The Nazarene
Notes
Transcript
Call to Worship: Habakkuk 2:20 // Prayer
Call to Worship: Habakkuk 2:20 // Prayer
Adoration: Father, you hold all things in existence—you are the ground, the cause, and the purpose of all things. You supply life to all things, but no one supplies life to you. In you we live and move and have our being. By our evil, we deserved wrath; yet you have freely given us mercy instead, and made us your people.
Confession: Yet, so often, we spurn your mercy: we still go back to wallow in the filth you have rescued us from. We wallow in laziness, selfishness, greed, lust. We waste time, and we fail to love as we ought to. In all this, we have sinned against you. Forgive us!
Thanksgiving: But we have not hidden our sins from you, because we know that you have forgiven the guilt of our sins forever in Christ. And so we are glad in you, and we rejoice!
Supplication: Now we ask, Father, lift us up from the mire. Give us spiritual revulsion toward our sins, and indignation at how they tarnish your name, which you have given to us. And give us a fresh sight of your grace, so that we might run quickly to You, and delight in your mercy, and live passionately and joyfully for your glory! // For the men in the congregation, specifically, we ask: give us backbones of steel made strong by utter dependence on you, courage to lead, and to lay down our lives; help us to reject the world’s two counterfeits: (1) the passive man, who refuses to lead and work; (2) the ‘high-value’ man, who uses his power to exploit and abuse others—we all fall short as men: make like Jesus // Communidad: // Thinking of Israel, we ask for the rescue of every person taken captive by Hamas, and we ask that our brothers and sisters—Israeli and Palestinian—be preserved in this conflict, and that their love would be a shining light in the midst of the darkness around them // to the word
Family Matters
Family Matters
Wednesday meal
Upcoming thanksgiving potluck/congregational meeting
Christmas tea
Benediction
Benediction
Revelation 7:12 “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Sermon
Sermon
Main point: Through this despised king, God is about to lead his people on the true exodus to the true promised land.
Purpose: To cause us to anticipate the return to God; to make us marvel at God’s unexpected wisdom/kindness; to give us a lowly and despised identity.
Jesus’ identity: Despised King
Intro
Intro
So, as we saw last Sunday:
After the wise men left, God warned Joseph, ‘Herod’s coming—flee to Egypt w/ the child + mother.’ Joseph obeyed, Jesus’ life was preserved. Then, furious that the wise men escaped, Herod send soldiers to kill every child who could possibly be the Messiah in Bethlehem. Finally, after Herod died, God told Joseph to bring the child + mother back to Israel. And he did.
In all this, as we saw:
the child Jesus was “Recapitulating” the history of his people—just like with Israel, God preserved Jesus from the rage of this ‘new pharaoh’ named Herod by taking him on an “exodus” out of the range of this Pharaoh’s power.
And we saw: this was a symbol, telling us that Jesus is the divine, royal king lion of Hos. 11:10, whose roar breaks the prisoners free from the slavery of sin, Satan, and death, and so leads them on the True Exodus
In summary, we saw that the Lion-like King Jesus was about to lead his people on an Exodus FROM the Kingdom of Darkness
But if we just stopped there, we would miss the equal and opposite truth presented here: that the Despised, Humble King Jesus was about to lead his people on an Exodus INTO the Kingdom of God
Do you see it? Again, two pictures:
the Lion-like King leading his people on an Exodus FROM the Kingdom of Darkness
the Humble, Despised King leading his people on an Exodus TO the Kingdom of God
=> both pictures vital to understanding Jesus // both sourced from OT
=> but if anything, this second picture of a humble, despised King receives the emphasis in Matthew’s gospel // and the whole reason for being saved from the kingdom of darkness is to be saved to the presence of our God
***So, let’s dig here in and see how Jesus is the humble, despised King who leads his people on the True Exodus to life with God *** (repeat!)
A. The True Exodus: Saved to The Presence of God // Inheritance
A. The True Exodus: Saved to The Presence of God // Inheritance
***We’ll get to Jesus the humble + despised King in just a moment… but first, let’s look at the journey he leads us on: the True Exodus to Life with God***
***and… as we look to see this in the third section of the passage (19-23), we’ll need Matthew’s bifocal glasses again, to read both the history and the typology here***
History: (looking down through the bottom of the bifocal lenses)
Joseph’s return to Israel--
Another dream: ‘those who sought the child’s life are dead’ and ‘take child + mother back to Israel’
Joseph obeyed, and so Jesus was returned to Israel unharmed, ready to grow up into his role as Messiah
[Typology] Now (bifocal glasses) up:
This part of the story is where Jesus actually fulfills that prophecy (Hos. 11:1, vs. 15) “out of Egypt I called my Son” geographically = leaves Egypt
But emphasis: go to the land of Israel--
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.”
=> but what does this point to typologically? Symbolically?
At the most basic level, this return to Israel is symbolically part of a pattern:
When God redeems his people
=> does not merely redeem them from Egypt, but also to the their inheritance in Canaan
=> does not merely remove us from what is Bad, but also brings us into what is Good
=> does not merely rescue us from the Power of Darkness, but also brings us to the Power of the Spirit to walk in holiness
=> does not merely justify us from Guilt, but also brings us into union with himself through the Son by the Spirit
That is the pattern: he does not leave his children in the wilderness after rescuing them from Pharaoh… but instead brings them to himself
So then, what does this return trip to Israel, by the child Jesus, symbolize for us, as typology? The True Exodus from Darkness into life with God—the very exodus he was about to lead us on by his death and resurrection
*Note on typology… ?
But the emphasis here, again, is on what we are saved TO—life with God
A good way to see this = looking back at the two prophecies Matthew has given us so far in this passage: Hosea 11 + Jeremiah 31
Hosea 11—Matt. quoted vs.1, and in the wider chapter we see two things about what God’s people are saved to
[return to the land] talking about the future, True Exodus
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.
=> It’s a return to the promise land => to being God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule => a return to the Kingdom of God
=> BTW: Jesus will have a lot to say to us about this Kingdom as we go through Matthew
[God’s presence and love] from another angle, it’s a return to the loving presence of God… here’s what God says to Israel when they are living in exile:
How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
=> Do you see? Though wrath is deserved b/c of sin, yet compassion is given!
=> And not from a distance, but God calls himself, “the Holy One in your midst”
=> At its most basic, the True Exodus is a return to the loving presence of God the Father, through the Son—to the communion with the Holy One that we were made for
**So that’s a little of what Hosea says to us about the True Exodus… how about Jeremiah?
Jer. 31—words spoken to “Rachel” (remember: Rachel weeping for her children, quoted in vs. 18)—Rachel symbolizes the covenant community as a whole, especially as we weep over death and exile
Here’s ‘Rachel weeping’ in context:
Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
Thus says the Lord: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country.
=> The True Exodus here, also, is a return to the land—to God’s Kingdom, just like in Hosea.
=> But it’s also a return to family: the children that seemed lost forever will return; the family of God will be restored
And a few verses later, we read:
Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord.
=> So, mystically, God is the Father in this family—the True Exodus is a return to his Fatherly Love
=> And as we learn in the NT, it is nothing less than the blazing glory of the eternal love of the Father for the Son which is poured out within our hearts by the HS
So, Joseph, take “the child and his mother” and lead them from Egypt to the promise land, for God is about to lead Rachal and her children—that is, us, the people of God—on the True Exodus, through this child. The True Exodus to Life with God.
[Application]
So then: the major take-away from this is that we are not merely saved from Egypt (Satan, sin, death) but to “our inheritance”—to life with God in his Kingdom!
One potential objection: don’t these prophecies also talk about PHYSICAL flourishing? About health and riches and an abundance of food?
If you read them in context, you’d see that they do! …so, should we switch to prosperity gospel?
In other words: if Jesus fulfilled these prophecies (and he did!) then doesn’t that mean he’s provided health and wealth and limitless healing for his people right now, in this age?
Plug for SS: you can only preach prosperity gospel if you connect the dots of scripture wrongly! How do you learn to connect them rightly? By attending the Scholls Community Church SS class on Biblical Theology at 10 am Sunday Mornings!
But here’s a brief answer: prosperity gospel twists the storyline of Scripture—it takes benefits guaranteed to us in the new creation, and moves them into the present evil age… and thus it offers a crown without a cross…
Truth: in one sense, every believer has already followed Jesus on the New Exodus from sin into God’s presence. In another sense, we have yet to fully enter the promise land: we will do that on the day he returns to make all things new, and we see him face-to-face.
B. The True Exodus: Led by the Nazarene?
B. The True Exodus: Led by the Nazarene?
**But what kind of King is this Jesus, who leads his people into the presence of God?**
**We’ve already seen that he is a lion-like King, whose roar gathers the scattered people of God**
**But in the last few verses of Matt. 2, we get a very different angle—that Jesus is a humble, despised King**
[History]
Comes to us with the fact that Joseph didn’t return to Bethlehem… b/c was afraid of Archelaus (vs. 22)
Background to Joseph’s fear
Herod the Great was the king who had tried to kill Jesus through the slaughter of the infants…
upon his death, with Rome’s agreement, his kingdom was divided between three of his sons
Archelaus, who ruled Judea (containing Bethlehem + Jerusalem), was the cruelest of these—why Joseph feared…
Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee (contains Nazareth) was not great, but the lesser evil
Joseph’s wariness was confirmed by a dream from God (vs. 22)
Chose Nazareth in Galilee instead—which we know from Luke was actually Joseph and Mary’s original home town—natural choice
[Prophecy Fulfillment]
But Matthew says (vs. 23): this fulfilled what the prophets spoke, that ‘he would be called a Nazarene’—something important to note:
This is the one place where Matthew says that what was spoken by the prophets plural, rather than by one particular prophet, was fulfilled
Everywhere else Matthew talks about fulfillment of prophecy, he says ‘prophet’ singular, because he had a particular prophet in mind
So here, he’s not thinking of a particular prophet, but of a pattern found in the OT in general… what pattern? What does it mean to be called a Nazarene?
[Nazarene]
Nazareth was a town with a bad reputation… it was dishonorable to be known as “from Nazareth”… can see this in Nathanael’s question, before he meets Jesus:
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
To be from Nazareth was to be stamped with dishonor and humiliation… to be from Nazareth was, to some extent, to be despised:
D.A. Carson:
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke F. The Return to Nazareth (2:19–23)
When Christians were referred to in Acts as the “Nazarene sect” (24:5), the expression was meant to hurt. First-century Christian readers of Matthew, who had tasted their share of scorn, would have quickly caught Matthew’s point. He is not saying that a particular OT prophet foretold that the Messiah would live in Nazareth; he is saying that the OT prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised
[The OT Pattern] Ok. So where in the OT do we see that?
In the story of Joseph, the despised brother who suffered as a slave and a prisoner so that his family and all Egypt might be saved from famine—a type of the coming savior
In the story of David, the shepherd by who was despised and persecuted by King Saul, even while he leading Israel’s armies to defend them from the Philistines—another type of the coming lowly savior
Even in Israel itself—the nation of slaves, weak and despised, rescued from Egypt to be a light to the nations
Much more could be said… here’s how God speaks to his Messiah in Isaiah…
Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
=> The Lord chose to lead us on the True Exodus through a despised Messiah!
=> A little later, Isaiah writes:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
[The Despised Savior and the Wisdom of God]
The astonishing, unexpected wisdom of God in giving us a despised and humble King—this is exactly what gave the wise men such joy, when they found him not in a palace, but sitting in the lap of his young peasant mother in a poor village.
Here is a Messiah who became like his people in every way—who is with us in our own lowliness and suffering, who knows what it means to be despised and rejected...
=> when you are despised and rejected, believer, this does not cut you off from communion with God, but only draws you closer, since your communion is through the despised and rejected One
Here is a King fit to rescue despisable and sinful people like us, and to lead us with gentleness on the True Exodus INTO life with God
Conclusion
Conclusion
But as we conclude, I want to call to your mind two things that can prevent you from walking this New Exodus road
The first: a failure to see your own sin
=> If you cannot see your slavery to sin, you’ll never desire to leave Egypt—to trust Christ for salvation
=> But maybe you’re a true believer… but you have a shallow view of your own sin (to some extent, we all do)… you don’t recognize how vile the filth is that he rescued you from… you’re traveling around in the desert with the gods of Egypt still carried in your pack, and your face is not joyfully set toward the promised land—toward the presence of God
=> you’re a believer, but because you don’t recognize how bad your sin is, you’re not growing, and you have little passion for the grace of God
The second: a failure to believe in God’s compassionate forgiveness
=> If you’ve gotten a glimpse of the evil in your heart, but don’t believe that God forgives sinners to the uttermost, cleans them off by his Son’s blood, and welcomes them as his children forever… you’ll never come to him. To come, you must give up all pride and pretense—you must surrender yourself—but this can only bring you joy, because you are surrendering to immeasurable grace. And so we urge you to do this, friend, because you will then find yourself on the New Exodus, with all the freedom and glory God gives to his children, upheld not by yourself, but by his love.