THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
The Servant: Mt 12,15-23
Behold my Servant: 12,15-23
In Matthew as in Mark, Jesus withdraws away from the plotting. Matthew however has changed Mark's "healed many" (Mk 3,9) to "healed all", 12,.
It is therefore in the setting of Jesus' healing that he is the fulfilment of the passage fom Isaiah. This is more than just fulfilling the words of the prophet.
In quoting from the servant song of Isaiah 42,1-4, the word Matthew uses for "servant" also means "son". (There is another word for "servant" which also means "slave").
Here there are echoes of the voice from heaven at the baptism (3,7) and the transfiguration (17,5).
The role of the Spirit will invoked later in Jesus' response to the Pharisees (12,28).
Jesus may during his ministry have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. However the plotting of the Pharisees (12,14) anticipates his rejection and the Servant song anticipates the opening to the Gentiles, to all nations (25,32; 28,19).
The healing of a deaf and mute demoniac now follows in verse 21, a doublet with the earlier healing in 9,32-34, though here he is blind as well. As in 9,32 so here, the man himself plays no part in his healing.
Jesus cures the man. Unlike the cure in chapter 9, this cure is a healing, not an exorcism. This points back to the healings of verse 15; this is another reason for linking this healing with the quotation.
Above all though, it is in the context of healing that Matthew uses the title Son of David. As I've noted, "servant" in verse 18 also means "son". Jesus is proclaimed Son of David at the very beginning of the Gospel, 1,1. After that, this title is associated with healings, the blind men in 9,22 (just before the demoniac) and 20,30 or 15,22.
Jesus as Son of David therefore fulfills the servant quotation from Isaiah.
This interlude, 12,15-23, within a series of controversies with the Pharisees about Jesus' healing activities, highlights Jesus' true role as a healer. It provides background and sets the scene for what now follows.
Now return again to the main page.