Comparing Jesus with Israel

Matthew clearly compared the journey of Jesus to that of Israel.

1. Herod killed the children of Bethlehem just like Pharoah killed many of the children of Irael.

2. The family of Jesus moved into and then departed from Egypt in fulfilment of the scripture "From Egypt I called my son." This was a quote from Hosea 11:1: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." Hosea spelled it out for us - God called Israel out of Egypt; yet Matthew used this verse to tell his readers that ultimately Jesus was the one called out of Egypt.

3. Baptism and Israel's crossing the Nile River were related to each other in 1 Cor 10:2 where Paul spoke of Israel: "They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." Jesus then was baptised by John the Baptist to fulfill his mission as the representative of Israel before God. Jesus like Israel, was baptised in the river.

4. After Moses led Israel throught their baptism, they went into the desert where they were faced with several temptations - in all of them they failed. Jesus faced the same temptations in the same desert, but did not fail.