Matthew 2:13-23: God's Plan Involves Suffering
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bibles turn to Matthew chapter 2.
This morning ends the infancy narrative of Matthew, basically the prelude of the entire book
Matthew has introduced three major themes so far
God is Sovereign - genealogy, dreams, stars
Jesus is the promised Messiah - genealogy, son of David
Jesus is King not just of the Jews, but of the whole world - The 5 mothers, the pagan Magi
Matthew 2:13–23 (ESV)
13 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.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 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.”
16 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. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “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.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 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.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 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. 23 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.
Let’s pray.
Teaching the Text
Teaching the Text
A. Flight to Egypt (vv. 13-15)
A. Flight to Egypt (vv. 13-15)
13 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.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 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.”
Dream-warning by the angel (v. 13)
Appearance to Joseph
Command to flee to Egypt
Second time Joseph received an angelic dream-warning
Emphasis on God’s revelation and Joseph’s immediate obedience
“Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him...”
Does this remind you of another biblical story?
Obedience - flight and sojourn in Egypt until the death of Herod
Fulfillment of Hosea 11:1 “1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
Matthew does something really interesting in this section. He splits it up into three mini-sections and ends each of them with an explicit reference to how Jesus fulfilled prophecy.
B. Herod Slaughters the Innocent Children (vv. 16-18)
B. Herod Slaughters the Innocent Children (vv. 16-18)
16 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. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “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.”
Herod’s anger
The murder of all boys two and under
Fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:15 “15 Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.””
Jeremiah was the weeping prophet and Matthew regularly uses him in his tragic scenes (27:9-10).
The main image here is Rachel, the mother of the Israelites, weeping over her children being taken into exile. She symbolizes the mourning of all Israel.
In the grief, there is also hope. This passage from Jeremiah comes from a larger section that is about the restoration of Israel by YHWH.
The beginning of the chapter says: Jeremiah 31:2 “2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest,”
and the verses immediately following the quoted prophecy say: Jeremiah 31:16-17 “16 Thus says the Lord: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future, declares the Lord...”
In fact, Jeremiah 31:31-34 is all about the new covenant that God will make with His people, the covenant that would be brought about through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ
“31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.””
ii. Like Israel, the child will be brought back from His exile and bring new hope with him.
C. The Holy Family Returns to Nazareth (vv. 19-23)
C. The Holy Family Returns to Nazareth (vv. 19-23)
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 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.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 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. 23 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.
The Angel Appears in a Dream
Appearance to Joseph
The third angelic appearance to Joseph
Command to bring the family back to Israel
Obedience - Return to Israel
Second Dream-Warning and move to Nazareth
Fear of Herod’s son Archelaus
withdrawal to Galilee
Settlement in Nazareth
Luke tells us that Nazareth was once the home of both Mary and Joseph, so settling back there was a fairly easy choice
Fulfillment of Isaiah 11:1 “1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”
This is an interesting usage of prophetic writings.
Not found in the OT
Most likely is a combination of multiple prophetic writings, rather than a direct quotation from a single source
Most likely is a combination of two things
A person from Nazareth, a “Nazarene”, was considered to be from a small, backwards part of the world.
Calling someone a Nazarene would be similar to calling someone a hillbilly, or a redneck, today.
This is what was meant by Nathaniel’s words (recorded in John 1:46) when he heard about Jesus. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
So Jesus was despised and rejected like the prophets of old
Matthew uses a wordplay that was common to Jewish Rabbis to make a point to his Jewish audience (remember that Matthew wrote his Gospel to the Jewish people)
nazoraios - “Nazarene”
nezer - “branch” Isaiah 11:1 “1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”
Final Points
Final Points
1. Jesus’ Fulfillment and Perfection of all the Imperfect Leaders of God’s People
1. Jesus’ Fulfillment and Perfection of all the Imperfect Leaders of God’s People
Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22 “22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:45 “45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
Adam and Jesus are the only two men who were supernaturally given life
Jacob
The battle for blessing and inheritance between Jacob and Esau continues in the “battle” for kingship between Jesus and Herod.
Herod was the son of Antipater, who was an Edomite (a descendant of Esau). He had no right to the throne of Israel because he wasn’t an Israelite! Herod was attempting to steal back the blessing and inheritance of being the people of God by becoming the king over Israel. He knew he was not the rightful king and that is a major reason he was so threatened by the birth of Jesus. The rightful inheritor of the blessings of the people of the LORD, the true and better Jacob, was coming to claim his stolen crown!
Where did Jacob (Israel) turn to when he and his family were in danger of death by starvation? Egypt, where he and his family had had a place prepared for them by the Sovereign hand of God causing Jacob’s son Joseph to be taken there in slavery.
If Joseph had not been sold into slavery, there would have been no nation to come from Jacob’s offspring and there would have been no Jesus.
Moses
Just the Pharoah tried to end the blessings to the Israelites by killing a whole generation of males in Moses’ time, Herod tried to end the blessing to the Israelites (and to the world!) by killing a whole generation of males in Jesus’ time.
Just as Moses was saved by being adopted and raised in Egypt, Jesus was saved by His family escaping to and raising Him in Egypt.
Nation of Israel
Instead of the long history Israel had with bringing pagan gods into their worship, we saw last week that Jesus is bringing pagan worshippers in to worship the One True God.
David
In verse 6 (which we read last week), Matthew quotes Micah 5:2 talking about how the Messiah will be a ruler who also is a shepherd. Who does this bring to mind? David!
Don’t you see? Jesus is the promised one! The one who would defeat the snake in ways that NONE of his ancestors could!
2. Evil is Rampant in our World
2. Evil is Rampant in our World
This passage introduces another major theme in this passage to add to the previous 3 we have spoken about
God is Sovereign
Jesus is the promised Messiah
Jesus is King not just of the Jews, but of the whole world
And now, he is introducing the theme of Evil being rampant in our world
The new kingdom that Christ is bringing will be in constant opposition to the rampant wickedness as we can see in Herod
This is most clear in the crucifixion of Christ, being sentenced to death by wicked people
The world is characterized by evil
Don’t expect it to be otherwise
Why would the world act like Christians? Why would we expect it to?
It is good and right for us to actively stand against sinful practices that lead to the destruction of our humanity, like the denial of right and wrong in things like abortion, sexual practices, and whatever other wicked practices our culture decides is good
But we can’t let these issues dominate us. Complete eradication of all sin in our lifetime can’t let that be the only thing we stand for.
We have to recognize that until Christ returns, evil will always be surrounding us.
The best response is not picketing (though it does have its place as a response), but rather the proclamation of the Gospel
Someone who is lost in wickedness shouldn’t be expected to act like a child of God
How does one become a child of God? Through believing the Gospel when it is proclaimed to them
How will they hear the Gospel? Someone has to tell them.
Expect opposition and prepare yourself for it
But don’t prepare in a way that is focused on winning an argument
Prepare in a way that is marked with a belief in the true words of Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes
Prepare to face opposition by believing the Gospel and then by letting its implications overflow into your conversations and actions
3. God takes care of His Children
3. God takes care of His Children
God is Sovereign. We’ve been seeing that for weeks now through the Gospel of Matthew and we see it again today
Joseph’s dreams make it abundantly clear that God is not surprised by the evil plans of Herod and the LORD intervenes
Maybe you are here this morning and you are a deist - that means you believe in God but He’s just the great cosmic watchmaker who made a watch, wound it up, and then stepped away to let the watch run completely on its own without any further intervention.
If that defines how you view God, then this passage (and really all of the Bible) is a direct contradiction to your beliefs
God clearly intervenes against evil plots to try to spoil His overarching plan for the redemption of the world, and the greatest evidence of this is Jesus Christ himself!
Nothing happens that is outside of God’s larger plan
God has always had a plan and He has always worked to ensure that plan came to fruition
Sometimes that means saving His people from hardship and sometimes that means allowing His people to endure hardship
This means that if you are a child of God and you are facing hardships you can still rejoice in knowing that God is working all things together for His purposes… And His purposes are GOOD for you and for the world
This reality, that the LORD uses hardships to bring about His purposes, first became real to me almost a decade ago when the LORD stopped me from chasing my dreams
Brain surgery
flight to Haiti
Isaiah’s seizures
Lord’s Supper
Lord’s Supper
The Bible gives us some important things to think about when we take the Lord’s Supper
If you are not a Christian, or have contention with a Christian brother or sister
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
We are told to look:
backward to Christ’s body and blood given for us at the cross
outward to celebrate the family bond we share with brothers and sisters in Christ in our local church
upward to realize we’re lifted up to be seated with Jesus our heavenly host, the one to whom we bring our hungry hearts for nourishment with the grace of the new covenant
inward to examine our hearts to ensure we’re walking in faith and repentance, and living with love for our brothers and sisters in Christ
forward to wait in hope for the glorious day when we will celebrate the fulfillment of all God’s promises at his heavenly banquet
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.