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ESV Expository Commentary #8
ESV Expository Commentary: Matthew–Luke (Volume 8)
A Passage-by-Passage Commentary of Matthew, Mark, and Luke Designed to strengthen the global church with a widely accessible, theologically sound, and pastorally wise resource for understanding and applying the overarching storyline of the Bible, this commentary series features the full text of the ESV Bible passage by passage, with crisp and theologically rich exposition and application. Editors Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar have gathered a team of experienced pastor-theologians to provide a new generation of pastors and other teachers of the Bible around the world with a globally minded commentary series rich in biblical theology and broadly Reformed doctrine, making the message of redemption found in all of Scripture clear and available to all. Contributors to this volume include: Dan Doriani (Matthew)
Hans F. Bayer (Mark)
Thomas R. Schreiner (Luke)
Hans F. Bayer (Mark)
Thomas R. Schreiner (Luke)
1160 pages, Hardcover
Published September 7, 2021
27 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 21, 2021
Where can you go to get a commentary on the Gospels that is theologically sound and pastorally wise? In the newest edition of the ESV Expository Commentary, Crossway presents a passage-by-passage commentary of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
The Parable of the Talents in Matthew
Contributors to this volume include Dan Doriani (Matthew), Hans F. Bayer (Mark), and Thomas R. Schreiner (Luke). Dan Doriani (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as the vice president of strategic academic projects and professor of theology at Covenant Seminary. Hans F. Bayer is Professor of New Testament and Chair of the New Testament Department at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Thomas R. Schreiner (MDiv and ThM, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary; PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and associate dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I quickly jumped to Doriani’s commentary as I studied to prepare a sermon from Matthew 25 on The Parable of the Talents. The section overview gave me a compelling introduction to the theme of faithful stewardship. Comments on talents were insightful, such as understanding that “a laborer would toil one hundred years to earn five talents.” What was most beneficial was the response section, giving the principal points of the parable but also proper application towards how it reshapes our work. This commentary helped me quickly engage with the text.
Connections in Luke and Mark
Using the Scripture Index, I saw that the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 had comparable similarities and differences to the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27. Schreiner comments that believers and disciples of Christ are to be responsible servants as we wait for the return of Jesus. Schreiner clearly states that “true faith manifests itself in good works. We are saved by faith alone, but never by a faith that is alone. Genuine faith manifests itself in the doing of good works.” I found this commentary to be concise while highlighting preaching and pastoral considerations.
While there was no direct correlation to this parable in the Book of Mark, reading the introduction section allowed me to further see that discipleship “is essentially a life-giving relationship with Jesus resulting in godly personal and social conduct, not primarily and exclusively following a certain code of conduct.” This commentary emphasizes how knowing our master necessitates a changed life. While written for serious study, the commentary will serve you well for both sermon preparation and devotional delight.
Trusted Legacy
Aesthetically, this is a handsome premium hardcover book. It is massive at 1,160 pages. The font size is generous, making for a pleasant - as opposed to a tedious - reading experience. You will want to refer to this commentary every time you plan to present a text or for your own personal study.
Crossway’s ESV Expository Commentary has proved to be a trusted resource, and this edition will further it's legacy. As a tentpole volume on the first three Gospels, it is a must-have book in your library and study. Go and read the Gospels, and be ready to better preach and proclaim the Good News.
The Parable of the Talents in Matthew
Contributors to this volume include Dan Doriani (Matthew), Hans F. Bayer (Mark), and Thomas R. Schreiner (Luke). Dan Doriani (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as the vice president of strategic academic projects and professor of theology at Covenant Seminary. Hans F. Bayer is Professor of New Testament and Chair of the New Testament Department at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Thomas R. Schreiner (MDiv and ThM, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary; PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and associate dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I quickly jumped to Doriani’s commentary as I studied to prepare a sermon from Matthew 25 on The Parable of the Talents. The section overview gave me a compelling introduction to the theme of faithful stewardship. Comments on talents were insightful, such as understanding that “a laborer would toil one hundred years to earn five talents.” What was most beneficial was the response section, giving the principal points of the parable but also proper application towards how it reshapes our work. This commentary helped me quickly engage with the text.
Connections in Luke and Mark
Using the Scripture Index, I saw that the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 had comparable similarities and differences to the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27. Schreiner comments that believers and disciples of Christ are to be responsible servants as we wait for the return of Jesus. Schreiner clearly states that “true faith manifests itself in good works. We are saved by faith alone, but never by a faith that is alone. Genuine faith manifests itself in the doing of good works.” I found this commentary to be concise while highlighting preaching and pastoral considerations.
While there was no direct correlation to this parable in the Book of Mark, reading the introduction section allowed me to further see that discipleship “is essentially a life-giving relationship with Jesus resulting in godly personal and social conduct, not primarily and exclusively following a certain code of conduct.” This commentary emphasizes how knowing our master necessitates a changed life. While written for serious study, the commentary will serve you well for both sermon preparation and devotional delight.
Trusted Legacy
Aesthetically, this is a handsome premium hardcover book. It is massive at 1,160 pages. The font size is generous, making for a pleasant - as opposed to a tedious - reading experience. You will want to refer to this commentary every time you plan to present a text or for your own personal study.
Crossway’s ESV Expository Commentary has proved to be a trusted resource, and this edition will further it's legacy. As a tentpole volume on the first three Gospels, it is a must-have book in your library and study. Go and read the Gospels, and be ready to better preach and proclaim the Good News.
April 16, 2024
This volume is the first NT entry in the ESV Expository Commentary series. It features an exposition of Matthew by Dan Doriani, Mark by Hans Bayer, and Luke by Thom Schreiner.
The focus of this commentary series is on exposition of the biblical text and its theological implications for preaching and teaching. Theologically, each of these volumes is soundly evangelical and conversant with the major scholarly discussions in Gospels scholarship. Because of the target audience and expository focus, interaction with scholarly positions is kept to a minimum. This weakens these treatments as one-stop shops for study of these biblical text but strengthens their value as guides for grasping the author's primary purposes.
With these shared commitments, each author also highlights distinct elements. For example, Doriani notes the common formula that Matthew was written primarily as "the Gospel for the Jews" and helpfully gives a broader orientation to the audience and purpose of Matthew. This lengthy narrative is written "for Jewish readers who would embrace the mission of making disciples of the nations" (29). Doriani also shows the way that Matthew's portrayal of the disciples (as both understanding and misunderstanding the message of Jesus) informs the way that this biblical text might be understood and experienced by a reader. As he comments, "Matthew desired his Gospel to do to his readers what the gospel did for him. His encounter with Jesus equipped him to write the Gospel that would become the source for all who train disciples" (32).
Though Bayer and Schreiner do not really discuss this feature of audience (they focus on issues that are particularly prominent in their books), these comments can be readily applied to Mark and Luke as well. The same is true for their varied points of emphasis. Doriani treats the nature and historicity of miracles, Bayer discusses Peter as a historical source for the eye-witness testimony of Mark's narrative, and Schreiner sets the story of Luke within the scope of the OT's biblical-theological themes. Collectively, then, these three treatments of the Synoptic Gospels gives a solid orientation to studying and preaching these texts (though, there is a surprising omission of any direct treatment of the "synoptic problem" beyond Schreiner's brief comments on Luke's prologue).
Overall, this commentary on the Synoptic Gospels is a solid evangelical resource that will be a great help to preachers and teachers of the Word.
NB:
On a side note, I was disappointed with Doriani's theological treatment of Jesus's cry from the cross in Matthew 27 (429–32; though Doriani's comments on the Gospel as a whole are excellent!). He takes this cry of dereliction to mean that the Father turns away from the Son on the cross (sometimes referred to as the "Broken Trinity" view). The most important move here is denying that Ps 22 as a whole is the proper context in which to understand Jesus's words (Doriani thinks that this move "reduces Jesus' agony to a heuristic device"). Citing Paul's letters (in particular, 2 Cor 5:21, Gal 3:13) and Habakkuk 1:13, Doriani claims that "the Father, in his holiness, looked away." Jesus' "separation from his Father must have felt far more acute due to the heretofore perfect fellowship of the Father and the Son."
Doriani does emphasize other theological truths that are also true of this moment (e.g., that Jesus still calls out to God) and also that this interpretation is forced to make this separation only momentary (due to Luke's portrayal of Jesus's address to the Father from the cross). However, this discussion is framed by comments about how the "trinitarian unity" could "suffer this separation."
In terms of the volume as a whole, this view is balanced a bit by Bayer's suggestion (in his treatment of Mark's account) that the presence of the opening line could imply that the whole of Ps 22 may be in view (a rhetorical practice that would have been common among readers). Jesus crys out to God "even amid the immense pain of abandonment by God, divine judgment, and physical agony." Bayer notes that "the following context of Ps 22:1 conveys deep and sustained trust in God (Ps 22:4–5, 9–11, 19–21)," and further that "eventually, the psalmist anticipates divine intervention and vindication."
Schreiner likewise highlights Luke's portrayal of Jesus's unbroken relationship with God the Father. Noting that Jesus's words ("Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!") also allude to a Davidic psalm (Ps 31:5), Schreiner makes the biblical-theological connection: "Jesus, like David, is a king, and psalms that refer to David in their historical context have a typological connection to Jesus as the son of David, the fulfillment of Davidic hopes." Accordingly, "Jesus commits himself to God with the assurance that the Lord will vindicate him."
Indeed, my hope is that theological reflections on the crucifixion account by teachers and preachers (including reflection on the cries of Jesus) would reflect Schreiner's concluding statement that Jesus dies "not in fear but with confidence and hope, for he has taught his disciples not only that he would die but also that he would be raised from the dead."
A robust theology of the cross is not powerful because the Father turned his back on his Son. Rather, the meaning of the cross is powerful because the Father did not turn his face away from the Son. The movement of humiliation to exaltation is woven into the prophetic expectation about the messiah, and this emphasis on humiliation on the cross and vindication in resurrection is the burden of the Gospel narratives. Though the Son suffers, he is never ontologically abandoned by the Father. In this sacrificial work of redemption, he carries out the will of Father in the Spirit. The relations between the Father, Son, and the Spirit are never "broken." Rather, it is only because of those very realities that it is possible for the redemption of mankind to be effective at all. Obviously, there is much more to this reading and a broader theology of the cross, but I think the meaning of the cry is found in the genre of lament that Matthew, Mark, and Jesus himself have pointed us to.
If we're looking for an ultimate evaluation of the Son's relationship to the Father in every moment of the incarnation from the cradle to the cross, I think there's no better formulation than the suffering psalmist and the author of Hebrews:
"God has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him" (Ps 22:24).
"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence" (Heb 5:7).
The focus of this commentary series is on exposition of the biblical text and its theological implications for preaching and teaching. Theologically, each of these volumes is soundly evangelical and conversant with the major scholarly discussions in Gospels scholarship. Because of the target audience and expository focus, interaction with scholarly positions is kept to a minimum. This weakens these treatments as one-stop shops for study of these biblical text but strengthens their value as guides for grasping the author's primary purposes.
With these shared commitments, each author also highlights distinct elements. For example, Doriani notes the common formula that Matthew was written primarily as "the Gospel for the Jews" and helpfully gives a broader orientation to the audience and purpose of Matthew. This lengthy narrative is written "for Jewish readers who would embrace the mission of making disciples of the nations" (29). Doriani also shows the way that Matthew's portrayal of the disciples (as both understanding and misunderstanding the message of Jesus) informs the way that this biblical text might be understood and experienced by a reader. As he comments, "Matthew desired his Gospel to do to his readers what the gospel did for him. His encounter with Jesus equipped him to write the Gospel that would become the source for all who train disciples" (32).
Though Bayer and Schreiner do not really discuss this feature of audience (they focus on issues that are particularly prominent in their books), these comments can be readily applied to Mark and Luke as well. The same is true for their varied points of emphasis. Doriani treats the nature and historicity of miracles, Bayer discusses Peter as a historical source for the eye-witness testimony of Mark's narrative, and Schreiner sets the story of Luke within the scope of the OT's biblical-theological themes. Collectively, then, these three treatments of the Synoptic Gospels gives a solid orientation to studying and preaching these texts (though, there is a surprising omission of any direct treatment of the "synoptic problem" beyond Schreiner's brief comments on Luke's prologue).
Overall, this commentary on the Synoptic Gospels is a solid evangelical resource that will be a great help to preachers and teachers of the Word.
NB:
On a side note, I was disappointed with Doriani's theological treatment of Jesus's cry from the cross in Matthew 27 (429–32; though Doriani's comments on the Gospel as a whole are excellent!). He takes this cry of dereliction to mean that the Father turns away from the Son on the cross (sometimes referred to as the "Broken Trinity" view). The most important move here is denying that Ps 22 as a whole is the proper context in which to understand Jesus's words (Doriani thinks that this move "reduces Jesus' agony to a heuristic device"). Citing Paul's letters (in particular, 2 Cor 5:21, Gal 3:13) and Habakkuk 1:13, Doriani claims that "the Father, in his holiness, looked away." Jesus' "separation from his Father must have felt far more acute due to the heretofore perfect fellowship of the Father and the Son."
Doriani does emphasize other theological truths that are also true of this moment (e.g., that Jesus still calls out to God) and also that this interpretation is forced to make this separation only momentary (due to Luke's portrayal of Jesus's address to the Father from the cross). However, this discussion is framed by comments about how the "trinitarian unity" could "suffer this separation."
In terms of the volume as a whole, this view is balanced a bit by Bayer's suggestion (in his treatment of Mark's account) that the presence of the opening line could imply that the whole of Ps 22 may be in view (a rhetorical practice that would have been common among readers). Jesus crys out to God "even amid the immense pain of abandonment by God, divine judgment, and physical agony." Bayer notes that "the following context of Ps 22:1 conveys deep and sustained trust in God (Ps 22:4–5, 9–11, 19–21)," and further that "eventually, the psalmist anticipates divine intervention and vindication."
Schreiner likewise highlights Luke's portrayal of Jesus's unbroken relationship with God the Father. Noting that Jesus's words ("Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!") also allude to a Davidic psalm (Ps 31:5), Schreiner makes the biblical-theological connection: "Jesus, like David, is a king, and psalms that refer to David in their historical context have a typological connection to Jesus as the son of David, the fulfillment of Davidic hopes." Accordingly, "Jesus commits himself to God with the assurance that the Lord will vindicate him."
Indeed, my hope is that theological reflections on the crucifixion account by teachers and preachers (including reflection on the cries of Jesus) would reflect Schreiner's concluding statement that Jesus dies "not in fear but with confidence and hope, for he has taught his disciples not only that he would die but also that he would be raised from the dead."
A robust theology of the cross is not powerful because the Father turned his back on his Son. Rather, the meaning of the cross is powerful because the Father did not turn his face away from the Son. The movement of humiliation to exaltation is woven into the prophetic expectation about the messiah, and this emphasis on humiliation on the cross and vindication in resurrection is the burden of the Gospel narratives. Though the Son suffers, he is never ontologically abandoned by the Father. In this sacrificial work of redemption, he carries out the will of Father in the Spirit. The relations between the Father, Son, and the Spirit are never "broken." Rather, it is only because of those very realities that it is possible for the redemption of mankind to be effective at all. Obviously, there is much more to this reading and a broader theology of the cross, but I think the meaning of the cry is found in the genre of lament that Matthew, Mark, and Jesus himself have pointed us to.
If we're looking for an ultimate evaluation of the Son's relationship to the Father in every moment of the incarnation from the cradle to the cross, I think there's no better formulation than the suffering psalmist and the author of Hebrews:
"God has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him" (Ps 22:24).
"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence" (Heb 5:7).
February 14, 2023
Very pastoral.
Locked in on good biblical theology and brought that in throughout the work. With that it did a great job at showing “multiple levels of communication.”
Missed some opportunities to take a stance on some theological matters. Nonetheless, a great commentary.
Locked in on good biblical theology and brought that in throughout the work. With that it did a great job at showing “multiple levels of communication.”
Missed some opportunities to take a stance on some theological matters. Nonetheless, a great commentary.
May 26, 2024
I continue to be pleasantly surprised by this series. With this volume in particular, I was impressed with the analysis of Matthew 7:6, which helpfully points out the potential irony of the verse (which I personally think is the most plausible interpretation).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews