The Figure of Advent: Jesus, the New Israel Matthew 2:13-23

- The title of this morning's message is: Jesus, the new Israel. Now you what you might be wondering to yourself: why did he call Jesus the new Israel?

- & that's a good question, & in order to begin answering that question we need to look at the key things in this passage that really jump out at us.

- For me, there are three key things that jump out of this passage, that make this passage exciting & come alive.

*- The first thing that stands out in this passage is Matthew's continued attention to the fulfillment of prophecy. (This next part is for you detail oriented people)

- The first prophecy is in verse 15, where it says: out of Egypt I have called my son. This is Hosea 11:1 and clearly has to do with Israel. Where is Matthew going with this?

- The second prophecy is of the voice in Ramah, Rachel weeping for her children, which is verse 18.  This has to do with the exile and return of Israel. Where is Matthew going with this?

- The third prophecy is found in verse 23 that he will be called a Nazarene. This prophecy is a summary of Isaiah 11:1 and Judges 13:5: Is. refers to the Branch= nezer & Judges is about  the birth of Samson who took Nazirite vows & who will save Israel from the Philistines. Notice the repetition of NZR which Matthew understands (among other things) as pointing to Nazareth.

- Now, we remember that Bible scholars tell us that Matthew was a Jew writing his gospel for Jews & that's why Matthew was so concerned about the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

- & the other thing we need to remember is that in Matthew's mind, "God will act in the future the way he acted in the past" (Evans 2012).

- & for me that's one of the things that makes this passage so exciting, knowing that God's ways & his plans don't change.

- Now, you might be wondering why I think it's exciting that God doesn't change his ways or his plans.

- Well, you see, Matthew is showing his readers that there are parallels between the life of the Messiah & the life of God's people Israel, & that God is repeating Israel's history in the life of Messiah as a sign to Israel that Jesus is the Messiah.

- Just as God led Israel down to Egypt to escape famine & certain death, so God also lead the holy family down to Egypt to escape Herod's designs for Jesus' certain death.

- Just as a new Pharaoh ordered the slaughter of Israel's baby boys, so Herod ordered the slaughter of the baby boys of Bethlehem.

- Just as God called Israel out of Egypt & brought them to the Promised Land, so also God called Messiah Jesus out of Egypt to Nazareth.

- "God will act in the future in the way he has acted in the past" (Evans 2012). That is how Matthew understands the Hebrew Scriptures & interprets them & explains how the great story of God acting in the world through Israel is being acted out again in the life of Jesus.

- I think that's exciting & it's exciting because if God acted through Israel, & then God acted through the life of Jesus in a similar way, then what does that tell us about our lives & about the church, God's new people?

- God will act in the future the way he has acted in the past.

*- Because God acted through Israel, & because God acted through Jesus, then it only stands to reason that as we seek to follow Jesus, God will act through us. That's exciting!

- Now, this brings me to the second thing that jumps out at me from the story.

- Who led Israel down to Egypt to escape famine? God did.

- Who appointed Moses to deliver God's people out of Egypt? God did. 

- Who led the holy family down to Egypt to escape Herod? God did.

- Who let the holy family know that it was safe to return to Israel? God did.

- Who is the main character, the chief actor in the account of Israel's sojourn in Egypt, their Exodus, & their conquest of the Promised Land? God is.

- Who is the main character, the chief actor in the account of the birth of Jesus? God is.

- God is the chief actor, the main character; he is the focus of this passage of Scripture.

- God is the one Matthew wants his readers to pay attention to.

* - That's the second thing that jumps out at me from this record of the birth of Jesus; that God acts; God carries out his plans.  God is at work; he is in control.

- God delivered Israel from slavery; God delivered Jesus from death.

- That brings me to the third thing that jumps out at me about this passage.

*- Because Matthew understood the Hebrew Scriptures as foreshadowing the coming Messiah, Matthew also understood God's action surrounding the birth of Jesus to be foreshadowing the new Exodus, the suffering, death, & resurrection of Jesus for the sins of the world.

- Luke's thinking about this is the same as Matthew's mainly because there is no other way to understand it.

- Listen to this scene from Luke's account of the transfiguration: And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30-31 (ESV)

- Now, what's really interesting about here is the word that's translated as "departure" in the ESV is really the Greek word, "Exodus."

- Moses & Elijah were talking to Jesus about his Exodus that he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

- What else could that possibly mean, but his suffering, death, & resurrection for the sins of the world, just as Matthew foreshadows in his birth account?

- So, just as Israel experienced an Exodus from Egypt, just as the infant Jesus experienced an Exodus from Egypt, so also the adult Jesus experienced an Exodus from this world, an Exodus of suffering, death, & resurrection, which ultimately accomplishes our Exodus from sin & death.

- God delivered Israel from slavery; God delivered Jesus from death; ultimately, God will deliver you.

- That's what Christmas is all about!

- Christmas is all about the unchanging God, who acts in the future the way he acted in the past, in order to accomplish his unchanging plans to save people from sin & death.

- That, according to Matthew, is what Christmas is all about!

- Allow me just to say one thing about the massacres of baby boys under both Pharaoh & Herod.

- Last week we talked about fear being the driving force behind Herod's decisions. It was also true of Pharaoh, & it's true of dictators & tyrants today.

- God wants us to know that the atrocities & brutalities of the bullies & dictators & tyrants of this world will one day come to an end.

- God also wants us to know that the everyday common sorrows & griefs of this world will also one day end.

- The message of the birth of Messiah Jesus stands even in the midst of sorrow, tragedy, injustice, & persecution.

- That's what Christmas is about!
- You can know that deliverance today by placing your life in Jesus hands and trusing in him.
- Romans 10:9 says, If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

*- God delivered Israel from slavery; God delivered Jesus from death; ultimately, God will deliver you.
 

The Figure of Advent, 2: Jesus, the New King Matthew 2:1-12

The Figure of Advent Two: Jesus, the New King

Matthew 2:1-12

- In the account of the birth of Jesus, Matthew deliberately sets out to contrast Jesus, who is the true king of the Jews, with Herod the Great, the Roman appointed King of the Jews.

- By setting up this contrast, Matthew is encouraging his readers to draw comparisons between Jesus and Herod.

- Matthew wants his readers to see that we can either choose the way of Herod, which is paranoia and fear in response to the birth of Jesus or we can choose the way of the Magi, which is the way of seeking out the Messiah in faith and paying him homage.

- And by setting up this comparison between Jesus and Herod, Matthew begs us to answer a question, which way will we choose, the way of Herod or the way of the Magi?

- Will we choose the way of fear or the way of faith?

- If we choose the way of fear we will fight tooth and nail to keep the power and control that we think we have and we will use whatever tactics we think are necessary to keep that power and control.

- That's what Herod did, whatever was necessary to maintain power and control. That way is the natural response of the sinner's heart.

- Herod the Great was notorious for his paranoia and jealousy. As history shows, his fear and suspicion were at the root of his murder of his wife, Mariamne, and two of his sons (Osborne, 2010).

- Let's notice Herod's immediate response to the inquiry of the Magi, where is the new born King of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose and have come to worship him.

- Herod's immediate response is one of fear. He was filled with fear over the possibility that the real anointed king of Israel might be born because the anointed king of Israel was a threat to Herod's power and control, a threat to his throne.

- Herod knew that he was only a usurper.  Also, because he was aging and his health was poor, he knew that his time on Israel's throne would one day come to an end and it terrified him.

- Herod's fear also disturbed the residents of Jerusalem, most likely because they feared how Herod would respond to this news and what kind of brutalities he would commit to protect his throne.

-While Herod was King of the Jews, he was no Jew and was ignorant of their Scriptures, which is why he called all of Jerusalem's religious leaders together not just the Sanhedrin to learn where Messiah would be born.  They told him about Micah 5:2 & 2 Samuel 5:2

- And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
    are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
    who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.

- Matthew highlights these Scriptures as a reminder to his readers that Christ will rule and that no Roman appointed ruler can take Christ's place because God himself will shepherd his people.

- The Messiah, the true king, will shepherd God's people and restore them to a right relationship with God.

- But Herod was already hatching a secret plot to rid himself of the threat of this so-called new born king of the Jews.

- He called the Magi to a secret meeting so he could ask them the exact time the star appeared, which became influential in his scheme to murder all of the male babies 2 years and under in Bethlehem.

- Let me ask a risky question: How far are we willing to let our fears take us?  How often do you operate out of a sense of fear? Fear leads to taking control, where it's God place to have control.

- Herod was ruled by his fear.

- When we try to control situations out of our fears, then we are plainly failing to trust God.  Trusting instead in ourselves because we sometimes think we know better than God.

- You know something, I'm guilty, you are guilty, all of us are guilty of this sin and all of us need to repent and trust God.

- Instead of trying to control everything from a place of fear, we need to move to a place of simple trust and surrender, a place of faith.

- There's only one way to do that, which is to actively, regularly meditate upon the greatness of God and to see ourselves in light of his greatness.  When we truly know that his will is perfect, we are better able to surrender our wills.

- Now what about the Magi?  They came seeking the new born king of the Jews in good faith.

- As to why, we are not told, but it is assumed that they came because of Balaam's prophecy of the star rising out of Jacob, which is recorded in Numbers 24.

- Also, as to how many Magi there were, we are not told, contrary to popular belief, but this we can safely assume, that they represent the non-Jewish world coming to Messiah Jesus.

- Matthew's first readers may have guessed that the Magi knew more than average people in those days & would also have celebrated the infant Jesus as more than an earthly king, but the King of Kings.

- The Magi came to Jerusalem seeking the one born king of the Jews.  They were honest seekers, looking for this new born king in good faith.

- They met with Herod in good faith, Herod who desired to know the exact time of the star's appearance and requested they return to him with the exact location of this child.

- But because their search was in good faith God warned them not to return to Herod.

- The Magi may have undertaken what was by ancient standards a long journey to pay homage to a king, but the final leg of their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem was only about two hours.

- As the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire led Israel through the desert, so the star led the Magi to Jesus.

- This was a God thing and God is still in the business of leading honest seekers who are searching for him in good faith to Jesus.

- In fact, Matthew tells us that when they saw the star they were filled with great joy.

- They could not be certain that they would see the star again having first understood the sign and been told where the prophet said the child was born, but they continued their journey on in faith and their faith was rewarded with supernatural guidance.

- Upon seeing the child with Mary his mother, falling on their knees, they worshipped him, and opening their treasure chests, worshipping him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

- These gifts were lavish, costly, and fit for a king.  These three gifts represent the most valuable things available to the Magi and the only things suitable as gifts for a king, even the one they very likely understood to be King of kings.

- These verses also reflect OT prophecy.

- The psalms proclaim that Kings will fall down and worship him, giving gifts.

- Isaiah proclaims that the nations rejoice and bring their riches.

- Their honest seeking in good faith is rewarded.  They worship the king of kings and they are warned supernaturally by God not to return to Herod, probably for their own protection as well as for the protection of Jesus.

- How about us?  Are we honest God seeking people?  Do we look for him in our daily lives out of good faith?  Do we listen to his guidance and obey his interventions?

- OR are we like Herod?  Allowing our fears to control us, do we try to control things to our will rather than following God's will?

- Those who seek Christ in good faith worship and obey when they find him.

- When we submit our wills to King Jesus, then we will worship and obey.

The Figure of Advent: Jesus, the New Immanuel Matthew 1:18-25

- Every year on this Sunday many churches around the world start preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus because it is the first Sunday of Advent.

- As we think about Jesus as the figure of advent, I think it's important to get back to the basics.

- It's important to get back to the basics because we need to keep reminding ourselves, remembering what the Christian faith is all about.

- I think the best way to do that this morning is to explore why it's important that Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.

- Why is it important that Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit? (Why is Jesus the New Immanuel?)

- The short answer to that question is our take-home truth for this week's message: In Jesus, God is with us and we are saved.

- As we look at our Scripture passage for today, let's place ourselves in Joseph's shoes.

- We discover our betrothed is with child, pregnant!

- She comes to us with some story she's cooked up about an angel of God and being with child of the Holy Spirit! 

- Imagine the feelings of anger and betrayal.

- but being humble and righteous, we don't want to make a public spectacle of the issue so we decide to end things quietly by presenting her with a certificate of divorce.

- But before we can protect our reputations and dismiss her quietly what should happen, but the Lord's angel appears to us confirming Mary's story and the child within her conceived by the Holy Spirit.

- Imagine the shock, the shame, the frustration, and the relief Joseph experienced all jumbled up inside him.

- Shock over the story that Mary told him being true.

- Shame over his unwillingness to trust Mary to be truthful with him.

- Frustration over the knowledge that he and his family would bear the shame of infidelity unjustly for the rest of their lives.

- Relief in the knowledge of Mary's integrity and faithfulness to both Joseph and to God.

- I imagine another feeling would also surface out of this mix, a feeling of awe that the Lord God Almighty chose him and his beloved to rear Messiah, the Savior of the world.

- The account now brings us to the most significant verses of this passage of Scripture.

- ²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

- There are few things in these verses that convince me as to how important they are.

- First, the angel calls Joseph, son of David.

- We know from the Old Testament histories and the prophets that God promised that a descendent of David would sit on the throne of David forever.

- As a son of David, those born to Joseph's family line are heirs to David's throne.

- Joseph was instructed by the angel to name the child Jesus and in so doing adopts him as his own.

- As Joseph's adopted son, Jesus is David's son.

- Second, the child is conceived by the Holy Spirit.

- This pregnancy was not a result of human passion or family planning, but God's plans.

- As the Holy Spirit was present at creation, hovering over the face of the deep, so also the Holy Spirit's power hovered over Mary to cause her to conceive.

- Mary's pregnancy was a pregnancy unlike any other, a pregnancy that was a special, creative act of God.

- Therefore, the child conceived within Mary was unique, a child like no other, a child born in the flesh, but not of the flesh.

- This child was conceived by divine will and received a divine character; he would be born as a human being, yet he would be holy.

- Third, this child would save his people from their sins.

- The name Jesus, the Greek form of Joshua, suits this child perfectly.

- Joshua comes from the Hebrew Yehoshua/Yeshua, meaning Yahweh saves.

- And this is no political Messiah, like people were generally expecting, this Messiah would save his people from their sins.

- Isaiah 53 makes it very clear that the suffering servant described in the passage suffers for the sin of the people, bearing their sins, while being an offering for their sins.

- Let's read Eugene Peterson's Message translation of that chapter so we have the general sense of it.

Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
    Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?

^2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
    a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
    nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.

^7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,
    but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
    and like a sheep being sheared,
    he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
    and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
    beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
    threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
    or said one word that wasn’t true.

¹⁰ Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
    to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
    so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
    And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

^11-12 Out of that terrible travail of soul,
    he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
    will make many “righteous ones,”
    as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—
    the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
    because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
    he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

- This child would save his people from their sins.

- Fourth, this birth fulfills the words of the prophet.

- Matthew was originally written for a Jewish audience, Bible scholars tell us, so Matthew was concerned about the fulfillment of Scripture and he reminds his readers that he's not just making this stuff up because the Scriptures foreshadow, and foretell the coming of Messiah.

- Remember, "God will act in the future the way he has acted in the past" (Evans, Matthew, 47).

- Matthew reminded his readers that just as the birth of the infant Immanuel was a sign of God's salvation to Ahaz and the people of Judah, so also Isaiah's prophecy foreshadows the coming Messiah, who would save and deliver his people from their sins.

- In Jesus, God is with us and we are saved.

- If the conception and birth of Immanuel to a young, unwed woman was a sign of God's salvation to his people, then there can be no other way for us to understand the surprising pregnancy of Mary (Evans, Matthew, 47).

- Jesus is the new Immanuel; through the person of Jesus Christ, God is with us.

- In Jesus, God is with us and we are saved.

- What if Jesus had not been conceived by the Holy Spirit?

- He could have been a son of David, but he would not have been the son of God.

- His birth would not have fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah.

- He could have died on a cross, but without being uniquely holy his death would not have the power to save us from our sins.

- As the figure of advent, the stories of Jesus birth present us with God's good news.

- God's plan all along has been to save people from their sins, and he sent his son in the flesh to carry out this promise.

- You can receive that promise this morning.

- If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Rom. 10:9

- In Jesus, God is with us and we are saved.