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Matthew is unavailable, but you can change that!

The original audience for the Gospel of Matthew included converts from Judaism who wrestled with how to be faithful to Jesus Christ under difficult circumstances in a changing world. The Gospel of Matthew became a first-aid manual for this church in the midst of a struggle. Thomas Long identifies this first audience and its faith within the social and religious context of the day and clarifies...

16:24–28 Peter was shocked and offended by the thought that the cross was God’s will for Jesus (Matt. 16:21–23), and now Jesus deepens the offense by reminding the disciples that the cross is God’s will for them, too (Matt. 16:24–26). This is the second time in Matthew that Jesus has called his followers to imitate him by taking up their own crosses (see comments on Matt. 10:38–39), but this time the cross, the symbol of suffering, is paired with a picture of
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