Matthew is the New Testament book that deals specifically with the matter of the kingdom. In nearly every chapter the central point is the kingdom. The Gospel of John, on the other hand, emphasizes life. By comparing these two Gospels, we can see that the cases selected and presented in each of them are absolutely different because John stresses life and Matthew stresses the kingdom. Neither Gospel tells us everything that the Lord Jesus did while He was on earth. This would have been impossible (John 21:25). John tells us that the Lord Jesus did many things which are not recorded in his Gospel. The cases he recorded illustrate that Christ is life to people, and that He can meet every human need by life (20:30-31). In Matthew, however, the cases do not illustrate life; they illustrate the kingdom. Matthew does not mention Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, or the resurrection of Lazarus. These are found in John because they are excellent illustrations of how Christ is life to needy people. Matthew includes other cases, such as the cleansing of the leper, which John does not include. Thus, the cases in Matthew illustrate the matter of the kingdom, whereas the cases in John illustrate the matter of life.
The book of Matthew was not written according to the historical sequence of events. Another Gospel, Mark, presents an historical record of the sequence of events in the life of the Lord Jesus. Matthew on the other hand assembles various materials together in order to present a particular picture or revelation. Matthew's purpose is not to present a chronological sequence of events. Some incidents which occurred later in the Lord's life, Matthew mentions earlier, and some events which occurred earlier, he mentions later. He does this to show us a picture. The whole book is a picture of the kingdom.
The first aspect of the kingdom that Matthew shows is the seed of the kingdom. Chapter one presents not only the King of the kingdom, but also the seed of the kingdom. There is no doubt that the Lord Jesus is the King; yet this King is also the seed of the kingdom. To say that the Lord Jesus is only the King is too objective. We must see that the Lord Jesus is not only the King of the kingdom, but also the seed. This is subjective. This seed is a wonderful Person who has been sown into us. As we mentioned previously, Christ is the issue of many human generations mingled with the Triune God. He is Jehovah-plus and God-plus.
Chapter two continues by showing who are the proper persons to receive this seed. Then chapter three presents the beginning of the preaching of the kingdom. In chapter four we are told what kind of people the Lord Jesus called into the kingdom. He did not go to the religious center or to the temple to call the religious people. He did not call scholars, priests, scribes, or lawyers. Rather, He went to the fishing wharf and called some young people who were simple fishermen. After three and one-half years these young fishermen became the pillars of the first local church on earth, the church in Jerusalem.
Then in chapters five through seven, those called by the Lord Jesus followed Him to the mountaintop. There He gave them a definition of the real kingdom life. In this discourse, the Lord Jesus described the reality of the kingdom. Chapter eight, which presents the first case illustrating the kingdom recorded in Matthew, begins after the Lord's descent from the mountain. Let us now consider this first case.