Journey to Nazareth
Roadtrip to the Manger • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 views3 ways that Jesus is the perfect substitute for you!
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Jesus as a representative
Jesus as a representative
Jesus is the high point of Christianity.
Our religion is named after Him.
He is the Christ.
We aim to give Him glory.
He is who our songs are about.
We have entire seasons dedicated to His birth and His death.
Lately, we’ve talked a lot about His nature and how He is now.
He’s in a glorified state.
We’ve talked about His sovereignty, and how He is over all things.
All things were created through Him, by Him and for Him.
We’ve talked about His future.
We look forward to His return, His kingdom, His reign on earth.
Within Christianity we talk about the death of Christ.
He stood in our place condemned.
He received all of our sins.
He was punished in our place.
We are reminded of that each week during communion.
We talk about Him being our representative.
A fun theological term is penal substitutionary atonement.
Penal - this has to do with law, and the penalty for breaking it.
We have sinned against God, and deserve the consequences of that lawbreaking, of sin.
Substitutionary - We broke the law, but He was a substitute in our place.
He received what we deserved.
He stood in our place.
His death was our death.
Atonement.
Sins were completely removed.
They were paid for.
They weren’t deferred to a later date.
If Christ died for you, you don’t have to suffer anytime in purgatory or limbo.
To be absent from the body is to be immediately in the presence of the Lord.
The balance of your sin debt was removed.
This means that for those Jesus died for, their sins are completely removed, and they are now friends of God.
At complete peace with God.
The death of Christ was the high point.
He received all of our sins.
Jesus lived for 33 years, and then was nailed to a cruel Roman cross, where He suffered and died.
The question sometimes comes up, why did have to live at all?
Why did it take Him 33 years?
He was punished in our place.
Couldn’t He have simply gone straight to the cross.
Why did He even have to die?
Couldn’t God just forgive our sins?
The answer is Jesus spent 33 years as a human because He was our representative.
Our sins, called for our death.
And for Jesus to die our death, He had to be one of us.
He had to not only be fully God, but He also had to be fully man as well.
He was fully man and fully God.
He had 2 natures.
This is called the hypostatic union.
One man.
2 natures.
A human nature.
A divine nature.
says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
That passage says that He emptied Himself.
He humbled Himself.
His humility was not that He became less God.
He has always been fully God.
When He was on the earth, He was fully God.
It’s that He became human.
It was a humility by addition.
Think for a moment of the glory of Christ.
He is eternal.
He is uncreated.
Think of how the first 3 chapters of Revelation described him.
Feet of bronze.
Eyes of fire.
All seeing.
All knowing.
What would be the most humiliating thing to happen to someone of that magnitude and power?
It would be for that person to become human.
To experience what you and I have to experience.
To put on mortality.
To experience weakness.
To be able to bleed.
To be able to die.
Jesus humbled Himself by putting on humanity, and that His humanity began in the same way that everyone else’s began, began by entering humanity as a child.
Today we will be in a familiar part of the Christmas story, .
We will see 3 ways that Jesus was the perfect representative.
We will see 3 ways that He humbled Himself.
We will see 3 ways that you can better thank Christ for what He did.
Let’s read .
Read .
As we look at this text, let me give you a little background on Matthew.
Matthew was a tax collector.
Tax collectors were hated within Israel.
They were seen as turn coats, and traitors.
They were hated as the worst of all people.
In the first century, Israel was not free, they were under Roman occupation and government.
The Roman government required taxes, so they used Jewish people to collect taxes from the people, but no real restrictions were given to these tax collectors.
This meant that they could take as much as they wanted from their fellow Jews, and the people had to comply.
These tax collectors had no true loyalty to their own people.
They were traitors.
They didn’t care about their Jewish brothers and sisters.
They didn’t care about putting too heavy of a burden on them.
They were in it for themselves.
They were in it for the money.
And Matthew, was one of these tax collectors.
His conversion shows the power of the Holy Spirit and the complete change that happens to a person when he becomes a Christian.
They were seen as turn coats, and traitors.
Where previously, he was in it for himself.
Now he was in it for Christ.
They were hated as the worst of all people.
Each of the Gospels brings with it a unique perspective, and Matthew’s Gospel brings with it the idea that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised King.
Where before, he had no true loyalty to Israel, the religion or her past.
Christianity completely changed his life.
Conversion meant he made a complete 180.
He changed directions.
His Gospel shows the truth of Israel.
He writes to show that the prophecies were true.
He previously refused them, but now they are true.
And His gospel shows that.
He repeatedly explains how Jesus’ actions fulfilled prophecy.
As we look at this text, there are 3 events, and in these 3 events, Matthew makes sure that we know how they fulfill prophecy.
And if they fulfill prophecy, then you can be sure that Jesus is the Christ and He can be trusted in.
First, Jesus is our Representative as an Infant.
First, Jesus is our Representative as an Infant.
Our passage begins just after the famous 3 wise men.
There are the magi who come to Jesus and bring him gifts.
Verse 13 picks up right after they leave.
It says after they left, an “angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.”
In this text, there is a formula.
There will be a dream, and then Matthew will show that whatever happened was a fulfilment of a prophecy.
God brings a message to Joseph in a dream.
This isn’t a dream like you and I experience.
This is not a product of the subconscious mind, or his imagination.
This is a supernatural form of communication.
The message is urgent.
The angel tells Joseph.
Rise
Take the child
and his mother.
The child is of the utmost importance.
The angel says “flee to Egypt.”
“Pheugo”
Flee.
It’s where we get the word “fugitive” from.
There is no time to delay.
This is urgent.
Herod, who is the current king, has heard that a child has been born in Bethlehem who is heir to the throne.
This was Herod the Great.
He was a violent man.
One person called him “The Master in the art of Assassination.”
One time he had 300 court officers slaughtered.
He murdered 2 of his wives, his mother in law, and 3 of his sons.
Something about kings, especially power hungry monarchs like Herod, is they don’t like having rivals.
When they hear of a rival, when they hear of a contender to the crown, they tend to kill that rival.
Herod hear’s of a rival, and he goes after the rival.
In a display of utter evil, he not only searched for the rival, but he killed all the boys in the region of Bethlehem that were under the age of 2.
He didn’t want to leave anything up to chance.
This shows us that the creator of the universe, the holy Jesus, the Shiloh, the one who is entitled to the throne, was vulnerable as a small child.
Jesus didn’t come as Hercules.
He didn’t have skin like Superman’s that was impervious to bullets.
He came as a child.
He was under the protection of guardians.
Look at the job of Joseph.
He was to take the child and his mother.
He was a protector of Jesus first.
The creator of the universe, depended upon the protection of mortal man.
Had Joseph not listened to the message of the angel, Jesus would have died in Herod’s wrath
And that would have been the worst thing possible.
The mission of Jesus is to die, but not as a child.
The lamb of God, the savior of men; He needed to die on a Cross.
And here, you have the lamb of God, the savior of men, and He needs to make it to the Cross.
Satan didn’t want that to happen, and so he tried to use Herod, to kill Jesus as a babe.
What happens in verses 16-18 is absolutely tragic.
All the young boys in that region were killed.
Jesus understood weakness, because His arrival was in weakness, as a baby.
Satan didn’t want that to happen, and so he tried to use Herod, to kill Jesus as a babe.
Sure Jesus could have arrived on the earth as a full grown man, able to defend Himself, but then He wouldn’t have been your representative.
He would only be representing those who came to earth as full grown men, which none of us did.
If Jesus was going to represent you before God, He needed to be just like you.
says, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
We see with this dream and with Joseph, that there is a time for immediate obedience.
There are some things that cannot wait till tomorrow.
Herod was out for blood.
But suppose Joseph had waited.
Joseph was a carpenter.
He had a business.
Suppose he was in the middle of a job when the angel appeared.
What if Joseph had said, “Let me finish making some cabinets for a client, and then I’ll take the boy and his mother and flee.”?
Jesus would have died.
What happens in verses 16-18 is absolutely tragic.
There was no time to delay.
There are some things you have to act on now.
They are about life and death.
Salvation, repentance, these are some of those things.
Joseph didn’t know if he would have tomorrow, so they fled.
You don’t know if you will have tomorrow.
What conviction is the Lord giving you now? … do it today.
If it’s to repent, repent today.
If it’s to trust in Christ, trust in Christ today.
If it’s to begin reading your Bible, read today, don’t wait for the new year.
If there is something that needs to take place, do it today.
Don’t put it off for tomorrow.
Joseph took his young family and they went down to Egypt.
Maybe you are wondering, why Egypt?
That was about 400 miles away.
There had to be places closer.
Going to Egypt wasn’t as strange as you’d think.
In the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament, Egypt became a place where many Jews lived.
The Jewish population exploded there.
Egypt actually had a very large Jewish population.
There was even a Jewish temple there so that the Jews could worship.
Remember, Matthew is writing to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
He quotes , which said, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
Israel was a type, a shadow of Christ.
That was really a prophecy of Jesus.
And just as they came out of Egypt, that was a prophecy, that Jesus would come out of Egypt.
Just look at the amazing plan of God.
The prophecy is that Jesus would come from Egypt.
There’s all sorts of questions you need to ask yourself.
How does the Messiah come from Israel and Egypt?
Why does He come from Egypt?
Why would He go to Egypt?
And the answers are all found in this little passage.
He left Bethlehem to escape being killed by Herod.
Why Egypt?
He went to Egypt to escape being killed in Bethlehem under Herod.
Because there was a large Jewish community in Egypt, that was a place of refuge.
If you were a practicing Jew, wanting to practice your religion, seeking asylum - Egypt was the answer.
It made sense to go there.
And ultimately, he went to Egypt, then came out of Egypt to confirm Scripture; showing that Jesus really is the Christ.
Jesus was also Representative in Faith.
Jesus was also Representative in Faith.
Back in verse 13, Joseph was told to go to Egypt until God said otherwise.
That is a long journey to make.
Joseph didn’t know how long he would be there either.
He wasn’t sure if Egypt was a long term destination, or a short one.
Would he be there a week, or would it be for 10 years?
He was to wait for God to tell him when to leave.
But, ultimately, he becomes a picture of the faithfulness of God.
The holy family wouldn’t have to wonder how long they would be in Egypt.
They would never wonder if God had forgotten them in a foreign land.
It’s estimated that Herod died in 4 bc, which means Jesus would still have been a small child at the time.
They probably had just gotten into Egypt.
Seen the pyramids.
Done some sight seeing.
And back in Israel, Herod dies, and for a second time, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream.
He almost repeats the words that he was told the first time.
“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 once again, Joseph was obedient.
Again, we see the weakness of Jesus on display, because he lived on the provision of God.
He needed others to care for Him.
He needed parents to raise Him.
Politics affected Jesus.
He couldn’t return from Egypt, until certain political figures were gone.
Again, the one who created all things, who needed nothing - He depended on God’s faithfulness.
There’s no returning until Herod is dead.
We learn with Joseph and the family, that there is something called patient obedience.
God told them to stay in Egypt until He told them otherwise.
There is a promise there.
No timeline was given.
It’s living on faith.
It’s patiently obeying.
It’s being patient when we don’t know for how long.
And the same for us.
God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
Christ has promised that He will return.
He has promised that He is preparing a place for us.
When will you go there?
I don’t know.
Christ will either take us to Him during our lifetime, or we will die, and He will take us to Him then.
And in the meantime, we live in patient obedience to Him.
Throughout the Psalms, God has promised to be a refuge to us.
How many times?
1 time?
2 times?
3 times then you’re out?
How many times?
7 times 70.
It’s unending.
Throughout the Psalms, God has promised to be a refuge to us.
As we go through hard times, and as we suffer, the suffering is there, but we patiently wait on God.
Maybe ?
We see that with the Jesus and family.
They went to Egypt, waiting on God.
Are you suffering?
Are you overwhelmed?
Do you have enemies?
Are you stressed?
He has promised to be a refuge for your souls.
You throw yourself onto Him, and He will comfort you.
I promise you.
You are not forgotten, you are not abandoned here on planet earth.
And lastly, Christ is a Representative in Humility.
And lastly, Christ is a Representative in Humility.
You might think what could possibly be more humiliating than what He has already experienced.
He’s had to face the humility of being an infant.
He’s faced the humility of depending on others.
This humility is a position of humility.
In the Old Testament Jesus appeared to people in what is called a christophany.
It’s an Old Testament appearance of Jesus.
When a Christophany happened, when Christ appeared to people in the Old Testament, they fell to their knees in terror.
Because they knew that they had encountered the Holy God.
Joshua, fell on his face.
Samson’s parents thought they were going to die.
Now here comes Jesus, fully man, fully God.
This is the event that all of history has been waiting for.
The Emmanuel, which means, God with Us, God entering into His own creation, becoming a part of His own story.
And what is His reception?
How do people receive Him?
Not as the sovereign Lord, come to redeem.
But hated and despised.
Joseph, took his family, they left Egypt, and returned to Israel.
They didn’t return to Judea, they didn’t return to Bethlhemem, it was still dangerous there.
When Herod died, the Romans, split his kingdom into 3 states, each governed by one of his sons.
There was Philip, governed small regions.
There was Antipas, ruled over Galilee.
Which would be the northern section of Israel.
And Archelaus, ruled over Judah, and Samaria.
This was the central and southern sections of Israel.
That would have included Bethlehem.
Archelaus was not a good ruler.
He followed some of the same tendencies of his father.
He was later on found to be incompetent and exiled to what is now, modern day France.
Pontius Pilate, would end up ruling over Archelaus’ region.
And for the third time in our Christmas story, there is a dream.
This time Joseph was warned to not return to Bethlehem, where Archelaus ruled, and instead to go all the way up to Galilee, where Herod Antipas was king.
So Joseph took his family to a town called Nazareth.
And there they settled down.
And there Jesus grew up.
Taking your family and moving to Nazareth, is like saying you want to move to the bad side of town.
It’s like saying you want to raise your family in Hemet.
Normal people wouldn’t do that.
Pick a place you don’t want to be associated with, Nazareth, that’s where they moved.
Jesus would be known as a Nazarene, someone from Galilee.
Just being associated with Nazareth was an insult.
In , Philip finds Nathanael, and says, “We’ve found him who Moses talked about.”
He tells Nathanael, “We found the Messiah.”
And Nathanael says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Jesus was rejected just because of where he lived.
It would be like saying, “That person has a lot of class, he’s from Hemet.”
You wouldn’t expect the Messiah, the King of kings, and Lord of lords to come from Nazareth.
And Matthew, showing how God is true to His word, says that this is what the prophets had always said.
In fact, says, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”
That’s a prophecy about the coming of Jesus.
And how is he described?
As a shoot from a stump.
Not a magnificent redwood, with it’s branches far reaching.
But a stump.
What’s left of a mighty tree.
He’s described as a branch.
What’s a branch?
Just a small offshoot of a mighty tree.
And the Hebrew word for branch is Nezer.
Some think that the word Nazarene is connected to that word Nezer.
The prophecy about Jesus arrival is that He would come humbly.
He would come as a branch, or a stump.
Christ is not described as a mighty oak.
he’s described as a branch.
Just a branch.
A small part of tree.
Jesus is described as a righteous Branch.
Again, not a mighty redwood, but a branch.
: he’s described as a stump.
What’s a stump?
It’s what’s left of a mighty tree.
Look back at .
This is one of the clearest passages describing the sacrificial work of Jesus.
Read .
This is how Jesus came.
Not proudly.
Not in glory.
But as a small plant.
No majesty.
No beauty.
Fragile.
Despised.
Rejected.
Called a Nazarene.
This is not how the holy Christ should have come.
He is of a position of far greater importance and honor.
He’s worthy of all praise.
And yet, it’s exactly how He planned to come.
He represented us in humility.
continues in verse 4.
Read .
He who was perfect, and holy, put on humility.
He took our sins.
And He was punished in our place.
In your sins what are you?
Let’s be honest.
If you’ve lied, you are a liar.
If you have stolen, you are a thief.
If you have disobeyed God, you are a rebel.
Jesus became these things.
He represented us in humility.
He became the thing that you are ashamed to be identified with.
A sinner.
He who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we would become the righteousness of God.
Why is Jesus your perfect Savior?
Why is Jesus your perfect Savior?
Because He represented you in:
Weakness.
In faith.
And in a humble position.
What do you do with this?
Urgently obey.
Urgently trust in Him.
Patiently obey.
Trust in Him your whole life.
You’ve got to be in it for the long haul.
Worship Him who gave up all to save you.