Endorsements 

"Writing with historical awareness, literary insight, and pastoral practicality, Matt Skinner captures the tension, urgency, and promise of Matthew’s Gospel; more, he not only reveals the benefits of a close reading of the text, but also he demonstrates how uninformed interpretations can deform the Gospel message. This volume is not only helpful, it is necessary." 

—Amy-Jill Levine, Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace 

"The best teachers invite you into a world you did not see before. Matthew Skinner is such a teacher. Whether he is considering the beatitudes or walking with readers through tough texts of warning and judgment, Skinner opens Matthew’s gospel and invites us to find our true lives there, in the realm that Jesus is urging on his hearers. Come for the Bible study. Stay for the courage and hope to live as a disciple of Jesus here and now."

—Mary Hinkle Shore, author of Signs of Belonging: Luther’s Marks of the Church and the Christian Life. 

"I am one of the preachers that Professor Skinner talks about when he suggests that some of us groan when we come face to face with a whole year of passages from Matthew. I, too, have struggled with the anger and judgment that seem to infuse this Gospel. And yet, Skinner gives all of us another chance to see Jesus anew. He offers context without watering down Jesus’s stories.  He illuminates Jesus’s passion to shake us out of our complacency with broken systems, while still exhibiting our impatience with broken people. Skinner gives us a new perspective and helps us to see Jesus more fully as a Savior whose primary lens for all of creation is a Mercy who sees us as we are, and who loves us too much to let us stay that way."

—Rev. Shannon J. Kershner, Pastor, Central Presbyterian Church of Atlanta