Swindoll's Living Insights Commentary Matthew 1a - Flipbook - Page 39
Standing in Joseph’s Sandals | Matthew 1:18-25
The virgin of Isaiah 7:14 was first then a virgin of Isaiah’s time
who would marry, conceive, and bear a child. . . . When the predicted events came to pass in a few years the sign was proven
true. However, the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel prophecy is seen in the Messiah. In other words, the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy has a double f ulfillment—a near and a far accomplishment
of the prediction with the ultimate being the final fulfillment in
the care of the virgin Mary and the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.15
In the original (near) fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah’s day, the
woman gave birth to the son by natural means (Isa. 8:3‑4); the son was
then symbolically called “Immanuel” to remind the people that God was
with them (Isa. 8:8, 10). However, when Matthew read Isaiah 7 and 8
through the messianic lens of Isaiah 9 by the illumination of the Spirit,
he understood that in the ultimate (far) fulfillment, Isaiah 7:14 points
to a literal birth from a v
irgin—Mary—and refers to the literal “God with
us”—the incarnation of God the Son, Jesus Christ, the God-man.
Matthew’s original Jewish readers would have understood this kind
of explanation of Old Testament prophecy, and it would have resonated
with them. They would have been able to readily grasp the near/far implications of the prophecy of Isaiah 7 as they were unfolded in Isaiah 8
(near) and Isaiah 9 (far). And they would have expected an intensification of its fulfillment in its application to the Messiah. Throughout
the rest of Matthew’s Gospel, we’ll see similarly profound insights into
the ways Jesus fulfilled Old Testament p
rophecies—both directly and
indirectly, both clearly and veiled.
Fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14
ISAIAH 7–8
Preservation of
Davidic Throne
ISAIAH 7:14
ISAIAH 8:1-8
THE SIGN
ANNOUNCED
THE SIGN
ARRIVES
SIGNIFICANCE
ISAIAH 9
MATTHEW 1:23-25
Restoration of
Davidic Throne
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