Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth (Preaching the Word)

Douglas Sean O’Donnell (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the senior vice president of Bible editorial at Crossway. Over the past twenty-five years he has helped train people around the world to read and teach the Bible clearly. He has pastored several churches, served as a professor, and authored or edited over twenty books, including commentaries, Bible studies, children’s books, and a children’s curriculum. He also wrote The Pastor’s Book with R. Kent Hughes and The Beauty and Power of Biblical Exposition with Leland Ryken.

R. Kent Hughes (DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is senior pastor emeritus of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and former professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hughes is also a founder of the Charles Simeon Trust, which conducts expository preaching conferences throughout North America and worldwide. He serves as the series editor for the Preaching the Word commentary series and is the author or coauthor of many books. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Spokane, Washington, and have four children and an ever-increasing number of grandchildren.

Even for the most seasoned of preachers, the thought of expositing the Gospel of Matthew could be overwhelming. Thanks to Doug O'Donnell's newest commentary, chock-full of impressive insights and engaging wit, the first and perhaps greatest Gospel has suddenly become much less daunting. When Kent Hughes called on O'Donnell to write this volume, he knew exactly what he was doing.
-Nicholas Perrin,
Wheaton College Graduate School

This commentary grows out of wide reading and solid learning - the footnotes alone are a gold mine. O'Donnell writes with a zest for real life, wit, and (controlled) whimsy. The outcome: sermons that both revel in Christ and reveal Christ in fresh and striking ways. The author proves to be a hard-working and natural expositor of Scripture. This book goes to the top of my list of sterling homiletical commentaries on the first Gospel.
-Robert W. Yarbrough,
Covenant Theological Seminary

The market is full of critical commentaries, but not many actually deal with what is 'critical' - the centrality of the gospel, the mission of the Church, and the life of the Christian. Doug O'Donnell's commentary on Matthew is a clear exception. With sensitivity to all the important narrative and exegetical details, O'Donnell offers an interpretation of the first Gospel that is pastoral throughout, and in some instances, truly profound. Relevant illustrations are used in almost every passage, and numerous issues are addressed with theological vigor and often from the pastoral heritage of the Church. There are times when the critical commentaries are useful, even necessary, but I cannot imagine a pastor preaching through Matthew that would not want to use this commentary as a significant resource.
-Edward Klink,
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University