Mystery Revealed

Isaiah 11:1-2 (Opening) 1  There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Introduction Matthew was one of the first followers of Jesus, and one of the apostles. He was a tax collector when Jesus met him and told him to follow Him. When Luke and Mark tell the story about the tax collector who follows Jesus, they use the name Levi, but after that every reference to him is Matthew. The first gospel account in our Bibles is attributed to Matthew, but there’s nothing in the book that identifies him as the author. But many early Christian sources, as early as the second century, when quoting from that gospel say that Matthew was the author. Matthew’s gospel seems to be focused on convincing people who knew Hebrew scripture, primarily Jews and proselytes, that Jesus was the Messiah who was prophesied. The gospel of Matthew has more references to Old Testament scripture and prophecy than the other three gospels. Matthew spends a lot of time explaining God’s hidden messages in prophecy that point to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Origins The first two chapters of Matthew talk about Jesus from before birth to when he was a young child. Matthew starts out, in Old Testament style, by writing Jesus’ lineage. Matthew 1:1 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. It would be easy to skip over this verse, because we’ve heard it so many times, and, honestly, most people get bored reading genealogies in the Bible so they’d skip the next 16 verses, too. But it’s important to pay attention to this verse. This verse points out three things. First, Matthew begins by saying that Jesus is the Messiah, the point he’s going to spend the rest of his book defending. Supporting his argument, Matthew points out that Jesus was a descendent of David which was a requirement to be the Messiah. The Psalmist wrote: Psalm 132:11 11  The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. The final thing Matthew points out in this first sentence of his book is that Jesus was a descendent of Abraham, which made Him a Jew, which was also a requirement for the Messiah. Paul highlighted this point when he wrote to the congregations in Galatia. Galatians 3:16 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. Paul points out that Jesus was the offspring of Abraham through whom the promise to Abraham was applied to all mankind, Jew and Gentile alike. Once Matthew established Jesus’ lineage, he set out to describe the events surrounding his birth. Actually, Matthew doesn’t give any details about Jesus’ birth, but talks about the events leading up to and after that event that Luke describes so well for us. Matthew carefully selects the events he discusses so he can point out the prophecy that foretells those events, proving his point from the first verse of his book that Jesus is in fact the Messiah. Matthew tells the story from Joseph’s point of view. Mary was betrothed to Joseph. In that culture, a betrothal was permanent, not like an engagement today. To “call off” a betrothal required a divorce. The only difference between betrothal and marriage was betrothal didn’t include cohabitation. The bride would remain at her father’s house until the day of the wedding. Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant. As the husband, this came as a shock, because he believed Mary to be a godly woman, and godly women don’t have sex with anyone but their husband. Joseph wanted to protect her character as much as he could, so he decided to privately divorce her, because she had broken the vows of the betrothal. Once he had made this decision, things got “interesting”. Matthew 1:20-23 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew includes a little editorial comment here, defining the word Immanuel for his readers who weren’t literate in Hebrew. Matthew points out that this was spoken by “the prophet”. In the first century, the term “the prophet” was applied to any of the prophets whose writings were included in the Bible. The book of Isaiah was probably the most popular book of the Bible for Jews during the time of the second temple. Isaiah is also the longest book in the Bible, and probably the most complete, textually. The version of the book of Isaiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is virtually identical to the version we have in our Bibles today. The scripture Matthew is quoting here is from chapter 7. Isaiah 7:14 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. Some scholars believe this prophecy isn’t a messianic prophecy but was pointing to a time in the near future of when the prophecy was made. The problem with that argument is that most prophecy is so vague that it could easily be confused to imply one thing in near time, when in fact it was actually pointing to something centuries in the future. God was pointing out the miraculous conditions surrounding the birth of His son, but not so specifically as to give away the details so that the evil ones could interfere and try to thwart His plans. Escape Not that God’s hiding the details would stop them from trying to cause problems. Herod the Great was the king of Judea. He’d been appointed to that position by the Roman Senate. The area he ruled included Judea, Samaria, Galilee, the areas we call the Golan Heights, and the Trans-Jordan; nearly the same area that Solomon ruled during the height of his reign. Herod had a big head. He considered himself to be the rightful king of Israel, even though he wasn’t descended from David, and he wasn’t even technically a Jew. But to make up for all his shortcomings, he had several major building projects to please the Jews, including enlarging the Temple area in Jerusalem. His plan was to "have a capital city worthy of his dignity and grandeur". Herod was paranoid, like most rulers during this time. He was so paranoid that he had several people killed because he believed they were plotting against him. He was intent on keeping his throne for as long as he could, at any cost. Herod heard about another possible threat to his throne from some visitors. Matthew 2:1-6 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6  “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Herod obviously wasn’t a very well-studied Jew if he was a Jew at all. He didn’t know where in prophecy it said where the Messiah was going to be born, so he asked the people most likely to know the answer: the chief priests and the scribes. He probably could have asked the average Jew on the street, and they could have told him. Messianic prophecy was very heavily studied during the few centuries prior to Jesus’ birth. Matthew tells us the chief priests and the scribes quoted from Micah. Micah 5:2 2  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, (ef-rath-ah) who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Bethlehem, even though it was the birthplace of David, was a small town. It was reasonably insignificant in size, but huge in historical and prophetic significance. Ephrathah (ef-rath-ah) was another name for Bethlehem, and is where Jacob was traveling to when Rachel, his wife, died giving birth to Benjamin. We’ll hear from Rachel again in a little bit. Notice the differences between what Matthew quoted from the chief priests and scribes and what was written by Micah. Matthew’s use of prophecy is exciting, because he doesn’t quote from any of the known translations; he seems to be translating the Hebrew into Greek as he writes. Also, Matthew changes a few words to point out the fulfillment of the prophecy, saying that Bethlehem is by no means the least, as opposed to what Micah said, that Bethlehem was “too little”, which is a phrase that was used referring to David, the king born there. Of course, the problem Herod had with what these people were telling him was that there was a new threat to his throne. Here’s where Satan takes charge of Herod’s thinking and twists him just a little bit more than he was twisted before. Now that he knew where this threat was supposed to be, he could do something about it. But he needed to be certain. So, he told the wise men from the east to come back to him and give him the specifics as to where this child could be found. The wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem but were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they went home. But Herod wasn’t going to give up that easily, and God knew what was going on and intervened to protect His son. Matthew 2:13-15 13 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. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Here Matthew makes a connection with another prophet. God is protecting Jesus, His Son, by sending Him to Egypt. Throughout Matthew’s book, he is making connections between the life of Jesus and the experiences of the people of Israel. Early on in their existence, God sent the children of Israel, and Israel himself, to Egypt to protect them from famine, but also to show His power some 400 years later, by destroying the superpower of the time with plagues. The prophet Hosea wrote about the past as a parallel to the future, and Matthew pointed that out to his readers. Hosea 11:1 1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Remember, when God sent Moses to Egypt, He told him to tell Pharaoh to release His firstborn son, Israel. Hosea recounts that event and continues in that prophecy to show the slow decline of the people of Israel, as a warning of their future exile. Some scholars see that Matthew is doing something that true scholars dislike intensely; taking a quote out of context and using it to make their point. But in the bigger picture of Matthew’s work, I see him emphasizing the parallel of Jesus’ life with the history of the people of Israel in general. God protected Jesus from the coming destruction. But Herod, in his paranoia, decided something had to be done about the threat to his power, the potential usurper. Matthew 2:16-18 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. 17 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.” Herod wasn’t playing games anymore, so he ordered the killing of all the male children aged two and under in Bethlehem. That tells us a few things. First, it tells us that the wise men told Herod they saw the star long enough ago for the child to be two years old. Second, it tells us that Herod believed both the wise men and the chief priests and the scribes. History doesn’t record the incident of the slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem, but that’s not surprising, considering the size and historical insignificance of Bethlehem. There may have been as few as twenty children involved in this incident. To historians, this isn’t a big deal. The context surrounding the quote from Jeremiah is interesting. Jeremiah is initially prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile in Babylon. But like most prophecies, it can be understood in multiple ways, in order to keep the evil one guessing, by hiding the real meaning of what was written. Jeremiah 31:15 15  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.” Ramah is where Rachel was buried after dying while giving birth to Jacob’s youngest son Benjamin. Remember, they were on their way to Ephrathah or Bethlehem when it happened. Here, Jeremiah was writing about the destruction of Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian captivity, but verse 15 actually stands alone as its own prophecy. The next verse starts with “Thus says the LORD” again, so this scripture is its own context. It can be applied to the destruction of Jerusalem, as many scholars see it, and it can be applied to the deaths of the children in Bethlehem at the hands of Herod. Both of these groups could be considered Rachel’s children. Return Only one thing could end Herod’s paranoia. He never felt completely secure in his reign. Eventually, Herod died, and his three sons and one daughter were installed as rulers over four different sections of his territory. Matthew 2:19-23 19 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. 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. Herod’s son Archelaus, his oldest son that he hadn’t had killed at least, had the same paranoia as his father. Joseph was rightfully concerned about that, and after being warned in a dream about it as well, he made their home in Galilee, where Herod’s next older son Antipas was set up as ruler. Antipas was less paranoid, and Galilee was more rural, and Nazareth was a small village of 500 or less, so the family could be more anonymous. Verse 23, where Matthew explains they moved to Nazareth, is significant. Matthew says this was spoken by the prophets. Plural, not singular. He doesn’t specify a single prophet that said this. Also, nowhere in the entire Old testament, or any of the second temple timeframe Jewish writings, is the town of Nazareth mentioned. The town is so obscure that no one wrote about it. There are several theories about what Matthew was trying to say here. Some are so far fetched that they’re not really worth mentioning, but two of them are reasonable. First, the Hebrew word we get Nazareth from sounds like the Hebrew word for branch, like Isaiah used in the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 11: Isaiah 11:1 1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The problem with this idea is only one prophet, Isaiah, uses the specific term for branch that sounds like a possible root for the name of the town of Nazareth. So, it’s not spoken of by the prophets, but by the prophet. That one makes sense, but it doesn’t check all the boxes. The other explanation is based on the way people from Nazareth were treated, how they were viewed by the general Jewish population. Nazareth was a tiny village in a backwoods section of Judea, specifically Galilee. People from Galilee were looked down on because of their accent that made them difficult to understand by the average Judean, and because of their non-legalistic approach to Judaism in general. But if being from Galilee was bad, being from Nazareth was the worst. Even one of the disciples had a hard time believing in Jesus because of His home town. John 1:45-46 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Can anything good come out of Nazareth? This may explain Matthew’s statement about the prophets saying He would be called a Nazarene. People from Nazareth were despised and looked down on. Several of the prophets speak of how the Messiah would be looked down on and treated poorly, and the Psalms echo that. Isaiah has the most well-known prophecy about it. Isaiah 53:2-3 2  For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3  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. And this prophecy combines both the branch idea and the negative attitude toward the person who is the Messiah. Conclusion Matthew shows us six prophecies that are fulfilled by the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth: Jesus’ lineage, conceived by the Holy Spirit, where He was born, His escape into Egypt, the massacre of innocents in Bethlehem, and growing up in Nazareth. Each one of these individually would be an interesting fact, but together, they provide convincing details that Jesus was the Christ. Matthew’s purpose for writing his Gospel was to convince his fellow Jews that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. And this is just the beginning of the evidence Matthew presented. Jesus is not just some interesting historical person who lived 2000 years ago, not just some nice guy who said a lot of nice things. Jesus is the Son of God, who died as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and was raised from the dead three days later. God gave Him authority over everything in heaven and on earth, but most people refuse to obey Him. If you want to know how you can obey Him, or obey Him better, get with me and we’ll talk. Galatians 3:7-9 (Closing) 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.