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Scripture as Echo Chamber: Soundings in Matthews Worldview From Chapters 1.18-2.1-23 Why read Matthew?

To answer our own questions To understand Matthew To respond to, be shaped by the text On being good readers Two kinds of readers: those who know (the story) and those who dont The poverty of harmonization How does Matthew write? And/or, why does Matthew read? Notable features about the text: emphasis on fulfillment and Scriptural patterns Early Christian interpretation, 1 Cor 15.1-3 The Christ-event and Scripture: meaning intertwined; neither is selfinterpreting; both are illuminated by reference to each other The annunciation and birth of the Messiah, 1.18-25 What does the structure or outline of this story resemble in the Scriptures? o Miraculous birth stories: annunciation, birth, and naming; cf. Sarah, Hannah How is it different? o The means of the birth is unique, signalling the superlative significance of the child How is the difference summed up in the Scriptural quotation (Isa 7.14) and its interpretation? Who are his people 1.21: Israel or the Church? The Magi visit Bethlehem, 2.1-12 What is the setting? Judea under the rule of King Herod What is the irony? Non-Jews anticipate the Jewish Messiah, but the Jews do not and are frightened, vv 1-3 proskune/ vv. 2, 8, 11, a double entendre: the ambiguity of the word allows the author to describe one thing on the level of the narrative (homage to a king), but to invite another thing in the readers response to the narrative (worship of Immanuel) What is the double emphasis of the Scriptural quotation (Mic 5.2; 2Sam 5.2)? o Place of birth: Davids hometown (cf. 1 Sam 16.1-13) o Significance: Shepherd-ruler The flight to Egypt, 2.13-15 Back to Egypt: Abraham, Joseph, Israel (the 12 patriarchs) all went down to Egypt Scriptural quotation (Hos 11.1; cf. Num 23.22; 24.8): is this a prophecy? Who is Gods son? In Matthew who is Gods son? The massacre of the infants, 2.16-18

Of what does this story remind you? (a wicked ruler, ref. to Egypt, massacre of infants) Scriptural quotation (Jer 31.15) refers to the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria (722/21 B.C.) and is itself a use of typology; cf. Gen 42.36 o Perhaps the idea being to signal that repeatedly the nation has suffered as a result of inadequate Shepherding The return, or Exodus, from Egypt to Nazareth, 2.19-23 Herods successor, an improvement? A verbal echo of the story of Moses, 2.20-21, cf. Exod 4.19-20 Scriptural quotation? (Nope!) What is different about the citation formula? Plurality of prophets; maybe significant. Explanations: o branch = netzer/ ;cf. Isa 11.1; Zech 3.8; 6.12 making a play on words between Nazrarean and Netzer (Davids promised descendent was called the netzer, branch) o Play on words between Nazerite and Nazarean? cf. Num 6.1-21. Problem: Jesus was not a Nazerite and what would this have to do with prophecy? o Nazarean slang for an individual from some remote place, thus fulfilling texts like Isa 52-53 Summing up: The world to which Matthew invites us Kinds of Scriptural use? o Explicit quotation o Verbal echo o Type-scenes, typological fulfillment: correspondence between two different events signals that they need to be interpreted in light of each other What is implied about the nature of Scripture? o Like creation itself, it is the product of Gods Spirit o Like creation itself, therefore, it has design and order which reveal something about the nature of God o Scripture is thus revelatory not only in its propositional statements but in the patterns and connections which structure its story/stories What is implied about the world? o Prophetic fulfillment of Scripture implies that there is a purpose, goal, or culmination to history; its not up to chance o Typological fulfillment of Scripture suggests that God can be seen to be at work in the events of history itself o In other words, God rules over the world and his reign will be consummated

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