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Prophesies questions with answers
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Exam of 18 pages for the course general prophecy at general prophecy (Prophesies Exam)
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ProphesiesMatthew's birth narrative: - answersstory reflects a particularly Jewish approach to
Jesus of Nazareth. This is highlighted by two concerns of Matthew's:
- To show Jesus as the expected Messiah, understanding this term to indicate a ruler
for the Jews who would be descended from the line of King David, a royal dynasty
which died out after the fall of Jerusalem to Babylonian forces in the sixth century BC.
- To show Jesus to be comparable with the great figure of Jewish tradition, Moses. In
the OT Moses appears as the saviour of Israel, leading them out of slavery in Egypt and
then as a general leading them to towards the Promised Land through hostile territory.
He also is the person through whom God speaks to Israel, making a covenant with them
at Mt Sinai. Jesus is shown by Matthew not only to be the inheritor of Moses' work, but
an even greater leader than Moses- one who can give his followers an ultimate
interpretation of God's will.
In Matthew's prologue... - answers"This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son
of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt 1:1) 'the opening verse makes an important
Christological statement, ......which sets out clearly for the reader the significance of
Jesus.' G.Stanton. He states the opening phrase of the gospel 'An account of the
genealogy of Jesus the Messiah' is a traditional heading for a biblical genealogy. Jesus
is then referred to as the 'son of David', the 'son of Abraham', phrases which hint at
major concerns of the evangelist.
Birth - answersMatthew's birth story first explains the meaning of Jesus by listing the
ancestors of Joseph before giving details of Jesus' birth. His purpose in doing this is to
establish the relationship of Jesus to Jewish religion by showing him as:
- A descendant of Abraham who God promised would be the father of Israel, a future
great nation dwelling in its own land. Abraham saw himself as the father of a long line of
descendants, and Matthew portrays Jesus as the ultimate son of Abraham in whom all
God's promises will be fulfilled.
- A descendant (son) of David, who was the famous king of Israel's past glory. As a
descendant of David, Jesus is shown to be both thoroughly Jewish and royal. It was
through David's power which was given by God, that Israel's God ensured the safety
and prosperity of his people.
,. 'By your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves.' - answersThe
promise given to Abraham in Genesis 22:18 was extremely important for Matthew.
G.Stanton writes 'Although this promise was rarely stressed in Jewish circles, the
evangelist emphasises that following Israel's failure to produce the 'fruits of the kingdom'
and her rejection of the Messiah, the Kingdom of God would be taken away from her
and given to the Gentiles' (Matthew 21:43).
Jesus is portrayed by Matthew as a king, like David, and so he can be called Son of
God - answersGod promised David in 2 Samuel 7:14 'I will be his father, and he will be
my son.' that David's son would be his son and that God would be his father. However
Jesus' relationship to God is more special than this- he is not just an earthly ruler.
Matthew's story shows Jesus as son of God in a unique way. An angel comes to Joseph
who addresses him as 'descendant of David' and tells him to accept Mary's pregnancy
as due to the action of God (Matt 1:20-21) and this establishes the direct son ship of
Jesus. Mary was Jesus' mother but he was conceived not by Joseph or any man but
directly by the action of the Holy Spirit. 'Jesus is 'ingrafted' into David's line through his
conception by the Holy Spirit.' G.Stanton. In this way Matthew suggests that there is
something unique about Jesus' sonship: he can be called 'Immanuel', 'God is with us'.
This fulfils the OT prophecy of a child of a virgin to be called Immanuel. In Isaiah 7:14 "
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to
a son, and will call him Immanuel."
The wise men or Magi - answersMatthew uses the story of the wise men (2:1-12) as a
subtle play on a Jesus who is the expected Jewish leader foretold in numbers 24 but
who is rejected by Israel and accepted by non-Jews. The original 'magus' from the East
was the prophet Balaam who was summoned by the King of Moab to curse Israel. God,
however, caused Balaam to bless rather than to curse and Balaams's prophecy
includes the following:
'I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near- a star shall come out of Jacob, and a
sceptre shall rise out of Israel' (Numbers 24:17)
Matthew uses a star (2:1-2, 9-10) in his birth story and this would have indicated to a
Jewish reader that now the above prophecy was fulfilled and the predicted ruler was
born.
The magi read the stars as part of their religion... - answersthis sign in the natural world
pointed to a king's birth, so they seek for the child. Herod's wise men read the Jewish
scriptures which pointed to an heir to David being born in Bethlehem, but their reaction
is different. Herod and his council, although they are Jewish, are led by human pride
and greed to be spiritually blind and notto recognise the coming of Jesus. In fact they go
further and plot the child's death. Matthew is indicating that non-Jews are entering the
kingdom of heaven through honouring Jesus while God's own people put themselves
outside the kingdom. He is also showing that both stars and the scriptures point to
Jesus as the 'one who is to come'. 'Pagan religion is now overtaken by a Jewish
Messiah who can be worshipped by all nations.' P.Vardy.
, Matthew's twin themes - answersGod's rejection of Israel and his acceptance of
Gentiles as part of his people, are prominent the infancy narratives. The infant 'king'
Jesus is hounded ruthlessly by the Jewish King Herod. In (Matthew 2:3) King Herod and
all Jerusalem are troubled at the coming of King Jesus.
The Escape to Egypt - answersThe motif that Jesus is the Son of God emerges almost
incidentally in the story of the flight to Egypt with it's fulfilment of Hosea 11:1. "When
Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." The life of Jesus is
threatened and he is saved through an Egyptian refuge to which Mary and Joseph take
him (2:13-14). This echoes the book of Exodus where Moses is also a chosen child
whose life is threatened and who survives through the action of Pharaoh's daughter.
This is the second theme from the OT which Matthew uses in his story. Moses is
presented in the first five books of the OT (Pentateuch) as a crucially important figure- a
lawyer, a general, a mediator and a prophet. Moses therefore sums up much of the
origin of Jewish tradition. Matthew makes use of this background but turns the material
round to show that Moses is still not as significant as Jesus. Moses' life points forward
to Jesus, as the ultimate leader of the new Israel, and the signs at Jesus' birth re-echo
themes from the story of Moses.
Important points to remember: - answers- '.......what is characteristic of the evangelist
Matthew, the same theological point is made at the beginning and at the end of his
gospel: through Jesus people experience God's presence with them.' G.Stanton.
- 'The infancy narrative gives a whole OT background from the Law and the prophets for
the appearance of Jesus, the kingly Messiah and unique Son of God.' R.Brown
- M. Hooker writes '.....everything that happens in connection with the birth of Jesus is
the fulfilment of scripture: the place where Jesus is born, the flight to Egypt, the fact that
he grew up in Nazareth, all are seen as foretold in scripture.'
What was the purpose of the birth narratives? - answers- Matthew wanted to present
Jesus as King of the Jews and therefore showed how his birth fulfilled prophecies and
how he was related to David.
- Mark was writing to the Romans and so didn't mention the birth of Jesus because he
wanted to focus on Jesus' service and mission.
- Luke was writing to the marginalised in society so he emphasised the role of
unimportant people (such as women and shepherds) rather than focusing on the wise
men.
- John doesn't focus on the historical events. He is more interested in the theological
significance of Jesus' birth (''The Word became flesh'')
The structure of Matthew's infancy narrative can be outlined in these four sections: -
answers- A Genealogy of Jesus to establish the relationship of Jesus to the Jewish
religion (1:1-17)
- The annunciation to Joseph in an angelic dream message that Jesus was conceived
through the Holy Spirit (1:18-25)
- The homage of the Magi to the newborn "king of the Jews" (2:1-12)
- The escape from Herod the Great and resettlement in Nazareth (2:13-23)
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