Reading the Gospels trans-historically and trans-culturally has led many Christians to derive needlessly divisive and destructive messages that have little to do with meanings in the Gospels themselves when read in their proper context. To stem the tide of naively universalizing tendencies leading to misapplications of gospel messages, this study of the Gospel of Matthew is designed to help Christians and Jews today share in reading Matthew as an ancient document. It addresses issues relevant for readers today in studying the text in its own context, and demonstrates thereby that neither Christians nor Jews ought to confuse the local circumstances in the Gospel with people today who identify themselves as Christians or Jews.
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