On The Road Again: The King in Exile
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted
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WELCOME
Good morning family.
Psalm 145:13b-14—The Lord is faithful in all His words and kind in all His works. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
Have you been faithless?
Do you feel like you’re falling down?
Have you already fallen? Does your soul feel bowed down, doubled-over on the floor?
Good news!
We’re not here because we’re faithful, but because He is.
God loves helping falling, bowed down, broken-down people.
In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 2:13. Turn there now.
While you’re turning, 3 quick announcements:
1) A word about PBC. We are Disciples.
A disciple is a follower of Jesus
If there’s one thing followers of Jesus can’t get enough of, it’s encouragement
Hebrews 10:25 says gatherings like this help us encourage one another!
2) Q&A with elder candidate Bubba Jones, tonight at 5:30
3) Special Members Meeting—9/26 at 5:30
Voting on Chuck Quilhot as deacon of finance, Bubba Jones as elder, new constitution
Members Meeting packets with info about each item at the blue flag
Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 2:13 as my favorite PBC member comes to read for us.
Scripture Reading (Matthew 2:13-23), Holly Boutot
Prayer of Praise (God is relational)
Awesome is the Lord Most High
Praise to the Lord the Almighty
Prayer of Confession (Divisiveness), Chris Berlin
Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
New City Catechism #38
Pastoral Prayer (John Rogers)
SERMON
On December 18, 2015 the force awakened.
After a decade of Star Wars silence, the first installment of a new trilogy of films opened in the United States.
The Force Awakens was a smashing success
It became the highest grossing film of 2015, even though it released only a week before Christmas
It eventually became the fourth-highest grossing film of all time, earning well over $2 billion at the worldwide box office
Both critics and fans loved it
It was certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes and today remains the second-highest ranked movie in the Star Wars franchise, behind only The Empire Strikes Back
What made The Force Awakens so successful?
There’s a number of reasons we could list. For example the film didn’t have anybody named Jar Jar Binks.
But perhaps the most important reason was that the film was new but not unique.
If you were new to the Star Wars universe (as my children were when they watched it) you found a fast-paced space adventure that was fun to watch and easy to follow. You didn’t have to be a Star Wars nerd to find something in the movie to love.
But if you were a long-time Star Wars fan, the story had a richness and a depth that was inescapable. The plot, the characters, the dialogue, even some of the action sequences had unmistakable callbacks to earlier films.
It was new, but not unique. It was a new story that connected to an old story in an attempt to complete it.[1]
A similar thing is happening in the Gospel of Matthew.
The Apostle Matthew wants us to see the story of Jesus as new but not entirely unique.
It’s a new story that connects to an old story and completes it.
Turn to Matthew 2
Just after the visit from the magi, we see a young family forced to become refugees as they flee a bloodthirsty king
Three scenes in this story
And in them we see...
THREE WAYS Jesus connects to and completes the Old Testament story
1) Jesus Inaugurates a New & Better Exodus
1) Jesus Inaugurates a New & Better Exodus
1500 years before our story in Bethlehem, the Bible tells of another bloodthirsty king.
Like Herod, he was paranoid that the Jewish people were threatening his power
Like Herod, he concocted a bloodthirsty plan to keep his throne
Like Herod, the plan involved slaughtering baby boys
And just like in today’s story, God intervened to save the life of one baby boy
That baby boy, named Moses, would eventually deliver God’s people out of slavery in Egypt
Matthew believes that exodus was actually pointing to a new and better exodus, inaugurated by Jesus Himself...
2:13-15a—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.
Just like Moses was a fugitive from Pharaoh, Jesus is a fugitive from Herod.
But Matthew has more in mind here than a few parallels between Moses and Jesus’ birth stories.
Matthew wants to show us that Jesus has come to do something like what Moses did. Only better.
This is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it.
2:15b—This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”
Is there a prophecy that God would deliver His Son, Jesus, out of Egypt?
Not exactly.
Hosea 11:1—When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
In context, it’s clear that Hosea is writing about Israel’s exodus from bondage in Egypt.
So what is Matthew doing?
The key is in the word “fulfill”
Major word in Matthew, used three times in today’s text and sixteen times in the gospel, more than any other gospel writer
One major Matthew scholar argues that “fulfillment” is the theme of the entire gospel [2]
Patrick Schreiner—“‘Fulfill’ has a variety of meanings, and in different contexts certain aspects might be highlighted. Yet largely, we can say that it means that Jesus fills up Jewish history.... all things are brought to fruition in and through Jesus.” [3]
Think of it like this.
Imagine you’re one of those coffee drinkers that take your coffee with flavored cream.
Your mug is about half full with coffee.
But your coffee isn’t complete. Not only is the mug not full, but the drink isn’t yet what it’s meant to be. It’s a shadow of what it’s supposed to be.
Then you add the cream. Not only do you fill up your mug, but you enhance its contents.
Adding the cream doesn’t utterly transform the coffee. It doesn’t change it to tea or Kool-Aid.
But it does change it to a degree. In your mind, it enhances the coffee by making it what it was always meant to be in the first place.
Your coffee has been fulfilled by the flavored cream.
Not a perfect illustration (after all, we are talking about adding flavored creamer to your coffee) but it does help.
Jesus fulfills OT prophecy the same way that creamer fulfills your coffee. He completes it, and enhances it.
He doesn’t turn the OT into something that it wasn’t, but He enhances it by revealing what it was always meant to be in the first place.
How does that help us understand Matthew’s use of Hosea?
Hosea isn’t predicting Joseph and Mary’s escape to Egypt.
But if you read the context, you can see that Hosea is concerned. Because even though God’s people were once delivered from Egypt, they’re still in bondage. Not to Egypt, but to sin.
So Hosea predicts a future exodus when a Lion will come to rescue God’s people from another type of bondage.
Hosea 11:10-11—They shall go after the LORD; He will roar like a lion; when He roars, His children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.
Matthew is telling us the Lion is here!
Like Moses, He’s a deliver who will rescue God’s people from bondage.
Not bondage to Pharaoh, but to sin
But although this exodus is similar to the one led by Moses, it’s different. The Lion who will save God’s people from bondage is also a lamb.
1 Corinthians 5:7b—...Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
1 Peter 1:18-19—you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
The story of Jesus is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it. Jesus inaugurates a new and better exodus.
Let’s stick with Jesus and his family for now and move to verse 19. We’ll circle back later to see what happens in Bethlehem.
Beginning in verse 19 we’ll see ...
2) Jesus Inaugurates a New & Better Kingdom
2) Jesus Inaugurates a New & Better Kingdom
A few hundred years before the exodus, Jacob is lying on his deathbed in Egypt. Knowing he’s near the end of his life, he gathers his twelve sons so he can bless them and prophesy over them before he dies.
Twelve men appear before their father, but only one son is promised a kingdom. Not Reuben, the firstborn. Not Joseph or Benjamin, his favorites.
In a twist that only makes sense if it’s God Himself leading Jacob, the dying man promises that a kingdom will come from the line of Judah...
Genesis 49:10—“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”
Not only will Judah’s heir be a king with a scepter, but all nations will bow before Him.
For nearly 1000 years this promise seemed forgotten. Until a little baby was born in the little town of Bethlehem.
That baby was David, and he would become the greatest king Israel ever had.
Near the end of his life, God repeated that long-forgotten promise to David
2 Samuel 7:12-13—“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."
Perhaps some thought David’s son, Solomon, would be this promised forever king.
But Solomon’s heart was quickly led astray.
Solomon’s son divided the kingdom
Within a few hundred years the kingdom was completed destroyed
But God had not forgotten His people and He hadn’t forgotten His promise.
Matthew believes those old promises were actually pointing to a new and better kingdom, inaugurated by Jesus Himself...
2:19-22—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.
Herod’s dead, another king has taken his place
Joseph and the family don’t want to return to Judea where Herod’s son ruled
Matthew wants us to see that God is sovereign in all this! He’s using this to fulfill a prophecy...
2:23—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.
There is no quote like this anywhere in the Old Testament. What is Matthew talking about?
Hint: “spoken by the prophets”
Matthew doesn’t have a specific prophecy in mind, but a theme throughout the prophets
What theme? The answer comes in the name of the town, Nazareth.
SHOW NAZARETH BRANCH IMAGE
Andreas Kostenberger—“Although it is impossible to know with certainty the original meaning of the Hebrew name Nazareth... it likely was quite closely related to “branch” (ntzr), and an English translation might very well render it “Branchville” or “Branchtown.” [4]
If you know the Old Testament, that word “branch” ought to remind you of something...
Isaiah 11:1—There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Jeremiah 23:5—“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Matthew is telling us the Branch is here!
Like David, He’s a king who will lead a glorious kingdom.
But although this kingdom is similar to the one led by David, it’s different.
This will be a kingdom that transcends nationality and ethnicity. It’s a kingdom without flags and borders. It’s a kingdom that spreads not by force but by faith.
The story of Jesus is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it. Jesus inaugurates a new and better kingdom.
As amazing as all this is, there’s a problem.
If Jesus inaugurates a new and better exodus, why am I still so messed up?
Why do I still feel like a slave to my sin? Shouldn’t I feel more free?
If Jesus inaugurates a new and better kingdom, why is this world so messed up?
Why do I still feel like a citizen of a slum? Shouldn’t I feel less pain?
The key is in that word “inaugurated”
Jesus inaugurates a new and better exodus and a new and better kingdom.
To inaugurate is to begin something, not to complete it.
For the United States, Inauguration Day represents the swearing in of a president for four years in office. It marks the beginning of a new era for American politics.
Our exodus from slavery to sin has already begun, but it is not yet complete. That won’ t happen until we see Jesus and sin no more.
Our citizenship in the new kingdom has already begun, but it is not yet complete. That won’t happen until we are with Jesus forever.
How can I be sure that Jesus will really keep His promises?
What if He doesn’t complete the exodus?
What if He doesn’t restore the kingdom?
We’ll find our answer to that question in an unlikely place. We’ll find it amidst the sound of inconsolable weeping in Bethlehem.
There we’ll see that we can trust Jesus to finish what He started because...
3) Jesus Establishes a New & Better Covenant
3) Jesus Establishes a New & Better Covenant
In the final scene of our story, the Spirit highlights a tragedy in Bethlehem.
Often called “The Massacre of the Innocents”
Some see this story as a myth because no other historical records talk about it
Most Bible scholars believe it was only several dozen babies (Bethlehem was a small village)
I say “only” not to minimize the tragedy, but to explain why extrabiblical histories of Herod are silent on this event.
When a ruthless and violent king like Herod kills his mom or his sons, the ancient news media pays attention.
But when a few dozen baby boys are slaughtered in Bethlehem it’s not newsworthy.
But God sees. And He records it for us in Scripture...
2:16—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.
Put yourself in the people’s shoes for a second.
A young mom, gives birth to a baby. She smiles when she hears it’s a boy.
She feeds him, sings to him, changes him, and smells his head when he sleeps.
Her heart expands as he learns to roll over. Then crawl. Then walk.
She smiles when he smiles, laughs when he laughs, and cries when he cries.
She loves her baby boy and cannot imagine the world without him.
Until one day, without warning, there are soldiers at the door. Under Herod’s orders they take her baby boy and put him to death.
Where is God when tragedies like this happen?
God is sovereign, even over this suffering.
There is hope, even amidst this horror.
Once again, this is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it.
2:17-18—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.”
What’s going on here?
Turn to Jeremiah 31
Matthew is pulling together several threads from this chapter to make one beautiful tapestry
Three Threads:
Rachel
In Genesis 35, Rachel gives birth to a son named Benjamin.
But Rachel weeps because the delivery will soon take her life.
Jacob buries her in Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem.
So even though Rachel is long gone by the time Jeremiah prophesies, he references her poetically as a mother in the faith.
Ramah
SHOW ISRAEL MAP
This is a city about six miles north of Jerusalem.
Connected to Rachel because it was part of the territory of her son Benjamin.
But it’s also the place where God’s people were taken away into exile.
Rachel’s descendants are weeping because her children have been taken away.
But there’s a third, surprising thread in Jeremiah 31...
Rejoicing
Surprisingly, even though the passage Matthew quotes is about sadness, the chapter is about rejoicing...
Jeremiah 31:13—“Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
It’s strange for Jeremiah to write about so much rejoicing
He’s sometimes called the weeping prophet
He wrote Lamentations
He witnessed the carnage in Jerusalem in 586 B.C., the destruction of the temple, and saw the last of Judah’s kings
He’s writing during the exile
Why is Jeremiah calling on God’s people to rejoice?
Jeremiah 31:31-34—“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, 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. 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. 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.”
God will put His law within us, by the Spirit (therefore we’ll all know Him intimately)
God will forgive our sin and remember it no more (it’s penalty will be completely paid)
Now we see why Matthew quotes this passage in Jeremiah:
Just as God brought hope and the promise of a new covenant out of the horrors of exile...
God will bring hope and the presence of a new covenant out of the horrors of what happened in Bethlehem
How can I know for sure? How can I trust Him?
The Father didn’t rescue Jesus from Bethlehem to save Him from death. Jesus was rescued so He could be saved for death.
Jesus must live a sinless life, fulfilling all righteousness well into His adulthood.
He must die a sinner’s death, not as a victim of Herod’s sword but of Pilate’s cross.
Because in His death He will inaugurate a new and better covenant. If God breaks His promise to you, Christian, than Jesus died for nothing!
The story of Jesus is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it. Jesus establishes a new and better covenant.
I was thinking about The Force Awakens this morning, and it occurred to me that whether you were a newbie watching Star Wars for the first time, or a lifelong fan enjoying all the callbacks to previous films, at the end of the movie it really didn’t matter.
Because Star Wars doesn’t demand a response.
God’s Word is different.
How should we apply what we’ve learned today?
Come to Jesus.
Do you feel enslaved by your sin? Only Jesus can set you free
Do you feel frustrated by your failure to achieve the greatness you feel like you were made for? Only Jesus can give you a kingdom that lasts forever.
How? Repent.
[Go to the white flag]
To the Christians in the room...
Cling to Jesus.
Sometimes you’re going to feel like a slave.
Sometimes you’re going to feel like there is no kingdom.
Sometimes you’re going to suffer such immense pain you’ll refuse to be comforted.
Take comfort, child.
From the very beginning of His earthly life, to look like Jesus was to suffer with Him.
The same Father who welcomed the victims of Herod’s sword will welcome you. Not because you deserve it, but because you are in Christ. And God always keeps His promises.
IF YOU HAVE TIME...
But what if I mess this up?
Dane Ortlund—“We cannot present a reason for Christ to finally close off his heart to his own sheep. No such reason exists. Every human friend has a limit. If we offend enough, if a relationship gets damaged enough, if we betray enough times, we are cast out. The walls go up. With Christ, our sins and weaknesses are the very resumé items that qualify us to approach him. Nothing but coming to him is required—first at conversion and a thousand times thereafter until we are with him upon death.” [5]
Cling to Jesus. But don’t stop there...
Care Like Jesus
In this story we see a glimpse of the common victims of Satan’s attacks
Runaway refugees, weeping women, and defenseless babies
Jesus’ ministry will be devoted to caring for people like this
Yes, throughout Christian history there’s plenty of shameful moments when we pandered to the powerful Herods of this world
But more often than not, Christians have been on the front lines caring for the poor, defenseless, and vulnerable
When we do these things, we connect our new stories to this old story. Not to complete it, but to share in it’s glory, it’s hope, and it’s joy.
Doxology
Benediction (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)