The True Israel

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,

Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you,

for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt

and remained there until the death of Herod.

This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet,

Out of Egypt I called my son.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious,

and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem

and in all that region who were two years old or under,

according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.

A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation.

Rachel weeping for her children.

She refused to be comforted because they are no more.

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,

Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,

for those who sought the child's life are dead.

And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod,

he was afraid to go there.

And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth,

so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled,

that he would be called a Nazarene.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Inside the world's most authoritarian country,

North Korea pushes gross misinformation

and brainwashing propaganda on its citizens

to have absolute domineering control.

Really, with a propaganda strategy pushed on its citizens

from the cradle to the grave,

North Korean leaders have built this cult of personality

where they exaggerate and embellish the accomplishments

of its leaders,

really elevating them to this God-like status.

For instance, it's been reported that Kim Il-sung,

who is the country's founder,

they say that he never defecated and never urinated.

He never once went to the bathroom.

They say that his son, Kim Jong-il,

he was this God-like golfer.

In a sport where it's very hard for the average person

to score under 90,

and the best recognized score was just a score of 55,

they claim on his first go ever,

first time holding those clubs,

he scored a 38 with five hole-in-ones.

They claim that even his son, Kim Jong-un,

who is the leader of the country today,

he learned at the ripe old age of three years old

to drive a motor vehicle.

Just imagine our little Ina or our Zion

contributing their portion of the rent

because they're driving Uber.

These are ridiculous lies,

and they just scratch the surface

of what these people have been telling their citizens.

But I want to focus on one myth,

on the supernatural birth of the second son of Kim Jong-il.

And they claim that he was born at Mount Baekdu,

which is this legendary mountain,

according to folklore in North Korea,

has mythical qualities.

It's considered North Korea's ancestral homeland,

when in actuality,

he was just born in the Soviet Union.

And on top of that,

on his birthday,

the day he was born,

they say that winter magically turned into spring.

A double rainbow graced the sky,

and then a new star shone at night.

It's plagiarism, right?

This is just a bunch of laughable mumbo-jumbo, right?

It's quite frankly, though, evil lies.

The reality is that they have been many, many leaders

throughout the course of human history

that have lied like this.

They have set up these elaborate,

dramatized, supernatural birth narratives

to create this air,

this aura around them,

so that they have this destiny,

this calling to lead their people.

In this, they have taken facts,

and they've turned them into myths.

But as C.S. Lewis said,

our Jesus,

who was born of a virgin,

conceived by the Holy Spirit,

fully God and fully man,

his myth become fact.

We know this because,

unlike all these other fakers and liars,

who make up all the stuff,

all their lies after the fact,

Jesus Christ is the only man

who has been long expected,

long predicted,

long awaited.

By some estimates,

scholars have predicted

that Jesus has fulfilled

more than 200 prophecies

given by different Old Testament writers

written over many different centuries.

None like Jesus

are more anticipated and predicted.

And that's why theologian Lorian Bettner,

he says this,

in all the history of the world,

Jesus emerges as the only expected person.

No one was looking for such a person

as Julius Caesar or Napoleon

or Washington or Lincoln

to appear at the time that they did.

No other person has had his course foretold

and his work laid out for him

centuries before he was born.

But the coming of the Messiah

has been predicted for centuries.

So in our passage today,

when Jesus travels back and forth

from Israel and Egypt,

Matthew understands that

there's more to this story

than just Jesus' travel itinerary.

intimately familiar with the Old Testament,

Matthew sees in Jesus' birth narratives

how he is fulfilling

these century-old prophecies.

And how is he doing this?

He's reliving.

Jesus is reliving the story

and retracing the steps

of the nation of Israel.

He's taking upon himself

the role of Israel,

calling himself

the true and better Israel.

With this passage trio,

the trio of answered prophecies

that we see here,

Matthew is proving this main point,

that Jesus of Nazareth

is the foretold Messiah

and the true and better Israel.

And in turn,

we'll look how Jesus,

the true Israel,

he relives key moments

in the nation,

in the history of the nation of Israel,

how he relives the exodus,

relives the exile,

and then thereby setting up

a new expectation

for the Messiah King.

So we jump to the narrative

and we observe that

once the Magi,

they've defied King Herod

and they escape another way,

the sovereign, omniscient Lord,

he knows all the schemes of man

and he sends an angel to Joseph.

This is his second dream

in the birth narrative

in chapters one to two.

And he warns him

of Herod's evil plan

of infanticide.

Joseph receives this dream

in the wee hours of the morning

and really one can only imagine

what is going on

through his head.

Is it fear?

Is it anxiety?

What is going to happen

to my family?

What do I need to do

to maximize our chances

of survival?

Should I even go to Egypt?

Should I go somewhere safer?

Is he stressed or frustrated?

Are you serious, Lord?

You asked me to adopt this son

and now you're making me flee

from my life?

My life is already so hard enough

as a parent,

let alone the parent

of the Savior of the world.

Aren't you asking too much

of me, Lord?

Was he considering

delaying obedience?

You know, the trip

from here to Egypt

is over 150 miles long.

It's going to take over a week

with baby Jesus.

Shouldn't we just get

some extra sleep?

You know, what is that going to do

in the grand scheme of things?

If I just get another couple hours

of sleep and go in the morning,

after all, traveling by night

is so dangerous.

We don't know what emotions

Joseph might have wrestled with,

but we do know that

as the leader of the family,

Joseph did exactly

as he was told.

Matthew makes that clear

because his actions,

in verse 14,

they match exactly

to the command.

It's so much so that it sounds

like word-for-word repetition.

He doesn't drift back to sleep,

he doesn't dilly-dally,

but he wakes up his family

and they start their journey off

in the middle of the night.

Joseph lives out this simple hymn,

to trust and obey.

For there is no other way

but to be happy in Jesus,

but to trust and obey.

Jesus heads down to Egypt

fulfilling what the Lord

had spoken by the prophet Hosea.

When Israel was a child,

I loved him,

and out of Egypt,

I called my son.

If you have an ESV Bible,

you'll notice the footnote

in there that hyperlinks you

to the passage Hosea 11.1.

And so we flip back there

in our Old Testaments

and to read the quotation

in its original passage,

in its original context.

It's a habit that you should get into

if you are not in already.

And as you read it

in its original context,

you might be confused, frankly,

because the more you read

of Hosea 11,

the more you'll see

that this passage,

it's not like these clearly messianic,

suffering servant passages

in Isaiah,

passages that look forward,

but this seems to be a passage

that looks backward

to the exodus,

to the escape from Egyptian slavery.

So how can this be a text

that predicts the future Messiah

when it's looking backwards?

Is Matthew trying to fit

a square peg in a round hole here?

And it's worth hitting pause

doing a simple thought exercise here.

When you read Scripture,

what kind of book

do you compare it to?

What do you think Scripture

has to offer you?

Some of us read Scripture

like it's a book

of inspirational quotes,

believing that the greatest thing

that Scripture has to offer you

is positive emotion,

positive vibes.

We sit down in front of our Bibles

to go through our daily reading plan,

and if we're more chaotic,

then we'll play Bible roulette

and flip to any which passage.

And we scour the text

to be inspired,

to be encouraged,

to be motivated.

And we look through,

and if we get lucky,

we find a verse that we like.

I can do all things

through Him who strengthens me.

I like that.

So we'll rip that out of context,

and we'll apply that to our lives.

We'll remember that

and hold that throughout our days,

and we'll feel good.

We'll feel encouraged.

All that other stuff, though,

that's irrelevant.

We'll throw it out.

It's not important.

Others of us read Scripture

like a textbook,

believing that the greatest thing

that Scripture has to offer us

is knowledge.

Knowledge about God,

knowledge about theology,

knowledge about whatever hobby horse

you're into that day.

We read and extract

as much information.

It's just knowledge transfer.

That's what Scripture reading

is about to you.

Still others of us

treat Scripture

like a law book,

believing that the greatest thing

that Scripture has to offer you

is a moral code of ethics.

It's telling you,

do this.

Do that.

Don't do this.

Don't do that.

So every story in Scripture

is just about that moral nugget of truth

that we apply to our lives

and that we have to conform to.

Every character in each story

is an example

either to emulate or to reject.

While these contain some semblance of truth,

all these miss the mark

because Scripture

is a book about a person.

And the greatest thing

that Scripture has to offer you

is not positive emotion,

it's not mere head knowledge,

it's not a moral code of ethics

or morality,

but it is Christ.

On the road to Emmaus,

Christ revealed himself

to his disciples

and opened their eyes

to see that he is the very center

of Scripture.

He is the interpretive key

that unlocks the greater meaning

behind every single passage.

He says in Luke 24,

beginning with Moses

and all the prophets,

he interpreted to them

and all the Scriptures

the things concerning himself.

Matthew understood

that every single line,

every single story

is written about Christ.

It is written to prove our need

for a Messiah King

and it's written to engender hope

and expectation for his coming.

So no matter where you are

in the distant lands

of the 66 books of Scripture,

there is always going to be

a paved road

that leads you right back

to the center of Scripture.

That's Christ.

And one of these common roads,

often connecting these

two seemingly distant lands

of Scripture,

the Old and then the New Testament,

is called typology.

Just the study of consistent

and repeated patterns

based on the conviction

that God's workings

is consistent

throughout Scripture.

Compared to how composers

of movies

or musical soundtracks,

they do this thing

where they set up

a musical theme.

It's proper term,

it's called a light motif.

In the beginning parts

of the show

to get our ears

accustomed to this

particular tune.

And then later on

as the story progresses,

you get to the climax

where the theme

is going to be expanded upon.

It's going to be richer

and fuller

and more beautiful,

but all with the same

recognizable tune

as before.

Plenty of movies do this.

Lots of famous movies

do this.

If you watch Star Wars,

The Avengers,

you can even hear

those tunes in your head

right now.

That's how powerful

that repetition is.

Typology is exactly

like this

with lots of different

musical themes

playing out

in the Old Testament,

but then they all

come together

in this beautiful,

expanded, rich melody

of all these different themes

that have gone on

in the Old Testament,

in the person

and in the work

of Jesus Christ.

So this connection

from our passage

to Hosea 11, 1,

even though it's

looking backwards,

it's rooted

in Christ-centered

typology.

As we said,

this quote

in Hosea 11,

it's about the Exodus

where God delivered

his son Israel

from Egyptian slavery.

That was the first time

that that musical theme

played out.

In our passage today,

Matthew is hearing

something familiar.

He hears this musical theme

of the Exodus

play out once again,

only now

in the new Exodus

of Jesus Christ,

his son.

God calls him

out of Egypt

in the same way

as Israel

was called out

of Egypt.

And actually,

we can see that

Jesus is connected

to different roles,

both roles

in the Exodus,

both the deliverer

and the delivered.

Where am I getting this?

First,

Jesus is connected

to the deliverer,

Moses.

At the beginning

of Exodus,

we see that

Moses flees

the infanticide

of Pharaoh

in Exodus 1.

But now,

Jesus is fleeing

the infanticide

of Herod.

Later in his life,

after he murdered

a man,

Moses escapes

from Egypt

to Midian.

But then God

calls him back

to do his role,

to do his work

of saving his nation.

And he calls him

back in this way,

go back to Egypt

for all the men

who are seeking

your life

are dead.

If you look down

in your passage,

those words

are very similar

to Matthew 20

or Matthew 2.20.

There's even more.

Later in Matthew,

Jesus' face

shone brilliantly

during his transfiguration,

just like Moses' face

shone when he interacted

with God,

so much so that

he had to put a veil

over his face.

Guess who's at

Jesus' transfiguration

too?

It's Moses.

So you guys see

those connections.

So weaving these

connections together,

Matthew sees

this child Jesus

as the new

and better Moses.

In the Exodus,

Moses was sent

to deliver his people

from Egyptian bondage.

In the new Exodus,

Jesus is now sent

to deliver his people

from their spiritual bondage

from sin and death.

All in Adam,

we were born

slaves to sin,

that when our sinful flesh

commanded us,

called us,

we couldn't do anything

but to listen.

And friend,

if you don't know

the power of your sin,

I'd argue it's because

you haven't tried

fighting your sin enough.

Here's C.S. Lewis

comment on this.

No man knows

how bad he is

until he has tried

very hard to be good.

A silly idea

is current

that good people

do not know

what temptation means.

This is an obvious lie.

Only those

who try to resist temptation

know how strong it is.

After all,

you find out

the strength

of the German army

by fighting it,

not by giving in.

That is why

bad people

in one sense

know very little

about badness.

They have lived

a sheltered life

by always giving in.

We never find out

the strength

of the evil

impulse inside us

until we try

to fight it.

If you know

how bad you are,

if you've tried

very hard

to be good

like I have,

praise be

to God

with me.

Praise God

with me

that our old self

was crucified

with Christ

so that the body

ruled by sin

might no longer

have any power.

It's rendered

completely powerless

that we might

no longer

be enslaved

to our sin.

Through Christ's

death and resurrection,

Jesus has released

us from the power

of sin

so that all those

who are united

to Christ

by faith,

not by our works,

but by faith

can hear sin's call

and we can finally

learn to say,

no,

I'm not going

to obey.

so may we

never,

ever say

that we can't

defeat our temptations

and our sins.

No matter how many

times that you fell

in your addictions,

in your sin patterns,

there is always

a way of escape

with every temptation

that comes your way.

No matter how many

times sinful flesh

tempts you to lust,

to be sinfully anxious,

to be greedy,

to be proud,

to be selfish,

you can always

say no to temptation.

It is a lie

from Satan

when you believe

that you can't

overcome those things.

There have been

moments in my life

where I've excused

my sin,

where,

of course I sinned,

you know,

that person was

so mean to me,

that person backstabbed me,

of course I'm going

to be selfish,

no one else

is looking out for me.

What sins

are you still

justifying

because you think

that your circumstances

are stronger

than Jesus'

work on the cross?

Do you still think

that you are just

simply swept

in the current

of your circumstances?

That is a lie

from Satan

because you are

never a powerless

victim to your

circumstances.

You can always

say no

because of the

spirit that lives

within you.

And friends,

this is so much

more than just

psychologizing yourself,

trying to,

you know,

hack your brain

with positive thoughts,

trying to get

the moral outcome

or the behavior

modification

that you're

trying to seek.

This is a humble

dependence

upon the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

which is the power

of God

for salvation

to everyone

and anyone

who believes.

Not only that,

but Jesus is connected

to the delivered,

the delivered Israel

as well.

In the Exodus,

God releases

his child Israel

from his bondage

so that he can now

worship God

exclusively

and now serve

both as a recipient

and a conduit,

a channel of blessing

onto the entire nations.

But as Hosea says

in the very next verse,

after Hosea 11.1

and 11.2,

he says,

the more they were called,

the more they went away.

They kept sacrificing

to the Baals

and burning offerings

to idols.

And despite God's kindness

and grace to them,

he didn't have to release

them from Egypt,

from their slavery,

but Israel

is an adulterous,

faithless people

repeatedly whoring

after other idols

and gods.

But now,

the true

and better Israel,

the better

and true

Son of God

has come

in Jesus.

Just like

God called

Israel

when he was a child

out of Egypt

during the Exodus,

Jesus,

now he's called

out of Egypt

when he is a child

in Matthew 2.

And once he's

summoned back

to Israel,

he's called

to fulfill

what his role

is as the Messiah

of Israel.

And he demonstrates

that he fulfills

everything

that Israel

was supposed

to be.

We read later

in Matthew

how he is the better

Israel in this way.

For example,

when God provided

the miraculous

manna

and water

for 40 years

in the wilderness,

Israel grumbled,

they complained,

but true

and better Israel.

He fasts

for 40 days

without food,

without a drop

of water

and he never

grumbles

or complains.

He never puts

God to the test.

He never serves

Satan,

all those things

which Israel

had done

for 40 years

in the wilderness.

How about that?

Israel fails

to dispel

and cast out

all of the Canaanites

in the promised land

but instead

intermingles,

intermarries

with them

and that leads

them to their

idolatry,

their fornication.

But Jesus,

he keeps his mind

on the mission.

The true Israel

goes into the promised land

and defeats

all of God's enemies,

namely Satan

and his demons.

He doesn't intermingle

with them.

See,

whenever Israel

was tested,

they failed.

Whenever

Jesus

was tested,

he passed

with flying colors.

Is that not

the same

with us,

brothers and sisters?

The law

demands

absolute

perfection

to be saved

because God

is absolutely

perfect.

By that standard,

no one

is righteous,

not a single

one of us here.

God has called

us to worship

him alone,

but we have

pursued idols

like power,

money,

and sex.

God has called

us not to use

his name in vain,

but we have

sinned with our

lips,

haven't we?

Sins of lip service,

of unfulfilled

oaths,

of informality,

when he is God.

God has called

us to honor

our parents

and our elders,

but we've

thought better,

haven't we?

God has called

us not to

kill,

commit adultery,

steal,

lie,

covet,

but we have

done all of

those things,

either in our

bodies or in

our hearts.

In every place

we have failed,

Jesus has

passed.

Christ has

passed every

single test of

his,

every single

one.

But instead

of writing

his name

on the exam

alone,

he has written

the name of

every believer

on the exam,

giving us,

crediting us

with his

perfect grades.

Why do we

deserve this?

We do not

deserve this.

Therefore,

because of our

name on those

exams,

because of our

perfect grades

in Christ,

there is now

no condemnation

for those who

are in Christ

Jesus.

As we're

united to him,

the better

and true

Israel.

Praise be to

God.

I am a

sinner.

I've

sinned

countless

times without

measure.

God,

he shows me

unbelievable

mercy time

and time

again.

This is an

unbelievable

mercy we

can't lose.

We can't let

gospel amnesia

set in.

Thank you,

God.

Move on in

our passage

that Jesus

not only lives

out the new

exodus,

but he lives

out the new

exile as well.

Verses 16

to 18.

The wise men

bought the

holy family

some time,

but in the

end,

they only pour

fuel onto

Herod's fiery

obsession with

power,

trying to keep

it and

control it.

Ironically,

Herod is

tricked by the

very wise

men that he

tried to

trick himself

earlier in

chapter 2.

That should

have been his

first clue that

he is way in

over his head

and trying to

outdo or

outsmart the

sovereign Lord of

the universe.

Yet,

in his

blind

ignorance

and unduly

pride,

enraged

Herod,

he starts

to do some

careful thinking,

careful studying

about when

that star

appeared,

so that he

could determine

what age

Jesus,

the future

king,

might be.

He decides

then to

massacre

all of

these male

children,

younger than

two years

of age,

in Jesus'

birth town

and region

of Bethlehem.

I imagine

my own

son,

my precious

newborn son,

as one of

these.

It's a

horrid

evil.

There are

some who

question whether

Matthew made

up this

story,

because there

aren't any

extra-biblical,

any outside

historic

sources that

record this

event,

but this

event is

entirely

historically

plausible,

because

number one,

the reality

is when we

read this

passage,

it sounds

like thousands

or maybe

tens of

thousands of

children that

are murdered,

but the

total population

in the region

of Bethlehem

was likely

no more

than a

thousand,

so that

likely meant

only less

than 20

children that

were murdered.

Not to

minimize this

evil,

but just to

understand what

the scale

is.

And given

evil's

Herod reputation

that Sean

talked about,

this is really

not beyond

him.

Yet despite

Herod's

carefully planned,

soundproof scheme,

he is no match

for the sovereign

Lord.

Not only is the

Lord able to

save Jesus,

but this

terrible tragedy

is actually

incorporated

into his

story to

build Jesus'

birth narrative,

to build his

resume that

he is the

Messiah, that

he is fulfilling

yet another

Old Testament

prophecy.

See, Herod

tries to hurt

Jesus, but in

actuality he

helps Jesus

establish his

Messiahship.

Therefore, the

Holy Family and

Jesus can say,

along with

Joseph at the

end of Israel

to his

betraying

brothers, you

meant it for

evil, but God

meant it for

good.

Yet one point

should be made

clear, our

good God, he

is never, ever

responsible for

evil sin.

Throughout the

book, Matthew

introduces quote

after quote from

the Old Testament,

and he introduces

them all except in

just two places,

all of them uses

the more purposeful

word, so that, in

order to, that's the

Greek word.

This happened in

order to fulfill

scripture.

But in two odd

times, this being

one of them, he

uses the more

passive word, then.

Herod's infanticide

then fulfills

scripture.

God does not

kill these

infants in order

to fulfill

scripture.

Do you guys

understand the

difference there?

Yes, God is

sovereign over

his creation, and

he can use man's

evil sin as part of

his good plan, but

yet scripture never

attributes, never

ever attributes

sin to him.

God with us.

And this passage

adds another level

of depth to

Jesus' title of

Emmanuel, God

with us.

Part and parcel

of living in this

broken land is to

experience injustice,

hurt, pain, sin.

So if Jesus came

and he established

his own utopia,

his own perfect land,

living in the

richest of palaces,

in the safest of

lands, what good

would it be that

Jesus has this

title, Emmanuel?

More than even,

in what real sense

would God really be

with us?

But no, as Tim

Keller, pastor, has

observed, even when

God is sovereign

over suffering, in

teaching that is

unique to the

Christian faith among

the major religions,

God also made

himself vulnerable

and subject to

suffering.

So if this Christmas

season has been

hard, it's been

lonely, it's been

full of grief, if

this entire year has

just been hard, know

that Christmas that

comes in three days

has more to offer you

than just gifts or

superficial fun.

This Christmas, you

can remember that

though he be eternal

God, he came in the

flesh and subjected

himself to suffering.

Here in his birth, but

that much more at the

cross, at the end of

his life, in how he

died.

Jesus came to experience

to the greatest degree

of pain so that he can

empathize, not just

sympathize, he can

empathize with your

pain.

He too wept.

He too has lost loved

ones.

He too was backstabbed

and betrayed.

He too was lonely.

So turn to Jesus, your

greatest friend and

comforter, the one who

can bear the weight of

all your pain this

Christmas season.

He is Emmanuel, God

with us, God with you.

And he does this

ultimately by experiencing

the new exile,

fulfilling the quoted

Jeremiah 31, 15,

that passage in verse 18

in ours.

Like before, this verse

is not clearly messianic,

but the key, again, is

to hear the music.

Hear the music of

typology.

Because again, this is a

verse that looks

backwards.

Jeremiah 31, 15 is

about Rachel, the wife

of Jacob and one of the

mothers of the twelve

tribes of Israel.

And she is figuratively

weeping over her

murdered and exiled

children.

children.

When Assyria came

along, when Babylon

came along, with

terrible sieges, with

vicious battles, conquered

Israel and Judah.

Now, Matthew is hearing

that music again.

In the exile.

In Jesus' birth

narrative, this time

Rachel, she weeps over

the murdered children at

the hands of Herod and

the exiled child

Jesus as he is sent

out of the promised

land.

And this hits a

particular nerve for

the Jews of Matthew's

time, of Jesus' time.

Because while they may be

back in the promised

land of Israel, they

still see themselves in

exile.

Yes, by the

providence of God, by

the faithfulness of God,

a remnant of Israel has

physically returned to the

land.

But Israel never gets

back to its height of

power and independence as

she experienced like when

King David ruled.

Instead, different nations

rule over Israel and kings

like Herod can do this to

them.

How evil and how wrong.

You even get a sentiment of

this, or you even get a

hint of this sentiment and

the opening genealogy of the

book.

You read of the historical

marker, key historical

marker that they departed

to Babylon, the

deportation of Babylon, but

we never read that they've

returned.

So they continue to wonder

who will be the one to

stop our mother Rachel's

tears.

years.

But they misunderstood two

big things about their

exile.

The why and the when of

their exile.

The why they were exiled out

of the promised land, not

because of a lack of political

power, not because a lack of a

political Messiah, but because

of their sin.

And then the when, the reality

is their exile has started

long, long ago.

In fact, even when Adam and

Eve were around, because

their exile started when they

were cast out of the Garden

of Eden because of their sin.

This is the capital E exile that

Jesus has come to deliver us

from, sinners like you and me.

We've all been exiled out of

the presence of a holy God.

How did he do this for us?

Galatians 3.13, Paul writes,

Christ redeemed us from the

curse of the law by becoming a

curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is

everyone who is hanged on a

tree.

The idea of being cursed, he's

quoting Deuteronomy here.

The idea of being cursed is

synonymous to being exiled,

spit out from the land.

And so Paul is seeing that on

the cross tree, Jesus experiences

the greatest curse of being

exiled from his holy father.

The relationship that he enjoyed

for eternity's past, before the

foundation of the world, he was

exiled.

Because he took on all of our

sin, all of our heinous sin was

imputed upon Christ.

Christ became this curse.

He voluntarily walked into his

exile, this capital E exile,

because he knew that this was the

only way for sinners to ever come

back into the presence of God.

But Christ, and we sang about this

earlier, in his perfection and

glory, could not remain exiled,

could not stay dead.

But he would defeat the curse of

the exile.

In his resurrection, he sets an

example for us, our future hope of

our resurrection, of our returning

from exile, our full restoration in

heaven, where we will be God's

people and he will be our God.

And there we will dwell with him as

we should, as we were intended for

10,000 years and for 10,000 more.

Therefore, Christmas, it's marking the

beginning of the end.

The beginning of the end of our

exile.

We're making it back to the garden

through this little infant child, this

tiny little baby.

So you guys know, I just had a kid

and I spent this entire Advent season

just marveling how Jesus looked like

my son, Theodore.

The most unexpected leader.

He expects, or he sets up new

expectations for us.

So we come to the third and final

passage, or section of our passage,

where Jesus returns from Egypt, now

officially fulfilling the earlier stated

prophecy, Hosea 11.1.

He's finally out of Egypt, back into

Israel.

And he does this by fulfilling his

promise by appearing to Joseph at the

promised time when Herod died.

Throughout scripture, God has never once

reneged on his promises.

Not once.

From Adam to Abraham, from Joshua to

Joseph, from Eve to Ezra, God has always

been true to his word.

So why would he fail Joseph now?

He's precisely at the right timing.

So when Herod dies, he calls him through

this angel, through another dream.

Because Herod has died.

Witness the great reversal.

The powerful, reigning King Herod has

died.

The weak, small King Jesus has lived.

Once again, Joseph follows the angels'

commands to a T.

Again, because Matthew has that repetition,

that exact repetition.

And naturally, upon his arrival, upon his

return, Joseph likely considered going

first to Bethlehem, the place where

Jesus was born.

But there's only one problem with that.

And his name is Archelaus, the son of

Herod.

Even with Herod gone, the enemies of

Jesus still linger.

And we're going to see that throughout

his story.

Once Herod died, parts of his kingdom

were split up between his three sons.

And Archelaus took over Judea and Samaria.

And history records show that the Jews

were no fans of this king.

Ancient Jewish historian Josephus records

that when he began his reign, Archelaus

massacred some 3,000 Jews at Passover,

one of the most revered events for the Jew.

He was even too cruel for Rome.

So he kicked them off.

Rome kicked them off his throne in 6 AD,

citing his tyranny, citing his evil.

And they replaced him with one prefect,

a Pontius Pilate.

Not only did Joseph's fatherly instincts

lead him away from Judea, but he was directed

in another dream to withdraw to Galilee.

So Jesus directs his family to the town

Nazareth, a town that's 70 miles north

of his birthplace, Bethlehem.

And why Israel, or why Nazareth?

According to Luke, this is really where

Joseph and Mary were when they were betrothed

before they had baby Jesus.

So they should be well familiar with this town

as well.

These changes in plan were all to fulfill

our third and final prophecy.

And this one is unlike the others.

It's unique because in Matthew,

there's not a single passage where he doesn't,

or all the passages he quotes directly

from one particular verse in the Old Testament.

But here he's not directly quoting a passage

in the Old Testament.

The word Nazarene, the word Nazareth,

it never comes up once in the Old Testament.

It's fascinating.

Instead, it seems like Matthew is collaging together

multiple prophecies.

You'll see that literary clue in verse 23

when Matthew uses the plural prophets

instead of the singular prophet

like he does in all the other times.

What then are these prophecies

that Matthew is collaging?

Some think that Matthew is having,

or making a play on words.

They see the Greek word Nazareth or Nazarene

connected to the Hebrew word Natsar,

which means branch or root.

And so then you can hear,

if you're familiar with the Old Testament,

the fulfillment of prophecies like Isaiah 11,

which reads,

there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit,

and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

This is entirely a plausible interpretation,

and it might not be mutually exclusive either,

but I tend to agree more with those

who see that Matthew is not seeing

the fulfillment of this prophecy

necessarily in the specific name

or in the place of Nazareth,

but rather what Nazareth represents.

Calling Nazareth a city in verse 23

is likely not the best translation

because when we hear of the word city,

we think of bustling metropolitan areas

and gatherings of people

pushing the bounds of culture and advancement.

But no, by those standards,

Nazareth was no city.

It was a small rural village

with less than 500 people.

Moreover, Nazareth was in the region of Galilee,

not in the region of Judea.

And back then,

Judeans looked down upon the Galileans.

Judeans were much more politically correct today,

for better, for worse,

for better.

But it's much like how the Civil War era,

right, during the Union South,

or the Union North, rather,

looked down upon the Confederate South.

They compared them to savage wilderness,

a second-class citizenry,

and an outdated culture.

Like this, the Judeans had their noses in the air,

and they scoffed at the idea of their Messiah King

coming from a place like Galilee.

On top of that,

it also seems like Nazareth has a particular reputation

within the region of Galilee itself.

One of Jesus' disciples, Nathaniel,

upon hearing that Jesus is from Nazareth,

and mind you, Nathaniel, he's from Cana,

he's a Galilean too.

But then when he hears that Jesus is from Nazareth,

he says,

can anything good come out of Nazareth?

If Nathaniel, a Galilean himself,

reacted this way to Jesus the Nazarene,

imagine what Judeans,

imagine what the Pharisees thought,

that their savior king,

their future king,

came from this dirty, lowly Nazareth.

So then the words,

he shall be called a Nazarene,

it relates more to prophecies

revolving Jesus' rejection,

his obscurity.

Prophecies like Isaiah 53,

which predicts that the suffering servant

will be without form or majesty,

that we should look at him,

that he will be despised and rejected by men.

Now all this shows that God does not need

to play the games of man

to make sure that Jesus is well-respected,

well-liked, popular.

Why would God need to fear the opinions of man?

He doesn't abide by the rules

of our man-made beauty contests

to make sure that Jesus can save us from our sin.

No, God deliberately sends Jesus to Nazareth

to be raised there of all places

to overturn all of man's expectations.

And see, this world never really stopped

looking down on Jesus, have they?

The arrogance and the smugness

of the Judeans and the Pharisees

has just continued right along

throughout church history.

And in our world today,

there are plenty of those

who think that they're just a little too sophisticated,

just a little too educated

to believe,

to think and accept

that Jesus is their Lord and Savior.

It's just too beneath them.

Now,

as I close,

I ask,

does that attitude rub off on you?

Do you pause?

Do your hands get a little clammy

whenever the topic of religion

comes up with your coworkers?

Do you feel embarrassed?

Are you ashamed of this Christ,

this Nazarene?

I confess I've struggled with this.

But we have to remember

that as Paul wrote,

God chose what is foolish in this world

to despise or to shame the wise.

God chose what is weak in the world

to shame the strong.

God chose what is low

and despised in the world,

even things that are not,

to bring to nothing things that are,

so that no human being

might boast in the presence of God.

God,

no other name

by which we must be saved

but the name of Jesus.

Only his name

that has been given to men

we can be saved from and by.

Christian,

no matter how much

they slander his name,

no matter how much

the world's smugness discourages you

or tempts you to belittle

or be embarrassed,

never be ashamed

to stand by

and to confess this name.

It's our highest

and greatest honor

to stand by Jesus.

Only this Nazarene

is the foretold Messiah,

fulfilling hundreds

of centuries-old prophecy.

Only this Nazarene

has come to release us

from the bondage

of our sin and death

and to bring us back

from exile.

Only this Nazarene

is the true

and better Israel

who has come

to fix all the stuff

that we have gotten wrong.

Praise be to God.

Pray with me.

Lord,

we look to you,

Lord Jesus,

again,

depending upon your strength.

My words are weak.

My words are insufficient,

but you are strong.

You are able.

You are strong, God.

So we look to you

in humble dependence.

Help us to remember you

and make much of you

in our lives.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.