The theme of fulfillment is prominent in Matthew’s gospel. In Jesus, the promises of God began to find their fulfillment though often in paradoxical and unexpected ways. Peter, for example, confirmed that the Nazarene was the “Messiah,” but he failed to understand that Jesus came to fulfill his royal role as the suffering “Servant of Yahweh,” the one sent to die for the sins of his people.
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The Unforeseen King
A theme threaded through the Gospel of Mark is the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel apart from his crucifixion, and even then, and most paradoxically of all, he is called the “Son of God” by the unlikeliest of persons, the Roman centurion in charge of his execution. And so, it remains ever since his death and resurrection. The Suffering Servant of Yahweh continues to confound human expectations.
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After predicting his death, two of Christ’s disciples began jockeying for positions of high status in his coming kingdom. Thinking according to the ways of this world and its concepts of political power, they did not yet comprehend what kind of Messiah Jesus was, and therefore, what it meant to be his disciple. But he would soon demonstrate graphically just how anyone achieves “greatness” in the kingdom of God.
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At his baptism, the “voice from heaven” called Jesus “my beloved Son,” identifying him as the Messiah and the “Servant of Yahweh” – Matthew 3:17.
A key theme in Matthew’s gospel is fulfillment. In Jesus, the promises from the Hebrew Bible find their fulfillment and their correct understanding. Peter, for example, declared Jesus the “Messiah” but he failed to understand that he must fulfill that role as the suffering “Servant of Yahweh,” the one destined to die on behalf of his people.
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