"You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:13-14"I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church." Matthew 16:18The world tries to define us in different ways. We try to define ourselves one way or another. But who are we really? How does God define us? The Gospel of Matthew was written to a group of Christians who didn't yet know who they were. They were faithful Jews in the synagogue community in Galilee who had found the Messiah. Jesus had changed everything. But how should they think of themselves now, as Jewish or Christian? What did it all mean? Matthew writes his Gospel to help his readers define their new identity as followers of Jesus the Messiah. Michael Card unpacks how Matthew's emphasis on fulfillment confirms their Jewish connection to the Torah, while his focus on the kingdom helps them understand their new identities in Christ. Matthew presents this process of redefinition as an exercise of the imagination, in which Jesus reshapes who we are in light of who he is. Come alongside Matthew in this pilgrimage, and discover how your new identity in Christ fulfills all that you are meant to be.
"Matthew: The Gospel of Identity shimmers with life: spirit and truth, emotion and intellect, dramatic storytelling, evocative dialogue and imagery. Michael Card has captured our imaginations with his books centering on the four Gospels, this being the third in the series. Providing the backstory, historical, and emotional context, he connects and weaves together the 'Story' from the two testaments and places us squarely in the middle of the action-a distillation that reads like a Bible and a film script. Dull hearts feel, blind eyes see, and disengaged minds connect to passages heard or read many times-and to the person of Jesus. Because Card guides us through every verse in the Book of Matthew, this would be ideal, either as an individual, small group, or a community-wide centerpiece for study and immersion."
