Matthew uniquely highlights Jesus as "Emmanuel", but almost wholly overlooked are the deeper implications of this "presence" motif for Matthean christology. Kupp takes a multidisciplinary approach to the weaving of the Emmanuel Messiah into the story-telling, redaction and christology of the Gospel. Kupp employs the lenses of both narrative and historical criticism to produce the first monograph in English on the divine presence in Matthew. Matthew's Gospel is a story that compels, a text with a history and a christological treatise.

"Are the identity of God and Jesus Christ inseparably related in Matthew's Gospel? Joshua E. Leim argues for this relationship in Matthew's narrative by attending to two linguistic patterns woven deeply into the entire narrative's presentation of Jesus: Matthew's christological use of 'worship' language and his paternal-filial idiom"--Back cover.

Matthew crowds more Old Testament quotations and allusions into the prologue than anywhere else in his gospel. In this volume, Nicholas G. Piotrowski demonstrates the narratological and rhetorical effects of such frontloading. Particularly, seven formula-quotations constellate to establish a redemptive-historical setting inside of which the rest of the narrative operates. This setting is defined by Old Testament expectations for David’s great son to end Israel’s exile and rule the nations. Piotrowski contends that the rhetorical effect of this intertextual storytelling was to provide the Matthean community with an identity—in a contentious atmosphere—in terms of God’s historical design for the ages, now fulfilled in Jesus and his followers.

Angels have been analyzed in Christological research due to their primary function as messengers and mediators between heaven and earth. Their role in the Gospel narratives, however, has been largely unexplored. Utilizing the Old Testament and sources from the Second Temple period to illustrate the variety of angel traditions, Bendoraitis identifies how these traditions are reflected in Matthew's Gospel and interprets the passages in which angels appear or are represented, resulting in a detailed exegesis of those passages which specifically mention angels. Each reference is critically analyzed in view of its role in the Gospel's narrative and in light of Matthew's redactional hand. In addition, each chapter is accompanied by a discussion of relevant traditions of angels in order to illustrate how Matthew's use of angels has facilitated his Gospel's message. The examination concludes by postulating three factors in the inclusion of angel traditions in Matthew's narrative, pertaining both to Matthew's Christology and worldview.

The Gospel of Matthew says some things about Jesus, and attributes words to Jesus, that are unique to this Gospel. If we pay careful attention to these passages, we may find Matthew both challenging some of our most treasured assumptions and providing new, exciting possibilities for the life of the church. Jesus as the teacher and embodiment of Divine Wisdom, calling to us to learn gentleness and humility from him, leads us into a path of discipleship that has profound implications for Christians' relationship with the world--but especially with Jews and Muslims.

Two leading biblical scholars and bestselling authors offer a fresh approach to the question of the unity of the whole Bible. This book shows that God's desire to be with his people is a thread running from Genesis through Revelation. Duvall and Hays make the case that God's relational presence is central to the Bible's grand narrative. It is the cohesive center that drives the whole biblical story and ties together other important biblical themes, such as covenant, kingdom, glory, and salvation history.