The Messianic Identity of Christ in Matthew 1-9

Written for Dr. James Prothro's New Testament Course, March 21, 2020

In Matthew’s opening chapters, we see how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies. Matthew’s opening genealogy would draw the attention of his initial audience of devout Jews, who knew the Messiah would be from the house of David. Matthew points out the prophecy of Isaiah: “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Immanuel”[1] and explains that Emmanuel means “God with us.” The Magi are told of the prophecy of Micah 5:2: Bethlehem will be the birthplace of the “ruler who will govern my people Israel.”[2] The flight to and return from Egypt fulfills the prophecy in Hosea, “[o]ut of Egypt I called my son,”[3] as Hosea refers not simply to the Exodus, but to the Messiah. Matthew connects Herod’s killing of the children to the prophecy of Jeremiah: “A voice is heard in Ra’mah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not.”[4] Matthew references a prophecy that places the Messiah in Nazareth: “And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.””[5] These allusions to Old Testament prophecies, of little apparent relevance today, were, for devout Jews of Matthew’s time signs that Jesus was the looked-for Messiah.

In Chapter 3, Matthew continues to highlight Jesus’ identify. John the Baptist states “he who is coming after me is mightier that I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”[6] A few verses later, after John has baptized Jesus, the voice of God announces “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”[7] Immediately after this, Jesus “is led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”[8] Jesus refuses to be swayed by each of the three temptations. When Satan leaves, angels appear and minister to Jesus. Soon after this, Jesus begins his public ministry. He calls his first disciples, who immediately leave their work and families, and follow him. .Jesus preaches and performs miracles, and “great crowds followed him…”[9]

We often hear the Beatitudes themselves referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, but in actuality, that Sermon is quite longer. Carmody identifies Chapters 5 through 9 as the “First Discourse,”[10] and further delineates it as “Sermon on the Mount (5:3 – 7:27) and Narrative Section (8:1 – 9:38).[11] Faley calls the Sermon on the Mount “the ‘magna carta’ of the Christian ethical life.”[12]

The Sermon on the Mount consists of the eight beatitudes, which can be looked at as the building blocks of the way to heaven. They show us a way to live, not for the good of ourselves, but for the good of others. They state we gain the kingdom of heaven by our meekness, and also by accepting persecution when we stand up for righteousness, which we must first hunger and thirst for. They show us that following Christ is not to take the easy path, but the correct path. The Sermon continues, exhorting us to be the “salt of the earth”[13] and “light of the world.”[14] We are counseled on anger, adultery, swearing, and revenge. We are told to love our enemies. We are given a prayer that must have been truly radical at its first hearing, when Jesus states “your Father knows what you need before you ask him,”[15] and then goes on to voice “Our Father who art in heaven.”[16] To place that prayer on our lips, to tell us to address God in the same words Jesus does, to call God our father: I can’t imagine the reaction of people taught they were unworthy to say the name of God when they are told to call God “Our Father.”

The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount are, in the main, straightforward. Jesus does not speak in parables here, but gives rather clear instruction. It is no surprise that “when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”[17] Pope Benedict, writing as Cardinal Ratzinger, states “The Sermon on the Mount is addressed to the entire world, the entire present and future, and yet it demands discipleship and be understood and lived out only by following Jesus and accompanying him on his journey.”[18]

Following the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew lists many miracles, including a leper, a paralytic, a Centurion’s servant, the Gadarene Demoniacs, two blind men, and a hemorrhaging woman. Jesus also restores a child to life. When Jesus cures Peter’s mother-in-law, as well as others that same day, Matthew tells us “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’” Pope John Paul II JP II states “Christ’s miracles recorded in the Gospels are signs of the divine omnipotence and of the salvific power of the Son of Man.”[19]

Matthew builds his depiction of Jesus’ identity throughout the story by anchoring him in the house of David, and connecting events in his life to prophecies being fulfilled. The statement of the Father at the baptism of Jesus verifies this identify. In the desert, Jesus deals with Satan as one who knows and has power over him. In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus preaches with authority, and gives instruction that reaches beyond the Law. In the miracles, he both heals infirmities and shows his authority over the wind and sea. In just the first third of his Gospel, Matthew has built Jesus’ identify as Messiah in numerous layers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carmody, Timothy R. Reading the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2004

Faley, Roland J., TOR. From Genesis to Apocalypse: Introducing the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2005

John Paul II. Jesus, Son, and Savior: a Catechesis on the Creed. Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 1996.

Ratzinger, Joseph, Pope Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011.

[1] Isaiah 7:14 (Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition)

[2] Matthew 2:6

[3] Hosea 11:1

[4] Jeremiah 31:15

[5] Matthew 2:23

[6] Matthew 3:11

[7] Matthew 3:17

[8] Matthew 4:1

[9] Matthew 4:25

[10] Timothy R. Carmody. Reading the Bible. (Paulist Press, 2004), p 210

[11] Ibid, p. 211

[12] Roland J. Faley, TOR. From Genesis to Apocalypse: Introducing the Bible. (Paulist Press, 2005), p. 195