Matthew

tim-wildsmith-YOQBKrVOjRI-unsplash Here are resources for the book of Matthew.

The Via Emmaus Reading Plan

With the new year comes the chance to begin a new Bible reading plan (or to continue your reading plan from last year). If the new year leads you to Genesis, as the Via Emmaus Bible Reading Plan does, you might be looking for some resources to aid in your reading—especially, if your plan does not give you a day-by-day, play-by-play. To that end I am sharing four reading strategies, with some helpful resources to listen and read. Be sure to read to the end, as some of the most helpful resources come at the bottom.

Reading Matthew Two, Three, or Four Chapters at a Time

This is self-explanatory and the easiest way (mathematically-speaking) to break up the book. Two chapters will get you through the book in 14 days, with a few days to spare (or miss). With this pace, you could read the book twice in the month. Three chapters a day will permit you to read Matthew three times in the month. And four chapters a day will result in reading the book once every week.

Reading Matthew According to Its Flow of Thought

Another way to read Matthew is by following its flow of thought. In this picture, you can see something of the structure of the Sermon on the Mount. But also it lists the “five mountains” of Matthew. In his Gospel, Matthew has organized his book around five discourses, with an introduction and conclusion. Keeping this in mind will help you follow the argument of the first Gospel.

Sermon on the Mount Overview copy

From this outline, you might follow this order of reading:

Matthew 1:1–4:17
Matthew 4:18–9:38
Matthew 10:1–12:50
Matthew 13:1–17:27
Matthew 18:1–20:34
Matthew 21:1–25:46
Matthew 26:1–28:20

This order not only gets you through the book in one week’s time, but it also helps you see the way Matthew combines Jesus’s discourses with his actions (e.g., 4:18–7:29 + 8:1–9:38). Additionally, if you follow this path, you would have additional time to do some study of various parts of the book. See below for resources to help with that.

Reading Matthew Theologically

The final way you might read Matthew is to read it as much as you can and whenever you come to a section of particular interest or confusion, you could stop and study a particular section. You could also read through the book once, do some extra reading, and then read it again. I call this a theological reading of Scripture.

When it comes to reading the Bible, a theological approach to reading is one that strives to know and understand and love the God of Scripture. Instead of just learning facts, dates, people, and places, a theological reading strives to know how all of these factual details reveal the living God. In truth, we should always be reading theologically. Whether you are a pastor or a new believer, knowing God is what Scripture is for. And in this month, to help you read Matthew theologically, I am listing a number of helpful articles.

These articles are culled from two places: (1) The Gospel Coalition, which has a “course” for every book of the Bible, (2) Via Emmaus, and (3) The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (Fall 2009) which covered the parables in Matthew. If you have written or read other good articles, please put them in the comments. I will read them and add them.