This is the first lesson of the books of the bible. Remember this is only a helicopter view of the books. If you are interested in a more in depth look at the books of the bible, let me know and I might do it just for you. I am very happy to announce, as I did on Facebook that I now have an email just for this blog. If you want to make a comment or ask a question please send it to joe@randomthoughtsofajudaicchristian.com. I will be happy to answer and all comments and questions that you may have.

We are going to take a look at the Gospel, which are the first 4 books of the New Testament. The books that I will be teaching on are: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I hope that you will enjoy this as much as I am enjoying this.

The first author that I would like to take a look at is Matthew. He wrote the book of Matthew, the probable dates of his writing of this book, is 50-60 AD. it is believed that he was born in Palestine. Prior to his conversion, and him following Jesus, it is believed that he was a tax collector in Capernaum. It was believed that tax collectors were corrupt people. Chapter 9 covers his meeting of Jesus. It is believed that Matthew met Jesus in Capernaum. Capernaum is located north of Jerusalem, bordering the Sea of Galilee. Matthew followed Jesus through much of his ministry and into Jerusalem, where he stayed until Pentecost. What is really interesting about Matthew, is that was surrounded by the Jewish people and traditions. This inspired him to document his story and make more then 90 references to the Old Testament.

The book of Matthew, as discussed above was written by Matthew, whom was a tax collector. Matthew is covering the period 7 BC to 26AD. Some of the important points of the book include the following:

1. Matthew was writing primarily to Jews and not to the gentiles. His gospel often quotes the Old Testament, to show how prophecy was fulfilled.
2. The book contains genealogy that goes back to Abraham.
3. The book is famous for containing the Great Commission. Matthew 28:19. Which tells us to go out and make disciples. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

There is much more to the book of Matthew, but as I stated this is just a helicopter view.