Jesus’s teachings were essentially Jewish. They grew out of Jewish religious and moral traditions and centered on a Jewish conception of God. For Christianity to spread and grow, however, it would need to reach beyond its roots, shedding, or at the very least reinterpreting, aspects of Judaism in the process. Paul of Tarsus, the most important early Christian evangelist, clearly understood this imperative. Through his interpretation of the Christian message, Paul sought to draw a clear distinction between Christians, who were bound to Jesus by their faith, and Jews, who were subject to the Law—that is, the obligations and restrictions imposed on all Jews as part of their covenant with Yahweh. As you read these passages from The Gospel According to Matthew and Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, compare their approaches to the Law. What do the differences you note tell you about the early development of Christianity?