The first verse of the gospel of Matthew announces the event predicted by the old testament prophets and long awaited by Israel: the coming of the anointed one, Jesus. Under the spirits guidance, Mathew carefully documents Jesus’s claim to be the messiah and the evidence of his life and ministry: He possesses the credentials of the messiah and ministers in the predicted pattern of the messiah; he preached messages only Jesus could deliver, and though crucified by the roman authorities, God vindicates him by rising him from the dead.
