It is much more than the story of the Christ Child and His family being protected in the early years from the evil King Herod.
Learning How to Read
This is what might be termed a redemptive-historical hermeneutic, or method of interpretation. It is a way of looking back upon the history of redemption from the point of view of fulfillment. It is a way of looking upon the Bible as one continuous history of God’s salvation.
It is a way of looking at the Old Testament and seeing that: Jesus completes all the promises of salvation, those verbally stated and those more figurative; Jesus re-lives the history of God’s people in an obedience for them that they could not complete; Jesus represents both God and His people, and therefore is our source of salvation; and Jesus completes the whole pattern of the history of salvation. God’s ultimate purpose is the exaltation of His Eternal Son, Jesus Christ, in all things.
When the New Testament speaks of fulfillment we must understand what is meant by fulfillment in each passage. It is not usually a simple literal one-to-one correspondence, a matching game (although sometimes this is the point, or partly so), but it is a more robust understanding of Scriptural revelation within a redemptive-historical scheme or context.
In order to make the correct interpretations we need to learn from the Apostles of Jesus Christ, and their holy writings of Scripture.
What Matthew is Saying to the World
In other words, Matthew is not quoting Hosea as fulfilled just because of the appearance of the words “son” and “Egypt,” or because the phrase happens to match Jesus’ experience. This would be taking Hosea out of context, and therefore ultimately would be dishonest and unconvincing. Rather, Matthew understands this passage as part of the overall Messianic prophetic matrix of the Old Testament. Matthew is using it to show that Jesus is the Messiah.
In Hosea 11:1, the obvious reference is the Exodus and the beginning of the nation of Israel. They were called out as God’s holy nation, they were called by Him: “His son.” Yet they were a disobedient people, many of whom died in the desert. In contrast, Jesus Christ, the truer and truest Son of God, would become the truly obedient Son.
This is precisely Matthew’s point in quoting Hosea. Israel’s goal of salvation, patterned on the Exodus, has now been reached in Christ Jesus. This is how Hosea 11:1 is fulfilled. Jesus is declared the true Son and the true salvation. The Son who was led out has become the Son who leads out. Jesus is the Son of God who would be the Leader like Moses bringing salvation to His people in fullness.
In using passages like these, we should be able to present Jesus Christ to the world as the powerful Divine Savior, who emerges from the Scripture in rich and satisfying fulfillment.
Joining the People of God
Throughout his Gospel account, Matthew presents Jesus the Messiah as the One who brings a new clarity of definition of the true People of God. Who is the true Israel, the true People of God? It is not based upon ethnic identity with Moses and ancestral relationship to the historic Exodus. It is those who put their faith in Jesus the Messiah for obtaining the true redemption of the Exodus.
The Exodus has been fulfilled in its Messiah, its Christ. Jesus is the way of redemption. This Child Messiah under Divine Fatherly protection would lead us out from slavery to sin, and into the promised land of eternal life. He would rescue us from its guilt and power by His death upon the Cross. He would die in our place for our sins and lead us by His Resurrection into life in the glory of God.
Have you experienced the exodus from sin in Jesus Christ? Share your experience with others that they too might join in the freedom of the People of God.
(See related blog "The Slaughter Of Innocents In Fulfillment.")
Matthew 2:13–15 ESV “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.””The way Matthew interprets and uses Hosea 11:1 is crucial to understand. He illustrates the predominating approach of the New Testament authors in faithfully interpreting the Old Testament.
Learning How to Read
This is what might be termed a redemptive-historical hermeneutic, or method of interpretation. It is a way of looking back upon the history of redemption from the point of view of fulfillment. It is a way of looking upon the Bible as one continuous history of God’s salvation.
It is a way of looking at the Old Testament and seeing that: Jesus completes all the promises of salvation, those verbally stated and those more figurative; Jesus re-lives the history of God’s people in an obedience for them that they could not complete; Jesus represents both God and His people, and therefore is our source of salvation; and Jesus completes the whole pattern of the history of salvation. God’s ultimate purpose is the exaltation of His Eternal Son, Jesus Christ, in all things.
When the New Testament speaks of fulfillment we must understand what is meant by fulfillment in each passage. It is not usually a simple literal one-to-one correspondence, a matching game (although sometimes this is the point, or partly so), but it is a more robust understanding of Scriptural revelation within a redemptive-historical scheme or context.
In order to make the correct interpretations we need to learn from the Apostles of Jesus Christ, and their holy writings of Scripture.
What Matthew is Saying to the World
In other words, Matthew is not quoting Hosea as fulfilled just because of the appearance of the words “son” and “Egypt,” or because the phrase happens to match Jesus’ experience. This would be taking Hosea out of context, and therefore ultimately would be dishonest and unconvincing. Rather, Matthew understands this passage as part of the overall Messianic prophetic matrix of the Old Testament. Matthew is using it to show that Jesus is the Messiah.
In Hosea 11:1, the obvious reference is the Exodus and the beginning of the nation of Israel. They were called out as God’s holy nation, they were called by Him: “His son.” Yet they were a disobedient people, many of whom died in the desert. In contrast, Jesus Christ, the truer and truest Son of God, would become the truly obedient Son.
This is precisely Matthew’s point in quoting Hosea. Israel’s goal of salvation, patterned on the Exodus, has now been reached in Christ Jesus. This is how Hosea 11:1 is fulfilled. Jesus is declared the true Son and the true salvation. The Son who was led out has become the Son who leads out. Jesus is the Son of God who would be the Leader like Moses bringing salvation to His people in fullness.
In using passages like these, we should be able to present Jesus Christ to the world as the powerful Divine Savior, who emerges from the Scripture in rich and satisfying fulfillment.
Joining the People of God
Throughout his Gospel account, Matthew presents Jesus the Messiah as the One who brings a new clarity of definition of the true People of God. Who is the true Israel, the true People of God? It is not based upon ethnic identity with Moses and ancestral relationship to the historic Exodus. It is those who put their faith in Jesus the Messiah for obtaining the true redemption of the Exodus.
The Exodus has been fulfilled in its Messiah, its Christ. Jesus is the way of redemption. This Child Messiah under Divine Fatherly protection would lead us out from slavery to sin, and into the promised land of eternal life. He would rescue us from its guilt and power by His death upon the Cross. He would die in our place for our sins and lead us by His Resurrection into life in the glory of God.
Have you experienced the exodus from sin in Jesus Christ? Share your experience with others that they too might join in the freedom of the People of God.
(See related blog "The Slaughter Of Innocents In Fulfillment.")
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