St. Matthew, Jean Danielou

Night Office

Cardinal Jean Danielou, further inspiration of St. Matthew from previous Posts.

Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou, S.J., was a Jesuit theologian, historian, Cardinal

Wednesday, 25 September 2013  Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time

First Reading

Isaiah 7:1-17

Responsory              Is 7:13; 2 Srm 7:8.16

Listen, House of David: The Lord of his own accord will give you a sign: + The maiden is with child, and she shall give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.

V. Say to my servant David: Your family and your kingdom shall be established forever in my sight; your throne shall endure for all time.+ The maiden ...

Second Reading

From The Infancy Narratives by Jean Danielou
The Infancy Narratives, 47-52.

The Inspiration of
Saint Matthew (1602)

One of the most characteristic preoccupations of Matthew is to show the events of Jesus' life as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. That is what he is doing when he quotes the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 that a virgin will conceive and bear a son, after explaining: All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

Now if we look at the text from Isaiah, we find that the prophecy, addressed to a king descended from David, Ahaz, begins: Hear, then, 0 house of David, and its purpose is to foretell the birth of a descendant of David who will be a "sign." Therefore, the prophecy essentially supports the basic statement contained in the episode, namely that Jesus is of the house of David. Indeed, that is its prin inspirationfrocipal purpose. But furthermore, the prophecy contains one verse that links it extremely well with a major element in the story - the verse which says that the child to come will be the son of a woman whom the Hebrew text designates by a word that could mean "virgin," and which the Greek text deliberately translates so. That is why it is that verse that Matthew quotes. But he uses it as a reference to the prophecy as a whole. The text makes this quite clear in saying that it is all this, all the events in question, and therefore, first and foremost, the filiation to David, that took place to fulfil the prophecy. The connection between the almah, virgin theme and the virgin birth is only secondary. It does not base faith in the virgin birth on the fact that it is the fulfilment of a prophecy: on the contrary, it provides a Christian exegesis of the prophecy in the light of the virgin birth. This was something specially characteristic of the targumin of the Judeo-Christians, who, because of their legitimate certainty that Christ was the fulfilment of the Old Testament, felt it their right to project onto the Old Testament the affirmations of the New.

This has some very important consequences. Whereas all too many exegetes like to see the infancy narratives as myths presented in the guise of history, our analysis leads us to precisely the opposite conclusion. The essential things in our text are the historical statements, first among them the fact of Jesus' being adopted by Joseph despite the virgin birth. And it is these statements that are so rich in theological consequences, for they make it clear that Jesus is both Son of God and Son of David.

Responsory              Mt 1:20-23

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived through the Holy Spirit. + She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

V. All this happened to fulfill the words spoken by the Lord though the prophet: A virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel, which means God is with us. + She will bear ...