Get in Line with God's Plan

Jesus, the Fulfillment of God’s Plan

Hey folks, I want to begin today by saying thank you for being the type of church that will allow your preacher to go two weeks in a row without preaching. You have no idea what that does for my energy and my soul. I’m excited to get back in the saddle today, and I hope you’re ready for today’s sermon.

What I hope to do in today’s message is to have a two-fold effect. I believe the text today can go in so many different directions because there’s so much going on. So the first thing that I want you to see is how this text plays a huge part in fulfilling Old Testament prophecy and for you to see more evidence that Jesus Christ is Who He says He is, and maybe how this narrative challenges Matthew’s audience to consider a different perspective on the Messiah.

The second thing that I hope to accomplish is that you consider the massive, supernatural power of God’s Will in accomplishing His plan. We will see throughout the movements of Jesus’ family and Herod’s actions that God’s will is unstoppable and all-powerful. Perhaps you will see that the Will of God is not some nebulous, unattainable idea that doesn’t have much bearing on life, and you will come to view it like being caught in a rushing river. And like a rushing river, you will either respect it and move with it or get caught among the rocks.

So as we go through this passage, you’re going to see how the infant Jesus displays echoes of Israel’s past and foreshadows a better future for the people of God. Not only that, you’re going to see how perhaps the Jewish people weren’t always in line with God’s Plan. Nevertheless, God always accomplishes His Plan.

So let’s look at the three movements of Jesus, and how they echo Israel’s past:

Out of Egypt - 13-15

In the first movement of the story, we have Jesus coming up out of Egypt, just as the Israelites did. If you’re not familiar with the story of the Hebrews leaving Egypt, there’s the famous story of Moses and Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues. The final plague is death that is visited upon all of the firstborn sons of Egypt. Only those families who trusted in God would be spared.

Notice, Herod ends up doing the same thing as Pharaoh, doesn’t he? His stubbornness against the movement of God results in the death of many sons. We’ve talked in the past about how Matthew challenges the Jews in their understanding of the Messiah: Here’s one. The Jewish king echoes Pharaoh, the great historical enemy of the people of God. More on that later.

And so Jesus, being spared the death that Herod visited upon the sons of Bethlehem by fleeing to Egypt, exiled to a foreign land until Herod died.

Out of Exile - 19-21

Skip down to verses 19-21, and you see that Joseph is commanded to return to his homeland, as Herod had died. So, just as Israel spent time in Babylon in exile, to one day return to their land, so too Jesus returned to his home after a period of exile.

Promised Deliverer - ?

You notice that Jesus is facing a lot of difficulty and trials even as early as infancy. No young child should go through so much. But we don’t serve a God who is unable to sympathize with our suffering. You see, Christ came to deliver us from the effects of sin, suffering, and death. It’s God’s Plan to restore order, justice, and relationship to His creation.

You see, in order to conquer sin, suffering, and death, Jesus first had to face sin, suffering, and death.

The Parallel:

So, as Israel had a promised deliverance from the land of Egypt into a promised land, so Jesus would be the promised deliverer out of the land of Egypt to deliver people into a Promised Rest.

This was God’s plan from the beginning to rescue people from judgment for their sin. And His plan can never be thwarted.

God Has Decided What He Will Do

Look with me at three separate portions of this passage.

Matthew 2:15 (ESV)

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.”

Matthew 2:17–18 (ESV)

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “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.”

Matthew 2:23b (ESV)

so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Three things that God promised hundreds of years before the coming of Christ. The Israelites had to sit with these promises for a long time. I’m not talking a few years of pleading with the Lord. Get this, it’s not a period of time that lasted for one person’s lifetime. It lasted generations! The Israelites sat waiting for the Promised Messiah for all these generations.

One thing we can count on: God does not forget His promises. When God says He will do something, it’s a promise. And God never lets us down. Some of y’all grew up and momma would get on to you and say, “Hey, that ain’t a threat, it’s a promise...” Whew…

And His promises are never late. It may be a long time in our eyes, but God will always make good on His promises. So trust Him. Trust His promises. Trust that He will always work for the good of those who are called according to His purposes.

In Christ, God decided from eternity past what He would do to rescue His people and establish His Kingdom, and the truth is, there wasn’t really much anyone could do about it.

You see, God’s plans are like a rushing river. God WILL accomplish His plans.

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

I remember a time when I went river kayaking, and another time I went river rafting. If you’ve ever been, what I will say next will bring back memories. There comes times on the river where you hit the rapids. Or maybe, after a big rain, you go, and the river is going pretty fast. What happens is when you hit the deep parts of the river, the water moves pretty steadily and slow, but nevertheless, it is moving.

Then, when you hit the more shallow or rocky parts of the river, things pick up and move pretty quick. When you hit those rapids, you’ve got no choice but to allow the river to do its thing. You are powerless to stop the rushing of the river. Try as you might to swim against it, it’s no use. You can control what you do, but you cannot control what the river will do.

Let me be your safety guide in case you ever find yourself hurtling down a river: A river guide will tell you, the best thing to do when caught in the throes of the river is to stay calm and float at the top. Contrarily, the WORST thing to do, is to fight against the current! Why? Because with all the flailing that requires, you increase the risk of getting a limb lodged into a large rock, and getting stuck, bashed by hundreds of gallons of water per minute, unable to move until the almost impossible event where you dislodge, or the more-likely scenario in which you drown.

Such is the will of God.

So, consider yourself in the river of God’s Will. We all are. Consider your response to God’s Will. There are certain freedoms you are given. You can position yourself in God’s Will. You can allow God’s Will to carry you through. And you can actively try to fight God’s Will. The first two are advisable. The third is where I’ll warn you: tread no further. Let’s look at the examples we’re given in the text:

Bend to God’s Plan, Don’t Break

Starting in vv. 13-14, notice that Joseph is confronted with a difficult truth: The family is going to have to flee. Suddenly. They would be refugees in a foreign country.

Matthew 2:13–14 (ESV)

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.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt

Let’s help the rubber hit the road here so we can relate to what is being asked of Joseph, Mary, and the young Jesus. How many of us in here have a job, or have someone in the family who provides financially for you?

Alright, you can put your hands down, because this next part I want you to consider on your own. Could you quit your job tomorrow with no plans for replacement income, move somewhere completely different, and be okay? Joseph probably didn’t have time to put his house on the market and live off the windfall. They had to abandon everything they knew. Joseph was a carpenter, and he was likely well-known in his small community. Trusted. Had a client-base. And he’s told by God to get up and leave it all for some unknown period of time.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were confronted with God’s Plan. They found themselves in the rapids of the rushing river. And they chose to allow the plan of God to upend their lives and do as they were called.

So they fled to Egypt. Then, some time after, they were called to return! Which is great, right?

Well… In 19-23…

Matthew 2:19–23 (ESV)

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 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.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 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. 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.

They don’t even get to return to their hometown. They have to go live in Nazareth, a po-dunk little town that is much-despised by their fellow countrymen. Some would say, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Jesus’ critics would often leverage this insult His way.

It was not a great situation. Joseph and Mary could have said, “Nah, God, that’s not good enough for us. That doesn’t fit in the retirement plan. That’s not advisable by our financial planner.”

Let’s shift to us for a moment. Listen, God’s plan can take you wild places. The problem is, so many of us walk through life without even considering God’s plan! Or perhaps we make caricatures of God’s plan. Listen, if you want to consider what God’s plan is for your life, start first with conforming your life to the outline the Scriptures set for you! Look less to the clouds for signs in the sky, and more to the Scriptures, for how God would call you to follow Him! If there’s anything we see in this text, it is that the Scriptures ARE GOD’S WILL!

So many of us make shipwreck of our faith because we neglect or disregard God’s Will. Students, listen, people ask you all the time, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Listen, if you’re a believer, your question should first be, “What does GOD want me to be when I grow up?”

God’s plan doesn’t always seem like the wisest move. But following that plan IS the best move. We must be like clay in the hands of God, ready for Him to form us and shape us in any way He desires. And this is just what Jesus’ family decided to do.

On the other hand, you have Herod, who, when confronted with God’s plan, chose to thrash against the rocks and currents of God’s Plan.

Disrupting God’s Plan Will Always Fail

Remember last week, one of the texts we saw was this:

Matthew 2:2–3 (ESV)

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.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;

Herod hears word that a new King of the Jews had been born. And not only was Herod troubled, but all of Jerusalem was troubled along with him!

I love what Joe described to us about Herod last week. The Jews made a LOT of compromises to support Herod. They made concessions with evil because he did things they liked. Regardless of the good things Herod accomplished, he was still an evil king… “I’ll give the people what they want, but at the end of the day, I’m also gonna get what I want!”

Herod’s kingly rule was filled with self-service and offering the people scraps of what they wanted. He was an evil king who took shortcuts to curry favor with the people. He knew how to play his PR. Sure’ he’d do awful things like killing every young boy in Bethlehem and the surrounding area, but he sure made the temple look nice!

Matthew 2:16–18 (ESV)

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. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “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.”

Earlier I mentioned how Herod was a new Pharaoh. Allow me to return to that assertion. So, Herod is the new Pharaoh. This parallel is not lost on Matthew’s Jewish readers, and those contemporaries are likely to be a bit miffed by this. “How can this be?? He’s a Jew! Jews cannot be Pharaoh! Don’t you know of all the good he did for our country?”

This is a sign to the Jews that God is doing a NEW thing. It’s no longer about the people of Israel accomplishing God’s plans, it’s about His Son doing what Israel could not do.

And Herod’s actions in this are a microcosm of this truth and the Jews’ likely response.

So what is Herod’s response to God’s deliverance of the Messiah, the new King of the Jews? He does everything he can to stop God’s plan! Look, don’t let it be lost that Herod saw the Scriptures and knew this was God’s plan! And what does he do? He fights it!

What in the world, Herod, you would think he would welcome the move of God!!!

Instead, he tries to get the Messiah killed.

Such is the attitude and action of a false worshipper of God. The emphasis is not on God and His plan, but rather on himself, his own glory, and NO regard for what God is doing! In Herod’s mind, God’s plans ought to center around HIM!

Folks, this is something that’s easy to leave in the text, and not pull it out and consider how it might affect us…

Do you expect God to conform to your plans, or are you seeking to let God mold you how HE wants you to be? Are you kicking against the rushing river, or are you floating and letting it take you where it will? Will God work His plans because of you or in spite of you?

Conclusion

Christ came for a purpose: To save sinners and establish the Kingdom. Will you join Him in that?