top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now

Source Materials

Gospel of Matthew

Matthew's Gospel, which is today considered the second of the four gospels to be written, makes up the majority of Godspell's script. Scholars today place its writing between 50-70 AD. According to Christian tradition, the evangelist Matthew was one of the twelve apostles, Jesus's closest and most devout followers. As such, he would have been an eyewitness to the events he wrote. 

​

Scholars today largely agree that Matthew wrote with a primarily Jewish audience in mind, aiming to convince the Jewish people that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah (one anointed by God to bring salvation). This gospel focuses more heavily on Jewish law and piety than the other three, and it quotes Hebrew scripture more than any other book in the Christian New Testament. 

What's Inside? 

A quick look into Matthew's gospel

  • Jesus' genealogy, traced from Abraham to David to him

  • The journey of the Three Kings (Magi) to see Jesus, the newborn King of the Jews

  • Jesus and his parents flee Israel to escape persecution

  • Jesus's baptism by John the Baptist and his temptation by Satan in the desert

  • The gathering of the Twelve Apostles

  • The Sermon on the Mount ("Blessed are the...")

  • Overview of miracles: 

    • Nature: calming the storm, walking on water, feeding thousands with very little food, withering a fig tree​

    • Healings: leprosy, blindness, palsy, bleeding; Peter's mother-in-law, a Centurion's servant, a Canaanite woman's daughter;  possessions by demons 

  • Parables—short, comparative stories that teach disciples about God's word

  • Procession into Jerusalem ​

  • Passion and death on the Cross

  • Resurrection and appearance to women

  • Charge to disciples—evangelize and baptize

Caravaggio's The Inspiration of St. Matthew

"We have become so fascinated with early man as tool-maker we have forgotten that before he made tools, he made myths and rituals" —Harvey Cox

WATCH: The Bible Project's Gospel of Matthew Animation

Some things to know...

  • According to tradition, Matthew was a tax collector—a Jewish man working for the Romans and exhorting his fellow Jews for personal riches

  • Jewish ritual and ceremony are deeply important in Matthew's Gospel (click to learn more!)

  • Matthew's Gospel shares large portions of material with those of Mark and Luke; these three are called the Synoptic Gospels 

  • For the original production of Godspell at Carnegie-Mellon, Tebelak brought scripture passages, mainly from Matthew, to his cast. Their devised and improvised material became the script we use now. 

bottom of page