Chapter 17

The Third Gospel

The Gospel of Jesus Christ 3.0

Most likely written sometime between 90 and 110 CE,¹ the third gospel—also published anonymously, but later spuriously attributed to the disciple Matthew—stands out in that it is the only gospel accepted into the New Testament that was written by a Jewish Christian rather than a Gentile.² It is likely to have been the work of someone in or near Judah since the author is familiar with the area and corrects several of the first gospel’s geographical mistakes.³ It was noted in the previous chapter that the second gospel’s author did his writing with a copy of the first gospel in front of him as he worked—and, indeed, copied large swaths of it. In the same way, when the author of the third gospel sat down to write, he had copies of both the first gospel and second gospel in front of him.⁴ He copied from them liberally, and took an even freer hand in moving stories and sayings around, and mixing elements of them together with his own new material.

Though we speak of these first three gospels as separate and distinct works, it must be remembered that their authors did not see them this way. At their time of writing, they could have had no idea that one day each of their revisions would be placed side-by-side in a collection of uniquely Christian scriptures. Each new author was motivated by what they perceived as deficiencies in what they inherited, and the opportunity to enshrine their own views. It can hardly be imagined that each successive revisionist encouraged his community to study both his new work alongside its predecessors, when clearly each wrote his work to replace its predecessors. The notion of a “Gospel According to So-and-So” was not yet a thing. So it’s more accurate and helpful to think of each of these successive works as editorial revisions of what was presented as the gospel.

Artist depiction of the genealogy of Jesus as presented by the author of the third gospel

By the time that this author was writing, the idea that Jesus had lived a historical life on Earth was gaining traction. As a Jewish Christian who accepted this notion, but was uncomfortable with various aspects of the Gentile presentation of the first two gospel revisions, this author created his own rewrite, better suited to his own religious community. His first departure from his predecessors comes in the very first paragraphs of his composition.

Artist depiction of young King David having decapitated the Goliath

In a style consciously aping the lists of “begats” found in Genesis and other parts of the Hebrew scriptures,⁵ the author attributes to Jesus an earthly genealogy that demonstrates that he is a descendant of the legendary King David—seen by many Jews as a required pedigree for the messiah. The list of ancestors is taken back farther than that—all the way back to the mythical ancient patriarch Abraham.⁶ This genealogy is in no way historically plausible, positing a nearly 2,000 year time span consisting of a mere 42 generations. It is clearly more important to the author to achieve a symmetrical numerical balance with 14 generations between Abraham and David, 14 more from David to the Babylonian captivity, and 14 again from the captivity to Jesus.⁷

Jesus Given a Birth Story

Artist depiction on an angel convincing Joseph not to abandon his pregnant fiancée

This is followed by the first-ever narrative of Jesus’s birth. It’s also the first-ever mention of the character Joseph, described as “a righteous man” and presented as the fiancée of Mary. Before they marry and have sex for the first time, the virginal Mary is impregnated through the Holy Spirit—though the exact mechanics of this act are left to the imagination. When Joseph learns Mary has become pregnant, he plans to break off their engagement. It takes the convincing of an angel to change his mind, and he is told Mary will give birth to a son to be named Jesus who will save his people from their sins.⁸

Ancient depiction of the Virgin Isis nursing Horus which Christian artists adapted to depict the Virgin Mary with Jesus

The author then points out that all these things happened to fulfill the prophecy—entirely removed from its context in the book of Isaiah—that “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son who will be named Emmanuel.”⁹ The author of the third gospel is significantly more obsessed than his predecessors with having events from Jesus’s life “fulfill” the “prophecies” of the Hebrew bible. That they don’t always line up perfectly does not seem to be a major concern. For instance, it is very obvious that the name Jesus (“savior”) is not the name Emmanuel (“God with us”). It is worth noting that the author was using a popular Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures which famously contained a mistransaltion, using the Greek word “virgin” where the Hebrew simply reads “young woman”—and so a new doctrine of the virgin birth was born.¹⁰ In ascribing a virgin birth to Jesus, however, the author put his messiah in the camp of other celebrated or worshiped mythical figures as Melchizedek, Zoroaster, Mithra, Krishna, Romulus and Remus, Attis, Horus, Dionysos, and Jason (of Argonauts fame).¹¹

Artist depiction of the Persian magi meeting with King Herod

Like the proper parents of a Jewish messiah, Mary and Joseph are portrayed as living in Bethlehem, and that is where Jesus is born—presumably in a house since this gospel knows nothing of the famous manger story written later by another author. Curiously, this author presents a group of Zoroastrian priests¹²—magi does not mean “kings” or “wise men” and their number are not specified—arriving in Jerusalem at this time, asking where they can find a newborn King of the Jews. They are brought to King Herod¹³—which thus dates the birth of Jesus in this story to sometime before Herod’s death by illness in 4 BCE, more realistically before 6 BCE when he was healthy enough to govern from Jerusalem. The king’s advisors inform him that it is prophesied that the messiah will be born in Bethlehem.¹⁴

Artist depiction of the magi offering gifts to a Jewish woman’s baby

Herod, inexplicably—except for storytelling reasons—sends the Persians off to find the child and report back. They successfully find the baby Jesus, give the newborn gifts of gold and spices, and are then instructed in a dream not to return to Herod. Predictably, Herod is furious about this. In another dream Joseph is instructed to flee with his family to Egypt to avoid the king’s wrath. The rest of the parents in Bethlehem aren’t given the angelic memo, however, and consequently every one of their children aged 2 or younger is mercilessly slaughtered.¹⁵

Artist depiction of all the babies of Bethlehem being slaughtered

While this sort of paranoid arbitrary violence was certainly not beyond a tyrant like Herod, such an act, if it had any historical basis, would surely have merited a write-up in the works of Flavius Josephus who covered the events of Herod’s reign in great detail, and seemed to revel in describing the king’s cruelty and vicious acts. In a hallmark of fictitious writing, the entire story is claimed by the author to fulfill two more out-of-context quotes from the Hebrew scriptures.¹⁶

Artist depiction of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph living in Egypt

But the notion of a national savior figure who escapes a tyrant, flees to Egypt, and then is called back to Judah by God is an obvious string of references to Moses, the most revered human figure among the Jews—especially so by the Essenes who would brook no insult against the Law giver. The parallel between Jesus and Moses is one the author will make several times throughout the third gospel.

Restoration of the Baptism and Temptation

Artist depiction of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returning from Egypt to settle in Nazareth in Galilee

Whereas the second gospel rejected Nazareth as a hometown for Jesus, this author reinstates it, having Joseph, Mary, and Jesus settle down there after returning from Egypt, perhaps unable to resist the temptation to have this fulfill another prophecy—that “he will be called a Nazarene.”¹⁷ After the family’s arrival in Galilee nothing at all is said of Jesus’s youth or adolescence. The story skips all these formative years, jumping ahead to the point where the original gospel began: with Jesus coming to John the Baptist at the Jordan River. The author of the third gospel portrays John in a much more fiery fashion. When Pharisees and Sadducees approach him for baptism, he upbraids them, calling them sons of snakes, and repeatedly warning them in florid language that Judgment Day is extremely imminent, and that God will thrash them and throw them into the fires of hell.¹⁸

Artist depiction of Satan tempting Jesus to throw himself of the highest point of the Temple of Jerusalem

The second gospel writer had also removed the original gospel’s story of Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by devil for 40 days and nights. But the third gospel’s author doesn’t just reinstate it, but greatly elaborates on it, actually describing just what these three temptations are. In each, Satan lays down a challenge before Jesus, and in each instance Jesus answers him with a quote from the Hebrew scriptures. In one temptation, Jesus is taken to the top of a tall mountain and shown all the kingdoms of the world. They can all be his, he’s told, if only he will bow down and worship Satan.¹⁹ What is most notable about this scene is not Jesus’s predictable refusal, but the very notion that all the kingdoms of the world are Satan’s to give. Certainly nothing in the entire Hebrew Bible prepares one for that idea, but it’s a notion we have seen in the letters of Paul and other early Christians who, under Zoroastrian influence, came to believe that God had—for unclear reasons—given over the entire Earth to Satan until the End Times.

Artist depiction of Herodias’s daughter with John the Baptist’s head

Also reinstated from the first gospel is the tale of John the Baptist’s gruesome demise—decapitated in prison, with his head brought on a platter to a young girl at the behest of her mother Herodias who had borne a grudge against him.²⁰ Though based on a kernel of truth—Flavius Josephus tells us in his writings that John the Baptist was indeed put in prison and executed by the ruler Antipas at the fortress/palace Macherus, he says nothing of beheading, a young girl, a platter, or any of the unlikely details of the gospel story. Instead, he makes clear that Antipas feared John’s great popularity among the masses, afraid that they will do anything he tells them. His preemtive strike againt the Baptist was exactly in keeping with the policy of all local rulers of this time, quashing any and all seeming messianic revolts before they could start.²¹

After Jesus’s encounter with Satan, the third gospel then proceeds along the lines of both its predecessors, with Jesus beginning his ministry of healing and exorcisms in Galilee.²² But before very long it diverges to present us with the longest speech Jesus, up to this point, has ever been portrayed as delivering.

The Sermon on the Mount

Artist depiction of Jesus ascending a mountain to teach

Though it is placed significantly earlier in the narrative than the second gospel’s Sermon on the Plain, the author of the third gospel clearly intended this speech to be a revised replacement, weighing in at three times the original’s length. Some of this additional text is simply copied from other areas of the second gospel. A few lines, such as the famous “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” were copied from The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles. That particular line, for whatever reasons, had been skipped over when the second gospel’s author mined this same document for sayings to put in the mouth of Jesus. The remainder of the speech contains 23 other teachings that are original to this gospel. Among these are 7 short lines that fit the style of the blessings and woes found in previous Christian writings:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
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Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
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Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
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Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.²³
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Do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.²⁴
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If you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your misdeeds.²⁵

Artist depiction of Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount

Whereas the second gospel had Jesus preaching from a plain by a lakeside, altering this to have Jesus climb a mountainside to teach the people is another likely parallel to Moses who delivered the commandments to the Israelites from a height on Mount Sinai, and some of the original teachings here are distinctly more Jewish in their orientation. Whereas the previous gospels written by Gentiles were highly influenced by Paul’s teachings on the Law of Moses, this author’s Jesus is firmly in the camp of the likes of Peter and James, stating unequivocally: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”²⁶

The author doubles down on this, having Jesus say, “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Immediately Jesus is made to issue a further warning: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”²⁷ With these words, the author reclaims Christianity for its founding Jewish churches in the Levant, issuing a blunt statement to the Gentile inheritors of Paul’s gospel that they will not find salvation on the path they are treading.

Artist depiction of Jesus making the Laws of Moses even stricter

Jesus is now presented as delivering a series of teachings in which he takes particular commandments from the Law of Moses, and—rather than dismissing or softening them—makes each one far more strict:

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, “Do not resist an evildoer.”
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You have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, “You fool!” shall be liable to the fire of Hell.
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It was said, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all…Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
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It was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
It was said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. [Note: punishment for adultery in the Law of Moses and in Jesus’s day was execution by stoning.]²⁸

Artist depiction of a man castrating himself for the Kingdom of Heaven

At a later point in the gospel when Jesus reiterates these new commandments concerning divorce and adultery, his disciples respond by saying, “If this is the case concerning a man and his wife, it is better not to marry at all.” Jesus then tells them, “Not all men can accept this teaching, only certain ones: There are some eunuchs who have been that way since birth. And then there are some eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. If you are able to accept this, you should accept this.”²⁹ Presumably having roots that go back to the original Christian community in Jerusalem that came out of the Essene sect, the author of the third gospel appears to hold beliefs about sex and marriage closer to the first Christians, and his Jesus teaches that abstinence and avoiding marriage are the best policy for any of his followers who can accept such a lifestyle.

Continuing the sermon, Jesus warns the people—in words expanding on another quote from The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles—“Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.”³⁰ We can only guess at the intended meaning since this teachings sits on its own with no helpful context, sandwiched between two other unrelated teachings. But given the author’s perspective, this may be another swipe at Gentile Christians, essentially advising Jewish Christians not to share their holy scriptures, knowledge, or rituals with them.

Artist depiction of many who said “Lord, lord” being sent to hell

Another element of the sermon unique to the third gospel has Jesus warn that, “Not every one that says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven—only he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy by your name, and cast out demons by your name, and do many mighty works by your name?’ And then will I say to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, you evildoers.’”³¹ This may well also be directed at Gentile believers who don’t follow the Law, and thus are clearly not—in the author’s mind—doing the will of the Father, no matter how pious they consider themselves.

Author’s Jewish Roots Expressed in Other Unique Material

Despite the antipathy toward Gentiles that the author may have harbored, he nonetheless faithfully copies one of the second gospel’s stories in which Jesus heals a Roman Centurion and remarks that he hasn’t seen such faith in all of Israel. This, however, fits a general pattern in which the author is very inclusive of the material from his predecessors, thereby creating by far the longest gospel to date. He shows little sign of cutting out or modifying stories that don’t align with his theology and ethics, seemingly expressing his own beliefs and worldview through the original material he adds to the mix. One unsurprising exception to this, however, is his choosing not to include the statement from the second gospel about the Law being preached only until the days of John the Baptist.

Artist depiction of an “enemy” sowing weeds where a predecessor had sown a field of wheat

His unique perspective also comes across in how he structures his gospel. In a clear homage to the five books of the Torah, the author has Jesus deliver five long discourses created, like the Sermon on the Mount, from a mix of copied and original content. One of these contains a section where Jesus delivers a string of 8 parables in a row. Only one of the parables is unique to this gospel, and again the author’s particular views shine through. Jesus tells the tale of a man who sows a field of wheat. When the man goes to sleep that night, his enemy (recall previous characterizations of Paul as “the enemy” by Jewish Christians) comes and sows weeds in the field. The man’s slave then asks if he should go and pull the weeds out, but the man won’t allow it because doing so would uproot the wheat as well. The man explains that at harvest time his reapers will collect both the weeds and the wheat, and then the weeds will be burned up.³² This comes across as thinly veiled advice to Jewish Christians not to directly engage in efforts against Gentile Christians, but to leave them alone during life, allowing them to be dealt with at the End Time, leaving it to God to toss them into hell.

Artist depiction of Peter walking on water, a detail added by the author of the third gospel

The apostle Peter who is so maligned by the first two gospel authors is now given a significant rehabilitation. The author of the third gospel creates an addition to the story of Jesus walking on the sea in which Peter—alone among the disciples—steps out of the disciples’ boat to walk on water too, however briefly.³³ Later in the gospel, after Peter makes an unequivocable declaration that Jesus is “the messiah, the Son of the living God”, the author has Jesus highly praise Peter, calling him the rock on which his enduring church will be built, and saying that Peter will be given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.³⁴

The last of the five long discourses is delivered on the Mount of Olives, where in previous gospels Jesus reveals to his disciples the signs of the End Times. This gospel copies that material from the earlier gospels, and then the author adds an original and memorable description of Judgment Day found nowhere else. A scene is described in which all people of all nations who have ever lived are gathered before the Son of Man on his throne. They are separated into two groups like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. Then they are all judged—not on their correct or incorrect religious beliefs, nor their blind faith or lack thereof—but purely upon their compassionate acts toward strangers in need.³⁵

Artist depiction of Jesus dividing the “sheep” from the “goats”

The Son of Man says to those who have earned eternal life, “I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me.” The great many who failed to care for the needy, ask confusedly, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and failed to minister to you?” Jesus famously replies, “Truly, I say to you, as you treated the most lowly, so have you treated me.”³⁶

This outlook of putting the ethical treatment of the disadvantaged over the importance of faith—the actual performing of compassionate acts over dogma—can be found among the writing of the Essenes and in the Epistle of James. The idea that salvation comes through the treatment of the destitute is less pronounced in the writings of Gentile Christianity which will go on to put its strongest emphasis on orthodoxy (“correct belief”) as the most important factor in determining people’s fates in the afterlife.

Additions to the Passion and Post-Death Appearances

Artist depiction of Judas feeling remorse before his suicide

Most of the text of the last quarter of the third gospel is copied more or less unchanged from the first and second gospels with a few notable additions. Judas Iscariot is made to show remorse for his actions, returning the money he was paid to betray Jesus, and then committing suicide by hanging himself. The chief priests who conspired with him then use the money to purchase the “potter’s field” where unclaimed bodies are buried. The only purpose for the inclusion of this addition seems to be that it, too, fulfills a “prophecy” from the book of Jeremiah that “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the Israelites, and they used it to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”³⁷

When we come to the scene created by the author of the first gospel, in which the crowd of onlookers must choose between two convicted criminals, one of whom will be set free, this author seems to feel a need to make the parallel with the identical Yom Kippur goats more obvious. So he gives Barabbas (“Son of Father”) the first name Jesus as well, and now the crowd must choose between Jesus the Son of Father or Jesus the Son of God.³⁸

Artist depiction of Pilate washing his hands before ordering the grisly execution of Jesus

With each gospel revision, Pilate—who we know from even the pro-Roman historian Flavius Josephus, to have been a cruel and violent governor—is given an increasingly unrealistic whitewash that, by this point, paints him as admirable. This author adds a detail to the story in which Pilate’s wife is said to have had a disturbing dream the night before, and warns her husband not to harm “that righteous man”. Pilate’s reluctance to order Jesus’s execution is taken to new extremes with the governor literally washing his hands of the affair.³⁹

Artist depiction of Jewish mob demanding to take the blame for Jesus’s execution on themselves and all future generations of Jews

The motive is easily understandable. It is highly likely that each of these gospel writers is increasingly eager not to promote any enmity between the fledgling Christian movement and the all-powerful Roman Empire whose might was so recently unleashed on the Jews of Judah. Christians of this time—even Christians of Jewish background—appear highly motivated to make a public distinction between themselves and “the Jews”, against whom they are increasingly scathing and hateful. In one of the most damning anti-Jewish lines from the entire New Testament—one that would help fuel centuries of merciless Christian pogroms against Jewish communities—the author of the third gospel now has the entire crowd of Jews repeatedly insist on Jesus’s crucifixion, and presents them as speaking in unison, shouting, “His blood be on us and on our children!”⁴⁰

Artist depictions of the holy ones raised bodily from the dead, seen throughout Jerusalem

The third gospel’s author disregards the the second gospel’s more placid last words of Jesus (“I entrust my spirit into your hands.”), reverting back to those chosen by the first gospel’s writer, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” At the moment Jesus dies, the third gospel adds colorful new details: the earth quakes, rocks split apart, tombs open and many “bodies of the holy ones” are resurrected and seen by many throughout Jerusalem—all of which has the effect of convincing many that Jesus truly was the Son of God.⁴¹

Artist depiction of the story of the Roman guards being paid off by Jewish elders

Also uniquely added to the Empty Tomb story is a scene in which the Pharisees convince Pilate to station guards at Jesus’s tomb, lest his disciples steal his body and claim that he rose from the dead. In addition to the tomb being put under guard, it is then also sealed shut.⁴² When the women come to the tomb after three days, in this gospel they don’t find the one or two “men dressed in white”, but a full-fledged angel who causes (another) earthquake that knocks the guards unconscious. He rolls away the stone from the tomb’s entrance, then invites the women in to see where Jesus’s body isn’t. Then, as in the second gospel, the women run off to tell the disciples. Here the author adds a follow-up to his previous addition in which the guards from the tomb report what happened to the chief priests who consult with “the elders” and decide to give the guards some money to keep them quiet about what they experienced, and to spread a rumor that his disciples came and stole Jesus’s body while they slept. The author then makes an aside to the reader that this cover-up story is still spread among the Jews to this day.⁴³

Artist depiction of Jesus appearing to his disciples in Galilee

The third gospel’s post-resurrection narrative is different from that of the second gospel, and kept very brief. The eleven remaining disciples go to a mountain in Galilee. Some worship Jesus, but some have doubts. Then Jesus appears, announcing that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He instructs the disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Finally, he signs off, ending the gospel with the words, “Look, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”⁴⁴

Reception, Legend, and Popularity

Despite having a strong Jewish-Christian bent whose stance toward the absolute necessity of following the Law of Moses stood in contradiction to the beliefs of the Gentile-dominated churches influenced by Paul, this third gospel became the preferred and most-used gospel in the first centuries of Christianity. This was due in great part to the early development of a legend that this gospel had been written by the disciple Matthew significantly before any other gospels. Early church patriarchs believed that it had first been written in the disciple’s native language, Aramaic, and only later translated into Greek (though modern scholars see no evidence for this⁴⁵). Due to its perceived age and authenticity, it was acordingly given primacy of place as the very first writing contained in the New Testament.

Continue Reading:

Chapter 18: Ignatius and Marcion

Footnotes

1
Note: Though traditionally scholars date Matthew closer to 75-85 CE, I have found no convincing evidence for this. All we can surmise is that it was written after the first and second gospels and before the expansion of the second gospel into what we know as Luke.
2
Davies, W.D. & Allison, D.C. (1988). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Vol. I: Introduction and Commentary on Matthew I–VII. T&T Clark Ltd.
3
Campbel, J.W. (2021). Cross Examined: Putting Christianity on Trial. Rowman & Littlefield.
4
Davidson, P. (2015.) How Editorial Fatigue Shows That Matthew and Luke Copied Mark. Is That in the Bible? https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/how-editorial-fatigue-shows-that-matthew-and-luke-copied-mark/
5
Genesis 10. The Bible. New International Version.
6
Matthew 1:1-16. The Bible. New International Version.
7
Davidson, P. (2014). What’s the Deal with Matthew’s Genealogy? Is That in the Bible? https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/whats-the-deal-with-matthews-genealogy/
8
Matthew 1:18-24. The Bible. New International Version.
9
Matthew 1:22. The Bible. New International Version.
10
Cargill, R.R. (2021). How the Septuagint Made the Prophecy of the Virgin Birth Possible. University of Iowa. https://bam.sites.uiowa.edu/articles/septuagint-prophecy-virgin-birth
11
Carrier, R. (2015). On the Historicity of Jesus. Sheffield Phoenix Press.
12
Roberts, P.W. (1995). Secret Lives of the Wise Men. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/25/opinion/secret-lives-of-the-wise-men.html
13
Matthew 2:1-3. The Bible. New International Version.
14
Matthew 2:4-6. The Bible. New International Version.
15
Matthew 2:8-16. The Bible. New International Version.
16
Matthew 2:17-18. The Bible. New International Version.
17
Matthew 2:19-23. The Bible. New International Version.
18
Matthew 3:1-10. The Bible. New International Version.
19
Matthew 4:1-11. The Bible. New International Version.
20
Matthew 14:1-11. The Bible. New International Version.
21
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
22
Matthew 4:12-25. The Bible. New International Version.
23
Matthew 5:4-10. The Bible. New International Version.
24
Matthew 5:42. The Bible. New International Version.
25
Matthew 6:14. The Bible. New International Version.
26
Matthew 5:17-18. The Bible. New International Version.
27
Matthew 5:19-20. The Bible. New International Version.
28
Matthew 5:21-31. The Bible. New International Version.
29
Matthew 19:11-12. The Bible. New International Version.
30
Matthew 7:6. The Bible. New International Version.
31
Matthew 7:21-23. The Bible. New International Version.
32
Matthew 13:24-30. The Bible. New International Version.
33
Matthew 14:25-29. The Bible. New International Version.
34
Matthew 16:13-19. The Bible. New International Version.
35
Matthew 25:31-46. The Bible. New International Version.
36
Matthew 25:31-46. The Bible. New International Version.
37
Matthew 27:3-10. The Bible. New International Version.
38
Matthew 27:15-20. The Bible. New International Version.
39
Matthew 27:19-24. The Bible. New International Version.
40
Matthew 27:24-25. The Bible. New International Version.
41
Matthew 27:45-54. The Bible. New International Version.
42
Matthew 27:62-66. The Bible. New International Version.
43
Matthew 28:1-15. The Bible. New International Version.
44
Matthew 28:16-20. The Bible. New International Version.
45
Ehrman, B. (2016). Did Matthew Write in Hebrew? The Bart Ehrman Blog. https://ehrmanblog.org/did-matthew-write-in-hebrew-did-jesus-institute-the-lords-supper-did-josephus-mention-jesus-weekly-readers-mailbag-july-9-2016/