Judgment is a focal point for many interpreters of Matthew. To some people, God is seen as a server and helper to those in need, but to others He is seen as judging and accessible only to the elite. The burden of impending judgment can be a heavy load to carry, but does it need to be? Selecting passages from Matthew, Brendan Byrne demonstrates an awareness of Jesus as one who lightens humanity's burdens rather than adding to them. Lifting the Burden contains methods of interpretation that are sensitive to the concerns of Christianity and Judaism as it focuses on the elements of the Gospel that balance the importance of judgment and view it within a larger context.

Brendan Byrne, SJ, is a professor of New Testament at Jesuit Theological College, within the United Faculty of Theology, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Romans (1996) in the Sacra Pagina series, Lifting the Burden: Reading Matthew's Gospel in the Church Today (2004), A Costly Freedom: A Theological Reading of Mark's Gospel (2008), Life Abounding: A Reading of John's Gospel (2014), and The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel (2015), published by Liturgical Press.