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The Gospel of Matthew: God with Us (Resonate)

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There are lots of good commentaries out there, but this commentary claims to be different. According to the foreword, it's "a hybrid commentary where the best in biblical scholarship is coupled with theological reflection on the text that is accessible to that 'boy that driveth the plough'" - the ordinary blue-collar worker, in other words. "Instead of proceeding verse by verse," the editor writes, "the author of each Resonate volume draws insights from the featured book's major themes, all the while attentive to the context in which these themes are developed." This sounds good. Many commentaries are too technical for many readers; others are too simplistic. There is room for a commentary series that is substantive but not overwhelming. I was curious to find out if this commentary fits the bill.

This commentary does go below the surface. For instance, the over aching theme of Matthew 1:1-4:11 is the identity and mission of Jesus, according to the commentary. So far, so good. But it gets better. Woodley picks up on the theme of Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel in the first chapters. Not only is this true, but it's easily missed, even by many preachers. He manages to uncover this without becoming unnecessarily technical or dense. This is a commentary that's actually readable. He can even bring out the adventure in the opening genealogy of Matthew!

The writing is crisp. For instance: "A nice God, a decent God, a semi-loving God, a predictably righteous God would send us some help, maybe an angel or a prophet or a sacred text --- at least some advice. We could respect and admire a God like that. But the Gospel of Jesus' mercy goes far beyond conventional righteousness, decency and niceness. At Christmas God became a naked baby. You can't get more vulnerable than that."

This commentary does a good job of opening up the text, and underlining some of the important themes that may otherwise be missed. It's not a technical commentary, and I definitely need those as well. But I think I would read a commentary like this in the early stages of mapping out a sermon series based on Matthew. And I would definitely recommend it to a number of people in the church I pastor, people who genuinely love God's Word and are looking for a commentary that won't overwhelm them. This commentary highlights the main themes and make the text clear.

If you're looking for a commentary that opens up the themes of Scripture in a clear and accessible way, then this one is worth a look.

If you aren't used to reading bible commentaries (some are extremely dry and academic, using lots of Greek and Hebrew to explain things), then I highly recommend this new Resonate Series from Likewise, at IVP. They published one of the Gospel of John. This one on Matthew is the 2nd. More are coming.

I got a copy of IVP's Matthew commentary from the publisher, and the more I read, the more it had an impact on me. The power of Matthew's gospel is amazing, and this commentary takes Jesus' life, death, and resurrection seriously.

I found this book to be a helpful resource for pastors, teachers, spiritual leaders, and lovers of the Word who need a thorough synopsis. Matt Woodley also points out some concepts missed in many other commentaries and typical sermons. The author maps out the territory of Matthew, in normal language, for one to get a lay of the land, or survey the crucial themes. You'll find vignettes of pertinent personal stories, and the gospel of Matthew covered in sections and main points. The style is very pastoral, like a casual but deep personal interaction. (Don't expect a commentary in the vein of D.A. Carson, Craig L. Blomberg, or Craig S. Keener, and the like. Some of these commentaries, while very helpful, go verse by verse and are chiefly informative, not pastoral. For this mistaken categorizing, of sorts, it doesn't play on the same field as traditional commentaries, so I won't give it 5 stars.) Rather, this commentary has a personal touch. This doesn't take away from the book, but it surprises you or changes your expectations with regards to "a scholarly commentary". This work has narrative finesse.

Yes, pastors can quickly mine it for some perfunctory and fresh teaching ideas, but more than that, Woodley whets the reader's appetite to dig further into the Word and the amazing mystery of an active and loving God who came to be *with us*.

Now for Exposing The Best Kept Secret of "Matthew: God with Us"

I'm feeling compelled to tell you what I *wish* the book would be used for most...I don't think the publishers really had this in mind, exactly...or they probably wouldn't have categorized it as a commentary in the first place.

It would be best used in one-to-one and small group discipling. It's great material to develop spirit-filled, potential leaders, and those hungry for more of God and his Word. It's written in a way that begs for an intimate and richer discussion, not just a proclamation from the front of the building (i.e. sermon, homily, etc.). This book has discipleship written all over it.

My background is Spiritual Formation. I've focused on the whys and hows and history of spiritual growth in Christians throughout the history of the Church. I've spent plenty of time answering the question: "What makes Christ-like followers?". That's why when I read Woodley's book, I knew right away that it was an excellent resource to incite spiritual growth on a personal level. I'm sorry, but sermons be danged, I'd like to see it used for discipleship over and above use as a tool for sermon preparation. I just think it's a better fit for this, in my opinion.

If you want to take this sort of thing on in your life, get this book right away. Find a peer, a friend, a hungry seeker or Christian, or get a mentor, and work through this book together, with the Bible in hand. If you want a powerful, down-to-earth examination of Matthew's gospel with many practical applications within the pages, you have it is this book.

I do look forward to the other Resonate books in this series.

Readers will be hard-pressed to find a more fun yet informative commentary than The Gospel of Matthew by Matt Woodley. The same could be said of the first volume in the Resonate series, The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town by Paul Louis Metzger. Having enjoyed these first two, I welcome the opportunity to read and review any of the planned future releases.

"Read" is the key word. Standard commentaries of the past are rightly regarded as reference works, consulted but not usually read from cover to cover. Purists may not take to this series like those who favor narrative accounts. If one was to relate this to Bible translation, this series is closer to dynamic equivalence than literal. Those who like The Message bible should appreciate that this is like a paraphrase.

Woodley reads between the lines to give a sense of a passage, which is broken into small segments. Each section focuses on a different theme or topic and can be read in just a few minutes. I read them like a devotional because they are not only short but inspirational. At the same time, they inform and accurately convey meaning, while challenging the reader and making the content applicable. The pop culture/current event references, while not overdone, make it entertaining.

I appreciate Woodley's emphasis on following in the "little way," a reference to St. Therese of Lisieux, "a nineteenth-century French Carmelite nun who based her faith in Jesus on a very Matthew-like approach to the spiritual life." It reminds me that that though we all fall short in many ways, we are not disqualified. Our failures highlight our need for Christ, which is something we never get beyond. Woodley writes, "For the most part, Jesus asks us to follow him with our little faith, allowing the Father to work through our poverty of spirit, failures and suffering, our quiet obedience and trust, and our small acts of mercy toward sinners, outcasts, the poor and the forgotten. This `little way' makes discipleship accessible to all of us¯except the self-righteous and the alleged experts" (19).

It gives hope to "little faiths" and those that we meet in the stories that Woodley shares. They are the last and least. Their situations are compelling because of the honesty in which they are told and in the reality that they convey. It is part of what makes this commentary so readable. Even a non-religious person should be able to comprehend the message. They may even find themselves drawn to the One who says in Matthew's gospel, "Come to me."

This King who invites participation in his kingdom is a major theme in Matthew's gospel, and Woodley moves it beyond a personal concern for salvation, "If the kingdom of heaven has indeed come to us in the presence of Jesus, then as his followers we will care about our choices as consumers and how those choices promote exploitation rather than compassion. I will consider these things because Jesus and his coming kingdom address large, global issues of economic justice, human rights and environmental wholeness. There is nothing that does not have kingdom implications" (56).

Occasionally, I wonder if the emphasis on social justice and related issues is actual or imposed on the Scriptures? The church has often swung between extremes. Woodley joins the chorus of those who offer a corrective to those that have overlooked these issues. The tendency is to readily see in keeping with our bent and background and be blind to other things. I appreciate Woodley's balanced perspective.

He paints a wonderful portrait of the kingdom, but he is also realistic, "In this life, all wounds do not get healed; all aches do not get fulfilled; all wrongs do not become right; all stories do not end in triumph. In the words of the apostle Paul, we're suspended between the coming of the kingdom and the fulfillment of the kingdom" (125).

Woodley is also relevant. I see it in relation to the Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus video, which has millions of views and sparked lots of debate. In the section titled SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS he writes, "According to Jesus, this penchant for `church-free' or `church-lite' discipleship (let's call it JNC, or `Jesus but no church') isn't just an innocent difference of opinion; it's a colossal rejection of Jesus' plan for a new genesis. Jesus restores the world through a new community, a specific, concrete group of real human beings¯amazing, gifted and fabulous, as well as difficult, annoying and flawed¯who live with him" (172).

In no way does he minimize the difficulty, "Loving, working for and living within his church isn't easy. At times it feels like carrying a cross. Throughout the history of Christian spirituality much has been written about cross-bearing and self-denial, but in the context of this story, carrying our cross includes a call to enter and remain in Jesus' broken church" (175).

He summarizes it like this, "In other words, while being fully human just like Jesus, honestly expressing my pain and disappointment, I make a choice to follow Jesus by walking the path of love. Like John of the Cross, who was wounded and betrayed by his own community, I can declare, `If I put love into a community I will always have love to draw out of that community.' So I choose to put love into the community even when I don't feel love from that community" (175).

Woodley consistently gets at the heart of Matthew's gospel. His illuminating stories and insights have a place next to the more formal commentaries. There is a place for both and those who have one alongside the other will be well-served.

I am a pastor. One of the reasons I am a pastor is that I love studying and teaching the Bible. In my teaching and preaching I often use Bible commentaries to help me go deeper into the word and understand it better. Most commentaries are helpful in one way or another. Some are more technical, and can be so esoteric that it is really hard to pass on anything that I learned from them. Other commentaries, in an attempt to be down to earth, have dumbed things down so much that I find them hard to use as well. The Gospel of Matthew: God with Us falls to neither of these pitfalls. As a matter of fact, this commentary for the common person is supurb. Matt Woodley has achieved a noble mission. He has written a commentary that will be helpful for both the lay person seeking to know more about the Bible, and the pastor preparing a sermon or Bible study for their congregation.

The Gospel of Matthew: God with Us is, as far as I can tell, written in the tradition of a lay person's commentary. In the tradition of William Barclay and N.T. Wright, Matt Woodley spends just a few pages sharing about each section of the Scripture. He does not get bogged down in details that are unimportant. Woodley clearly explains what was going on at the time the Bible was written, and with a deft eagerness makes a quick transition to why that matters to people like you and I today.

Woodley makes his interpretive framework clear from the beginning when he says, "Jesus has come to fulfill the story of God's chosen people" (p. 24). What he means by this is not that Jesus has come exclusively for Hebrews, but rather that the gospel for everyone is rooted in and the fulfillment of what God has been doing through the Hebrew people in the Old Testament. It also means that Woodley sees the gospel as expressing and rooted in a narrative process. Thus, both the commentary as a whole, and each section of the commentary have a "story-formed" feel, which I agree with and greatly appreciate.

Throughout The Gospel of Matthew, Matt Woodley shows he has a gift for being able to turn a phrase. Early in the book he says that Jesus was the "one that saves us from our sins" but that "they (many of Jesus' Jewish hearers) wanted a Messiah that would save them from the sins of others" (p. 29).

When talking about the parable of the sheep and goats, one of my favorite passages, Woodley makes some more deft observations. First he notices where the parable is located in the context of the story when he makes a point of reminding his readers that "this passage contains Jesus' last official teaching in Matthew's teaching-filled gospel" (p. 233). He goes on to share this helpful observation about the meaning of the text, "Here's the crux of the matter: mercy requires personal presence: (p. 234).

Each section of this book is written like what I shared about these two sections. This is a commentary that is actually fun to read. In the books promotional materials, I noticed that others agree with me. I could not agree more with Mark Galli, the senior managing editor of Christianity Today when he says,

"This commentary by Matt Woodley is one you don't simply want to reference but read. Woodley rightly manages to find the note of grace and promise in every passage. This is a book about the gospel--good news--of Matthew. I can't imagine studying the first Gospel without this book within easy reach."

Heck, this book is even endorsed by F. Dale Bruner, who in my opinion who has written the best commentary I have ever read or used when he wrote his two volume commentary on the book of Matthew.

If you are a pastor that is leading a study or preaching on Matthew, or if you plan to do so at any time in the near future, you need to have this commentary in your library. It is that good.

(I was given this book in exchange for an HONEST review by the publisher)

**This was originally a blog post that was part of a blog tour. So it was a review of the last 2 chapters of Matthew, rather than the whole book. It still gives a good impression of the whole work, however.**

This week I have the privilege of taking part in--and ending--a 2-week blog tour for an important new commentary/book for the Church. It's called The Gospel of Matthew: God with Us, and is part of IVP's Resonate Series. This series is a new, important one as it seeks to recover "the ancient wisdom of Scripture and helps us understand how it resonates with our complex world...The result is a practical, pastoral, biblically grounded and culturally conscious un-commentary that may just change the way we interact with Scripture forever."

I am very thankful for such a series that takes both the Text and Tradition deeply seriously, while connecting both to a culture that is anxious, doubting, and troubled. And the thing that this anxious, doubting, troubled culture needs are a People that are connected and present with them in their anxiety, doubts, and troubles. The Church is such a People, because God Himself was such a Person. And what this Matthew commentary makes incredibly plain is that God is with us, "Jesus shows up and offers us God's personal presence" (18), even in the gritty drama--anxiety, doubts, troubles, and all--that is our collective pilgrim story.

The commentary book begins like most by helping orient the reader to the Gospel of Matthew with a short introduction, attending to some of the normal intro material like authorship, dating, and audience: Woodley agrees with the consensus of the early church that Matthew the tax collector and disciple of Jesus wrote the book--in contrast with the modern church that posits a non-apostolic early Jewish Christian; he concludes a range of possible dating extends from 65 to 85 AD--which of, course, centers on the pivotal 70 AD date, whether the Temple was still standing; and the author agrees with the common consensus that Matthew was writing to encourage and instruct Jewish Christians. (19-20) He ends with an overview of his division for Matthew, which are based on his assessment of the overarching theme: God with us. The division include:

I) The Identity and Mission of Jesus (1:1-4:11)

II) The Public Ministry of Jesus (4:12-11:1)

III) The Varying Response to Jesus (11:2-16:12)

IV) The Growing Conflict with Jesus (16:13-25:46)

V) The Climax: Death and Resurrection of Jesus (26:1-28:15)

I found this to be a suitable division scheme, even though it ignores the understood three-fold "Galilee, Galilee to Jerusalem, Jerusalem " scheme.

One more point: I love it that the commentary book is based on the updated NIV text, one of the first from what I understand. Though my wife works for Zondervan Bibles, I think this updated translation is the optimum combination of accuracy and clarity, which serves such a commentary and commentary series that seeks to help illumine the ancient Scriptures, while accurately applying them to our contemporary context. I think this is a big plus!

Now on to the end, which really is a recapitulation of the beginning: God with us. Woodley makes the point at several points in the end that the Gospel of Matthew ends like it begins: "Throughout this Gospel Jesus has repeatedly presented his vision for reality: at the center of the cosmos there is a personal God, a heavenly community of Father-Son-Spirit who dwell in loving relationship, who also love us and who were willing to spend and risk everything to be present with us." (249) Matthew 1:23 we see "God with us" and in the end we see this gritty picture of God with us, which comes into sharp focus at the Cross, and I like what he does here in helping explaining the Cross.

The drama of "God with us" comes to a resounding climax in Jesus' cry of forsakenness in 27:46: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." Woodley defines the contours of this cry thus: "the promise of God with us in Matthew 1:23 finds its full expression in Jesus' anguished cry...Jesus does not die in glorious triumph. Instead he dies with a question on is lips: Why have you forsaken me? Why did you ditch me." And then he connects this existential moment of Christ with our own, because this question is "the question found on the lips of most fellow sufferers...he asks our most painful, perplexing question. By living and asking our questions, Jesus can't be any more `with us.'" (251)

"By living and asking our questions, Jesus can't be any more `with us.'" What a powerful statement, which he follows-up with this: "astonishingly, Jesus not only provides answers to life; he also asks our questions, even our most anguished, doubt-riddled questions...Matthew wants us to know that love drove Jesus to be with us, bearing not only our sin and guilt but also our questions, heartaches, betrayals and dislocation." (251 252)

What I like about this depiction of the Cross is that Jesus as both fully human and fully God (252) fully identifies with our human condition, with the results of our human condition. Hebrews 5 teases out this aspect of the cross, which Woodley magically performs for us in this book. But lest the reader think he simply leaves the Cross as hyper-existential identification--meaning the Cross is simply about Jesus' identification with our sorrow and pain and desolation--you'd be wrong, which was a surprise.

When I've read other more existential writings regarding Jesus and his crucifixion, statements like "our God has wounds; our God has even felt our desolation and asked our most painful questions," (253) replaces the reality of Jesus taking upon Himself the wrath of God and dying for our sins. Not this book, where Woodley forces the reader to grapple with the reality that all of us are a "slave to sin; sin implies living like a slave." (254) And through the dual event of the cross and resurrection, we are freed.

Curiously, though, what Woodley says we are freed from is "the captivity of shame, the captivity of ethnic exclusivity, and the captivity of self-centeredness." (256) Really? I'm not so sure Matthew (or later Paul) envisions Jesus taking upon himself our shame--which Woodley defines as "that uneasy sense that we don't measure up [to communal standards] and that our real self will cause others to reject us" (256)--or ethnic exclusivity or self-centeredness. Why isn't what Jesus takes upon Himself our sin? Paul says in 1 Cor 15 that Christ died for our sins. Now sin certainly cashes out in the existential terms Woodley uses, like shame--which he curiously defines psychologically--in ethnic exclusivity--which is a major part of Paul's Galatians and Romans undertaking--and self-centeredness. While I appreciated how the author rooted the description of the Cross Event existentially, to some degree it seemed like that description overtook the more biblical language, mainly "that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor 15:3)

After describing the Cross Event Woodley moves to the Resurrection Event, which he says "completes the central hope of this Gospel: God is for us and God with us." (262) It is in this event that we find our hope, which "hinges on three simple words: He is risen!" As Woodley describes this important even: "With one little word [egerthe in the Greek means 'He is risen'] God turns the tables on evil, sin, death, injustice and tragedy. With one little word God does what we could never do with our many words and frenetic activity. With one little word Jesus escapes into freedom so he can lead us into freedom." (261)

And because the cross and death wasn't the end for Jesus, it isn't for us either; Jesus was resurrected to new life and so can our broken lives be restores: "God the Father took every tragic, dead-end, broken thing and wove it into Jesus' victor. Now through Jesus' resurrection, the disciples are ushered into the same story. There are no dead ends for us, either. As he did for Jesus, God the Father takes the things destined to destroy us or at the very least cause us to hit a hopeless dead end--our failure, pain, suffering, even death itself--and weaves it all into our redemptive story." (263)

Here, as with his description of the cross, Woodley existentializes the resurrection to some degree. Though he doesn't make the mistake of a Tillich and strictly put the resurrection into the plane of symbolic representation of a revived and "resurrected" sense of life now, his description of the resurrection seems to fall short in neglecting the ultimate consequences for Jesus' resurrection, which is our hope in the future. Perhaps he wanted to ground the resurrection in the "now" more than the Church typically does, which is much appreciated--I think his description of the meaning of the resurrection of Christ for our lives now is needed, for sure. In so doing, though, it overtook much of the future hope the NT typically assigns to the resurrection.

In the end, Woodley ends his commentary book the same way Matthew ends his gospel: a passionate invitation to join in with God's "God with us" mission: "If Jesus is God with us who has all authority, and if Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead, then that good news compels me to spend the rest of my life fulfilling his words: `Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.'" (265) Woodley points out that this verse quoted from Matthew 28:19 is our summons: "Someone with authority and competence has called you into action. From now on he will define your mission." (266) Thankfully Jesus is with us, until the end of the age, which provides the book end to our theme God with us. Matthew started with "God with us" and ends with "I am with you always," which, as Woodley says, "also provide the book ends for my life in and with Jesus." (268) Indeed!

At times it may sound like I was hard on Woodley and didn't like his book. I actually really did like this commentary and really appreciated how the author connected the Gospel narrative of Matthew to our own existential condition, while remaining rooted in the historic Christian faith. This may seem like an odd observation, but my experience with those who think existentially tend to make all aspects of the Christian faith--God, Christ, sin, cross, resurrection--symbols that express deeper meanings in our life. Not so with this book. Yes, there were times in the section I was given that the existential language overshadowed some important biblical and "traditional" concepts, but that doesn't mean it is a bad commentary. Not at all. I think Woodley has done a tremendous service to the Church in connecting the magical, revolutionary story of God's rescue in the "God with us" Jesus, while remaining rooted biblically and theologically.

Holding onto the Text and Tradition while connecting both to our 21st century culture is a difficult, yet an incredibly needed enterprise, one I think was modeled and accomplished well throughout Woodley's "Gospel of Matthew" commentary book. This book is well-positioned to serve two audiences: as a wonderful resource for Christians in general who want to supplement their bible study with culturally astute and theologically sound commentary; and pastors who need a supplemental resource for sermon preparation when they need a different take on a passage or a real-life example that makes the Text sing.