Matthew

New Testament · Gospel · 28 chapters

Quick answer

Jesus as the promised Jewish Messiah and King, the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Matthew, structured around five teaching blocks (including the Sermon on the Mount), presents Jesus as the son of David and new Moses who fulfills Israel's story and commissions his church.

📖 Read the full introductionbackground · author & date · outline · how to read it

Chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Sections

The Genealogy and Birth of JesusCh. 1–2

Matthew roots Jesus in Abraham and David, then narrates his virgin birth as Immanuel, "God with us."

John the Baptist and the BaptismCh. 3

John prepares the way; Jesus is baptized, and the Father, Son, and Spirit appear together.

The TemptationCh. 4

Led into the wilderness, Jesus is tested forty days and answers each temptation with Scripture.

Major themes & people

Person / place Abraham Person / place David Person / place Jesus of Nazareth Person / place John the Baptist Person / place The Jordan River Concept Baptism Concept Immanuel Concept Messiah / Christ Concept The Son of God

Start here — curated resources

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
DocumentaryThat the World May KnowRay Vander Laan · Paid · evangelical
Ray Vander Laan's on-location series immersing you in the Bible's historical and cultural world. (Mostly paid via Focus on the Family; some free clips.)
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Watch & study

VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on MatthewYouTube · Lay · Free
Sermon series and book overviews from across YouTube.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).