The most important event in human history was God coming to earth in the flesh in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The pivotal moment was the death of Jesus on the cross because at that exact moment the sin debt was paid for all men, past, present and future. Jesus died a horrible death on the cross, in our place, so that we might live for eternity in heaven instead of forever in the lake of fire in never ending pain and agony, which is where we were all headed because of our sin. All God asks in return for this precious gift of salvation is that we believe he exists and that we accept his Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That’s it! In his love, mercy and grace God is giving us everything; the greatest thing; eternal life in heaven with him simply for believing in him and having faith in Jesus. God is making this so easy for us it’s hard to believe but it’s the truth.
God wouldn’t allow so momentous an event to occur in his creation without making a public announcement to the world and he hasn’t. In the Old Testament God spoke to his people through the prophets so that’s where we find God’s announcement of his coming and the reason for it. The book of Isaiah, chapter 42 in its entirety, contains the words of God himself as he announces he’ll come to earth in person and what he’ll accomplish while he’s here.
Any study of the life, ministry and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should start with a reading of Isiah chapter 42. That’ll get your mind focused on God and his mission as you start to read each gospel. In like manner, any study of Jesus’ life would be incomplete without reading all of Isaiah chapter 53 where God describes in great detail the suffering he will endure on our behalf. After you read each gospel read Isaiah chapter 53. Let it sink in exactly what Jesus went through for us and the pain and anguish it must have caused God the Father. I can’t read Isaiah chapter 53 without shedding a tear and praising God for his mercy.
In his gospel Matthew links the old and new testaments together. Matthew weaves Old Testament prophecy with New Testament fulfillment in such a way that both testaments mesh into one seamless Word of God with the same consistent message of God’s love for us even through there’s a 450 year gap between the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and Matthew, the second book written in the New Testament. When Matthew links Old Testament prophecy to his gospel he only references a few lines of that prophecy but his intent was for the reader to go back and read entire text of the Old Testament prophecy for greater understanding. Matthew was a Jew writing his gospel for a Jewish audience who would have been very familiar with the book of Isaiah. For us Gentiles who read the gospel of Matthew it’s critical we go back and read the entire text of any Old Testament scripture the author mentions if we really want to understand this gospel.
For example, in Matthew 12:18-21, the author repeats the first four verses of Isaiah chapter 42 but there are 21 more verses in that chapter that we should also go back and read because God adds so much more information that he wants us to understand. The same thing happens in Matthew 8:17, where the author paraphrases Isaiah chapter 53 and the suffering of Christ. In the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 it’s God himself who describes in much greater detail the suffering Jesus will endure for us. If we don’t go back and read the entire original text of Isaiah chapter 53 we don’t get a sense of the true suffering that Christ went through that we might have eternal life.
If reading Isaiah chapters 42 and 53 doesn’t bring tears to your eyes and make you love Jesus even more then I don’t know what else I can say. Whenever there’s an Old Testament reference in any of the gospels always stop right there and take the time to go back and read it; in addition to the the surrounding verses for better understanding. This is especially important with the gospel of Matthew since it contains so many references to the Old Testament. If you do this every time you read one of the four gospels it’ll greatly increase your understanding and enjoyment of the text. Before reading the Bible, and especially the gospels, it’s a good idea to pray to God for revelation through the Holy Spirit because God’s Word say we can have whatever we ask for in Jesus’ name. Don’t just take my word for it. Do it and find out for yourself that I speak the truth.