Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 25:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: Tracing Matthew 1:21 Throughout The Gospel Of Matthew
Author: James Buchanan

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Tracing Matthew 1:21 Throughout The Gospel Of Matthew

James Buchanan

Key Words: Gospel of Matthew, Messiah, kingdom of God, church, promise

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Introduction

The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the Savior of the world. Jesus himself makes this clear in his final command to make disciples of all nations, not just those who are the physical descendants of Abraham (Matt 28:19–20). However, when Matthew records the first declaration that Jesus would be a Savior, the message is not as clear as it seems. The angel sent to Joseph gave the first hint that Jesus would be a Savior when he said, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (1:21).2 While this verse seems straightforward to 21^st century Christians, it can be difficult to understand how revolutionary this statement truly was for a first-century Jewish audience.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty interpreting Scripture is discovering the original context and authorial intent. It is far too easy to simply read current cultural and theological context into the Scriptures rather than discovering the author’s cultural and theological context. This consideration has tremendous

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implication for both our interpretation and application of the Word of God. When we do not spend the time rightly studying the Scriptures (2 Tim 2:15), it becomes far too easy to misapply Jesus’ work and teaching. This is especially true when studying the Gospels.

As such, this article seeks to interpret Matthew 1:21 in its original context and discover how this verse is fully developed throughout Matthew’s Gospel. This study will be addressed systematically, focusing on several important aspects along the way. First, a proper interpretation of Matthew will be presented. Second, the original recipients of this Gospel will be discovered, as well as the original intent of Matthew’s work. Third, the statement that Jesus “will save his people from their sins” will be separated into two distinct aspects: 1) Jesus as a Savior from sin; and 2) Identifying who his people are. Finally, all of these components will be synthesized to develop an expanded statement of the angel’s original message to Joseph.

Interpreting Matthew

Each Gospel is meant to be read on its own merit. Each human author was writing under the inspiratio...