The Gospel of Matthew: A Fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophecies

The Gospel of Matthew is the first of the synoptic gospels which was written around 50 A.D. This Gospel contains twenty-eight chapters which is comprised of narrative history, parables and sermons. The purpose of the Gospel of Matthew was to reveal Jesus as the Messiah and also to convince Jewish people that Jesus Christ was in fact their Messiah. The first theme that is discussed in the Gospel of Matthew is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament which is evident on several occasions. The second theme that occurs is that Jesus the Messiah was the Son of God.

The first occasion where we see Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament is when Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy. One of the ways Jesus fulfilled the prophecy was through the virgin birth: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (Matthew 1:23). Jesus was to be called Immanuel because it means God with us which illustrates Jesus as the prophet and also a God. There are also other prophecies affirming that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament such as: I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you. I will not come against their cities (Hosea 11:9). Here we see Jesus confirming that he is the almighty Holy One and not just a man. The next instance where we see Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament is when Jesus is proclaimed as the new Moses. There are several similarities between Moses in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. Both were teachers of the laws and each of their births caused disruption in their society.

The second theme which reoccurs throughout the Gospel of Matthew is that Jesus the Messiah was the Son of God. The phrase ‘Son of God’ is used multiple times: Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, truly you are the Son of God (Matthew 14:33). Here we see Jesus preforming one of his greatest miracles as he rescued his disciples from a storm in the Sea of Galilee. This exemplifies how Jesus is more than just the king of his people, he is the Son of God. Not only was Jesus called the Son of God in praise, his enemies also mocked him by this title. We see this mocking occur when Jesus was suffering on the cross and priests, scribes and elders mocking him during his suffering: They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. Hail, king of the Jews (Matthew 27: 28-29). This shows how many people doubted that Jesus really was the son of God. The last use of the phrase ‘Son of God’ occurs when Jesus has just died on the cross and is mocked by a high serving Roman solider: Truly this was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54). This asks the question if the solider was being sincere about his statement or if he was simply another person mocking Jesus. If he was being sincere, this shows that a soldier who is under control of an empire really believes that Jesus is the Son of God.