3. El Emmanuel -- "God with us"

The Gospel according to Matthew is a well-organized anthology of apostolic preaching. The college of scribes, who lived in Antioch towards the eighties, responsible for this last redaction, organized very well the large amount of traditional material that they recovered.

According to the scheme of the Pentateuch, the five books of the law have been organized into five great discourses of Jesus which constitute the main framework, but between one discourse and another, there is a narrative part in which the evangelist has collected episodes from the life of Jesus with a didactic intent. Therefore, each block is made up of a narrative part and a discursive part. They are always with five blocks.

The first contains chapters 3 and 4, where the passage from the Baptist to Jesus is narrated, and the beginning of the ministry which culminates with the programmatic speech on the mountain. The first block finished by that key verse: "When Jesus had finished these talks." The second part begins a series of narrative miracle episodes in chapters 8 and 9 and then the great missionary discourse; the Church is entrusted with the task of continuing the work of Jesus and after the final verse: "When Jesus has finished giving these instructions" the third part begins, and so on. Therefore, five blocks, each of which consists of actions and words of Jesus.

But nevertheless, we still have to add the beginning and the end. In this way, we can say that the Gospel of Matthew is composed of seven large parts, a sign of totality, of fullness because the number 7 in the Jewish tradition is the number of the week, or days of a phase of the moon, marking the fullness. Seven parts: five central, one opening and one closing. The closure is represented, of course, by the story of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The opening, the first two chapters, contains the so--called 'Infancy narratives.' It is a theological introduction to the Gospel.

Matthew, in this case, worked with his own tradition, in fact, the content of the first two chapters of Matthew are exclusive of the first evangelist; they are not found in the other evangelists. As we know, Mark and John do not narrate the childhood of Jesus. Luke narrates it, but in another way, with other episodes. Only the names of the people and cities correspond.

The entire narrative scenario is their own, whether it be Luke's or Matthew's. It means that these stories were not part of the common tradition, but were the result of a particular theological reworking. The school of the scribes of Matthew has reworked, on the basis of the study of the Scriptures, a synthesis as a preamble to the Gospel.

They meant that, from the beginning, one could already see where it all would end. From the beginning, in the historical experience of Jesus, there were the signs of what would be the fulfillment of his work. That is why the infancy narrative in Matthew is structured around 5 biblical quotes. I insist on the number because it is not accidental.

First, they built a frame of reference with these five biblical references. The first taken from Isaiah (7:14): "The young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel.” Second quote from the prophet Micah: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” Third quote, from the prophet Hosea, beginning of chapter 11: "From Egypt I called my son." Fourth quote from the prophet of Jeremiah, book of consolation, chapter 31: In Ramah, a voice mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” The fifth quote, not literally, not by a particular prophet but by prophets in general: "He will be called Nazarene."

It is an expression that is not precisely found in any prophetic text but it is an allusion to a Hebrew concept probably, the נצר (netser), the sprout will be called Nazarene because it is the prophetic sprout from the root of 'Jesse', promised by different prophetic traditions. (The word Isaiah uses for 'sprout' is נצר (netser) an agricultural metaphor that, by Matthew’s day was understood as a reference to the coming Messiah.)

Therefore, the school of Matthew started from some biblical texts, from some prophetic images of messianic type. He has chosen 5, always as reference to the law, and around these five sentences he has built childhood episodes to show how the fulfillment of the Scriptures occurs in Jesus. The usual refrain is as follows: "This happened to fulfill what was said by the Lord through the prophet."

There is therefore a compliance underline. In the life of Jesus, the promise is fulfilled, mentioned by the prophets. In particular, when Hosea 11 is quoted: "Out of Egypt I called my son," an important idea is given to us. When the prophet refers to his son, he thinks of Israel; in the text of Matthew the son is Jesus. “Out of Egypt I called my son”: It is the Lord, God of Israel, who remembers the Exodus; it means: "I brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, who are like a son to me." In Matthew's application, alluding to the flight to Egypt and the return, the meaning of the text becomes: "God the Father brought back His Son Jesus from the condition of exodus in Egypt."

So, the relationship is between Israel and Jesus. This is an important principle of Matthew's theology: Jesus is the true Israel. The man Jesus is the fullness of the people; inserted among the people represents the true qualities of the people of Israel. He is the true Israel, he is the holy remnant, he is the Son of God in the full and strong sense. Jesus lives what Israel lived. Not only does Jesus keep promises made to Israel. Jesus is the faithful Israel; he is the one who responds to the Father as God pleases. It is the fulfillment of the covenant. In Jesus God's project is fulfilled. God keeps the promise because Jesus, the true Israel, being faithful. It is the perfect encounter that leads to fulfillment, to fruition.

The book of Matthew begins with a noteworthy expression. In English it is often translated as 'genealogy,' but in Greek there is a better word: "Book of genesis" ‘Βίβλος γενέσεως’ = Biblos geneseos. Precisely: "Genesis" as the title of the first book of the Bible. The editor deliberately begins his text with the expression "Book of Genesis." It seems to be the initial title: "Genesis of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham."

And, in fact, this book of Genesis is a synthesis of the Old Testament; genealogy in the sense that mention is made of the names of the ancestors of Jesus. And with a fairly common narrative scheme in the Old Testament, he summarizes 42 names, from Abraham to Joseph, reviewing two thousand years of Israel's history. From father to son, from generation to generation, his mercy remains faithful. He promised Abraham, he promised David, he promised the exiled people in Babylon, he brought them back. And in the fullness of time the promise was fulfilled.

The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ, which opens the gospel according to Matthew, is a synthesis of the biblical story made simply through the names of parents and children, of generations that manifest the power of God's blessing. In the middle of all the men's names there are four women's names. They are not randomized. Matthew omits the names of the great mothers of Israel: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, and in its place, appoints foreign people. He begins by naming Tamar, a Canaanite; then he names Rajab, the prostitute from Jericho, herself a Canaanite; then to Ruth, a holy but Moabite woman, foreigner, belonging to a hated people. Finally, the one who was Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, responsible for David's adultery.

Four foreign women characterized by an irregular or sinful situation. Why name these women in the genealogy? To show universal openness. Already in the genealogical roots of Jesus, there was openness. If in Jewish tradition belongingness to the people was given by the mother, by the woman, and if there were foreign women in Jesus' family, it means that the foreigners were somehow already at home in the Old Testament.

And the final opening of the gospel: ‘Make disciples of all peoples,’ is not a new and free invention, but it is the logical consequence of what was in the past, of what the root was, the ancient intention of God. Old things, new things, from the only heritage of this head of the family, they are precisely the promises that are fulfilled in Jesus. Furthermore, 'four' is a cosmic number: the four parts of the world; the four cardinal points. Four foreign women refer to the whole world, to all humanity.

But the ending names the fifth woman, Mary. After having repeated for 42 times the same literary cliché, now, at a certain point, he changes. Let's read towards the end of the genealogy: Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph—the logic should continue: Joseph begot Jesus, and so it would end normally, but it doesn't end like this—Joseph is presented as the husband of Mary. from which Jesus was born, called the Messiah. Nor does it say: Joseph husband of Mary, who begot Jesus, but rather emphasizes that from Mary Jesus was born.

In the cases of the other women, the formula was this: "Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.... Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab… Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.” So, the normal way should have been Joseph begot Jesus, from Mary. Instead, deliberately, after strong insistence on an identical formula, the narrator changes at the end: "Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.” The man Jesus recognized with the role of Messiah. All these generations are 14, plus 14, plus 14.

Why does it stand out? It is a particular style typical of Jewish culture, a little difficult for us to understand. 'Fourteen' is David's number, because in Hebrew, as well as in Greek and Latin, there were no signs of numbers, signs to indicate numbers, rather, the letters of the alphabet were used and are used as a number sign. Thus the א = ‘alef’, the first letter of the alphabet is equivalent to 1; and ב = 'beth' is the second letter and equals 2. In Hebrew, only the consonants are written; the letters of the alphabet are all consonants. David's name is made up of three consonants דָּוִד - DVD and in the Hebrew alphabet D equals 4, the V equals 6 and the other D again four. Adding 4 + 6 + 4 = 14. And in the common way of speaking of the scribes, 14 is David's number. The name David is equivalent to 14.

The evangelist Matthew elaborates this genealogy with three groups of 14. The son of David, the heir of the promises, the Messiah is a David, plus David, plus David. It is an underline of compliance, of fullness, they are 14 X 3. It is a fullness of the promise made to David and his descendants.

Also, the narration of the story of the birth of Jesus presents the problem of Joseph and the virginal conception of Jesus. Matthew narrates the night vision in a dream: an angel of the Lord tells Joseph not to be afraid and to trust Mary because what was born in her comes from the Holy Spirit; it is not the result of adultery, as one might logically imagine, but it is a creative intervention of the Spirit of God. Joseph trusts.

It is a revelation from God; this revelation explains him the meaning of what is happening; The angel gives him a commission and Joseph accepts it. He trusts, gets up and does as the angel indicates: he takes his wife Mary with him. "All this happened to fulfil...." Here begins the first major reference where the word Emmanuel appears. In the Isaiah passage the name Emmanuel is highlighted: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” Since it speaks to a Greek environment, the evangelist translates it into Greek.

Emmanuel is a symbolic name coined from Isaiah with a particular meaning. In fact, that child will not be called Emmanuel, he will be called Jesus, but Jesus is God-with-us. This is understood in the end. The last word of the Risen Christ, at the end of the Gospel of Matthew is precisely this: "I am (God's name) with you every day." Emmanuel, God with us, it is Jesus himself. He is God made man, truly present in his community which is the Church, every day until the end of time. Not that it is a forcing of the biblical text. Someone said the virginity of Mary, the virginal conception, was an invention to square the Scriptures. Impossible, because this verse from Isaiah was not read in the Jewish tradition as messianic, that is, in the Jewish community of that time, they did not expect the messiah to be born of a virgin; and therefore, there was no reason to say that Jesus was born of a virgin so that correct interpretations are accepted.

It was the extraordinary fact of the birth of Jesus that illuminated the biblical interpretation. It is the historical fact of the virginal conception that clarified the concept of Isaiah. Therefore, the Christian text rereads and interprets the ancient prophecy, making sense of it and showing the full compliance relationship. Jesus, true Israel, fulfills the promises to Abraham, David and their descendants.