The Evangelist Matthew tells a story of conflict. In his shaping of the narrative, the circumstances of his own time play an important role. The Christian congregation of his time lived in conflict with their Jewish neighbours. After the destruction of the temple in AD 70, the process of religious re-orientation resulted in a strong need for differentiation in theology and salvation history.In his study, Romeo Popa combines exegetical analysis with sociological approaches and theories to gain a more accurate understanding of the complex processes and find new textual connections.