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.