Matthew 1:18-2:23

Big themes

God’s work

The fulfillment of God’s plan

Matthew’s hermeneutics—the science/art of interpretation

The Conception and Birth of Jesus (Mt 1:18-24)

v.18

After tracing Jesus’ lineage through Joseph, Matthew shows Joseph is not His biological father

He is the legal father

Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit

It is a work of God—supernatural—Jesus is going to be like us, but not like us

This is different than the birth story of other heroes in the Greek tradition where the gods had relations with humans—also contra Mormons

v. 19

Joseph’s righteousness is seen in not wanting to expose Mary to shame

Joseph and Mary are stretched ehre because they have no categories for pregnancy without intercourse

v. 20

The Lord intervenes and changes Joseph’s plan

v. 21

Jesus has a divine mission

Yeshua—Yahweh is help

v.22-23

Quotation of Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 7:14 NASB95

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

What does Matthew mean by “to fulfill?”

In Isaiah the reference is clearly to someone in closer chronological proximity

Relates “the past to the present in terms of a historical correspondence and escalation in which the divinely ordered prefigurement finds a complement in the subsequent and greater event” Ellis, OT in Early Christianity 106

Typology—the view that God’s work in the past prefigured God’s plan in the future

Distinct from allegory because it is dependent upon the historical realities

Isaiah 7:1-16

Two kings are threatening Jerusalem

Isaiah goes to King Ahaz with a message of encouragment

Ahaz refuses to ask God for a sign (v. 11-12)

God gives a sign

The virgin/alma will have a child

alma could mean virgin, but it could also mean a young woman of marriageable age who would conceivably be a virgin

Child will be a sign of God’s presence with and deliverance of His poeple

Immanuel—God with us

Matthew 1:22-23

Israel needs deliverance; not from kings, but sin

A virgin/parthenos will have a child

He is God with us

Escalation—greater deliverance, virgin conception by the Holy Spirit, God in the flesh

Importance of the Virgin Birth

Salvation must come from God

Jesus isn’t just another man—He is the God-man

In Jesus, we have the union of humanity and Deity

Hypostatic union—a fully human nature, a fully Divine nature

Christ’s full humanity without inherited sin

The work of the Holy Spirit is such that Christ does not inherit our sin or guilt

The Visit of the Magi (Mt 2:1-12)

v. 1-2

Magi—astrologers from the east

Likely reference Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers 22-24

v. 3-4

Interesting to note Herod’s fear (illegitimacy) and the entire city’s (appears to be some resistance to God’s unfolding work

v. 5-6

Quotation of Micah 5:2

Micah 5:2 NASB95

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

Follows in the line of David

More straightforward fulfillment—this is also where Jesse and David were born

v. 7-8—Herod is duplicitous and the wise men likely are suspicious of him

v. 9-12

God guides them by the star

God’s global mission is on display

The first to recognize Him and pay homage are Gentiles

The Flight to Egypt (Mt 2:13-15)

v. 13-14

God preserves His plan through divine intervention

v. 15

Quotation of Hosea 11:1

Hosea 11:1 NASB95

When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.

In Hosea, son refers to Israel

Matthew sees Israel as a type/foreshadow of Christ

Jesus is the new Israel

Where Israel was in Egypt and God brought them up, now Jesus will be in Egypt and be brought up

Where Israel failed Jesus will not (chapter 4)

Jesus is what it means to be the true people of God

Herod’s Slaughter (Mt 2:16-23)

Parallels with Moses

Pharaoh killed all the male children in an attempt to prevent Moses from saving the people

Herod kills all the male infants under two years old in an attempt to prevent Jesus from saving the people

Herod’s cruelty—Josephus Antiquities 15-17

Quotation of Jeremiah 31:15

Jeremiah 31:15 NASB95

Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

Jeremiah 31 is focused on God’s gathering of His people and the new covenant He will make with them

v. 15 is tells of the pain of mothers whose sons were taken away in exile

Rachel personifies these mothers’ grief because she is buried in Ramah (Gen 35:19-20)

Why Rachel—she died and was buried and her family was forced to leave the promised land and settle in Egypt

Ramah is about 6 miles north of Jerusalem while Bethlehem is about 6 miles south on the same road

The exiles would pass through Ramah

There is no direct prediction here—this is typology

In Jeremiah, mothers weep because the Assyrians and Babylonians had taken their sons

Some were killed, some were sent to battle, some were deported

In Matthew, mothers weep because Herod killed their sons

Their sadness is heightened, it is painful

Big Takeaway

God will fulfill His plan no matter the opposition