The Gospel of Matthew stands at the threshold of the New Testament like a great doorway carved with symbols, prophecies, and ancient hopes. For nearly two millennia, the Church has approached this Gospel not merely as a historical record or literary composition, but as a divinely inspired testimony to the identity of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel and the Redeemer of the world. From the earliest centuries, Matthew has been read aloud in the liturgy, commented upon by the Fathers, and cherished by the faithful as the Gospel that most clearly reveals the continuity between the Old Covenant and the New. It is the Gospel that begins with a genealogy and ends with a universal commission, a narrative that stretches from Abraham to the ends of the earth, from the promises made to the patriarchs to the baptismal font of every nation. In this sense, Matthew is not only a book but a bridge: a bridge between Israel and the Church, between prophecy and fulfillment, between expectation and revelation.