Matthew: The Gospel of Identity (The Biblical Imagination Series | BIS)

by Michael Card

Publisher:

IVP USA

, 2013

Overview

“You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5: 13-14

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” Matthew 16:18

The world tries to define us in different ways. We try to define ourselves one way or another. But who are we really? How does God define us?

The Gospel of Matthew was written to a group of Christians who didn’t yet know who they were. They were faithful Jews in the synagogue community in Galilee who had found the Messiah. Jesus had changed everything. But how should they think of themselves now, as Jewish or Christian? What did it all mean?

Matthew writes his Gospel to help his readers define their new identity as followers of Jesus the Messiah. Michael Card unpacks how Matthew’s emphasis on fulfillment confirms their Jewish connection to the Torah, while his focus on the kingdom helps them understand their new identities in Christ. Matthew presents this process of redefinition as an exercise of the imagination, in which Jesus reshapes who we are in light of who he is.

Come alongside Matthew in this pilgrimage, and discover how your new identity in Christ fulfills all that you are meant to be.

Key Features

• Unpacks how Matthew’s emphasis on fulfillment confirms their Jewish connection to the Torah
• Helps you discover how your new identity in Christ fulfills all that you are meant to be
• Argues that Matthew presents a process of redefinition of identity as an exercise of the imagination, in which Jesus reshapes who we are in light of who he is

Contents

• Learning to Listen to Matthew
• Major Themes
• Jesus as Fulfillment
• The Crisis in Galilee
• The Gospel of Identity

Matthew 1

• The Messiah’s Pedigree
• A Dream Come True

Matthew 2

• The World’s Wisdom Bows Down
• The Escape

Matthew 3

• The Voice of One in the Wilderness
• The Perfect Words of the Father

Matthew 4

• The Temptation in the Wilderness
• Preaching in Galilee
• The First Disciples, the First Mission

Matthew 5

• Jesus? Nine Benedictions
• Jesus Tell Us Who We Are
• An Unexpected Fulfillment
• A New Righteousness

Matthew 6

• A Secret Righteousnes
• True Treasure
• How to be Worry Free

Matthew 7

• Do Not Judge
• Do Not Give Up Asking
• Sermon Summary

Matthew 8

• The Disobedient Leper
• The Confident Centurion
• The One Who Carries Our Illness
• The Homeless Son of Man
• Two Demonic Confrontations

Matthew 9

• Winning Praise for God
• The Calling of Matthew
• Old Orthodoxy/New Reality
• Power Over Disease and Death
• One Request He Will Never Deny
• Final Synagogue Tour

Matthew 10

• Appointing the Twelve
• Instructions to the Twelve

Matthew 11

• Jesus’ Failure to Meet Expectations
• Capernaum and Sodom
• The Painful Joy of Jesus

Matthew 12

• The Identity of Jesus
• Lord of the Sabbath
• The Fearless Healer
• God’s Gentle Servant
• The Son of David
• Greater Than Jonah and Solomon
• A New Family of Faith

Matthew 13

• The Parable of the Soils
• The Parable of the Weeds
• The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
• Three Parables Unique to Matthew
• The End of the Synagogue Ministry

Matthew 14

• The Ludicrous Death of John
• The Miracle of Perfect Provision
• Their First Time to Worship

Matthew 15

• Jesus Attacks the Oral Law
• Bread for the Puppies
• A Miracle of Abundance

Matthew 16

• Engaging the Pharisees
• The “Yeast of the Pharisees”
• Peter’s Confession and Blessing
• Peter’s Rebuke and Cursing

Matthew 17

• The Transfiguration
• “Have Mercy”
• An Un-miraculous Miracle

Matthew 18

• Who is the Greatest?
• The Lonely Lost Sheep
• The Process of Forgiving Your Brother
• A Willingness to Forgive Little

Matthew 19

• Divorce and the Little Children
• A Flawed Question

Matthew 20

• The Eccentric Employer/A Parable of Hese
• The Third Announcement of Suffering
• A Request to be First
• Two Blind Men

Matthew 21

• The “Triumphal” Entry
• A Prophet is in the Temple
• A Lesson from the Leaves
• Questions of Authority
• Two “Worker” Parables

Matthew 22

• The Wedding Feast
• Three Controversy Stories
• Jesus’ Coup de Gras

Matthew 23

• Seven Woes
• One Lament

Matthew 24

• Two Questions/Two Answers
• A Parable About Not Knowing

Matthew 25

• Three Parables of Confusion

Matthew 26

• The Plot Begin
• The Anointing
• The Deal is Closed
• The Last Supper
• The Garden
• The Arrest
• Before Caiaphas
• Redemptive Tears

Matthew 27

• The Sickness Unto Death
• Before Pilate
• A Vegetative Crow
• Jesus Crucified
• Jesus “Dismisses” His Spirit
• A Rich Man?s Tomb
• “Make the Tomb Secure”

Matthew 28

• The Resurrection
• The Bribe
• Jesus Meets Them Back Home

Praise for Matthew: The Gospel of Identity

Matthew: The Gospel of Identity shimmers with life: spirit and truth, emotion and intellect, dramatic storytelling, evocative dialogue and imagery. Michael Card has captured our imaginations with his books centering on the four Gospels, this being the third in the series. Providing the backstory, historical, and emotional context, he connects and weaves together the ‘Story’ from the two testaments and places us squarely in the middle of the action—a distillation that reads like a Bible and a film script. Dull hearts feel, blind eyes see, and disengaged minds connect to passages heard or read many times—and to the person of Jesus. Because Card guides us through every verse in the Book of Matthew, this would be ideal, either as an individual, small group, or a community-wide centerpiece for study and immersion.

—Worship Leader Magazine, July/August 2013

Product Details

• Title: Matthew: The Gospel of Identity
• Author: Michael Card
• Series: Biblical Imagination Series
• Publisher: IVP USA
• Print Publication Date: 2013
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Bible › Matthew; Bible. Matthew Commentaries
• Resource ID: LLS:MTTHWGSPLDSRSBS
• Resource Type: Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-06-03T00:47:31Z

About Michael Card

Michael Card has recorded over thirty-one albums, authored or coauthored over twenty-four books, hosted a radio program, and written for a wide range of magazines. An award-winning musician and performing artist, he has penned such favorites as “El Shaddai,” “Immanuel,” and many other songs. He has branched his ministry beyond music and written numerous books, including Scribbling in the Sand, A Sacred Sorrow, A Violent Grace, The Parable of Joy, and Sleep Sound in Jesus (a children’s book). He has also written the Biblical Imagination Series, with a book and accompanying music CD for each of the four gospels.

A graduate of Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biblical studies, Card also serves as mentor to many younger artists and musicians, teaching courses on the creative process and calling the Christian recording industry into deeper discipleship. Card lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.