December 15, 2019: I've Heard This Before – Amanda Lum

Matthew spends the first part of his gospel pointing out the many ways Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of prophecies contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. But were these predictions of the person of Jesus? Were the prophets correct down the detail in writing about Jesus, who was to come? Possibly.

However, Matthew was writing to his own people, and it is likely this is his testimony his community’s way of seeing Jesus in relationship to the ancient scriptures of their Jewish tradition. It expresses their conviction that he not only stood in continuity with them, but was the culmination of them. For Matthew, Jesus is Emmanuel, both as a figure of history and as the risen Christ. This is New Testament testimony, not Old Testament prediction. In this sense, Jesus fulfills God’s promise and Israel’s yearning for Emmanuel, for the abiding presence of God with us.