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Papyrus P4, fragment of a flyleaf with the title of the Gospel of Matthew, ευαγγελιον κ̣ατ̣α μαθ᾽θαιον (euangelion kata Maththaion), or gospel according to Matthew. Dated to late 2nd or early 3rd century, it is the earliest manuscript title for Matthew.

Eusebius, the early church historian, records Papias' account: "Matthew collected the oracles (ta logia) in the Hebrew language, and each interpreted them as best he could."  This could allude to an initial form of the gospel in Hebrew, which he later translated to Greek.  Or it could be that Matthew took notes in Hebrew as the events and teachings of Jesus took place, then later used those to write the gospel in Greek.  The fact that the Gospel According to Matthew concentrates on 5 sections of Jesus’ teachings, may lend to the idea that “oracles” mentioned by Eusebius refers to the whole gospel.

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After the resurrection there is no other mention of him in the New Testament.  The Jewish Talmud mentions Matthew as one of 5 disciples of Jesus it mentioned. The early church fathers mentioned that Matthew preached to the Jewish community in Judea, and then preached in other countries.

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94% of the Gospel of Mark is in the Gospel of Matthew.  This fact leads scholars to the idea that Mark was written first, and that Matthew expounded on what Mark had written.  However, that conclusion is not necessarily true.  If indeed, Matthew did collect the oracles in the Hebrew language, this necessitates that they must have been written down in Hebrew, which implies a gospel written in Hebrew.  Why would Matthew interpret his Hebrew gospel into Greek?  Since Matthew was a tax collector from Galilee, he would have known some of the Greek language.  Perhaps he translated it into Greek to popularize it throughout the world.  He could have also translated it into Greek because of persecution.  Matthew preached the gospel primarily to the Judean Jews.  Persecution of the Christians broke out fairly early.  If Matthew had written his gospel in Hebrew, this would be easily recognized by the Judean Jews and destroyed in a persecution.  Something written in Greek would be not so readily recognized by Judean Jews since they abhorred everything Greek and everything Roman.  There are no surviving copies of Matthew’s gospel in Hebrew, so it can be concluded that anything that Matthew had written down in Hebrew was destroyed.

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Now, Matthew records Jesus’ prediction about the temple in Matthew 24:1-2 as follows,

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“Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.  But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

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This prediction was fulfilled in 70 A.D. when the Romans tore down every stone of the temple.  If Matthew had written his gospel after 70 A.D., Then surely, he would have mentioned that this was fulfilled.  So Matthew, definitely wrote his gospel before 70 A.D.  Since Matthew wrote the oracles in Hebrew first, it is very likely that his Hebrew form of the gospel was before the persecution in 44 A.D.  So, it is most likely that Matthew predates all the other gospels.  The oracles that Matthew wrote are likely to have been recorded as Jesus spoke them.  Since Matthew preached to Judean Jews, these could have been easily compiled into the first gospel, and the need for this was immediately after the resurrection.  The day of Pentecost would have generated a lot of demand for Matthew to do this.  The Greek translation would have been written most likely right after the persecution of 44 A.D. broke out, and definitely by 55 A.D.

The calling of Matthew happened in Capernaum, right after Jesus healed a paralytic.  We find this in Matthew 9:9-13,

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“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

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And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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There are different conflicting accounts of how Matthew’s ministry ended.  The Orthodox church accounts for it as follows:

“The holy Apostle brought the Gospel of Christ to Syria, Media, Persia, Parthia, and finishing his preaching in Ethiopia with a martyr’s death. This land was inhabited by tribes of cannibals with primitive customs and beliefs. The holy Apostle Matthew converted some of the idol-worshippers to faith in Christ. He founded the Church and built a temple in the city of Mirmena, establishing there his companion Platon as bishop.

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When the holy apostle was fervently entreating God for the conversion of the Ethiopians the Lord Himself appeared to him in the form of a youth. He gave him a staff, and commanded him to plant it at the doors of the church. The Lord said that a tree would grow from this staff and it would bear fruit, and from its roots would flow a stream of water. When the Ethiopians washed themselves in the water and ate the fruit, they lost their wild ways and became gentle and good.

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When the holy apostle carried the staff towards the church, he was met by the wife and son of the ruler of the land, Fulvian, who were afflicted by unclean spirits. In the Name of Christ the holy apostle healed them. This miracle converted a number of the pagans to the Lord. But the ruler did not want his subjects to become Christians and cease worshiping the pagan gods. He accused the apostle of sorcery and gave orders to execute him.

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They put Saint Matthew head downwards, piled up brushwood and ignited it. When the fire flared up, everyone then saw that the fire did not harm Saint Matthew. Then Fulvian gave orders to add more wood to the fire, and frenzied with boldness, he commanded to set up twelve idols around the fire. But the flames melted the idols and flared up toward Fulvian. The frightened Ethiopian turned to the saint with an entreaty for mercy, and by the prayer of the martyr the flame went out. The body of the holy apostle remained unharmed, and he departed to the Lord.

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The ruler Fulvian deeply repented of his deed, but still he had doubts. By his command, they put the body of Saint Matthew into an iron coffin and threw it into the sea. In doing this Fulvian said that if the God of Matthew would preserve the body of the apostle in the water as He preserved him in the fire, then this would be proper reason to worship this One True God.

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That night the Apostle Matthew appeared to Bishop Platon in a dream, and commanded him to go with clergy to the shore of the sea and to find his body there. The righteous Fulvian and his retinue went with the bishop to the shore of the sea. The coffin carried by the waves was taken to the church built by the apostle. Then Fulvian begged forgiveness of the holy Apostle Matthew, after which Bishop Platon baptized him, giving him the name Matthew in obedience to a command of God.

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Soon Saint Fulvian-Matthew abdicated his rule and became a presbyter. Upon the death of Bishop Platon, the Apostle Matthew appeared to him and exhorted him to head the Ethiopian Church. Having become a bishop, Saint Fulvian-Matthew toiled at preaching the Word of God, continuing the work of his heavenly patron (https://oca.org/saints/lives/2007/11/16/103313-apostle-and-evangelist-matthew).”

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The name Matthew means “gift of Yahuweh.”  It is quite obvious and widely accepted that Matthew was written to the Jews. For one, he focuses on the fulfillment of the Old Testament, even quoting from it sixty-two times, which is more than any other Gospel writer. Secondly it is interesting that Matthew does not explain Jewish culture like the other evangelists (cf. Mark 7:3, John 19:40), which also adds to the argument that he is writing to Jews. Matthew uses the phrase, "kingdom of heaven," (the only author, in fact, to use this phrase) which can be considered as a "reverential Jewish expression" - a term appropriate to a Jewish audience. His purpose in writing to the Jews was to show them that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected messiah and both his genealogy and his resurrection were legitimate proofs of this.

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The overriding theme shows Jesus as the messiah, but there are also several minor themes, some of which directly relate to the major theme. These other themes include the kingdom of heaven, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders, Jesus as the fulfiller of the law, and the king who will return in the clouds.

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The structure of Matthew's Gospel is very remarkable.  The Gospel can be divided into three parts: the prologue (1:1-2:23), the body (3:1-28:15), and the epilogue (28:16-20). Matthew constructed his body around five distinct discourses: the Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29), the Commissioning of the Apostles (10:1-42), Parables about the Kingdom (13:1-52), Relationships in the Kingdom (18:1-35), and the Olivet Discourse (24:1-25:46).   Each discourse also ends with a recognizable closing statement (7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1), for example: "When Jesus had finished saying these things...."  Even more interesting are the intricate parallels between the first and fifth discourses, and the second and fourth discourses.  This leaves the third discourse (Parables about the Kingdom) as the focal point.  Though we are not sure about the comparison of Jesus' baptism with his death, there is a rather striking parallel between Emmanuel (1:23; lit. "God with us") and Jesus' last words, "And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:20).