History Of Matthew 18:21-35

Authorship

The authorship of various books throughout the Bible seems to be a constant question for many, and the authorship of the book of Matthew is no different. No one really knows the person responsible for writing the first gospel of the New Testament for a number of reasons. As Leon Morris points out, the oldest known translation of Matthew is written in Greek, but there is considerable agreement that the disciple Matthew did not know Greek. Additionally, William Hendriksen concludes that since the book of Matthew draws knowledge from the gospels of Mark and John, it does not seem practical that one of Christ's disciples would need these other books as a template. Although the author is not known, A.W. Argyle states that there is general consensus that the entire book of Matthew was written by the same person. Therefore, the parable of forgiveness would have been written by the author of the book of Matthew. There are no hints revealed in the passage as to who the author may have been. There is only a single reference to Peter and Jesus. Although the writer is not known, the authorship of the passage does not in any way affect its meaning.

Date and Provenance

With no absolute author to link the book of Matthew to, the date and origin of the book are hard to determine. Daniel Harrington presents Syria and Palestine as various locations at which the book could have been written. William Barclay mirrors these two locations, but also adds Alexandria, Egypt as a possible place of origin. However, general belief is that the book of Matthew was written somewhere in Palestine. The date of Matthew is a little more concrete because of the references throughout the book to the intact Temple in Jerusalem. Alex Varughese states that since the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the generally accepted date of the book of Matthew is somewhere just prior to the Temple's destruction. The most difficult aspect of the passage for the modern reader to understand is the societal cast system used in the parable. In today's world, we do not encounter slavery as it persisted back when Matthew was written. Moreover, we cannot fathom having ourselves, as well as our families, sold to repay a debt. There are, however, slight similarities found in the passage that can be related to the world today, the most prominent being the similarity of debt. Currently, there are many people in the world that have debt, and we all know the burden that it can put on our lives. In this way, we can sympathize with the servant that owed the king money.

Occasion and Purpose

The parable of forgiveness is a discourse in which Jesus uses a story to teach about heavenly mercy. This genre is quite useful as a way of making abstract ideas easily understandable. The author uses a subject matter familiar to his audience in an attempt to make the act of forgiveness more applicable to their lives. At this point in history, the people were still living according to the Old Covenant. The laws of this covenant required sacrifices for sins. Moreover, one had to seek forgiveness from God through a priest. According to Manlio Simonetti, the author of this passage wished to show the people of the day that God's New Covenant would be one in which forgiveness could be directly received from Him, instead of a priest. The book of Matthew as a whole was believed to have been written for a number of reasons. Myron Augsburger believes, as do many others, that Matthew was written to highlight the teachings and words of Christ. Albert Barnett also considers the book of Matthew to have been written in an attempt to show the people that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Lastly, Douglas Hare assumes that the author of the book of Matthew was making an effort to give a better account of the genealogy and life of Christ.

Literary Context

The parable of forgiveness is just one of the many stories in the book of Matthew used by Jesus to teach the people of his Father's ways. The passage is located in the eighteenth chapter of