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I first became aware of the Resonate Commentary Series while I was in Haiti.  I had been asked to read the first volume, “Gospel Of John: When Love Comes To Town” by Paul Metzger, and give an endorsement.  I had never sat down and an entire commentary through, so I was initially skeptical.  However, I was quickly drawn in.  Here’s what I had to say:

“The need for practitioners and theologians to come together to engage Scripture and its import in our lives has never been more apparent. The first of what promise to be many exciting volumes, The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town offers an exploration of the text that is accessible to the average reader without compromising the depth and complexity in the process. I cannot wait to see more!”

So I was thrilled to receive a complimentary copy from InterVarsity Press of the newest addition to the series: “Gospel of Matthew: God With Us” by Matt Woodley.  I was even more excited when I was able to participate in a blog tour about the book, with my contribution being a review of Woodley’s take on Matthew 5-6.  Of course, having spent the last few years deeply in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) for my book “The Cost of Community: Jesus, St. Francis & Life in the Kingdom”, I am going to go the extra mile (see what I did there?) and review all three chapters of the gospel.

As someone who is so passionately committed to living out the Sermon on the Mount, having explored the beauty and depth of that text, I wondered how Woodley would cover it is just a chapter rather than a whole book.  Would he have to soft pedal the message?  Would he rush past anything critical?  I was somewhat concerned as I dug in.  It turned out I had nothing to worry about.  While it necessarily had to be explored in less detail, the author did not compromise the radical and demanding heart of the text.

Woodley begins by acknowledging the preposterous nature of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus’ words seem to defy every bit of logic and common sense that we have.  It’s like He is inviting us to step through the looking-glass into a bizarre fantasy world.  Yet, rather than judge Christ by our standards, the author reminds us:

“Maybe the world as we know it is upside down, but we’re so used to it that it seems right side up. When Jesus announced the coming of the kingdom (Mt 4:17), he initiated a revolutionary movement to set things right, to restore this upside down, off-kilter, broken world by turning it right side up.”

He then continues to draw us into this wonderful and costly invitation by Jesus to live the fullness of life that comes with following Him.  And he does so in such a way that Christians of all varieties could understand, while never condescending to the readers nor compromising the text.  It is a rare balance to strike.

Of course, the limited space does leave the reader wondering at times.  For example, on pg. 74 he says:

“In Matthew 5:41 Jesus instructs us to walk the extra mile with a Roman soldier. Jesus isn’t giving us a law—i.e., you must be extra nice to soldiers even if they are torching your village. (Again, that would require a different response.)”

While he and I agree that simply being “extra nice” is not what Jesus is calling us to, I wonder if we might differ on what kind of “different response” is appropriate in the face of having your community destroyed by an invading military force.  On one hand, this uncertainty can be frustrating in the face of such a provocative parenthetical comment.  On the other, it also drives the reader deeper into the word and it other sources, such as my book (see what I did there? Ok, I’ll behave).

I did not always agree with the details of how Woodley handled certain sections of the text, but never is such a way as to disqualify the resource- I will be using it often in my work as a writer and pastor, not to mention my personal study of Scripture.  Further, there were times he would use examples that felt like an out of context distraction from the flow of the text (i.e. In the chapter I read, there were several comments about marriage being only for one man and one woman.  Despite the importance of that particular issue, I felt it distracted from the heart and flow of the chapter).  Again, these were minor differences that should not discredit the book.

I am grateful to Matt Woodley and to IVPress for producing this book.  The whole Resonate series is a worthy venture that deserves to get more attention (aka buy these books!).  I will be awaiting the next volume(s) eagerly.

(Interested in the Gospel of Matthew?  Check out the links to my Sermon on the Mount series here.)

Links For Resonate Series at IVPress:

Gospel of Matthew – Resonate series – IVPress

Gospel of John – Resonate series – IVPress

Resonate Series – IVPress

Tags: Bible, commentary, Jesus

This entry was posted on Monday, November 7th, 2011 at 5:00 am and is filed under Bible, Discipleship, Gospel, Jesus, Missional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.