Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2 -- John Karmelich
1.
One of the great
questions people struggle with is, “Why does God allow so much evil to exist?
a)
History records one of
the most evil people ever to exists in this chapter.
b)
This chapter that takes
place during the one to two years of Jesus’ life.
c)
We read of King Herod
killing every baby and child under the age of two in one specific town
(Bethlehem) in order to kill the baby Jesus.
i)
A question to ponder is,
“Why would God allow this to happen?”
ii)
Or even the question,
“Why would the Roman soldiers obey such an order?”
iii)
For those of us who know
this story, I want you to think about the story from the standpoint of good and
evil, and why God allows evil to exist.
a)
That may be well and
good for you and me, but what about from the parents of those who had their
babies killed?
b)
How could God allow
something like that?
(1)
In this chapter, God
told Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt to avoid this persecution. Why didn’t he tell all the parents to
flee? Doesn’t God love everybody? Why would he be so cruel?
d)
Well I just dug myself
into a deep theological hole, and now I have to climb out! J
i)
For starters, one has to
have the eternal perspective.
ii)
I am positive, those
children are in heaven. The bible
teaches that all children who die innocently because of someone else’s sin get
to go to heaven. The example is a son
of David. A son of his died as punishment for his affair with Bathsheba. Yet David declared that he would see his son
again in heaven. (Ref: 2nd Sam. 12:23)
iii)
God wants everyone
to come to Jesus.
a)
That means making the
evidence as strong as humanly possible that Jesus is the coming messiah.
b)
There is an Old
Testament prediction that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. We’ll talk more about this later.
c)
Despite the horror of
the event, it gives further support for Jesus being the coming Messiah. We’ll talk more about this later in the
chapter.
e)
My whole purpose of this
introduction is for us to think about how this event applies to our lives.
i)
Horrible things happen
to people. Many, if not most of which,
I cannot explain.
ii)
Sometimes it can be
attributed to pure evil. Satan’s plan
can be summarized as opposing God’s redemptive plan. First he tried killing Jesus before he born. Today Satan works on trying to stop the
spread of Christianity. Murder and
horror are among the things God allows him to do to accomplish his plan.
a)
Our offensive weapon
against Satan is prayer. (Ephesians
6:17)
iii)
What we have to remember
when horrible events occur is that:
a)
1) God is on the throne.
b)
2) He allows horrible
things to happen ultimately for his glory.
c)
Sometimes those events
occur to us so we can comfort others with the same affliction. Other times it is to teach us to trust God
more during the pain. I don’t have all
the answers. What I do know is that God
is constantly working in my life and yours to get us to trust him more. Often, that comes though allowing tragedy to
occur.
2.
With
that, let’s go to Verse 1. I have a lot
to say today. J Verse 1: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during
the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is
the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and
have come to worship him."
a)
Part
of my job today is to ruin your image of traditional Christmas greeting
cards. J
i)
Some
of the images we have about the “wise men” visiting Jesus don’t compare with
the historical facts.
ii)
If
you would rather visualize three guys on camels with presents coming to the
manger, you better skip this section. J
b)
Just
who the “Magi” are, is a bit of a mystery.
The commentaries are full of speculation.
i)
The
word “Magi” is a transliteration of the original word.
a)
It
is the same root word where we get the English word “magic”.
b)
Many
English translations use the word “wise men”, and that is where we get the
image of the “three wise men” in Christmas pageants.
ii)
The
consensus opinion is that they are Persian religious leaders.
a)
They
may have been from the same tribe, or representatives of different tribes. There is even some Jewish tradition that
Daniel founded the “order of the Magi” when the Israelites were in captivity in
Persia (i.e., the “Medo-Persian Empire) centuries earlier. There is no proof of this theory.
b)
Just
east of the Israel territory of that day was the land of “Parthenia”. The Magi were the spiritual leaders of the
Parthenians. (Parthenians are part of
the greater Persian tribes). They were
respected by the people and often had a lot to say over who would be the next
government leader.
c)
Remember
that King Herod was not Roman nor a Jew. He was appointed the governor of this Jewish territory mostly out
of gratitude because his father helped Rome conquer this area. In the early days of King Herod’s rise, he
worked with the Romans to fight off the Parthenians.
(1)
Now
here comes a bunch of religious Magi to King Herod and asked, “where is the
baby king of Israel?” You can just
imagine how stressful that scene was given this background!
iii)
The
second thing is that we have no proof it was just three guys.
a)
That
tradition started because the Magi brought three gifts to the baby
Jesus. We will discuss this more in a
few verses.
b)
The
scripture does not imply anywhere it was just three guys.
c)
If
you were traveling around in the desert with expensive gifts, you would
probably have a large armed caravan for protection.
c)
The
next mystery is the “star” itself. Just
how does one follow a star anyway?
i)
There
is a lot of speculation behind this miracle.
Since we don’t know the answers, we simple accept it on faith.
ii)
There
are those who theorize that this “star” was two planets lined up close
together. I personally don’t buy that
theory as such a star makes you look upward.
It doesn’t lead you to Jerusalem.
iii)
It
goes back to the classic argument of “If you believe God created the heavens
and earth (Genesis 1:1), you can handle the rest of the bible”. If you believe God can do anything, then he
can create a star that can lead people around.
a)
Some
commentators point out there was an Old Testament prediction about a star
coming out of Jacob (an idiom for Israel) being a prediction for Jesus. It is from Numbers 24:17. I personally don’t agree that the Numbers
24:17 verse connects with this star because it says this “star” will “shall
smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”, which is
not the role of Jesus’ first coming.
iv)
I
was thinking about the fact that these Magi sought Jesus by following some sort
of miraculous star. The longer I live
as a Christian, the more amazed I become by the different variety of ways
people have become Christians. I have
heard stories of those who have seen Jesus in dreams. There are those who make life long commitments at evangelistic
crusades. There are many people with no
significant religious backgrounds who are called by God to serve him and go
from “no religious interest” to zealous Christians in a short time span.
a)
Here
we have people “looking for the King of Israel” based on following a star! That is amazing to think about!
(1)
How
did they know he was “born to be King of the Jews”?
(a)
There
is speculation that when the Israelites were in captivity, they left some Old
Testament scrolls and maybe these guys did some prophecy studies. J We don’t
know.
(b)
There
are a bunch of references in the book of Daniel to a group of “wise men” who
were influential to the Babylonian Empire.
This is probably the same Magi.
Daniel could have been an influence to their bible knowledge.
(2)
As
you can tell by now, Chapter 2 is full of “little historical mysteries” that
are difficult, if not impossible to solve.
(3)
The
important thing for us is not to explain all the historical mysteries, but to
see the big-picture of how all of this evidence points to the birth of
Christ. That is Matthew’s purpose.
(4)
Here
are these royal dignitaries from the “East” coming to King Herod’s territory.
(a)
They
then insult the king by saying “We are here to worship the future king
of Israel.”
(b)
The
“star” is simply another miraculous sign used to draw some people to Jesus.
v)
I
was contemplating, “So what is the purpose of the Magi anyway?”
a)
Why
did Matthew include this story and how is it relevant to us, other than three
background characters to set up on our nativity sets? J
(1)
One
possibility that popped in my head is that these were the first “Gentiles”
drawn to Jesus. They were divinely
guided to find the future savior, just as we are “divinely guided” (pre-destined) to find Jesus and worship
Him.
(2)
One
of the promises of the Messiah is that he would not only be a ruler over
Israel, but he would be a “light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6, et.al.)
Here is the first example of such.
b)
In
the historical perspective, remember that Matthew wrote this Gospel to show the
Jews that Jesus is the Christ. In that
time and world, the Magi were known as the spiritual leaders and “king-makers”
of the eastern world. Jews in that area
were well aware of the Magi, their history and how the Jews intermingled with
them during the time of the Babylonian Captivity. Therefore, the Magi coming to worship Jesus was another sign of
the birth of the Messiah.
(1)
The
application to you and I is we never know how or who will be drawn to
Jesus. Remember that Paul said “God our
Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth. (1st Timothy 2:3-4, NIV).
(2)
We
pray for all to be saved. God gets
involved in the process through all sorts of methods to lead people to Christ.
vi)
We
will come back to these guys in a few verses.
Next, move on to Verse 3.
3.
Verse
3: When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all
Jerusalem with him.
a)
Let’s
talk a little more about King Herod.
i)
There
are a number of Herod’s mentioned in the New Testament. It is confusing as this Herod was appointed
the governor of the Israel region by the Romans.
He was neither a Jew nor a Roman, but an Edomite. The Edomites were the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau.
ii)
He
was the first of a dynasty of kings named Herod. The last of the Herod’s is mentioned near the end of the Book of
Acts, which is about 60-70 years later.
iii)
This
Herod, who killed the babies in Bethlehem, is the first, and arguably the most
evil of all the Herod’s.
iv)
On
the “plus” side, he did all sorts of great building projects in order to win
over the Jews. Among them was the
building and restoration of the Jewish temple.
v)
He
was extremely paranoid. He had members
of his own family killed. He feared
anyone who was a possible successor.
His wife, his mother in law and three of his sons were killed out of
fear that they would overthrow him.
Right before his death, he ordered that some of the leaders of Jerusalem
be killed at the same time so that people would be in mourning at the time of
Herod’s death.
vi)
He
was a terror to the local people. There
is the strong possibility that the reason the Jews were “disturbed” at the Magi
is that they knew of Herod’s paranoia and they feared a lot of blood would be
shed just because the Magi are here.
vii)
I’ve
already explained why Herod would be “disturbed” by the presence of the
Magi. They are responsible for
anointing kings and leaders. Plus, the
neighborhoring territory of Parthenia, which fights against the Romans is
heavily influenced by the Magi.
4.
Verse
4: When he (Herod) had called together all the people's
chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be
born.
a)
Remember
Herod was not a Jew, he was appointed by the Romans to be governor.
b)
He
knew enough about Judaism to know they believed a Messiah would come one day
and rule from Israel.
c)
What
Herod did not know, was where the Messiah was predicted to be born.
d)
Therefore,
he asked the religious leaders this question.
5.
Their
response is Verse 5-6: "In
Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has
written: 6 " `But you, Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out
of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
a)
I’ve
always been amazed by the response of the religious leaders.
b)
They
obviously feared Herod, but I’m sure they wanted a Messiah to come as well.
c)
Why
would they give Herod the correct answer?
i)
They
must have suspected Herod would have tried to kill any competition.
ii)
Maybe
they thought, “The Messiah will come no matter how hard Herod tries, so we
might as well tell him where the baby will be born.”
iii)
Maybe
it was a matter of ego. They wanted to
show off their ability to quote the bible and give Herod the correct answer.
iv)
If
they were so sure the baby is born of Bethlehem, why weren’t they more closely
watching the births of that town and protecting those children?
v)
This
verse is simply one of many examples in the New Testament of people who can
quote the bible backwards and forwards, but they still “miss it” when it comes
to searching for the Messiah and looking for the coming of the Promised One!
vi)
The
key to being a Christian is not to know the Bible, but to apply
it to our lives.
d)
The
religious leaders were correct. They
were quoting Micah 5:2, which does predict that the Messiah would be born in
Bethlehem.
i)
Bethlehem
today, as it probably was back then, is just a small little town.
ii)
King
David, among others was born there.
Micah made this prediction centuries after David lived and died, so it
was not a prediction about David himself.
iii)
Let
me also remind you that in 70AD, when the Temple was destroyed, so were the
genealogical records of anyone who was a direct descendant of David. No one born in Bethlehem after 70 AD can
claim to be the Messiah because they cannot prove they were a direct descendant
of David.
iv)
Matthew’s
main point of writing this (again to the Jews) is to show another proof of how
Jesus fulfills the predictions about the Messiah. He uses the religious leaders as the authorities that the Messiah
is born in Bethlehem.
6.
Verse
7: Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out
from them the exact time the star had appeared.
a)
Let’s
get back to the Magi.
i)
They
have traveled from a long distance, for a long time, searching for the promised
King of Israel, in order to worship him.
ii)
The
“star” lead them to the territory around Jerusalem. It did not specifically lead them to Bethlehem. Therefore, they searched around to try to
find this child.
iii)
They
probably made a diligent search and figured… “OK, no luck so far, you would
figure the locals would know. Let’s go
ask the king if he knows anything”.
iv)
Now
the Magi were going from place to place, trying to look for that star again, or
wonder if anyone knew where the king-baby is.
v)
Herod
sent messengers to the Magi and asked about the time frame of the star.
b)
It’s
time to destroy another Christmas story myth.
J
i)
The
Magi (i.e., the “wise men”) did not come to the manger.
ii)
Jesus
was probably a young baby, I suspect at the age of 2-3 months when the Magi
appeared. By comparing Matthew and
Luke’s Gospel, we can get a fairly good idea when the Magi came to Jesus:
iii)
Let’s
read from Luke what Joseph and Mary did after Jesus was born:
a)
“When
the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been
completed, Joseph and Mary took him (Jesus) to Jerusalem to present him to the
Lord; 24and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the
Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”” (Luke 2:22, 24)
(1)
A
Jewish law is that when a baby is born, you are to present an offering to God
on behalf of that baby. The woman was
to wait a specific time period (33 days) to “purify herself” prior to making
this offering. (See Leviticus 12:15 for
more details).
(2)
The
book of Leviticus further states that if a family could not afford a lamb, they
were to offer doves or pigeons.
(3)
I
believe that Mary’s offering had to have come before Jesus received the
gift of the “gold, incense and myrrh”.
Jewish law states that the baby offering must be a lamb. If the family can’t afford a lamb, then
they offer either two doves or pigeons.
Since Mary and Joseph only offered birds, they didn’t have the gold yet.
(4)
That is one argument why the Magi
probably didn’t come until a good time after the birth of Jesus. More proof is coming. J
7.
Verse
8: He (Herod) sent them (Magi) to
Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon
as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
a)
I
suspect Herod’s reputation was known to the Magi. When Herod said “so that I too may go and worship him”, you could
almost hear the Magi saying “yeah right.”
b)
The
point is that God can, and does use a nonbeliever, and even evil people for his
glory.
c)
God
can use people like Herod to lead others to Christ!
8.
Verse
9: After they had heard the king, they went on their
way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped
over the place where the child was.
a)
Verse
9 implies that this mysterious “star” which lead them towards Jerusalem had
disappeared for awhile and now had reappeared and was pointing the way to
Bethlehem.
i)
Bethlehem
is a “suburb” of Jerusalem. It is also
known as the city of David’s birth.
ii)
God
put that “star” on pause so the Magi could have an encounter with Herod!
iii)
It
is simply another example of how God was working in the background to lay all
of this out for us to learn.
9.
Verse
10: When they saw the star, they were
overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his
mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
a)
The
Greek word for “overjoyed” implies excitement and happiness put together.
i)
These
guys spent a long time (some say about a year) traveling to find the baby King
of Jews. They risked their lives going
into “enemy territory”, let alone fear of thieves carrying the expensive gifts.
ii)
Yet
nothing was going to stop them from finding Jesus.
iii)
I
find God works that way in our lives as well.
Those who diligently seek Jesus will be guided to him. That is a promise in the bible:
a)
“I
love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find
me.” (Proverbs 8:17, NKJV)
iv)
Just
because God temporary “turns off” your star doesn’t mean it is off
permanently. Sometimes God stops us
along our journey for some other purpose.
b)
OK,
back to the destruction of the Christmas myth.
J
i)
Notice
it says the Magi came to the house where Jesus was born.
a)
That
is different from the manger in the barn.
b)
Whenever
the Magi came, Jesus was staying in a house somewhere.
(1)
We
don’t have the details. We know Joseph
was a carpenter,
so maybe he built something. J
c)
There
are some other interesting details that affects our religious beliefs:
i)
Notice
Matthew was careful to call Jesus “born of Mary”, with no mention of Joseph as
the natural father.
ii)
Notice
the Magi gave gifts to Jesus and not Mary. It is one of many arguments we are going to find in the gospels
that argues against worshipping Mary in any form.
10.
Verse
11, 2nd Sentence: Then they
opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and
of myrrh.
a)
You
have to wonder, what does a several month old baby do with “gold, incense and
myrrh” anyway? J
b)
Let’s
talk about the practical aspect first, and then I’ll talk about the symbolic
aspect.
c)
On
a practical aspect, a baby doesn’t have much use for these things.
i)
To
a parent, all three represent valuable commodities that can be sold for cash.
ii)
Remember
there were no “banks” in those days.
Valuable things that were easy to store and hide were important to keep
for trading purposes.
iii)
In
the next few verses, we will read of Joseph and Mary fleeing for their lives to
Egypt. I suspect they used these gifts
to finance the journey and their livelihood.
iv)
A
classical Christian expression is “Where God leads, God provides”.
a)
If
God provides you with some great gift, he may have some practical purpose for
you to use that gift.
b)
God
wanted Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt and here, God was providing the way to
make it financially possible.
c)
God
provides us with financial and other special gifts. Usually, God has “something in mind” for us
to use those gifts.
d)
Now
let’s move on to the “spiritual” application of those gifts.
i)
Gold
in the bible is associated with deity.
One thinks of a “golden crown” belonging to king.
ii)
Incense,
(often translated “frankincense”) is a valuable balm. In the Old Testament, it is associated with the priest offering
incense in the temple.
a)
In
the Old Testament Tabernacle and the Temple, there was an altar of
incense. It is also word-picture for
prayer. Just as one can visualize the
sweet smelling smoke rising from the altar, so is our prayers as a “sweet
smelling aroma” to God.
iii)
Myrrh
is another incense, but not as valuable as frankincense.
a)
It
was mostly known as an embalming substance.
b)
(“Gee,
guys, thanks for the embalming fluid.” J)
iv)
Symbolically,
one can see the three gifts as representing Jesus in his different
aspects. The gold represents his deity
as king, the incense represents his role as our high priest (Hebrews
6:20) interceding on our behalf to God the Father) and finally, the myrrh
representing his role as the living sacrifice for our sins.
11.
Meanwhile,
back to the Magi, Verse 12: And having
been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country
by another route.
a)
Don’t
take this lightly. It is not just like
one guy sneaking out of town at night.
b)
These
guys were known by Herod to be in town, and specifically where they were.
i)
There
was also the Roman army and checkpoints.
c)
Earlier
I mentioned, “Where God leads, God provides”.
i)
Here
is another example. I believed the Magi
were saved because they believed in the future king of Israel. They may not have understood all the
implications of what Jesus was going to accomplish, but God judges us fairly
based on what we do know about Jesus.
ii)
God
rewarded the Magi’s faithfulness by providing an escape route.
a)
If
God is capable of preserving the Magi from Herod and the Roman army, he is just
as capable of preserving you through whatever dangers or troubles we encounter
in following Jesus.
12.
Verse
13: When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his
mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to
search for the child to kill him."
a)
Don’t
you wonder what Joseph and Mary must have been thinking about this visit?
i)
Here
were these leaders of a foreign land, coming to them to tell them their
child is going to be King of Israel, the promised Messiah and here are these
expensive gifts for the baby?
ii)
Well,
God didn’t give Joseph and Mary much time to digest all of this. J
iii)
I
suspect the same night, or very soon thereafter, Joseph got another dream in
which God told him, “Get going to Egypt”.
a)
I
find that sometimes God does his best talking to us when we are either
asleep or quiet, as during the day we are too busy thinking or talking to be in
communication with God. Don’t get me
wrong. God can talk to us anyway and at anytime. When I hear testimonies of people getting orders from God, I
usually find it comes during quiet times without distractions.
b)
Let’s
give Joseph credit again for recognizing the voice of God and obeying.
i)
Joseph
understood this was a message from God and he choose to obey.
c)
At
this time in history, there were many Jewish colonies living in Egypt. Those colonies date back to the times of the
Babylonians and Persians, and these spots in Egypt’s were safe havens from the
war torn territory of Israel.
d)
It
is amazing to think how God the Father was working to protect baby Jesus.
i)
Let’s
face it, God could have wiped out Herod.
ii)
God
could have warned all the parents to flee to Egypt.
iii)
But
God, in his sovergn will, choose to save only Jesus, Joseph and Mary from the
wrath of Herod.
a)
The
best explanation I can give is God’s purpose, then, as it is now, is to leave
as much evidence as possible to lead people to Jesus.
b)
I
am sure the news of a horrible event like this spread far and wide.
c)
Among
the parents who lived in Bethlehem, a small town, must have eventually noticed
that the baby born to Joseph and Mary did not suffer the same fate as their
babies. They also knew that the Messiah
must also come from Bethlehem.
d)
As
a religious Jew, the survival of baby Moses must have popped in their
heads. More than a thousand years
earlier, Pharaoh of Egypt had all the young males killed. Only Moses survived and went on to be their
leader.
(1)
Bible
predictions in the Old Testament is not just direct commentary on the future,
but patterns to be studied.
(2)
The
pattern of baby Moses surviving a horrible massacre was a model
of how the Messiah would survive a similar massacre.
(3)
God
allowed a horrible tragedy to occur to point people to Jesus.
(4)
While
it may not provide comfort to the parents who lost their children, it does
provide more evidence to you and I that Jesus is the promised Messiah. It is just another reminder of that God
allows horrible things to occur ultimately for his glory.
13.
Verse
14: So he (Joseph) got up, took the child (Jesus) and
his mother (Mary) during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the
death of Herod. And so was fulfilled
what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my
son."
a)
Matthew
describes the fact that Jesus went to Egypt soon after his birth, and stayed in
Egypt until after the death of King Herod.
b)
Matthew
then describes how this was a fulfillment of bible prophecy.
i)
It
is a quote of Hosea 11:1
c)
The
interesting thing is that if you read Hosea, you would have a tough time seeing
that verse as a direct prophecy of Jesus.
i)
In
Hosea, it is talking specifically about how God has called the Nation of Israel
out of Egypt when Moses led the people through the Red Sea.
ii)
Just
like the comparison of the survival of baby Moses to baby Jesus, one has to
read the Old Testament as patterns to be studied. Those patterns of the Old Testament are
principals taught in the New Testament.
14.
Verse
16: When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by
the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem
and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time
he had learned from the Magi.
a)
Notice
Herod gave the order to kill all babies “two and under”. This is another small bit of evidence that
the wise men did not come to the manager, but some time soon after.
b)
I
want to talk a little about “Satanic attacks”.
i)
I
am convinced that Satan was specifically behind this attack.
ii)
Satan’s
plan was to stop God’s redemptive plan.
If he could successfully kill the Messiah before He went to the cross,
Satan “wins”.
iii)
Therefore,
one can read the whole Old Testament from the standpoint of Satan trying to
block the promised Messiah from coming.
One can read of all the efforts to wipe out the line of the Messiah, or
kill the entire Jewish nation, all for the fulfillment of Satan’s purposes.
iv)
Today,
in the “post-cross era”, Satan is doing all he can to slow down the
growth of Christianity. Any attack he
can do to you is strictly for the purpose of making you an ineffective witness
for Jesus. Stop and consider all the
things that draw you away from God, and realize there are spiritual
forces behind those attacks.
v)
I
am also convinced that not every negative thing that happens to us is a demonic
attack, but I am also convinced that we would be shocked to find out the evil
that exists all around us. Part of our
faults comes from our own sinful nature, but part comes from spiritual
attacks.
a)
The
two mistakes to make about Satan is 1) he is everywhere and/or
2) he doesn’t exist. During the 1,000
year millennium (Revelation 20) Satan is bound up for this time period. A purpose for this 1,000 year time era is to
show how bad man can be even without Satan’s influence.
vi)
Satan
knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.
He just didn’t know when.
a)
Therefore,
he “used” King Herod to do his dirty work.
c)
The
Greek word for “furious” implies that King Herod “lost it”. He lost all sense of ration and was now
acting out of pure emotion. It is as if
he was throwing a temper tantrum.
i)
I
found Satan uses us best in those types of situations!
ii)
There
is the possibility that Herod thought “The Magi must have warned Jesus’ parents
to flee”. The killing of the babies was
simply Herod acting out his anger.
iii)
More
likely he was trying to kill a baby who he saw as a threat to his throne.
a)
Throughout
history, you can read of leaders trying to eradicate any Christian influence
because it is a threat to their leadership.
To summarize a lot of history, these people are dead and forgotten and
Christ lives on.
15.
Verse
17: Then what was said through the
prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because
they are no more."
a)
If
you can’t tell by now, Matthew spends a lot of time quoting the Old Testament,
showing how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies about the Messiah.
b)
I
couldn’t help but notice the pattern of “saved first, study later”. Let me explain.
i)
Most
Christians I know do not “study the bible first, then come to the logical
conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah”.
The ones I know have come to Jesus by hearing the gospel message, having
people pray for them, and then they commit their lives. After that fact, they start to study
their bible diligently to learn how to be a better Christian. That is what I meant by “saved first, study
later”.
a)
I
doubt that Matthew, prior to meeting Jesus was a bible scholar. J
b)
Let’s
face it, he was a tax-collecting, pro-Roman, Jewish-traitor.
c)
Guys
like that don’t go to Hebrew seminary! J
d)
Yet,
he knew obscure passages of the Old Testament and how they apply to Jesus.
e)
I
am convinced that Matthew didn’t study the Old Testament, from a “Christian
perspective” until years after his time with Jesus.
f)
That
same pattern works in our lives. We
encounter the living Christ, and through his Word, spend the rest of our days
learning more about Him.
g)
Grant
it, many people grow up in a Christian home and learn their bible. In those cases, I see those blessed people
as being saved at an early age and then desiring to grow in their love and
knowledge of Jesus.
c)
With
that said, let’s get back to this particular prophecy about “Rachel’ weeping”.
i)
In
the historical context of this verse, Jeremiah wrote it about the captivity of
the Jews by the Babylonians. Remember
that centuries earlier, when the Jews were conquered, they were deported to the
Babylonian Empire, hundreds of miles away.
The prophecy mentions “Ramah”.
This was a place were the Jews were gathered as a “deporting station”
before being lead away.
a)
“Rachel”
was one of two wives of Jacob and the mother of two of the 12 tribes of Israel
(Judah and Benjamin).
b)
Here
were the babies of the town of Bethlehem, part of the tribe of Judah being
slaughtered.
c)
Again
we see Matthew using bible prophecy as patterns. The pattern of the people of Judah morning
was also a pattern of a prophecy of Jesus.
d)
Remember
what Jesus said about the Old Testament:
(1)
Jesus
said, “You (Pharisee’s) search the Scriptures (Old Testament), for in them you
think you have eternal life; and these are they (again, the Old Testament)
which testify of Me.” (John
5:39, NKJV)
(2)
We
see Jesus validating that the Old Testament speaks of him. Matthew validates that the patterns
of the stories also are prophetic of Jesus’ life and purpose.
16.
Verse
19: After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a
dream to Joseph in Egypt 20
and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of
Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
a)
Notice
God does not tell Joseph to “take your son”, but specifically says, “take the
child and his mother”.
b)
We
have no historical record of Jesus’ life during his time in Egypt.
c)
History
records that Herod died right around the time of Jesus’ birth. (Some historians place the death of
Herod in 4BC, which means the time of Jesus birth is “off-the calendar” by a
few years. Personally, I’m always a
little hesitant to strongly agree with a particular date of Jesus’ birth. I do believe the historians were off by a
little bit (as opposed to being born in the year “0”,) but I’m not 100%
convinced it was the year 4 BC.
d)
The
point is that Jesus was not a teenager when he went back to Israel. The time period between the time Herod
killed the babies and Jesus returned from Egypt to Israel was probably a very
short time span.
e)
History
also records that Herod died a painful death from disease. If you are angry at him for what he did,
remember he is now spending eternity in hell for his punishment.
f)
Again,
let’s give Joseph some credit.
i)
Let’s
face it, God could have magically transported Jesus, Mary & Joseph back to
Israel. God could have parted the Red
Sea again.
ii)
Instead,
God just told Joseph in a dream in effect, “pack up your things, Herod is dead,
and Jesus has a purpose to fulfill back in Israel”.
iii)
There
is a wonderful pattern of obedience by Joseph that is a wonderful model
for us to follow.
17.
Verse
21: So he got
up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that
Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to
go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of
Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a
town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets:
"He will be called a Nazarene."
a)
Herod
had three living sons who each got a part of his territory. One of them Archelaus, was the worst of the
three and was just as evil as his father.
b)
The
most interesting thing to see about this section is how God works.
i)
God
could have told Joseph to go directly to Nazareth and avoid Bethlehem.
ii)
God
simply worked with one bit of information at a time.
iii)
First
he told Joseph to get going back to Israel.
iv)
When Joseph obeyed that order, he
then was afraid of Archelaus.
a)
Then
God told Joseph in another dream to go settle in Nazareth.
v)
The
pattern for us to follow is that God often works in our lives in steps.
a)
He
gives us something to do, and after that, it is time for the next move.
b)
We
often wonder “what does God want us to do next?” when we should be worrying
about “what has God asked me to do in the past” and have I obeyed that order?
c)
From
Joseph’s standpoint, you had to wonder about this:
i)
Gee,
if my “son” is the Messiah, shouldn’t I be living in Jerusalem?
a)
“After
all, if this is the chosen Messiah, God is going to protect him, why should I
worry about this Archelaus
guy anyway?”
b)
The
point is Joseph, like us should never assume how God is going to work in
our lives. Our job is to obey orders
and move on!
ii)
OK
you say, I’ve never received any dreams from God. What does God command me to do? That is what daily bible reading is all about!
a)
Remember
Jesus quote on our lives:
b)
“Then
they said to Him (Jesus), “What shall we do, that we may work the works of
God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you
believe in Him whom He sent.” (John
6:28-29, NKJV)
(1)
Doing
“God’s will” begins by believing in Jesus. From there, simply seek God in prayer and studying of his
Word. That is your 100% “marching
orders” as a believer.
(2)
I’ve
heard the Christian life summarized as “Love God with all of your might and do
whatever you want”. Because if you love
God that way, you want to live in obedience to Him.
d)
Let’s
finish the text: Jesus then grew up in
Nazareth, and was called a “Nazarene”.
i)
Matthew
calls this a fulfillment of Scripture.
ii)
Just
what scripture Matthew was referring to is a classical debate.
a)
Most
likely it was a number of Scriptures that describe the Messiah as a
“nesser” or a “branch”. Specifically,
this is a small branch growing out of an almost dead tree, imply a new life
springing from the old.
b)
Others
compare this to a type of Jewish “vow” called a “Nazirite Vow” in Numbers Chapter 6. It is a vow of separation to be used by God.
c)
There
are other arguments one can make as to what Matthew may have been referring to,
but Matthew stated his purpose of this book to show Jesus as the promised
Messiah. Therefore, I believe the
scriptures that tie being “separated” to be called by God into a new life all
give clues as to aspects of the Messiah’s role and purpose.
18.
Well,
I’ve covered over 12 pages, and it is time to wrap it up.
a)
We
read of miraculous preservation of Jesus and horrible crimes committed by man.
b)
We
read of spiritual attacks designed to prevent Jesus from completing his
ministry.
c)
We
read of Joseph’s obedience to what God called him to do.
d)
I
opened this study with the question of, “why does God allow such horror to
exist”?
i)
The
answer has to do is he allows it, ultimately for God’s glory. It is hard for us to see the purpose of all
suffering. Part of it has to do with
the sinful nature corrupting this world, part of it has to do with God allowing
free-will and part of it has to do with God’s ultimate purpose being
accomplished through man.
ii)
God
gets us involved in his redemptive plan.
He allows evil forces to oppose our serving him, partially to keep us
close to God (through prayer) and partially to show the world how God always,
ultimately triumphs.
e)
The
birth of Jesus is a miraculous story of preservation and fulfillment of Old
Testament Prophecy. It shows how Old
Testament story patterns tie to the early aspects of Jesus life as a young
child.
f)
The
application for us, is to live in obedience to God. To be an effective witness means we will have spiritual
opposition. Don’t worry, those who are
with you are far more powerful than those against you. The ultimate victory has already been
decided.
19.
With
that, let’s close in prayer. Heavenly
Father, help us to live our lives for your ultimate purposes and not to
glorify ourselves. We look at our
circumstances and our problems and we fail to trust you to solve these issues
and bring us comfort. We ask your
protection and your blessing as we live for your ultimate glory for those, and
those people who are on our hearts. For
we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.