It took me just over two weeks to read this and it makes my recommended list. My edition is part of The Crossway Classic Commentaries Series, and the cover is much better than most that I have seen for this book. For a commentary it is an easy read. Ryle divides his chapters to follow each of the chapters in Matthew.
In the introduction it explains that Ryle intended his commentary to be used by families as they studied the Bible together. From reading it I think that could be doable. Most of the chapters you can read in about ten minutes. But there are some long ones, and I mean that they are looong. Maybe they should be left for the weekends! I didn't read this with my family and I got on ok with it, don't think there is any problem with working your way through it on your own. If you did a chapter a day in a February that isn't in a leap year you would finish it by the end of the month.
With any book you shouldn't accept everything that it says, and this is true of this book too. There were parts that I don't think that I agree with, but I need to think about them longer before I form my opinion of them. Like any other book you need to think about what you are reading. If you don't agree with something work out why you don't agree. Maybe you will have your mind changed.
What I am taking away from this book is a deeper sense of who Jesus is. It can be hard to shake the image of a gentle Jesus, but Ryle leaves us in no doubt that Jesus was not soft. From beginning to end Ryle explains how Jesus came to deal with the problem of sin. He doesn't soften the awful scene of the cross or the stance that Jesus took on the hypocrisy of his accusers. If Jesus is who He says that He is - the Son of God and the rightful King of this world - then I need to listen to what He has to say and make sure that He is my King.
If you are thinking about trying a commentary as part of your quiet time, this is a good one to start with.
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