For the second time, Matthew quotes an Old Testament prophecy as predictive prophecy. Isaiah says ‘Behold my servant’ and explains something about how the Servant will act. Matthew shows us this is how Jesus acted.
Review
Matthew 10-12 records the negative reaction of the Jewish people to Jesus. Matthew 12 highlights the growing hostility of the Pharisees toward Jesus.
Passage
14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. 15Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16and ordered them not to make him known. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 18“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 20a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; 21and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” – Matthew 12:14-21
- The Pharisees rejected Jesus partly because of his view of the Sabbath.
- Later in his ministry, he will travel directly into harm’s way by going to Jerusalem. But, at this point in his ministry, Jesus strategically withdraws to avoid dangerous confrontations.
- On the one hand, Jesus has a very public ministry where he calls people to be his disciples.
- On the other hand, he deliberately avoids creating a mass movement and so he asks those he healed to keep quiet.
- Jesus will not accomplish his goals by winning popularity with the crowds and/or creating a grassroots political movement.
- Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4.
Fulfill
- The word fulfill (πληρωθη; Strongs G4137) can mean 1) something predicted comes to pass; or 2) “X is the fullest picture of Y.”
- For example, just as Moses leads the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, Jesus leads his people out of captivity to sin. In a sense, Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses. Jesus’ activity fills up or completes the Old Testament passage in some way.
- Quite often, Matthew means this second usage.
Isaiah 42:1-4
1Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. – Isaiah 43:1-4
Isaiah: Servant Songs
04 Isaiah 42:1-9 Foundation of the Kingdom
- Isaiah was a prophet to the Southern Kingdom (Judah) both before the fall of the northern kingdom and before the fall of the southern kingdom. Though he writes about the fall of the Southern kingdom, the exile and the return from exile, he will not live to see it.
- Set against the Babylonian captivity, Isaiah 40-66 addresses the people who live about 120 to 140 years after Isaiah ministered.
- With both kingdoms in exile, that raises the question, have they finally gone so far that they forfeited the promises to Abraham?
- God’s promises can be trusted because He is in control of history (Isaiah 40-41).
- YHWH challenges the idols to predict the future, but of course they fall the test (Isaiah 43:21-29).
- By contrast, God can predict the future. He tells us of a Servant who will come approximately 700 years before he comes.
- I believe the Servant in Isaiah 42 is the Messiah and the Messiah is Jesus of Nazareth.
- Isaiah tells us God Himself gives the Servant to bring universal justice to the nations. God fully equips the Servant. he Servant responds not by seeking his own justice, but by seeking justice for others. In the process, he suffers, but his suffering and oppression do not hinder his success. Instead, God uses it to establish a universal and everlasting justice.
- Isaiah is predicting the Messiah.
14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. 15Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16and ordered them not to make him known. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 18“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 20a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; 21and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” – Matthew 12:14-21
- Matthew’s version differs slightly from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). He appears to be paraphrasing.
- We expect universal, everlasting justice must be established by force. Evil will not give up without a fight. If our hero is going to conquer evil and bring justice, we expect some kind of revolution.
- At the time, if you wanted to gather support for a cause, you went into the marketplace and made your case.
- But Isaiah says the Servant will not quarrel or cry aloud and not one will hear his voice in the streets.
- Isaiah says you won’t hear the Servant’s voice in the street, and that corresponds with what we see in Jesus. Jesus walked away from fights with the Pharisees. When the crowds want to seize him and make him king, he slips away.
- Jesus doesn’t yell or proclaim his case in the streets, instead he warns others not to talk about him. He avoids raising a big political revolution.
- Isaiah tells us the Servant will bring about justice in a surprisingly quiet way.
- When Jesus withdraws and silences those he healed, refusing to spark a revolution, we see him bringing about justice in a surprisingly quiet way, just as Isaiah predicted.
- I think Matthew is using “fulfilled” here in the first sense of predictive prophecy.
Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.
Next: 65 Matthew 12:22-50 A Tree and its fruit
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Series: Gospel of Matthew 8-13 Behold the King, Part 2
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Podcast season 20, episode 23