Expository notes on the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew is in a very real sense the Jewish gospel. This does not mean that it has no message for Christians, but rather that it is designed by the Holy Spirit to present Christ so as to make it clear to honest Jewish inquirers that He is the One of whom Moses and the prophets spoke. In 1:1-17 we have the genealogy of the King and in 1:18-25 the birth of the King. In 2:1-12 the Gentiles do homage to the King, and in 2:13-23 we see the preservation of the King. Chapter 3 gives the dedication and anointing of the King, while in chapter 4 we have His testing. In chapters 5-7 inclusive (the so-called “Sermon on the Mount”) the King unfolds the principles of His kingdom. From chapters 8-12 we see the King accredited by mighty works of power, but meeting with ever-increasing rejection. In chapters 13-20 we behold a new condition—that which was to prevail after the rejected King returned to heaven, and until He comes again. The kingdom of heaven is seen throughout in mystical form. In other words, it is the development of what we generally speak of as Christendom. The culmination as to Israel is seen in chapters 21-23, God’s earthly people set to one side because of their refusal to receive the King when He came to them in exact accordance with their own Scripture. Chapters 24-25 have to do with the second advent of the King. In chapters 26-28 we have His death and resurrection, closing with His commission to His disciples to go forth to the nations with the kingdom message.

Henry (Harry) Allan Ironside was born in Canada in 1876. Converted at the age of fourteen, he lived to preach and did so throughout North America and the British Isles. For Eighteen Years he was pastor of Chicago's Moody Memorial Church. The author of over 100 books, his scholarship was recognized by many Bible Institutes and Seminaries. H.A. Ironside went on the be with the Lord in 1951. The clarity of his preaching led hundreds of thousands to a knowledge of the Word of God. His writings are as fresh and instructive today as when first published.