In the earliest parts of Matthew’s Gospel, its writer refers several times to the way in which the coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets. Key events in the Christmas story are shown to bring to fulfilment what was spoken by Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and Jeremiah. In most of these cases, it not easy to understand what the writer of Matthew’s gospel means and it can appear that he has taken these Old Testament references out of context. Careful attention to their context, however, reveals that this is far from the case. Their role is to illuminate truths about Jesus that we otherwise might miss. During this series, we will look at each of these passages and seek to understand the way in which the coming of Jesus Christ brought the whole of the Old Testament story to its surprising climax and fulfilment.
