It's a bit of an ironic twist that, just after the passage emphasizes that God shows no favourites, the Bible points out that the resurrected Christ didn't appear to all upon rising but only to the few disciples who had been following him before crucifixion. It seems like either the author is trying to drive home the fact that the person who is the subject of these stories spreading like wildfire is the same person many encountered during his life, or the writer is still struggling with his own ego a little. Maybe it's his own way of trying to tell himself he's okay, even after denying the very Messiah they're now preaching about.
Fun fact: John the Baptist and Jesus are cousins. Imagine finding out your family of origin is in the prophet-and-Messiah business. No pressure!
The beginning of the Isaiah passage read's a lot like the ending of the Matthew text. This is likely another literary device to ensure, in case the audience hasn't gotten it by now, that they understand this is the person the prophet was talking about. Remember that fulfilment of prophecy is a really big deal to Matthew.
Another fun fact: this text in Matthew is the only place in the Bible where all three persons of God are present at the same time.
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