1) Social, historical and religious context of the NT
1.1 Prophecy regarding the Messiah
a) Suffering Servant of Isaiah, the importance of the line of David, the idea of the messianic secret.
b) The significance of these expectations and their impact on New Testament texts, including
Matthew’s proof texts in the birth narratives and for understanding the Gospel texts.
With reference to the ideas of R Brown and M Hooker.
● The Suffering Servant of Isaiah - Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12
There are four “Servant Songs” of Isaiah that describe the service, suffering, and exaltation of the
Servant of the Lord, the Messiah.
Suffering Servant songs contributed to the formation of Jewish Messianic expectations, in outlining
the servant as one who will ‘bring justice to the nations’ and ‘lead back the people of Israel’ by being
a ‘light’ through which others will recognise God’s ‘saving power’
- Contrasts to many Jewish messianic expectations in offering vision of humility, sacrifice and
vicarious suffering, rather than a politically powerful figure of authority
- The suffering of the servant will ultimately take away the sins and guilt of others and be
rewarded for this by God (53:4,5,10,11) - introduces redemptive nature of Messianic suffering
(‘he was pierced for our transgressions, [...] the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds, we are healed’)
- Early Church associated these passages with Jesus, as they recognised that the predictions of
Isaiah in 42:1-4 were fulfilled in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ life (Matt 12:18-21)
- Portrayed as bringing about universal salvation (‘light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my
salvation unto the end of the earth.’)
- Morna Hooker: disputes traditional readings of Jesus as ‘fulfilment of scripture’, instead
believing the Early Church projected their views onto the text as an intentional ‘binding force’
between various books rather than fate, and thinks the Suffering Servant passages instead
refer to the People of Israel as ‘chosen ones’ rather than a salvatory individual
● The line of David (Messiahship)
Term stems from Hebrew ‘mashiach’ (‘anointed one’; ‘christos’ in Greek), which refers to a divinely
chosen figure who enacts God’s plan for his people - could be a royal (‘kingly’) leader (mashiach
applied to kings of Israel, including Saul and David), or a religious (‘priestly’) one
Messiah believed to be descendant of King David; Messianic expectations often linked to restoration
of Davidic rule, ie. the golden era of flourishing (political stability, military triumphs, rel. prosperity.)
- Leila Bronner: ‘In Biblical times the longing was for a king of the line of David, though
eventually the term came to take on an eschatological dimension. The future Messianic figure
was expected to restore the kingdom of Israel & usher in an era of peace’
- The Davidic Covenant: Covenant between God and David in 2 Samuel 7:12-16, promising
that a future descendant of David would establish an eternal kingdom (“Your house and your
kingdom will endure forever before me, your throne will be established forever.”) -
interpreted as Messianic prophecy, fuelling expectation of Messiah as being direct heir.
- Psalms attributed to David interpreted as referring to future Messiah, e.g. Psalm 2 speaks of
anointed King who will rule over the nations; Psalm 110 describes a priestly figure who is
also a descendant of David.
