The position of the Gospel according to Matthew as the first of the four gospels in the New Testament reflects both the view that it was the first to be written, a view that goes back to the late second century A.D., and the esteem in which it was held by the church; no other was so frequently quoted in the noncanonical literature of earliest Christianity. - The principal divisions of the Gospel according to Matthew are the following: I. The Infancy Narrative (? Matthew 1:1-? 2:23) ® Katholische Bibelanstalt GmbH, Stuttgart 1980 |