Chapter by chapter
1Matthew places Jesus within Israel’s history and identifies him as the Spirit-conceived Savior whose birth fulfills God’s word.2Matthew presents Jesus as Israel’s promised king, whom visitors worship and God preserves amid Herod’s murderous opposition.3John prepares the Lord’s way through a call to repentance, and Jesus’ baptism reveals him as God’s beloved Son.4Jesus resists the devil’s demands and begins proclaiming God’s kingdom through preaching, calling disciples, and healing the sick.5Jesus declares the blessings of heaven’s kingdom and teaches a righteousness that reaches the heart and extends to enemies.6Jesus places devotion, possessions, and daily needs under the Father’s care and his rightful claim on the whole heart.7Jesus closes his teaching by making obedience to his words the dividing line between firm foundations and ruin.8Jesus displays authority over disease, the sea, and demons, while faith, fear, and rejection mark people’s responses to him.9Jesus shows his authority to forgive and heal, extending mercy to sinners and responding with compassion to crowds without a shepherd.10Jesus sends his disciples with his authority, preparing them for costly witness under the Father’s care.11Jesus answers questions about his identity, confronts refusal to repent, and offers rest under his gentle authority.12Jesus asserts his authority through mercy and deliverance, while exposing the gravity of rejecting God’s work and speaking against it.13Jesus reveals the kingdom’s growth, surpassing worth, and coming judgment through parables that expose how people hear his word.14Against the backdrop of John’s execution, Jesus shows compassion and authority that lead his frightened disciples to worship him.15Jesus exposes the heart’s defilement and shows his authority and compassion through a foreign woman’s plea, healings, and shared bread.16Matthew 16 joins the confession of Jesus as the Christ to his coming death and the cost of following him.17Jesus reveals his glory as God’s Son while teaching his disciples about faith, his coming suffering, and his freedom as Son.18Jesus orders life among his disciples around humility, care for the little ones, and forgiveness grounded in mercy received.19Jesus places marriage and possessions under God’s authority, welcomes children, and makes clear that salvation depends on God’s power.20Jesus challenges claims to rank and reward, showing God’s generosity and defining greatness through service that costs him his life.21Jesus enters Jerusalem as its humble king and confronts leaders whose resistance to God bears no fruit.22Jesus exposes resistance to God’s kingdom, answers challenges to his teaching, and places love for God and neighbor at the law’s center.23Jesus exposes religious hypocrisy, places greatness in service, and laments Jerusalem’s rejection of those God sends.24Jesus answers questions about destruction and his coming with warnings against deception and commands to endure, watch, and serve faithfully.25Jesus joins readiness for his return with faithful service and mercy, placing each under the certainty of his judgment.26Matthew places Jesus’ willing obedience to the Father beside the betrayal, desertion, and denial that surround his approaching death.27Matthew recounts Jesus’ unjust condemnation and death, where mockery of his identity gives way to a confession of his sonship.28The risen Jesus receives worship, declares his authority over heaven and earth, and sends his disciples to all nations.
Read Matthew with a pen in hand.
Psalmlog builds a reading plan through Matthew and turns each day's passage into an entry with one next step.
Nearby books← MalachiMark →The whole map
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).