This beautiful Gospel stands at the beginning of the New Testament canon and has been a source of inspiration and teaching for every generation of Christians since the first century.  Its commanding sweep of Jesus' life from the turbulent and wondrous events of his infancy to his final commissioning of the disciples on a mountaintop in Galilee, its strong emphasis on Jesus' teachings as in the famed Sermon on the Mount, and its orderly structure made it a capital influence on the church.  Yet for all its appeal, Matthew's Gospel can also be strange and baffling to the modern reader.  Learning to understand this Gospel aright is an art we hope to grow in.