The Authorized Biography of Jesus Christ: A New Interpretation of the Gospel of St. Matthew

By Mano Govindaraj

The author describes how as a high school student, he first met the scientific approach to the study of the Gospels and learned that the Gospel of St. Matthew was copied from an older document called Q. The question arose: if Matthew was a disciple of Jesus, why would he need another document to write about Jesus?

A life-long struggle to answer that question resulted in the development of this new Interpretation. Matthew was a trained tax accountant. Taxation is all about keeping records and diaries. Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple. Matthew did what he knew bestkeeping records and diaries as directed by Jesus.

Analyzing its contents using principles of information assurance, Mano concludes that this gospel is in two parts. The first nine chapters happened before the call of Matthew, and the source of data is Jesus. After chapter ten, Matthew is the source of data. He recorded events as indicated by Jesus, including events after the arrest. This is the justification for calling it an authorized biography of Jesus Christ.

The Ascension is omitted. That significant omission proves that this gospel was not written by a later Christian believer or organization, but happened because Matthew ceased his diaries before the Ascension. These diaries were obtained by Christians many years later and recognized as a gospel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449763237

Mano Govindaraj

Manoharan Govindaraj comes from an originally Hindu ethnic group of South India. His family had converted to Christianity in the nineteenth century and migrated to Sri Lanka. His Hindu heritage and the Buddhist environment in which he grew up gave him a unique view of Christian spirituality. He is an accountant by profession. His writings display these various influences of his life. Mano later migrated to the United States and became naturalized as a US citizen. He lives with his family in Washington, DC, where he pursues his twin professions of public accountancy and information systems assurance.

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Copyright © 2012 Mano Govindaraj

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6322-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6323-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012915939

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WestBow Press rev. date:09/24/2012

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Preface

Part 1. Introduction

Chapter 1. Origin of the Problem

Chapter 2. Methodologies

Chapter 3. Controversies About the Gospels

Chapter 4. Assumptions Made in This Book

Part 2. Matthew the Biographer

Chapter 5. Graeco-Roman Society in Palestine

Chapter 6. Matthew’s Family Background

Chapter7. Formal Education And Professional Life

Chapter 8. Matthew’s Character and Relationships

Chapter 9. The Call of Matthew

Part 3. Events Before the Call of Matthew

Chapter 10. Matthew’s First Attempt

Chapter 11. The Genealogy of Jesus

Chapter 12. The Great Eulogy on Joseph

Chapter 13. The Visit of the Magi

Chapter 14. Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

Chapter 15. The Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 16. Chapter Eight of Matthew’s Gospel

Part 4. The Middle Story

Chapter 17. The Great Missionary Journey

Part 5. The Biography Concludes

Chapter 18. Jesus in Jerusalem

Chapter 19. Events after the Arrest of Jesus

Chapter 20. The Separation of Matthew

Part 6. Analysis and Review

Chapter 21. The Great Omission in Matthew

Chapter 22. The Test of Authenticity

Chapter 23. A New Solution to the Synoptic Puzzle

Chapter 24. How Did Jesus Authorize His Biography?

Chapter 25. Arguments For a Later Date of Writing

Chapter 26. The Bible as a Christian Book

Chapter 27. Postlude

Also By Mano Govindaraj

Unpublished monograph:

A Hypothesis on the Composition and Timing of the Gospel of St. Matthew Copyright © Library of Congress TXu-049-741, August 21, 2002.

The Matriverse and other Essays

Published by Xlibris, Copyright © 2010

(The author’s conception of the Origin of our Universe, and six other essays)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Most Bible quotes are from the Authorized King James Version Copyright © 1990 Thomas Nelson Inc. Some quotes are from the 400th anniversary of KJV Commemorative Edition, ESV Crossway, 2011.

The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Atlas © 1969, Reprinted 1980, Edited by E.M. Blaiklock was an exciting and comprehensive source book for my study of the Bible.

The New Scofield Reference Bible, © 1967 provided valuable notes and explanations for my study of the Bible.

Harper Collins Atlas of the Bible © Times Books Ltd. Printed for Borders Group 1997. Reprinted 1998 was an informative and useful reference during preparation of this book.

In February 2003, Dr. Malcolm Drummond of Palmers Green Baptist Church, London, UK sent me a penetrating critique of my 2002 essay A hypothesis on the Composition and Timing of the Gospel of St. Matthew. It made a significant impact on my approach to this subject.

A lecture by the Late Prof. Arnold J. Toynbee in 1957 at the University of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) introduced me to the comparability of social conditions separated by centuries. Decades later it led me to visualize Matthew as an outcast of society in Roman Judea in the first century comparable to similar social groups in British India in recent times.

The Late P.H. Nonis, Principal and the teachers of Kingswood College, a Methodist educational Boys’ High School in the picturesque town of Kandy in Sri Lanka, whose dedication to broad and general education in English, Latin, Greek, the humanities and sciences, endowed me with the capability to write this book.

All these are acknowledged with gratitude.

Preface

Although Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God, many scholars think and teach that the Gospel of St. Matthew was copied from an older document named Q or was written by an unknown person or persons. I have puzzled over these for over half a century. The outcome was this new interpretation. It required four tasks.

The first was to obtain an understanding of the background and character of Matthew, the disciple of Jesus. He was a tax official. Taxation is all about writing and keeping records and diaries.

The second was to ascertain the sources of data. This Gospel is in two parts. The first nine chapters contain events that happened before Jesus called Matthew; the source of data is Jesus. After chapter ten the source of data is Matthew who was a witness and wrote the events in diaries similar to his old tax records. These diaries were obtained by Christians later and recognized as a Gospel.

The third was to solve why this Gospel did not record the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven which is the central belief of the Christian Religion. The most likely reason for this omission is that Matthew ceased writing his diaries before the Ascension.

The fourth was to solve the Synoptic puzzle in light of this diary theory of the origin of this Gospel.

Mano Govindaraj

Washington D.C.

February 2012

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Part 1:

Introduction

Chapter 1

Origin of the Problem

Introduction

When lay Christians become interested in learning more about the Bible they turn to a Bible study group or to a Bible commentary. Then they become acquainted with controversies and differences of opinion challenging the reliability and authenticity of the Gospels. The process of unraveling these controversies is so complex and tedious that most laymen just give up. I was introduced to two such controversies quite early in life.

A Classroom Challenge

I was fourteen years old and in High School Christianity class preparing for a public examination. The syllabus required a scientific approach to the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. These are called synoptic because they contain much similar material and appear to be written from a similar point of view.

The class learnt that these three Gospels are similar because they were copied from a common older document. That common document was named Q from the word Quelle which means source in German.

The class also learnt that these three Gospels were written about twenty, thirty or maybe forty years after the crucifixion when the first generation that knew Jesus personally was dying off, and there were calls for documents about Jesus’ life and teachings.

Exasperation of Christian Students

The Christian students in the class were bewildered to learn about these challenges to the foundations of our Christian faith. The question that first arose n my mind was: if Matthew was a disciple, why would he need another document to write about Jesus? This was the challenge which triggered a search for answers that has gone on for almost a lifetime.

Chapter 2

Methodologies

A methodology is a line of thought or inquiry. Methodologies which influenced the development of this new interpretation are described now.

Information Assurance

The principles of information assurance were developed to test data stored or processed on computers. These principles may be applied in other areas for testing data and information, especially:

• The reliability of data depends first on the source of that data and second how that reliability was retained.

• Data obtained by the writer from personal observation is more reliable than hearsay. The human mind is a non-stop super-computer, processing and re-processing data in storage. Hearsay is re-processed information and is much less reliable.

• Significant Omissions raise red flags. The Gospel of St. Matthew is missing The Ascension of Jesus. Why?

Visualization:

Visualization is the process of putting yourself in the shoes of another person and attempting to understand a situation from that point of view. Motives, thoughts, actions and historical situations need to be visualized to be properly understood. Visualization is not a foolproof methodology because it is subjective and different persons may come up with different visualizations. However, it is a helpful tool when used with caution and when all else fails or is unavailable.

The Accounting and Taxation Environment

Matthew was a tax accountant. Tax systems are all about keeping records: about tax payers, sources of income and attempts to hide them, tax rates, assessments, taxes paid and unpaid, disbursements and account balances. These records must be supported by accurate diaries and narratives. Matthew could seamlessly transition to writing the events of the ministry of Jesus as narratives and diary entries after his job as a tax accountant, which none of the fishermen disciples may have been capable of.

The educational environment

This Gospel presents the scene of a teacher and pupils at work. There are instances when Jesus called his disciples apart to explain some technical point not given to the multitudes. There are other instances where the Disciples ask Jesus for explanations of parables. The long discourses are philosophical teachings or summaries of them. Matthew was educated in Greek schools where students were trained to take notes of their teachers’ philosophical disputations like modern campus students. Jesus’ discourses involved a great deal of note-taking. We have to weigh the probability of a hearer remembering all of Jesus’ teachings and writing them from memory decades afterwards against the probability that Matthew wrote them down the same day or week.

Psychology of Insurgency

The earliest followers of Jesus were treated like insurgents first by the Jews and then by the Romans. There were two insurgencies in my own homeland in the 70s and 80s. Observation of these at close quarters helped visualize how the early Christians may have operated. They used the sign of the fish to create community. The letters of the Greek word for fish were the first letters of "Jesus Christ the Son of