they were also written for the benefit of all future Christians who would become Christ’s elect.  Matthew was not mysteriously written only for Jewish consumption but to all the elect, and therefore Matthew 24, along with Mark 13 and Luke 21, simply must be among the basic documents for the church’s teaching on eschatology, or end time events.

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