Matthew 2:13-23

The Challenge of ‘Fulfillment’

• Matthew identifies three fulfillments in this passage– “in order to fulfill what was spoken by

the Lord through the prophet” (2:15) – “then what was spoken by the prophet

was fulfilled” (2:17) – “in this way what was spoken through

the prophets was fulfilled” (2:23)• Yet these are not simple fulfillments

of prophecy

The Challenge of ‘Fulfillment’

• Hosea 11:1 is not a prophetic prediction– In Hosea 11:1 the prophet Hosea is

referring to a past historical event• He is not looking forward; he is looking

backward

The Challenge of ‘Fulfillment’

• Jeremiah 31:15 is not a prophetic prediction– Jeremiah is describing contemporary

events• He is not looking forward; he is looking

around

The Challenge of ‘Fulfillment’

• The third fulfillment citation is also problematic– There is no OT text that reads “he will

be called a Nazarene”

The Challenge of ‘Fulfillment’

• What is the reader to make of Matthew’s claims of fulfillment?– A simplistic treatment of these as

examples of fulfilled prophecy creates serious problems• It destroys the integrity of the original

context and meaning of the text• It makes Matthew vulnerable to the charge

of misusing the text (proof-texting)

The Challenge of ‘Fulfillment’

• What is the reader to make of Matthew’s claims of fulfillment?– A better approach is known as typology

• Typology involves correspondence– ‘New’ persons, events or institutions correspond

to ‘old’ persons, events or institutions

• The ‘old’ informs the ‘new’• The ‘new’ fulfills the ‘old’

What was Matthew doing?

• The key to understanding Matthew’s use of Hosea 11:1 is found in Numbers 23-24– In this passage Balak (king of Moab) has

commissioned Balaam to curse Israel. – Balaam warns Balak that he can only

speak what the LORD gives him to speak, but Balak insists that Balaam curse Israel

In his second oracle Balaam prophesies, “The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it will be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What God has wrought’! Behold a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain”. (23:21-24)

In the third oracle Balaam prophesies,

“Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox, he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries… He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness, who will rouse him up?” (24:7-9)

In his final oracle Balaam declares,

“I see him but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down the sons of Sheth….And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!” (24:17-19)

A Messianic Text and Interpretation

• In 2nd Temple Judaism this text was interpreted as messianic (cf.., T. Levi 18.3; CD 7.18-26; various Targumim)

• The Messiah would take on the identity of the people (as suggested by the change in wording of the oracles)

• Matthew applies this to Jesus– God called his ‘first’ son (Israel; Exodus 4:22) out

of Egypt (Hosea 11:1)– God called his beloved Son (Matthew 3:17) out of

Egypt (Matthew 2:15)

What was Matthew doing?

• The key to understanding Matthew’s use of Jeremiah 31:15 is the context of Jeremiah

I [God] have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you and you will be built…. For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: “Arise and let us go up to Zion, the LORD our God.” For thus says the LORD: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.” Behold I will; bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here…..

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it to the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him…Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow…

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.” Thus says the LORD: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work,” declares the LORD, “and they shall come back to you from the land of the enemy….”

“…Behold the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt….” Jeremiah 31:3-32

What was Matthew doing?

• The statement re Rachel weeping over the lost children is embedded in a context of hope!

• Matthew is interpreting the life of Jesus within the larger context of the story of Israel and he understands Jesus to be the one through whom God will restore the fortunes of his people.– NB he has already said ‘You will call his name

Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)

What was Matthew doing?

• The events surrounding the death of innocent infants ‘fulfills’ Jeremiah’s statement re Rachel by signaling the end of the exile. – The infants mourned in Jeremiah were

lost in the first stage of the exile; those lost in Bethlehem were lost in the final.

What was Matthew doing?

• By referring to Jeremiah’s prophecy in the context Jesus’ early life, Matthew creatively demonstrates that Jesus is the ‘fulfillment’ of Israel’s calling and mission.– Jesus is Israel restored.

What was Matthew doing?

• What about the third fulfillment citation?– Matthew refers to prophets (plural)– It seems he does not intend a reference

to any particular text– Rather, he refers to an idea or concept

found in the work of various prophets

What was Matthew doing?

• Commentators have puzzled over this for centuries and there is no certain consensus.

• A common and plausible solution is to see this as a reference to the low opinion Jews had of Nazareth – See John 1:46 where Nathanael dismissively asks, “Can any

good come out of Nazareth?” • Thus Jesus’ lowly birth (among the animals) and

his humble background (as one raised in Nazareth) fulfill the idea expressed by the prophets that “he” would be unremarkable (e.g. Isaiah 53:3; Psalm 22:6-8, 13; Daniel 9:26).

Two Lessons from Matthew

• Re historical interpretation, Matthew indicates through his account that he understands God to be the Sovereign Lord of history. – Events do not merely ‘happen’ they take

place for reasons.

Two Lessons from Matthew

• With regard to textual interpretation, Matthew demonstrates an awareness of intertextuality and the interconnectedness of scripture. – Later texts are to be read and interpreted in

light of the earlier. – Scripture is not merely a collection of

propositional truths, although there is propositional truth in scripture.

– We must learn to read it literarily, not merely literally.