themselves. Early church tradition unanimously ascribed the First Gospel to Matthew, and false ascription to a relatively obscure apostle like Matthew seems unlikely until a later date when Christian imagination ennobled all the apostles. The skillful organization of this Gospel agrees with the probable interests and abilities of a tax collector such as the Apostle Matthew had been. So also does the fact that this is the only gospel to contain the story of Jesus’ paying the temple tax (17:24–27).