musings on theology, philosophy, adoption, music, and technology.

Thanks to our friends at Zondervan Academic and the Koinonia blog for providing myself with a copy of Grant Osborne’s new Matthew commentary. This new volume is most definitely one you  will want in your library, it’s from the “Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament” series.

While the ZECNT series is designed for pastors or bible teachers with an elementary understanding of Greek, Dr. Osborne writes in such a way that any person wanting to have a broader understanding of Matthew’s theological framework or application will benefit from it. The basic structure of the commentary consists of the primary point of the text, a detailed exegetical outline, a verse-by-verse investigation and analysis, as well as a practical application.

Dr. Osborne’s most well known work is probably “The Hermeneutial Spiral” ( I wrote about it HERE, a few years back), I consider it one of the most helpful methodologies when trying assess a proper understanding of authorial intent and context. It’s clear that Dr. Osborne uses that method in this series as he expounds his understanding of Matthew’s text. What you can gather from that is this specific volume within the ZECNT series undoubtedly rich in historical background and theological understanding.

At ETS 2009 I had the privilege of having some great conversations with Dr. Osborne over Popeye’s chicken. First, anyone who eats Popeye’s is obviously trustworthy, so that should be the first reason you purchase this volume. Secondly, what I gathered from those conversations, and his application portion of the commentary, is that he is very gospel and church centered. This commentary will help broaden the churches understanding of the Gospel according to Matthew, and the church’s mission. It is also laid out in such a fashion that utilizes great design, simplistic and readable typography, and helpful charts and diagrams.

So you may be wondering how you can get this treasured volume (or at least I’m hoping you are), well all you have to do is like “Redemption Church – Rio Rancho” on FaceBook and recommend it to some friends. Redemption is an Acts 29 church plant that will be launching next year, our family will be a part of it. We need your help to get the word out about this plant, so if you can do that… you may win yourself a $50.00 commentary . Once you’ve “liked” redemption and recommended it to friends email me at bryan [at] bryanlopez.com and I’ll put you in the drawing for this commentary.

I’ll pick a winner next week.