Was OT prophecy really fulfilled?

Matthew 8:14-17

Matthew continues to pile on evidence that Jesus is not just an ordinary rabbi but is the Messiah. He doesn't just teach with authourity, as evidenced in the Sermon on the Mount, but he also acts with authourity over the physical realm, as seen by his healing of diseases, and the spiritual realm, as seen by his casting out demons. I don't know if Matthew meant to emphasize the method of healing or not but it stands out to me: he heals the centurion's servant without even being physically present, he heals Peter's mother-in-law in such close proximity that he touches her and he casts out demons through the power of his word. I think that Matthew is reminding us that it is not a formula that has the power to heal but it is Jesus.
Matthew connects what Jesus does here to Isaiah 53:4, following his usual formula of "this was to fulfill what was written..." He uses this phrase a lot. Keeping in mind that Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah, this constant reference to the prophecies of the OT makes sense. However, as a Gentile living thousands of years later, I'm not sure that they would convince me. It seems like Matthew reads a lot into the text of the OT to make parallels between what it says and what Jesus does. In talking to Pastor Steve about this, he said something that made a lot of sense to me: Matthew and his audience would have been so familiar with the OT that they couldn't help but make comparisons between what Jesus did and what the OT said. The reality is that much of what Matthew says was fulfilled in Jesus was actually fulfilled soon after the prophecies were made (not 100% but a lot). In Bible College I was taught that this was because there were two fufillments of these prophecies: the more immediate fulfillment and then the actual, later fulfillment in Christ. This could be true but it raises the question: are the only prophecies to have double fulfillment the ones that are specifically mentioned in the NT? What is to prevent us from seeing double fulfillment in other OT prophecies?
Pastor Steve wonders if we don't understand how Matthew was using the world "fulfill". We take it to mean that Isaiah had Jesus and/or the Messiah in mind when he spoke these words. Maybe Matthew and his audience understood it as "this is just like what Isaiah talked about...". I need to do more study on that.
So, what do I learn from this? I am reminded that Jesus is King - not just of my heart and not just of the Church but of the whole world. He has authourity over all things physical and spiritual. What do I need to be afraid of? Nothing!

does Jesus retreat?

Matthew 4:12-17

There must be something really significant about the location that Jesus withdrew to because Matthew is really specific about the spot. The main reason is to show the direct correlation between the location that Jesus went to and the prophecy that Isaiah made - he uses almost the exact same language. Speaking completely humanistically, it seems like Matthew wanted his Jewish audience to make the connection between the location and the prophecy but then didn't trust them to make the connection so inserted the prophecy itself. This appeal to fulfilled prophecy is consistent with the rest of Matthew's writing - his purpose it to prove that Jesus is the prophecied Messiah and meets all the requirements of the prophecies.
I've commented on Jeff's blog that I sometimes feel, again speaking completely humanistically, that Matthew stretches the interpretation of the prophecies to match the circumstances of Jesus' life. I believe that Matthew was inspired by the Holy Spirit and that means that his interpretation of the prophecies must also be inspired. I guess my problem is that we have tried to use Matthew's method of seeing fulfilled prophecy to convince people that Jesus is the Christ. I think we must acknowledge that the times and audience to which we are speaking are different than the times and audience to which Matthew was originally writing. I also think that we must acknowledge that if I tried to interpret Scripture and prophecy in a college class that Matthew does here that I would fail the class. I think we must be honest and true about our methods in which we try to convince our audience of the truth of our claims. I think the Bible itself acknowledges that different methods are needed for different times and audiences (why we have four gospel accounts for instance). So, while the argument of fulfilled prophecy might have worked as an apologetic for the modern era, I think we have to look for other methods to defend the truth of our faith in the post-modern era.
It's interesting to me that Jesus, after retreating in light of the news of John the Baptist's arrest, comes back with the exact same message as John did: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near." I don't know why - perhaps it was to show the authourities that God's message to his people could not be hushed no matter what they might do to stop it. Any ideas?

testing prophecy

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Paul is bringing his letter to a close by firing off imperatives. The positive list is: rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in everything. The negative list is: do not put out the Spirit's fire, do not treat prophecies with contempt.
This continues Paul's teaching on living in a way that pleases God (from chapter 4). Perhaps I can read a little bit into the Thessalonian situation from what Paul says about the return of Christ: it is possible that they are facing some persecution since the teaching on the return of Christ was supposed to encourage them and build them up. If that's the case, then Paul would be imploring them to find joy and reasons for thankfulness in the midst of hardship.
The common thread in the positive imperatives is that they are to do be done always in all circumstances. This indicates that joy is more than happiness but is a fruit of the Spirit. There is a joy that no circumstance can diminish because in all circumstances we can know that God is in good, he is in control and he loves us very much. I learned a little bit about praying continually on my vacation: my cousins kept a Breakaway magazine in the bathroom and there was an article about practicing God's presence. It said that it would take a lot of work, practice and patience but one of the tips was to take the inner monologue that all of us have and learn to make it a conversation with Christ. This has been helpful to me in the last week or so and I am learning to pray continually.
I am convicted by Paul's command to not treat prophecies with contempt. Being raised in a very conservative branch of Christianity and still finding myself in a fairly conservative branch of Christianity, I am suspicious of prophecy and tend to dismiss much of it. However, Paul equates my contempt of prophecy with extinguishing the fire of the Spirit. This doesn't mean that I have to accept all prophecy as from God but I must respect it enough to test it: to discern what is good and hold on to it and determine what is not of God and reject it.