This was to fulfill what was spoken…

In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (v. 17).

There might be a temptation to think that His fulfillment of the Law began with His public ministry.  Not so. His fulfillment began with His birth, and actually predated His advent.

In Matthew 2, three times it states that particular events in Christ’s first days on earth “were to fulfill what was written…”

Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt was to fulfill the statement, “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Hos 11:1; Num 24:8).

The death of the children in Bethlehem at the hands of Herod was to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15 (a prophecy that would also culminate in the provision of the new covenant, which Christ also inaugurated).

And Joseph and Mary’s decision to live in Nazareth after coming back from Egypt because of the presence of the evil ruler Archelaus in Bethlehem was a fulfillment of other prophets that He would be a Nazarene (v. 23).

Add to that the statement by the chief priests and scribes that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (vv. 5-6, a fulfillment of Micah 5:2), and in this one chapter alone, there are four demonstrations of Christ’s fulfillment of the Law.

Not only did Christ fulfill the Law, but God was sovereignly orchestrating each of these events to accomplish His purpose of providing a Messiah who would fulfill every letter and smallest marking of that Law (Mt. 5:18).

From birth to death, Christ fulfilled all that was spoken of Him in the Old Testament.  What a Savior has been given to us.