{"id":365,"date":"2014-08-08T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=365"},"modified":"2014-07-29T20:56:18","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T20:56:18","slug":"bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html","title":{"rendered":"Bible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reader Appeal: Pastors, Teachers, Small Group Leaders<\/p>\n

Genre: Bible Commentary<\/p>\n

FBSN Rating: B<\/p>\n

Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew<\/em> is somewhat unique as a Bible commentary in a few specific ways.<\/p>\n

First, it\u2019s designed with sermon preparation in mind, working on the assumption that pastors will be the primary readers of this book. That\u2019s very helpful for pastoral staff, but not so much for parents, students, discussion group leaders, and others. Still, the intent toward accessibility and real-life application is evident, and that\u2019s to be applauded.<\/p>\n

Second, Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew <\/em>is not a verse-by-verse commentary, but a section-by-section (or thought-by-thought) exposition of the first gospel in our New Testament. This, by its nature, avoids some of the minutiae you might find in other commentaries\u2014but also forces the author, David Platt, to occasionally exposit Scripture in broad strokes when finer details might be more appropriate.<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s plenty to admire about this volume in the Christ-Centered Exposition<\/em> series.<\/p>\n

For starters, the thoughtful, disciplined organization of the book is immediately helpful to anyone preparing to preach a series within the book of Matthew. Following the Scripture chronologically as Matthew originally presented it, Platt offers a coherent progression through the life and teachings of Christ, making clear what might otherwise be confusing in continuity of thought. Platt also prefaces each commentary segment with nugget-style summaries to help set the stage for the reader. Each segment begins with a one-sentence \u201cMain Idea\u201d to work from, and includes a short outline of theological and factual information to be highlighted in that section.<\/p>\n

The commentary passages themselves are written in first-person, with attempts by the author to connect conversationally with the pastors reading the book. This is a pleasant choice, but also makes moments of straight commentary come off as sometimes stilted. Regardless, the textual insight is typically solid and practical, \u201cready to preach\u201d as they might say.<\/p>\n

The real weakness of Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew<\/em> is one that should be its strength. Each commentary section ends with a set of \u201cReflect and Discuss\u201d questions that I assume are for small group studies. That\u2019s a great idea for a commentary. Unfortunately, for all his skill as an expositor, Mr. Platt is not strong as a discussion leader. His questions tend to be closed-ended and intellectual (i.e. \u201cHow did Jesus fulfill Isaiah 7:14?\u201d \u201cList five attributes of Jesus Christ in Matthew 17\u201d) rather than open-ended and practical. Those kinds of questions become obstacles to discussion instead of facilitators of the same. So that was disappointing. But, again, pastors needn\u2019t worry about that kind of thing when preparing a sermon.<\/p>\n

Although not ideal for all Bible Study Nerds, if you\u2019re a pastor, you\u2019ll find much to appreciate in Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Christ-Centered<\/a><\/p>\n

Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew <\/a>\u00a0by David Platt<\/p>\n

(Holman Reference)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n

About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reader Appeal: Pastors, Teachers, Small Group Leaders Genre: Bible Commentary FBSN Rating: B Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew is somewhat unique as a Bible commentary in a few specific ways. First, it\u2019s designed with sermon preparation in mind, working on the assumption that pastors will be the primary readers of this book. That\u2019s very helpful for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[142,144,143,302],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-resource-spotlight","tag-commentary","tag-david-platt","tag-exposition","tag-matthew"],"yoast_head":"\nBible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reader Appeal: Pastors, Teachers, Small Group Leaders Genre: Bible Commentary FBSN Rating: B Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew is somewhat unique as a Bible commentary in a few specific ways. First, it\u2019s designed with sermon preparation in mind, working on the assumption that pastors will be the primary readers of this book. That\u2019s very helpful for…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-08T12:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-07-29T20:56:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/files\/2014\/07\/Christ-Cent-Exp-Matt-.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Nappa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew - For Bible Study Nerds","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew - For Bible Study Nerds","og_description":"Reader Appeal: Pastors, Teachers, Small Group Leaders Genre: Bible Commentary FBSN Rating: B Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew is somewhat unique as a Bible commentary in a few specific ways. First, it\u2019s designed with sermon preparation in mind, working on the assumption that pastors will be the primary readers of this book. That\u2019s very helpful for…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html","og_site_name":"For Bible Study Nerds","article_published_time":"2014-08-08T12:00:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-07-29T20:56:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/files\/2014\/07\/Christ-Cent-Exp-Matt-.jpg"}],"author":"Mike Nappa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html","name":"Bible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew - For Bible Study Nerds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/files\/2014\/07\/Christ-Cent-Exp-Matt-.jpg","datePublished":"2014-08-08T12:00:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-07-29T20:56:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#\/schema\/person\/a0ce37903172885871b0c504c6694575"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/files\/2014\/07\/Christ-Cent-Exp-Matt-.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/files\/2014\/07\/Christ-Cent-Exp-Matt-.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/08\/bible-resource-spotlight-christ-centered-exposition-matthew.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bible Resource Spotlight: Christ-Centered Exposition \u2013 Matthew"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/","name":"For Bible Study Nerds","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Mike Nappa","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/#\/schema\/person\/a0ce37903172885871b0c504c6694575","name":"Mike Nappa","description":"Mike Nappa is an entertainment journalist at FamilyFans.com, a bestselling author\u2014and a notorious Bible Study Nerd. He's a former youth pastor who shepherded kids on staff at Chuck Swindoll's church in Southern California\u2014and he's a bestselling and award-winning author with more than a million copies of his books sold worldwide. Plus, he holds a degree in Christian Education with an emphasis in Bible Theology. So, you know, he\u2019s got that going for him. Mike is also a pop culture dork who watches too much TV, reads too many comic books, utters too many bad words, laughs at all the wrong jokes, and often gets in trouble because he says whatever he happens to be thinking at the moment\u2014like quoting an R-rated movie in the middle of a sermon. Yeah, he\u2019s a mess (just like you!), but he kind of likes it that way. Most of all, Mike Nappa loves Jesus, and he figures that covers over a multitude of sins. Learn more at nappaland.com\/mikenappa.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.biblestudynerds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/author\/mnappa"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":370,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}