There are at least ten direct references to Isaiah in Matthew’s gospel. By comparison, a glance at the footnotes in my NIV shows nine to Deuteronomy, four to Exodus, five to Leviticus, two to Genesis, and various references to Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, Hosea, Zechariah, Malachi and the Psalms. (Let me know if I’ve miscounted or left anyone out). It’s possible to exaggerate it, but the presence of Isaiah is even more widespread than the direct quotations suggest. I wonder if anyone else has pursued this? (If not – I got there first!).

We see echoes of Isaiah in the genealogy of Jesus as presented by Matthew. The names of Abraham and David son of Jesse in the first block of ancestors, though not directly or necessarily Isaianically inspired, reflect the interest shown in these figures by Isaiah. The second block, leading from Solomon to the exile, also reflects the central concern of exile in Isaiah – as it was also Israel’s concern in the first century, having shaped her eschatological expectations (and this not through Isaiah alone, of course). The final block leads from exile to Jesus, so that the co-ordinates of the genealogy can be presented as Abraham – David – Exile – Christ.

The birth of Jesus is unique in itself, but a particular Isaianic reference (Matthew 1:23) takes us also to the ‘birth’ passages surrounding Isaiah 7:14, which is located within the larger prophetic unit of Isaiah 7-11. I was simply going to refer to this section of Isaiah in passing, but became distracted by the debate over the sensus plenior and historical grammatical interpretations which the passage raises. I’m inclined to agree with those who argue for a simple, single meaning as ‘intended’ by the author in this and other prophetic passages, but the debate is refined by E.D.Hirsch, who asserts that while ‘meaning’ is simple and single, ‘significance’ can be multiple, according to future and different contexts. This raises larger issues about how Matthew in particular uses O.T. prophecy in relation to Jesus, but for now it simply needs to be mentioned that the entire section of Isaiah 7-11, in particular Isaiah 9:1-7 (the child born), Isaiah 10:20 ff and Isaiah 11 have resonance with the story which is being told in Matthew, and at this point in 1:18-25 in particular.

The visit of the Magi in Matthew 2 has echoes of Isaiah 60, and v. 2 in particular – “The gentiles will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising”.

From the point of view of the case I am sketching, it is fortunate that ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’- Matthew 2:15, is from Hosea, not Isaiah! However, the quotation does relate to the Isaianic vision of a new exodus, in which all that had failed in the first exodus is given fulfilment in the second exodus.

The Isaianic ‘new exodus’ motif is strikingly presented in Matthew 3, with John the Baptist calling Israel back to the desert and to her first love for God, and using Isaiah 40:3 for the purpose. The desert setting recalls the desert crossing of Israel with Moses, and re-enacts Israel’s need for a new entry to the land, clear of the sins which had accumulated since her first entry. The baptisms in the Jordan re-enact this entry as a second crossing of the Jordan into the land. Jesus himself consents to this baptism (Matthew 3:13-15) as a sign of his identification with the narrative which was being acted out. John presents his ministry as a precursor of the ministry of the Spirit to come (Matthew 3:11-12) and judgment - both of which are strongly associated with Isaiah’s eschatological vision. Jesus also picks up the eschatological prophetic mood as the Spirit descends on him as a dove, with associations of Isaiah 11:2 and Isaiah 42:1. The whole passage is an example not simply of quotations from Isaiah, but an entire dramatic backcloth being drawn from Isaiah as a perspective on Israel’s history at this point.

Matthew does not quote Isaiah 61:1-2a as the mandate for Jesus’s ministry, but echoes of it can clearly be heard in the beatitudes of Matthew 5. “Poor in spirit” – ptochos – is also the word used in the LXX Isaiah 61. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” - Matthew 5:4 echoes Isaiah 61:2b - “To comfort all who mourn”, where ‘comfort’ is the cognate LXX word, and the mourning is especially over incomplete return from exile, and continuation of exile in the conditions under which Israel was living in the first century. So Matthew 5, continuing into 7, can be read in the light of very clear echoes of Isaiah.

The healings which follow this Isaianic manifesto-launch in Matthew 8-10 lead to a recapitulation and summary in Matthew 11, where Jesus responds to the envoys from John the Baptist, asserting his credentials with the words: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and good news is preached to the poor.” – Matthew 11:5. While the final statement directly echoes Isaiah 61:1a, the other miracles recall Isaiah 35: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf be unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness etc.” – Isaiah 35:5-6. These miracles may have a figurative meaning, but the association with the actual miracles listed by Jesus in Matthew 11 and performed by him is too close to overlook.

The Isaianic miracles of Isaiah 35:5-6 are a new exodus counterpart to the first exodus miracles. Various parts of Isaiah recall the exodus – but in a fresh way. In the first exodus, the desert had to be passed through to reach the promised land. In the exodus described in Isaiah 35, clearly figuratively, the desert becomes an irrigated, fruitful place. A new highway is opened up across the desert (v.8), suggesting a lifestyle of holiness which was never achieved by the first desert pilgrims. The exodus imagery here points to a fulfilment which came about in Jesus. The redemption (v.9) was not through the the blood of a lamb daubed on the lintels of Israel’s homes in Egypt, but in a redemption whose characteristics were as with Jesus: a new entry, not to the land, but to Zion, with singing, everlasting joy, gladness and joy, “where sorrow and sighing will flee away” (v10).

This second exodus has also to be seen in the light of a return to the land not from Egypt, but from the place of exile in Babylon in the sixth century B.C. The language, however, goes beyond that of the return from Babylon. Some features of the prophecy can only be said to have been fulfilled with the phenomena acompanying the coming of Jesus, and figuratively, in the new era of the Spirit outpoured. This language of prophetic fulfilment is echoed in Isaiah 32, verses 15-20 especially, where the lynch-pin of the events is verse 15 – “Till the Spirit is poured out from in high”. It is echoed in Isaiah 43:16-28, where forgiveness of sins is a key feature. Isaiah 49:8-26 carries the same theme of return via a desert crossing, this time with the gentiles facilitating the return (v.22). Isaiah 51:10-16 carries the same theme as Isaiah 35.

This return from exile is a return to the land the like of which was not experienced in the physical return in the original exodus and entry, nor in the sixth century B.C. and the years leading up to the coming of Jesus. But in the ministry of Jesus, elements of the return as described in Isaiah seem to be realised. In this return, not only is the first exodus recalled, but David is proclaimed as one who was fulfilling Israel’s relationship with the surrounding nations: “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my unfailing covenant love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations that you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you.” – Isaiah 55:3b-5a. This kind of prophecy takes us beyond the immediate boundaries of Matthew’s gospel, but clearly the only place where it can be said to apply in history is through the continuation of the life and ministry of Jesus in the church, as described in Acts, with Gospels, Acts and Epistles naturally forming an organic unity, rather than being dissected, separate units.

What began as an attempt to set out in a single post a summary of an Isaianic template for Matthew’s gospel has only got as far as Matthew 11. This is a convenient place for a pause, as it draws attention to the early phase of Isaianic fulfilment in the coming of Jesus – in his primary antecedents, his birth, his mandate and manifesto, and the miracles which ensued as a fulfilment of Isaiah, pointing to an Isaianic second exodus which had significance as the occasion for a new covenant, an outpoured Spirit, forgiveness of sins, a relationship with David, and a modus operandi in which the nations became active supporters as well as beneficiaries of the fulfilment of Israel’s destiny.

In the next post, I will attempt to show how an Isaianic template is developed further in Matthew, especially in relationship to a ‘universal metanarrative’ in Isaiah and the gospel account.