The name Matthew in Hebrew means “gift of God.” He is called Levi by St. Mark and St. Luke and their Gospels.
Matthew was a customs official in the town of Capernaum until invited by Christ to be one of His followers He was probably in the employ of Herod Antipas who is the Herod of the Passion. And so, Matthew was not a Roman tax-gatherer, a much more unpopular official.
He as probably of the same family as James “the Less” (Mk. 3:18) whose mother, was present on Calvary, and appears to have been a cousin of our Lady. (Mk. 15:40)
His position would demand some fluency in speaking and writing Aramaic and Greek and possibly Latin.
Matthew wrote in Aramaic an account of Jesus’ life and sayings. This later was translated into Greek. Authorities agree that this was the first written account. However this text is lost. The Gospel we now have was written in Greek probably about 80 A.D. and probably at Antioch. It seems very ikely that it was based on Matthew’s Aramaic Gospel and Mark’s Gospel. The Church has accepted this later Gospel of Matthew in Greek as canonical or inspired.
Matthew wrote among Jews and for Jews. He made a special point of demonstrating that the Scriptures are fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. He did this in every significant passage by using the Old Testament to prove that the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled—those hopes not only realized but perfected, ennobled, and surpassed.. Although written primarily for Jews, Matthew’s Gospel has the Gentiles in mind, too.
Matthew often speaks of the kingdom of heaven (other Gospels use the term kingdom of God) which means the reassertion of God’s dominion as king over those who at least know Him, serve Him, and love Him. This kingdom was prepared and foretold in the Old Testament.
Matthew’s Gospel is a dramatic account in seven acts of the coming of the kingdom of heaven as the commentary in the Jerusalem Bible outlines it:
1: The preparation of the kingdom in the person of the Child-Messiah, Chapters 1-2.
2: The formal proclamation of the charter of the kingdom to the disciples and the public in the Sermon on the Mount, Chapters 3-7.
3: The preaching of the kingdom by missionaries whose credentials (the “signs” which are to confirm the word) are now hinted at by miracles done by Jesus Himself; the missionaries receive their instructions, Chapters 8-10.
4: The obstacles which the kingdom will meet from men and which are part of God’s deliberate design that the kingdom should come without show, even imperceptibly, as illustrated in the parables of the concluding instruction, Chapters 11:1-13::52.
5:The crisis, provoked by the increasing hostility of the Jewish leaders, which is to prepare for the definitive coming of the kingdom and which is the subject of the concluding eschatological (last thnings) instruction, Chapters 19-25.
6: Lastly, the coming itself, a coming effected or brought about through suffering and triumph, through the Passion and Resurrection, Chapters 26-28