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Matthew’s Message: Love, Actually

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We have now been studying the Gospel of Matthew in the Wednesday morning Bible study since November and as I get deeper and deeper into the Gospel I would like to share some thoughts on Matthew’s unique focus, meaning and narrative approach. Often, many of us tend to think of Matthew as the harsh, uncompromising, even judgmental Gospel – “cut off your hand… pluck out your eye… cast out into out darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth” and all of that!   And certainly if you take Matthew’s Gospel in small bits then this is exactly what you are left with. But when you explore the Gospel and leave everything in its narrative context a different message emerges and it is a message of radical, unconditional and even illogical love!   In brief, here is a summary: God’s overwhelming love is for all of the creation and all of God’s children (who, are all of humanity, BTW) – it is, however, the distinct calling and responsibility of the ecclesia – the Church, the