From the numerous fulfillment citations scattered throughout this Gospel,17 we may gather that Matthew views the past history of God and Israel primarily as an era of promise. Matthew knows, for example, that God dwelt with Israel in the Jerusalem temple (23:21), yet Matthew persists in regarding the presence of God among God’s people as an ancient promise that has only recently been fulfilled (1:22–23). The coming of Jesus marks the advent of “something greater than the temple” (12:6) such that