Matthew 4.1–11
On a basic level, Matthew’s prologue (1.1–4.16) simply introduces his story of Jesus. But at a deeper level, the prologue is a carefully crafted text that highlights two key Christological themes—sovereignty and submission…—that bracket the book.

Matthew 3
“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one” Hebrews 2.11

And well may God with the serving-folk
Cast in His dreadful lot;
Is not He too a servant,
And is not He …

Matthew 3
As I outline it, the prologue to Matthew’s Gospel (1.1–4.16) falls into two parts (1.1–2.23, 3.1–4.16), which are separated by a nearly 30-year gap. Characteristic of the prologue is Matthew’s use of certain signals …to introduce his themes.

Matthew 2
…
In contrast to the wise men, there appears in Matthew 2 a very wicked man. “Herod the king” (2.1) was a half-Jew who ruled Judea for Rome. Johnson says he was “a brilliant politician . . . a

Matthew 1.18–25
A long time ago I met a Christian who told me he never flew on commercial airlines because the airlines served liquor during flights. Since Christians are to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5.22), he…

The opening genealogy of Matthew (1.1–17) is a remarkable passage. More than just an ancestry, it is an anticipation—a foreword—that introduces the great themes that are amplified in the first Gospel. To scratch the surface of this rich text, I…

Before beginning a series of essays that, I hope, will eventually cover the entirety of Matthew, I thought I would first say something about the literary genre to which the book belongs. Students of Scripture usually identify four literary forms…

Structure
Ever since I read Mortimer Adler’s definitive hermeneutical work How to Read a Book, …I’ve tried to follow his advice on how to read for understanding. One of his recommendations is that early on, the student grasp a book’s

Introduction…
Here’s something I found in G. K. Chesterton’s book on St. Thomas Aquinas (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1954, 108) that’s worth remembering.
It is no good to tell an atheist that he is an atheist; or to charge