Sermon on the Mount: Paul's Gospel and Matthew's Gospel

Nothing makes the gospel according to Paul more necessary than the Gospel according to Matthew. For if Matthew's Jesus is telling the truth, then we badly need a Savior and his forgiveness that reaches down beneath our will, underneath our sinful acts, and covers our sinful nature, our subterranean drives, our original sin, our depths. If Matthew's Jesus is true, then Paul's Jesus is necessary. Matthew was given a charisma for showing the need for the gospel, for teaching that bad news about ourselves which is absolutely essential if we are to seek the good news of God at all. Without Matthew's going before Paul in the canon, Paul could seem superfluous. Matthew's way of bringing us to the grace of Christ is different from Paul's, but it is a route equally calculated to reach the goal. Let us listen to what this Gospel is saying to us and seek to do it. In no other way will we experience the grace and power of Jesus Christ in this Gospel.- Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary