Matthew's Gospel is the most significant Jewish-Christian document of the New Testament. For Matthew, the story of Jesus is the underlying tale of his own community, from its initial convocation by the living Jesus to its espousal of the Gentile mission following Israel's rejection. Ulrich Luz both outlines and elucidates the contents and structure of Matthew's narrative, emphasizing its focal points: the Sermon on the Mount, the miracles, the parables, the renunciation of possessions, the Eschaton. Particular attention is drawn to Matthew's theology of judgment by works, an idea at once challenging and burdensome to Christians today and a direct outgrowth of the traumatic cleavage between the Matthean community and the Israelite majority.
