Ver. 21.-A mission revealed in a twofold Name. The fact confronts ue, and sets -us upon earnest inquiry, that one name was prophesied for Messiah, and another name W!I.S gi1ccn to him when he came. He was to be called "Immanuel," and he was called "Jesus." Now, are we to understand that these are two names, and that Messiah is to he known as "Immanuel-Jesus" l' or are we to see in the name Jesus a full and sufficient embodiment of the idea contained in the name" Immanuel"? Jewish names, and especially prophetic names, cany definite and precise meanings; they embody facts or suggest missions. L THE MESSIAJITC NAMES TREATED AB TWO. 1. Take the prophetic name "Immanuel.," or "Emmanuel." The secondary reference of the prophecy in Isaiah is to the Messiah ; the first reference is to some one who should deliver the nation from its immediate troubles (see Commentary on Isa. vii. 14). The name carried the assurance "God is with ns." But that assurance involved more than the fact of Divine presence. If God is near, he is near to help. If God manifests himself, he manifests himself to deliver and to save. Christ, then, is "God with us," sensibly present, manifest in the flesh. With us he is active to help and save. 2. Take the angel-given name" Jesus." This is a common Jewish name. It is the Greek form of the famiiiar "Joshua;" but it has a significance and a history. It is really Eoshea, or Hoshua, "the Helper," with the name of God added as a. prefix, Je-hoshua, shortened to Joshua. So it means in full, " God our Helper." But, in the dream, a very full translation of the name was given. It was said to declare Messiah's mission to be "saving the people from their sins," and "from their sins'' is designedly set in contrast with "from their troubles," so that the moral and tpiritual character of the mission should be made quite plain. II. THE MESSIANIC NAMES TREATED AB ONE. Take the simple meaning of "Jesus," Je-hoshua; it is •• God with us helping." But that is precisely the thought embodied in "Emmanuel," wl..iich is "God with us," and the connection declares that God is thought c,f as with us to help us. Then the same mission is declared in both names. It is the fact tliat our supreme need arises out of our ,ins that decides the sphere of the Dinne helping.-R. 'f. Ver. 22.-Scripturefulj'ument,. It is plain that the Jews used their Old Testament Scriptures in ways that do not commend themselves to us. 'l'o-day rabbis can find referen~s and proofs in passages which, to our more orderly and logical minds, seem to have no tearing on the subject. 'l'l,ey have always been readily carried away by Eimilarity in the sound of passages. Strict criticism cannot approve of their quota- tions or recognize their intelligent connections. We are to _remember th_at one supremo idea possessed tLe mind of the Jew. He looked for Messiah; everything was full of Messiah; everything pointed to Messiah. The Jews were ready to find references to Messiah cverywl..iere. So when they believed Messiah had come, they naturally turnerl tc, the old ficripture, and matched the facts of his life with all the Messianic referenceo. \Ve arc morC; critical than tLey; we !,ave a keener historical sense; and so we have learned to rega!·d the Mccsiauic allusions as secondary references, the prophecies bear- cm. 11. 1-23.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHE'.V. 29
ing 11, first relation to the times in which thoy were uttered. St. Matthew is presentin,,. Jesus ns the Messinh promised to the Jews; 11,nd he brings into special prominence" through the whole of his nam1tive, that harmony between t.he events and th~ prophecies by which Jesus is marked out as the "Christ." The formula "that it might be fulfilled" is 1.ke a refrain repeated in every page of the book. In the two first chapters we find five detached incidents of the childhood of Jesus connected with five prophetic sayings. '"l'liis Gospel is the demonstration of the rights of so,·ereignty of Jesus over Israel as their Messiah." Tile importance of Scripture fulfilments may be shown by illustrating the two following points. r. AN INDEPENDENT REVELATION JS INCOXCEIVABLE. If God fa pl!-as~d to work by revelations, we may be quite sure that those revelations are related; and we expect them to be given in an ascending scale; the roots of all later revelations arc sure to be found in the earlier ones. An independent revdation is at once stamped with suspicion. If its connections cannot be shown, its trustworthiness may be denied. True revelations had been given to the Jews. New revelations must confirm their truth, and be their unfolding. Conceive what would have been said if Jesus had appeared making independent claim 88 Messiah, hee<lless of all connect1011 between 1.tis revelation and prece<ling ones. Without hesitation we say that, in such a case, hie claim could not have been justified. "'The Scripture must be fulfilled." II. AN ANTAGONISTIC REVELATION MUST BE REJECTED. It would have been the all-sufficing answer for the Pharisees, if only they could have given it--..',cripture is opposed to the claims of this Jesus of Nazareth. But they never dared attempt to prove antagonism between his revelation and the previous one. Disciples and apostles, and even our Lord himself in his teachings, fully combat the idea of antagonism. He- came "not to destroy the Law and the prophets, but to fulfil." He was able," begin- ning at Moses nnd all the prophets," to expound "in all the Scripture the things. concerning himself." "'To him give all the prophets witncss."-R. T.