Isaiah in Matthew’s Gospel
“This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of King David and of Abraham….”
(Matthew 1:1 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verse about the human ancestry of Jesus and about Isaiah 9:6-7
“Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was
still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly. As he considered this,
he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ’Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ’do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has
been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through
his prophet: ’Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us).’”
(Matthew 1:18-23 / NLT 1997 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about the birth of Jesus the savior of
humankind – the Immanuel who is “God is with us” – and about the roles played by Mary and Joseph in the birth of Jesus, and about Isaiah 7:14
“Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, ’He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: Prepare a pathway for the Lord’s
coming! Make a straight road for him!’”
(Matthew 3:3 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verse about John as the “voice in the wilderness” who preached about repentance and
forgiveness in order to prepare the coming of the messiah, and about Isaiah 40:3
“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
(Matthew 5:4 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verse about the blessing God gives to those who mourn and about Isaiah
61:2-3
“God blesses those who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for they will receive it in full.”
(Matthew 5:6 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verse about the blessing God gives to justice-seeking individuals and about Isaiah
55:1-2
“But I [Jesus] say, don’t make any vows! If you say, ’By heaven!’ it is a sacred vow because heaven is God’s throne.
And if you say, ’By the earth!’ it is a sacred vow because the earth is his footstool.”
(Matthew 5:34-35 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verses about Christ’s prohibition on swearing or making vows and about Isaiah
66:1
“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will
admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get.”
(Matthew 6:16 / NLT 1997) --- Bible verse about the consequence of “hypocrite” fasting which is public admiration that
is not a blessing from God, and about Isaiah 58:5
“That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. All the spirits fled when he commanded them to leave;
and he healed all the sick. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Isaiah, who said, ’He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.’”
(Matthew 8:16-17 / NLT 1997 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about the healing power of Jesus and
about Isaiah 53:4
“John the Baptist, who was now in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples
to ask Jesus, ’Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?’ Jesus told them, ’Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen –
the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the Good News is being preached to the poor.’”
(Matthew 11:2-5 / NLT 1997 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about the message Jesus sent to John in
response to his inquiry which was a confirmation that Jesus was the messiah, and about Isaiah 35:4-6 and Isaiah 61:1
“He [Jesus] left that area [synagogue], and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them, but he warned
them not to say who he was. This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him: ’Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, and I am very pleased with him. I will put my
Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout; he will not raise his voice in public. He will not crush those who are weak, or quench the smallest hope,
until he brings full justice with his final victory. And his name will be the hope of all the world.’”
(Matthew 12:15-21 / NLT 1997 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about Jesus as God’s chosen servant,
about the justice-seeking ministry of Christ – driven by kindness and strength of character – which is the “hope of all the world,” and about Isaiah 42:1-4
“His disciples came and asked him [Jesus], ’Why do you always tell stories when you talk to the people?’ Then he
explained to them, ’You have been permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others have not. To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given…But to
those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them…This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: {You will hear my words, but you will not understand; you will
see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes – so their eyes cannot see, and
their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.}’”
(Matthew 13:10-15 / NLT 1997 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about the granting of gifts, spiritual
or otherwise, as coming from God, about the cold reception given by hard-hearted people to the teachings of Jesus and the consequences of non-utilization of these gifts and about Isaiah
6:9-10
“Some Pharisees and teachers of religious laws…interview Jesus. ’Why do your disciples disobey our age-old
traditions?’ they demanded. ’They ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.’ Jesus replied, ’And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? For
instance, God says, {Honor your father and mother,} and {Anyone who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.} But you say, {You don’t need to honor your parents by caring for their
needs if you give the money to God instead.} And so, by your own tradition, you nullify the direct commandment of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he said, {These
people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings.}’”
(Matthew 15:1-9 / NLT 1997 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about hypocrites who give lip service
and offer fake worship to God, and about Isaiah 29:13
“[Jesus said]: ’Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.’”
(Matthew 15:13 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about what could be a metaphor about the true followers of God as
distinguished from the hypocrites or fake ones, and about Isaiah 60:21 and Isaiah 61:3
“[Jesus said]: ’…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be
your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
(Matthew 20:26-28 / NIV® 2011 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about Jesus’s concept of greatness as
one that is defined by service to the people which includes acts of heroism or martyrdom, and about Isaiah 53:10
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,
’Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs
them, and he will send them right away.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ’Say to Daughter Zion, {See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.}’”
(Matthew 21:1-5 / NIV® 2011 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about Jesus as the gentle messianic
king without the horse, sword and shining armor, and about Isaiah 62:11
“The crowds that went ahead of him [Jesus] and those that followed shouted, ’Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ’Who is this?’ The crowds answered, ’This is Jesus, the
prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’ Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those
selling doves. ’It is written,’ he said to them, ’My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’”
(Matthew 21:9-13 / NIV® 2011 / Underscoring Supplied) --- Bible verses about the triumphant entry of Jesus to
Jerusalem, about Jesus’s concept of God’s place of worship as a house of prayer, and about Isaiah 56:7
“The blind and the lame came to him [Jesus] at the temple, and he healed them.”
(Matthew 21:14 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about the power of Christ to heal physical disabilities and about Isaiah
35:5-6
