The first public act of Jesus in Mark is an exorcism where as in Matthew it is the Sermon on the Mount.  Sermons are a distinctive feature to Matthew even when compared to Luke who draws from the same Q material does not have the same sermons contained in Matthew (White303).  This change draws to attention the resemblance to Moses in both the birth narrative and in his teachings on the Torah (white312).  As stated in White the sermons of Matthew play a major role in the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher and a figure similar to Moses.  Additionally the Jesus depicted in Matthew does not disavow the Pharisees but rather accuses them of hypocrisy by repeating the sermon in a negative manner in Matthew 23 (White314).

Upon examining the chiastic structure of the passage we can see that there is an emphasis on spiritual practice and stringent observance of the Torah as a proper path to righteousness.  This section expands on Marks version of Jesus by eliminating past depiction of secrecy or weakness that are depiucted in Mark such as the bleeding woman drawing his power unwillingly.  Matthew has repositioned the miracle stories from Mark making the negative impact of these situations less impactful on the reader (White300).

Matthew is the only gospel author to use the term “the church” (White 315).  This terminology does not plac Christianity over Judaism but rather separates the excommunicated and offenders of the church.  It is possible that Matthew depicted Jesus the way he did because of new social and religious tensions and he wanted to emphasize the messianic role (White313).