Jesus Was Here. Jesus Is Here.

Psalm 80:1-7 / Matthew 1:18–25

1st Century

Israel was at best a vassal state under Roman Imperial control

The leaders of the Temple served their own financial and positional interests; they played politics with the Romans

The Temple itself had become a place of greed and corruption

The state of God’s Covenant People was very low; very sad

Messianic Promises

Jesus’ answer to John: Diseases healed

Matthew 11:4-5 “And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

Isaiah’s description of peace

Isaiah 11:6 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.”

Justice accomplished; vindication

Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”

Soul Salvation

The world pays homage

Rev 21:24-26 “By [the light of New Jerusalem] will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.”

…but Jesus was here. Is here.

Matthew 2: The visit of the magi - the kings brought in their glory

The abolition of chattel slavery in the UK and US

The advances of equality among the sexes and races

The liberty to worship freely

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

A sign that God IS in control

A sign that all is not lost

A sign that rescue is here

A sign that we are seen, heard, and loved

A sign that we are never alone, in suffering, in worship, in salvation

Church family, the singular reason that we have hope in this life for ourselves, and our loved ones is a simple truth: Jesus was here. Jesus is Here.