On your whiteboard: Write down everything you can remember about messianic prophecy in the Old Testament.

Was Jesus the Messiah? - Matthew’s Gospel

Bible Time! Matthew 1:1-17 Why would Matthew start his gospel in this way?

Key Questions: Why is “the line of David” important? What is a “proof text”? How does Matthew use proof texts in relation to the Messiah?

Matthew’s purpose During Jesus’ lifetime, most of his followers did not realise he was the Messiah. The early church (Christians in the first hundred years after Jesus’ death) gradually realised who Jesus was (the Messiah and the Son of God). Earlier texts suggest that Jesus became Messiah when he was resurrected, or at his baptism. Matthew is trying to show that Jesus was the Messiah all along.

“What is involved here is the growing understanding of the early church about the identity of Jesus. Though at first such titles as Son of God became attached to him primarily as of the resurrection, the time came when early Christians began to realize that he had to have been such even earlier in his career, even though it had not been recognized. It is not so much that the ‘christological moment’ … was pushed back as that there was a growth in awareness as time passed among early Christians that what Jesus was recognized to be after the resurrection he must have been still earlier” -Fitzmyer

Matthew 1 – the genealogy of Jesus Jesus is descended from David, through Joseph (his adoptive father) He isn’t biologically Joseph’s son, but Mary’s son Four women in the genealogy is unusual. All four would be known to Jewish readers for having children from unusual relationships, but being an important part of God’s plan. Matthew is trying to suggest that Jesus’ birth from Mary follows the same pattern and is part of God’s plan.

The flight to Egypt This part of the story has many parallels with the story of Moses. Why would Matthew want Jewish readers to see similarities between Jesus and Moses?

Proof texts Matthew is clearly trying to show that Jesus fulfilled many of the messianic prophecies. Matt 1:22 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet”

Old Testament Prophecy Reference in Matthew Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”   Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” Jeremiah 31:15 ““A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Judges 13:5 “You will … have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines”

So… Matthew uses these texts differently from how they would have been understood before. He is using every bit of scripture he can think of to try to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. He has made the story fit with the prophecies, and has made the prophecies seem to fit the story. By using Jesus’ genealogy, references to Old Testament people and events, and the specific fulfilment passages, Matthew is trying to demonstrate that Jesus’ birth is the climax of God’s long relationship with the Jews.

Key Questions: Why is “the line of David” important? What is a “proof text”? How does Matthew use proof texts in relation to the Messiah?