Introduction. The authorship of the Gospel ; The Gospel's sources ; How the author handled his sources ; From eyewitnesses to Matthew's sources ; The date of the Gospel of Matthew ; The provenance of the Gospel of Matthew ; What kind of document did Matthew think he was writing? ; The state of the Gospel text ; Elements of Matthew's narrative technique ; Matthew's use of the OT ; Matthew's use of other Jewish tradition -- Commentary. The stock from which Jesus comes, and its history (1:1-17) ; Infancy (1:18-2:23) ; John proclaiming in the wilderness (3:1-12) ; Preparation (3:13-4:12) ; Establishing his ministry (4:13-25) ; Sermon on the Mount (5:1-8:1) ; Jesus on the move in ministry (8:[1]2-9:34) ; Workers for the harvest (9:35-11:1) ; Seeing clearly and relating rightly to God's present agenda (11:2-30) ; Conflict with the Pharisees (12:1-50) ; Parables of the kingdom (13:1-53) ; Jesus interpreted, but also rejected (13:53[54]-16:20) ; Anticipating a future through suffering and beyond (16:1-17:20) ; Status and behaviour in the 'royal family' (17:22-18:35) -- Family and possessions in view of the kingdom (19:1-20:16) ; Redefining greatness, Jesus goes to Jerusalem to die : Jericho, Bethphage, entry into Jerusalem (20:17-21:11) ; Provocative ministry in Jerusalem (21:12-46) ; Jesus silences the leaders who are his opponents (22:1-46) ; Jesus criticises the scribes and Pharisees (23:1-39) ; The shape of the future (24:1-25:46) ; The Passion account (26:1-27:66) ; Resurrection and commissioning (28:1-20).

Judgment and the wrath of God are prominent themes in Matthew’s Gospel. Because judgment is announced not only on the hypocritical but also on those who reject God’s messengers—and because this rejection is implicitly connected with the destruction of Jerusalem—the Gospel has often been read in terms of God’s rejection of Israel, with catastrophic results. Anders Runesson sets out to show, through careful study of Matthew’s composition and comparison with contemporary Jewish literature, that the theme of divine judgment plays very different and distinct roles regarding diverse groups of Jews (including Jesus’ disciples) and non-Jews in this Gospel. Runesson examines various assumptions regarding the criteria of judgment in each case and finds that Matthew does not support some of the most popular slogans in Christian theology. The results and implications for our historical understanding of Christian origins and our theological estimation of Matthew’s place in that story will be of vital interest to scholars and students for years to come.