Matthew (Believers Church Bible Commentary | BCBC)
Overview
The Believers Church Bible Commentary Series is published for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today—Sunday school teachers, members of Bible study groups, students, pastors, and other seekers. The series is based on the conviction that God is still speaking to all who will listen, and that the Holy Spirit makes the Word a living and authoritative guide for all who want to know and do God’s will.
Each volume illuminates the Scriptures; provides historical and cultural background; shares necessary theological, sociological, and ethical meanings; and, in general, makes "the rough places plain." Critical issues are not avoided, but neither are they moved into the foreground as debates among scholars. The series aids in the interpretive process, but it does not attempt to supersede the authority of the Word and Spirit as discerned in the gathered church.
The Believers Church Bible Commentary is a cooperative project of Brethren in Christ Church, Brethren Church, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Brethren Church, and Mennonite Church.
Overall Outline
The commentaries are organized into sections according to the major divisions of the text. Each section comprises five parts:
- An introductory preview
- A summary outline of the section
- Explanatory notes
- The text in its biblical context
- The text in the life of the church
Matthew
Richard B. Gardner invites readers to explore the dramatic story of Jesus which Matthew tells. He connects that story to the first-century world of its author and early readers. The commentary then shows how Matthew has shaped the church and still speaks to the life of the Christian community.
Gardner probes each section for its meaning in the wider biblical context and in the life of the church. Thus readers are prepared to wrestle with Jesus' gospel and mission, starting small, but for all nations. Ends with essays, an extensive bibliography, and a list of select resources.
Top Highlights
“The quest that should govern all our activity is the quest for God’s rule in the world and God’s will in our lives.” (Pages 128–129)
“The Greek word for room refers to a small interior room without windows, used for storage (cf. KJV, closet). The point of this vivid metaphor is not that we should confine our praying to dark, private places, but that we should pray with the sole intent of communion with God, whose presence is hardly a public phenomenon. Only then can we receive the true reward of prayer.” (Page 117)
“The point of the whole saying, however (see v. 21), is not that we should try to accumulate merit points in heaven, but that the thing we treasure most should be God rather than possessions. As Robert Guelich puts it: ‘To have one’s treasure in heaven means to submit oneself totally to that which is in heaven—God’s sovereign rule’ (Guelich: 328).” (Page 126)
“In the story before us, Matthew uses proskuneō no less than three times, in verses 2, 8, and 11. The word itself can indicate either homage paid to a person of authority or the special homage known as worship which we offer to a deity. Here the two meanings appear to blend or merge. The magi come to pay homage to royalty, but we the readers know that Jesus is no ordinary king, and that his rule will be indistinguishable from God’s rule.” (Pages 46–47)
“The promise Jesus gives in verse 18 is to build a durable community which he calls my church (cf. 18:17; 1 Cor. 1:2; Acts 9:31). The Greek word for church is ekklēsia, the same word used for the assembly of Israel in the LXX (cf. Deut. 31:30; Judg. 20:2; 1 Kings 8:14). What Jesus promises, then, is to reconstruct the people of God, to fashion a messianic community of faith with its own foundation and destiny.” (Page 247)
- Title: Matthew
- Author: Richard B. Gardner
- Publisher: Herald Press
- Publication Date: 1991
- Pages: 448