Focus on this artwork and analyze the Identity of Christ.
Some scholars speculate that Jesus is portrayed as the Last Adam or Second Adam as titled in the New Testament. This is displayed in Christ's hand as it reaches out towards Matthew. It is almost a mirrored image of Adam's hand in The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, the namesake of Caravaggio. Twice in the New Testament, an explicit comparison is made between Jesus and Adam. In Romans 5:12–21, Paul argues that "just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19, NIV). In 1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul argues that "as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive," while in verse 45 he calls Jesus the "last/ultimate/final Adam".
Caravaggio Last Adam Matthew