by Anna Case-Winters
WJK, Louisville, Ky. 386 pages
With every new Gospel commentary, the pastor-teacher-scholar pressed for time, must ask: Why this one? Anna Case-Winters recognizes this imperative with her opening sentence. “However good a Gospel commentary may be, the Gospel is better! … Hopefully, this commentary will illumine the reading in some small way, but the text itself will yield riches beyond anything a commentary may uncover.”
While one appreciates the author’s humility and candid counsel, this new commentary deserves a close reading alongside the Gospel. Case-Winters is a distinctive theological voice in the Reformed tradition — one shaped by feminist commitment, ecumenical engagement and ecclesial practice. She announces it will be a commentary engaged with various contextual layers of meaning, particularly the original testimony of Jesus’ early followers, Matthew’s community and contemporary experience. In addition to these persistent layers of meaning, she identifies five distinct themes in Matthew for close attention. Conflict and division within the community of faith, specifically around the identity of Jesus, is explored with an eye toward contemporary Jewish and Christian relations. The other themes include: ministry at the margins with the marginal, especially lifting up women and children; the authority of ethical leadership; good news to the poor that threatens the empire; and widening the divine embrace.
The pressed pastor-teacher asks: Is it worth reading another commentary? With these five themes as scaffolding holding the layers of contextual meaning, Case-Winters brings forth a commentary that compels a resounding “yes!” Read the Gospel. Read this commentary.
