Despite being recognized as the most 'Jewish' Gospel, many argue that Matthew was penned by someone who sought to distance himself from Judaism. Scholars have used diverse approaches for determining the relationship between Matthew and the variegated Judaism of the first century, but few recognize the important piece that the Evangelist's Christology - in particular the shepherd motif - brings to the puzzle of his socio-religious orientation. Wayne Baxter contends that there are distinctive tendencies in the shepherd metaphor's appropriation by non-Christ-believing Jewish and Graeco-Roman authors as well as Christ-believing authors approximately contemporary with Matthew, which reflect distinct patterns of thought. By comparing these uses of the shepherd metaphor Baxter unearths clues about the Evangelist's socio-religious orientation. Baxter is able to use this to determines the metaphor's contribution to the overall theological framework of the Gospel, specifically, its Christology, soteriology, and the Evangelist's view of mission. Moreover, he is able to ascertain Matthew's socio-religious orientation, and thus, and its implications for the debate surrounding the 'parting of the ways' between Judaism and Christianity.

Despite being recognized as the most 'Jewish Gospel, many argue that Matthew was penned by someone who sought to distance himself from Judaism. Scholars have used diverse approaches for determining the relationship between Matthew and the variegated Judaism of the first century, but few recognize the important piece that the Evangelists Christology - in particular the shepherd motif - brings to the puzzle of his socio-religious orientation. Wayne Baxter contends that there are distinctive tendencies in the shepherd metaphors appropriation by non-Christ-believing Jewish and Graeco-Roman authors as well as Christ-believing authors approximately contemporary with Matthew, which reflect distinct patterns of thought. By comparing these uses of the shepherd metaphor Baxter unearths clues about the Evangelists socio-religious orientation. Baxter is able to use this to determines the metaphors contribution to the overall theological framework of the Gospel, specifically, its Christology, soteriology, and the Evangelists view of mission. Moreover, he is able to ascertain Matthews socio-religious orientation, and thus, and its implications for the debate surrounding the 'parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity.

In this book, Wayne Baxter explores and unpacks the Shepherd Christology in the Gospel of Matthew. By examining Matthew's shepherd motif against the backdrop of the metaphor's appropriation in the biblical tradition, in the writings of Second Temple Judaism, and in the New Testament, Baxter's analysis reveals important convergences and divergences between Matthew and these three groups of authors. One the one hand, the Evangelist's shepherd motif closely echoes that of the Jewish Scriptures; on the other hand, at points Matthew's motif aligns with the trope's usage by Christ-believers over and against its deployment by Second Temple Jewish authors. Sometimes he agrees with the Second Temple writers over and against Christ-believers, and at other times he stands alone, deviating from both Second Temple Jews and Christ-believers. Baxter argues that the reason for these convergences and divergences is Matthew's high Shepherd Christology: In Jesus the messianic Shepherd, YHWH has personally returned in a dramatic way to shepherd his people, Israel.