Matthew's Gospel presents Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ long promised in the Old Testament. To interpret it, author Jeffrey Gibbs employs a narrative approach that examines the literary structure of Matthew's unfolding message and interprets individual texts with a careful eye to their relationship to that overall structure. Gibbs expounds the Gospel in light of the original context and audience for whom Matthew wrote. The themes that have received particular emphasis include: Jesus' mission to save His people from their sins; The reign of God in Jesus; The Son of God's vicarious role as substitute for Israel and for us; Jesus' fulfillment of the Old Testament; Jesus' ministry of mighty word (preaching, calling disciples, teaching) and mighty deed (healing the sick, exorcizing, raising the dead); How God's grace in Jesus now comes to us through Word and Sacrament; Eschatology -- that the end times have begun already with Jesus' ministry and the Christian lives with joyful hope in the promises yet to be fulfilled on the Last Day. - Publisher.