Old Testament Fulfillment in the Christmas Story

Why did Matthew use Old Testament verses in the Christmas story?

At some point around Christmas time, people sitting in a typical church service will hear the Christmas story read from the Gospel of Matthew. But a lot of people tend to gloss over the parts which mention the Old Testament. So much of it seems unfamiliar and foreign even to believers who have been attending church their whole lives. Why did Matthew include these Old Testament verses in the Christmas story?

On an episode of the Table Podcast, I sat down with three guests in the studio to talk about the Old Testament passages in the book of Matthew where we read about the birth of Jesus. My first guest was Dr. David Lowery. David Lowery teaches New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary. My second guest was Dr. Gordon Johnston, who teaches Old Testament at the seminary. And my third guest was my mentor, Dr. Darrell Bock, who is the Executive Director for Cultural Engagement and Senior Research Professor of New Testament at DTS.

I asked each one of them to help us understand five key passages in the book of Matthew that talk about the birth of Jesus and use little parts of the Old Testament. I told them I wanted to approach the conversation this way:

When it’s a Christmas service, there are people in the pew who are reading along, and the pastor is giving a message, and they read these passages, and it says, “Here’s what the prophet says in the Old Testament…” Sometimes people will think, “Where’s that come from? What prophet?” Or maybe they have a footnote in their Bible, and they say, “Okay, well, I’m gonna go there,” and they want to figure out, “How does this Old Testament verse relate to what Matthew is doing in telling the Christmas story?” I also wanted to help pastors think about the significance of these Old Testament passages as they work on their Christmas messages. It was a very interesting conversation!

Check out this special Christmas episode of the Table Podcast.

The Table Podcast

Watch This

In this episode, Mikel Del Rosario, Drs. David K. Lowery, Gordon H. Johnston, and Darrell L. Bock discuss the birth of Jesus, focusing on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in the Gospel of Matthew. Access the transcript here.