Zechariah 11:1 - Matthew 4:25
As we start into the New Testament, I want to commend everyone on their progress and encourage each person to continue to the end.
In the gospel of Matthew, one of the major themes is presenting Jesus as the promised Messiah from the Hebrew Scriptures. As we go through Matthew, we will try to point out those portions that fulfill the scriptures.
Matt. 1:1-17:The Genealogy
The genealogy of Matthew has two primary purposes; to identify Jesus as a descendant of David and as a descendant of Abraham.
Gen. 18:18 "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation and all nations on earth will be blessed through him."
Isa.9:7 "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."
Matt 1:18-24:The Virgin Birth
Isa.7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
Matt 2:1-12 Born in Bethlehem
Mic.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 ancient times."
Matt 2:13-23 Flight into Egypt and Death of the Children
Jer.31:15 This is what the Lord says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more."
Hos.11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son
Matt 3: 1-12 John the Baptist
Isaiah 40:3 says: A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God."
Matt 4:1-17 The Temptation of Jesus
The temptation of Jesus is also a fulfillment of the Israelites failure to trust God as they left Egypt. Each temptation and response has a mirror image passage found in Deuteronomy.
"Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
This is a quote from Deut 8:3, which is a commentary on the Israelites failure to trust God in Exodus 16.
"Do not put the Lord your God to the test." This is a quote from Deut 6:16, which is a commentary on the Israelites failure to trust God in Exodus 17:1-7
"Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." This is a quote from Deut 6:13, which is a written because of the Israelites failure to trust God in Exodus 32- 33:6.
There is an excellent sermon on this at the following website with application for us today.
http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/services/2005-2006/JeffreyJohn05Mar.html
