Christian tradition tells us that the Twelve entrusted this important work to the apostle Matthew; and so, not long after the resurrection, Matthew set to work. His purpose seems to have been to compile schematically the Master's teachings without special regard to their chronological order, as his Gospel was meant to be a handbook for teaching and administration in the church. Perhaps the greatest problem that he faced was that of reducing the immense mass of material available to the Twelve in the form of their personal reminiscences of the Lord into a manageable quantity by deciding which
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