Matthew’s Fulfillment Statements
The Book of Matthew is well known for its unique emphasis on how Jesus fulfills prophecies and statements in the Old Testament. There are 15 specific fulfillment passages within Matthew. Each of these are associated with a statement like, “that it might be fulfilled” or a direct quote tied to Jesus actions.
Who is Matthew?
Matthew, also known as Levi, was a former tax collector whom Jesus called to be one of His twelve apostles (Mt 9:9, Mk 2:14, Lk 5:27-28). His background in record‑keeping and detail‑oriented work shaped him into a careful, structured writer. Early Christian testimony consistently identifies him as the author of the Gospel that bears his name. None of the gospels are autographed in a way that shows authorship, but the internal evidence supports a Jewish disciple deeply immersed in the Scriptures. Matthew’s extensive use of fulfillment passages show that he was thoroughly rooted in the Old Testament and intent on demonstrating that Jesus is the long‑promised Messiah. His Gospel is written for a Jewish audience, and the fulfillment passages function as a persuasive argument from the Hebrew Scriptures to reveal the truth of Jesus Messiahship.
An additional note about the word fulfilled and its intention should be made when considering these statements. Fulfilled often should be interpreted as ‘to give greater meaning to’ or ‘to fill with meaning’. A strict execution of a former prophecy is not always the proper understanding. While some of the statements are a clear execution of a former prophetic statement many show how the holy spirit has given fuller meaning and understanding as Matthew points back to the Old Testament showing how Jesus is the fulfillment or full intention of the Old Testament. Let's Examine 15 of Matthew Fulfillment Statements looking at their meaning and contect in both Matthew and the Old Testament.
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1. Virgin Birth
Matthew 1:22–23:
“Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,’ which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us.’”
Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy of Jesus that emphasizes his connection to Abraham and David. He then goes right into the details of Jesus birth. Mary was not pregnant by normal means. She was a virgin and her conception was a miracle from God. Matthew explains this is a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. “
In Isaiah, this promise comes when the king of Aram and Israel are united against Judah. Ahaz the King of Judah along with the people, are terrified by the invading armies. Isaiah brings a message to Ahaz to not fear the kings but to trust in God. He then tells Ahaz to ask God for a sign to confirm the truth of the message but Ahaz refuses. Despite his refusal Isaiah gives a sign that a virgin will have a son named Immanuel and that before this child is old enough to know good from evil the two threatening kings will be destroyed.
This prophecy demonstrates a common theme seen throughout much of prophecy. It is fulfilled for the audience originally hearing it and then again to a greater extent in future generations. The word for Virgin in Isaiah 7:14 is almah and refers to a young woman that is of marriageable age. It is never used to refer to a married woman but rather a young woman. Although virginity is not explicit in the Hebrew, Almah, conveyed an assumption of sexual chastity. The woman’s virginity it assumed although not explicitly tied to the word’s meaning. It is likely Isaiah refers to a person known to Ahaz and possibly it is his own wife. However, it is never made clear, and no one knows really who the almah was. Despite this unknown detail the action of the prophecy was fulfilled. The two attacking kings were both defeated shortly after this prophecy. 2 Kings 15:29-16:9 tell us the details. Rezin king of Aram was defeated and killed by Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria and Pekah was assassinate by Hoshea one of his own military officers. God fulfilled the action of the prophecy to Ahaz within a short period of time.
The significance of the name would have been evident to Ahaz; Immanual: “God with us.” The name demonstrated God had not abandoned Judah and would act on their behalf. God would fight for them. The name was significant because it revealed a truth about God. In this case the name Immanuel revealed that God was with his people. Isaiah 8 verse 8 and 10 repeat the name. In these verses the name refers to God and indicates that God will defend his people. He will act and come alongside his people as their defense.
Matthew takes this child motif and shows its ultimate depth in Jesus’ miraculous conception and birth. Matthew recognizes the story of Mary and the amazing similarities to Isaiah’s prophecy. Mary was a virgin and yet miraculous with child. Matthew used the Greek word Parthenos to indicate virginity. Parthenos clearly indicated virginity to his audience. Mary was a virgin to a greater extent than the almah referred to in Isaiah 7:14. Likewise her child will provide a greater rescue than the one performed for Ahaz. Matthew recognizes Jesus as the child born to a virgin who is not just a symbol of God’s presence but the literal embodiment of “God with us.” The fulfillment citation reveals Matthew’s conviction that the story of Ahaz, fear, and fragile trust in God finds its true resolution in the coming of Christ, who secures God’s faithful presence forever. The miracle of Mary’s virgin conception resonated with Matthew revealing that this special birth was also the long awaited Messiah predicted throughout the message of Isaiah and the Old Testament.
2. Birthplace Prophecy
Matthew 2:5-6:
“They said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet, ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come a governor who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’’”
Here Matthew Quotes Micah 5:2. In Micah’s context, Judah faces looming judgment from Assyria, and yet God promises a future ruler from David’s hometown, Bethlehem, who will shepherd His people and bring peace. Chapter 4 and 5 of Micah set this context clearly. The prophecy holds together judgment and hope: God will discipline His people, but He will also raise a shepherd‑king whose origins reach back into eternity.
Matthew places this text on the lips of the chief priests and scribes when Herod asks where the Messiah will be born. The religious experts know the text but did not go to worship. Ironically it is the foreign magi who do. Matthew and the chief priests both confirm that Bethlehem was the expected birthplace of the promised Davidic King. He is the one who rises precisely out of a place that seems small and insignificant to become the greatest ruler whose kingdom will have no end. It underscores Matthew’s theme that God’s kingdom arrives quietly yet fulfills the deepest royal hopes of Israel’s Scriptures.
3. Shepherd King
Additionally, in these same verses comes a separate fulfilment. Matthew calls Jesus the long‑awaited Davidic ruler (governor) and true shepherd of Israel. Micah 5:4 presents the shepherd king who will rule Israel. This concept of a shepherd king has deep Old Testament roots far before the time of Micah. To see this more fully look first at Genesis 49:24.
In Genesis 49 Jacob is giving blessings that are prophetic to each of his 12 children. To Joseph he says: “But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.” This is the beginning of a theme that shepherding is not just for sheep. God himself is called the shepherd many times through scripture along with the rulers of Israel. God intends his rulers to shepherd His people.
A few hundred years after Jacob made this prophecy to Joseph, a shepherd ruler did arise: David. David became to the nation of Israel the most memorable of all the kings. He was the shepherd who became a king and was a greater leader of Israel. In his day no doubt he ruled with the shepherding strength represented in Genesis 49. One should note that David was from the tribe of Judah not from Joseph but maintained the shepherding qualities predicted in Gensis 49.
Second Samuel 5:2 reveals that David would Shepherd His people and be a ruler over Israel. 2 Samuel 7: 8-17 reveals a promise made to David that his house and kingdom will endure forever and his throne will be established forever. This Davidic kingship with the associated shepherding motif is not fulfilled in David but is looked forward to by David. After David’s reign the people of Israel and Judah continued to look for God’s appointed shepherd king. At this point kingship had become deeply synonymous with shepherding
Israel’s rulers were supposed to be shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-4; Ezekial 34). They failed over and again and so prophetically, just like in Micah, it was predicted that God would shepherd his people. Ezekial 34:11-16 describes God as the Shepherd who will lead his people. Then in 34:23 it is David who is the shepherd. This reveals the continued expectation that God was still planning to send a future shepherd king. The strong representation of David as a shepherd accompanied by the prediction of a coming Davidic king built the expectation of the Jewish Messiah. This Messiah shepherd is longed for throughout the Old Testament and never satisfied in any historical figure until Jesus’ birth. This prophetic longing is resolved in Jesus who is revealed by Matthew as the future Davidic king to shepherd his people. Matthew’ statement in 2:6 presents Jesus as the Shepherd king who will finally fulfill this long-awaited expectation of righteous and powerful king.
4. Flight to Egypt
Matthew 2:15:
“This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘out of Egypt I have called my Son’”
After the Magi came and Herod began to search for the messiah king from Bethlehem Joseph is visited in a dream by an angel telling Jospeh to quickly escape to Egypt. Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” Hosea 11 looks back to the exodus as a story of God’s tender love for Israel, His “son,” despite Israel’s continual unfaithfulness. In its original context, this is not a forward‑pointing prediction but a recollection: God rescued Israel from Egypt, yet Israel turned to idols. Matthew reads this historical statement typologically: Jesus, the true Son, recapitulates Israel’s story. When Joseph takes Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod and later returns after Herod’s death, Matthew says this happened “that it might be fulfilled… ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” Joseph’s escape from Herod has similarities to the exodus: deliverance from a murderous king, passage through danger, and the emergence of God’s Son to bring a new covenant. Matthrew writes his gospel and shows us how Jesus has brought about a new exodus. Hosea referred to Israel as the son but here in Matthew Jesus is called the son who has come to lead a new exodus for God’s people.
5. Slaughter of the Innocents
Matthew 2:17-18:
“Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”
Herod for fear of the Messiah King has ordered all male children under 2 years of age to be executed. This order was given to Bethlehem and its vicinity. Matthew quotes Jeremiah pointing out that this act fulfilled Jeremiah’s words
Jeremiah 31:15:
“Yahweh says: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
In Jeremiah, this verse is part of a larger chapter of restoration hope. Rachel, the ancestress of Israel, is poetically pictured weeping in Ramah as exiles are led away to Babylon. Yet immediately after, God promises that her children will return from the land of the enemy and that there is hope for their future (Jeremiah 31:16–17). Ramah was referred to frequently in the Old Testament and a location of political influence. In 1Kings 15 it was fortified and was a stronghold for Judah. Jeremiah 40 reveals it was the holding point for captives that were being sent to Babylon.
When Matthew connects this lament to Herod’s slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem, he is not saying Jeremiah “predicted” Herod by name, or that this slaughter was predicted in advance. Matthew is recognizing a pattern of fulfilled meaning. The pattern of grief and hope in Israel’s history reaches a new depth in Jesus’ infancy. Jeremiah laments the grief of the Babylon deportation and predicted a time of return and restoration from that captivity. Rachel’s tears are now shed again as the Messiah is threatened by a ruthless king. But as in Jeremiah, sorrow is not the end: God preserves the Child, and with Him, the future of His people. The fulfillment highlights the pattern of our suffering and God’s restoration. God’s consoling redemption is already at work in Christ.
6. Jesus Living in Nazareth
Matthew 2:23:
“And came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’.”
There is no single Old Testament verse that literally reads, “He shall be called a Nazarene,” which is why Matthew refers broadly to “the prophets.” Most interpreters see an echo of themes rather than a direct quotation. Some connect it to Isaiah’s “branch” (Hebrew nezer) from Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), others to the general pattern of the despised Servant and the lowly origins of God’s chosen one (e.g., Psalms and prophetic passages where the righteous suffer scorn). In historical terms, Nazareth was an obscure and somewhat despised village in Galilee (John 1:46), not a place of obvious messianic prestige. By saying that settling in Nazareth fulfills what the prophets spoke, Matthew frames Jesus’ humble identity and origin as part of the prophetic script. The Messiah would be the “branch” who grows from unlikely soil and the Servant who is despised and rejected. The significance is that even Jesus’ hometown participates in the pattern of God choosing what is low and despised to accomplish His purposes.
7. John The Baptist
Matthew 3:3:
“For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ‘The voice of one calling out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!”’”
Matthew’s use of Isaiah 40:3 in Matthew 3:3 pulls his readers back into one of the most hope‑saturated turning points in the Old Testament. Most scholars recognize the clear distinction of tone in beginning in Isaiah 40. Isiah begins what is referred to as the “Book of Comfort” in Chapter 40. Here Isaiah speaks to the exiled people who been punished with exile caused by their own covenant unfaithfulness. Jerusalem has suffered devastation, the temple lies in ruins, and the people feel abandoned. Into that despair, Isaiah announces a stunning reversal: God Himself is coming to rescue His people, and His arrival requires the preparation of a royal highway through the wilderness. The imagery of leveling valleys, straightening crooked paths, and smoothing rough terrain is not about civil engineering but about spiritual readiness. Repentance, humility, and renewed allegiance to the Lord is required for the coming restoration. In Isaiah’s original context, the “voice crying in the wilderness” is the herald announcing that God is returning to His people to restore them, forgive them, and lead them like a shepherd. Matthew seizes this backdrop to frame John the Baptist’s ministry as the long‑awaited fulfillment of that prophetic hope. John’s arrival in the wilderness with a message of repentance points back to the same God who promised to come in Isaiah 40 and signals the arrival in Jesus. John is not merely a prophet. He is the divinely appointed herald whose voice marks the dawn of Israel’s restoration. In this way, Matthew shows that the comfort, forgiveness, and new beginning promised in Isaiah’s exile‑context are breaking into history through the Messiah’s arrival.
8. Ministry Begins in Galilee
Matthew 4:14–16:
“This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.’”
Matthew’s fulfillment statement in 4:14–16 deliberately reaches back to Isaiah 9:1–2, a prophecy originally spoken into a moment of deep national humiliation. Zebulun and Naphtali were the first regions of Israel crushed by the Assyrian (2 Kings 15), becoming a place of humiliation and mixed Gentile influence: “Galilee of the nations.” Isaiah promised that the very places that first tasted judgment would one day be the first to see God’s restoring light. A reversal only God could orchestrate.
Isaiah 9: 1-2:
“But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.”
By launching His public ministry in Galilee, Jesus steps directly into this prophetic geography, transforming a region known for Gentile influence and spiritual obscurity into the center of messianic revelation. Matthew wants his readers to see that Jesus’ presence in Galilee is not accidental but the precise fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise: the Light has dawned exactly where the darkness was deepest giving fulfilled meaning to Isaiah 9:1-2. In this way, Matthew frames Jesus’ early ministry as the beginning of God’s long‑promised restoration.
9. Jesus heals the sick
Matthew 8:17:
“This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: ‘He Himself took our illnesses and carried away our diseases.’”
Matthew’s next fulfillment statement in 8:17 draws directly from Isaiah 53:4, placing Jesus’ healing ministry within the larger framework of the Suffering Servant who bears the burdens of God’s people. In Isaiah’s original context, the Servant carries the weight of Israel’s sin, sorrow, and covenant failure.
Isaiah 53:4:
“Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.”
In Isaiah 53 the Servant steps into their suffering not merely as a sympathetic figure but as a substitute who absorbs what they cannot bear. Matthew sees Jesus’ physical healings as the visible, present‑tense expression of that deeper mission. Every disease cured and every affliction lifted is a preview of the ultimate healing He will accomplish at the cross. By quoting Isaiah 53:4, Matthew shows that Jesus does not stand at a distance from human brokenness. The healing specific to Israel is beginning to be fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. The healings in Galilee are not random acts of compassion but signs that the Servant has arrived, the kingdom is breaking in, and the long‑promised restoration has begun. In this way, Matthew frames Jesus’ miracles as both compassionate interventions and prophetic fulfillments, revealing the Messiah who carries our deepest sicknesses all the way to His saving work on the cross.
10. Gentle Servant Ministry
Matthew 12:17–21:
“This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: ‘Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased; I will put My Spirit upon him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not Quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory, and in His name the gentiles will hope.’”
In Matthew 12 Jesus practice of traveling to teach and heal many people had led Him and his disciples to be scrutinized by the Pharisees. Two incidents on a particular Sabbath day escalate into a plot to destroy Jesus. The first was an incident of pulling heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath and the second was Jesus’ healing of a man in the synagogue on a sabbath day. Although their hostility was not public verse 15 shows Jesus was aware of their conspiracy. He chooses to withdraw from the conflict, choosing to retreat rather than continue to argue and defend his position. Matthew recognizes this behavior as fulfilling the description of Isaiah’s Servant in Isaiah 42.
Isaiah 42:1–4:
“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights— I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a smoking flax. He will faithfully bring justice. He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law.”
Isaiah 42 introduces the Servant as gentle yet mighty, bringing justice not by crushing force but by tender, Spirit‑filled faithfulness. Matthew quotes this passage after Jesus withdraws from conflict and heals many, warning them not to make Him known. Rather than seizing power through spectacle or violence, Jesus embodies quiet compassion. Matthew wants his readers to recognize that this low‑key, non‑political Messiah is exactly what Isaiah foretold. The significance is twofold: Jesus’ gentleness toward the “bruised reed” reveals God’s heart toward the weak, and His mission aims at global justice, reaching “the nations” and “the islands.” Fulfillment here deepens the portrait of Jesus as the Servant who is both humble and reaching out to a broader audience than the Jews. The Servant of Isaiah bring justice to all the nations extending the blessing of God to the gentiles and not only the Jews.
11. Hearing but not Understanding
Matthew 13:14–15:
“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
In Matthew Chapter 13 Jesus is teaching in Parables. His disciples come to him and ask why he speaks in parables and not teach plainly to everyone. Jesus explains to them and references Isaiah 6: 9-10:
“He said, ‘Go, and tell this people, “You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.” Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.’”
In Isaiah 6 the prophet has been called to bring a message to Israel. However, he is told the people will not listen but instead will expose and even intensify Israel’s hardness of heart, leading to judgment before eventual renewal. The text is not merely descriptive but demonstrates a truth related to God’s sovereignty. God gives people over to the blindness they have chosen. In Matthew 13, after the crowds respond ambiguously to Jesus’ parables, He explains that in them “is fulfilled” Isaiah’s prophecy: many hear but do not understand. Jesus’ teaching reveals a division between receptive and hardened hearts. Historically, Isaiah spoke to a rebellious Judah who rejected him and as a result faced captivity and exile. In both Isaiah and Jesus teaching we recognize the truth that God’s revelation can both save and harden. Matthew uses this to explain why not all Israel embraces Jesus, and to warn readers that encountering Christ’s words demands a response that either opens to healing or deepens blindness. The fulfillment described by Jesus is seen in the resemblance of the response of Israel to Jesus and its similarity to the response Isaiah experienced.
12. Teaching in Parables
Matthew 13:35:
“This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
Psalm 78:2:
“I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old.”
Matthrew 13 continues to recall Jesus’ teaching in parables. Previously in vs14-15 It was revealed that this is a fulfillment and deeper meaning of the message given to Isaiah in Chapter 6; that His people will hear but not understand. Now in verse 35 Matthew expounds even more on Jesus’ use of parables quoting Psalm 78. Psalm 78 is a long historical psalm in which Asaph recounts Israel’s repeated rebellion and God’s persistent faithfulness, using “parables” and “dark sayings” to interpret history. In its original setting, the psalmist is not predicting a future teacher but modeling how wisdom looks back over God’s acts to teach the next generation. Matthew cites this verse after noting that Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. By framing Jesus’ parables as fulfillment of Psalm 78, Matthew presents Jesus as the ultimate wise interpreter of history and God’s ways. Just as Asaph used stories to expose the heart condition of God’s people, Jesus’ parables reveal the mysteries of the kingdom and the true state of those who hear. Matthew identifies Jesus’ use of parables as a greater expression of the truth seen in Psalm 78: God is the revealer of truth.
13. Triumphal entry
Matthew 21:4-5:
“This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘say to the daughter of Zion, behold your king is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’”.
As Jesus approaches Jerusalem at the beginning of what Christians now call the Triumphal Entry, Matthew pauses the narrative to explain the unusual scene unfolding. Jesus sends two of his disciples to go into the village and collect a donkey and its colt. Jesus deliberately is setting a scene for his entry into Jerusalem. Jesus intentionally rides a donkey’s colt into the city. This entrance is not merely a spontaneous act but a deliberate, prophetic sign embedded within Israel’s Scriptures. Matthew weaves together language from Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9, two texts written to post‑exilic communities longing for restoration, stability, and the return of God’s saving presence.
Isaiah 62:11:
“Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, say to the daughter of Zion, ‘lo, your salvation comes; behold his reward is with Him, and his recompense before him’”
Zecheriah 9:9:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, o daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey”
Isaiah 62 addresses the “daughter of Zion” with a message of hope, announcing that salvation is coming and that God has not abandoned His people. Zechariah 9, set against the backdrop of political weakness and foreign domination, contrasts the violent kingdoms of the world with the surprising figure of a humble, righteous king who brings peace, not through military might but through gentleness. In Zecheriah he is symbolized by riding a donkey instead of a warhorse. This king comes on a donkey, signaling meekness and peace rather than conquest. Matthew interprets Jesus’ entry as the intentional embodiment of this prophetic vision. Jesus is the promised king, yet His kingship is marked by humility rather than conquest. Although Jesus ministry has been shrouded in parable and secrecy Jesus comes into Jerusalem with a clear presentation of his intention to present himself as the coming king.
The donkey becomes a theological symbol, revealing the nature of His reign as peaceful, restorative, and rooted in God’s long‑promised redemption. In Matthew’s eyes, Jesus’ actions unveil the true Messiah whose kingdom arrives quietly and compassionately, fulfilling Scripture even as the crowds misunderstand the kind of deliverance
Matthew’s fulfillment citation makes Jesus’ symbolic action unmistakably royal and messianic. He is the King who brings salvation through humility, not political revolt.
14. Jesus’ arrest
Matthew 26:54-56:
“How then will the scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
This fulfillment statement in Matthew is unique from others. It is spoken by Jesus himself and not a notation by Matthew. Jesus’ use of the word fulfill is why it is included in this article and listed as a fulfillment statement. This list does not contain every instance of OT reference but intends to show most instances of fulfillment in Matthew’s gospel specifically recognizing the repeated usage of the word fulfil. Jesus is responding to Peter’s attempt to defend Him with a sword, reminding him that His arrest is not a tragic interruption, but the necessary outworking of God’s redemptive plan revealed in Scripture. In Matthew 26:54–55, Jesus insists that His arrest must unfold exactly as it does because “the Scriptures” foretold it. Jesus is arrest involved him being seized by a crowd armed with swords and clubs, treated as though He were a violent criminal, and willingly submitting without resistance.
This corresponds to the prophetic pattern of the suffering Messiah. Texts such as Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Zechariah 12–13 anticipate a righteous servant who is surrounded by enemies, unjustly accused, and handed over to suffering according to God’s redemptive plan. Jesus’ refusal to call on angelic deliverance underscores that the arrest is not a tragic accident but a necessary step in fulfilling the divine script. Matthew presents Jesus as consciously aligning Himself with these prophecies: the Messiah must be betrayed, seized, and delivered into the hands of sinners, and therefore the manner of His arrest is itself a fulfillment of Scripture. Jesus’ point is that if He resisted arrest or called on angelic deliverance, the prophetic storyline of a suffering Messiah would be broken. His submission is therefore not weakness, but obedience laid out in the Scriptures.
15. Judas’ Betrayal Money
Matthew 27:9–10:
“Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ‘and they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one who whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me’”
Matthew 27:9–10 appears in the middle of Matthew’s passion narrative, immediately after Judas returns the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and then takes his own life. The priests, unwilling to put “blood money” into the temple treasury, use it to buy the potter’s field. Matthew pauses the narrative to say that this sequence of events fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jermiah. It has been observed that the wording most closely resembles Zechariah 11:12–13, and the themes strongly echo Jeremiah 19 and Jeremiah 32. Let take a look first at Zecheriah.
Zechariah 11:12–13:
“I said to them, ‘if it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, nevermind!’ So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and thew them to the potter in the house of the Lord.”
Zechariah 11 describes the prophet acting out the role of a rejected shepherd. The people value him at thirty pieces of silver, the compensation for a slave; an insultingly low price. God then tells Zechariah to throw the money “to the potter” in the house of the Lord, symbolizing Israel’s rejection of God’s true shepherd. The details of the money being thrown into the temple and ending up with a potter matches Zechariah’s imagery with striking precision. Matthew clearly is pointing us to this passage in Zechariah revealing how Zechariah’s rejection is more fully portrayed in Jesus. Jesus is the rejected shepherd, considered cheap and worthless and sold. It should not be considered a mistake that Matthew attributes this to Jeremiah. Rather he is pointing to both prophets. Let’s look at Jeremiah to see what Matthew is indicating.
In Jeremiah 19, the prophet is told to go to the house of the potter, obtain a clay jar, and then shatter it in the Valley of Hinnom as a sign of coming judgment on Jerusalem for shedding innocent blood. The chapter is filled with themes of innocent blood, a potter, a field associated with judgment, and the renaming of a place as a memorial of disaster. Matthew sees the purchase of the potter’s field with “blood money” as a living symbol of Jeremiah’s message. Judas’ betrayal leads to the shedding of Jesus’ innocent blood. The field becomes a memorial to that act just as Jeremiah’s shattered vessel marked Israel’s guilt. This thematic connection explains why Matthew attributes the prophecy to Jeremiah, even though the wording comes from Zechariah. It’s also possible since Jeremiah was considered the first of the “latter prophets” in the Jewish ordering of the canon that Matthew’s reference to Jeremiah stands as a reference for the entire section of latter prophets. The thematic core of the prophecy comes from Jeremiah 19 while the exact wording clearly comes from Zechariah 11. Matthew is intentionally weaving together prophetic strands to show that every part of Judas’ betrayal and its aftermath was foretold and fulfilled in these events.
