Behold the Christ: Proclaiming the Gospel of Matthew, by Leroy A. Huizenga, reveals the significance of St. Matthew’s Jesus: He is Emmanuel, God with us always, who saves his people from their sins by dying for them.

In showing how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, gave us a way to live, and taught us how to follow the narrow way to the kingdom of heaven, St. Matthew modeled the fourfold way of reading Scripture according to letter and spirit.

Above all, St. Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus Christ founding the Catholic Church as a robust, rigorous religion with rich rituals, chiefly the sacrificial Eucharist as sustenance on the narrow way to heaven. Jesus demands much of his Church, but the same Jesus who commands his Church also promises and delivers much—above all, himself.

Keyed to the lectionary and featuring a section on the relevance of St. Matthew’s Gospel for our contemporary age, Behold the Christ will make the Gospel and indeed the Faith real to today’s readers.

Dr. Leroy A. Huizenga (Ph.D., Duke University) is Administrative Chair of Arts and Letters and Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. After teaching at Wheaton College (Ill.) for five years, Dr. Huizenga was received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of 2011. Dr. Huizenga is the author of The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew (Brill, 2012) and is currently writing a major commentary on the Gospel of Mark for Bloomsbury T&T Clark’s International Theological Commentary series. Loosing the Lion: Proclaiming the Gospel of Mark, was published by Emmaus Road (2017).

“This is the rare commentary that is as pastorally useful as it is exegetically thorough. It is complete but never cumbersome, clear but never facile. The author sees the mystagogical dimension missed by most modern scholars, though beloved by the Church Fathers. It is the ideal handbook for homilists. Both preachers and scholars alike will love this book and want to keep it handy. For that matter, it will be treasured by all Bible students and teachers!”

Scott Hahn, Bestselling author of The First Society

“If you have trouble connecting with the readings at Mass, you need this book. Dr. Leroy Huizenga cracks open the Gospel of Matthew so that you’ll see it anew, as if you’re encountering it for the first time.”

Jennifer Fulwiler, host of “The Jennifer Fulwiler Show” on Sirius XM

“This remarkable book is both a comprehensive theology of the First Gospel, as well as a handbook for preaching and teaching it through the Church year. Let homilists rejoice! Everyone responsible for proclaiming the Gospel will want this volume!”

John Bergsma, Co-Author of A Catholic Introduction to the Old Testament