Goshen Baptist Church

A Tale of Two Kings

Dec 12, 202400:38:25Tap to summarize

Matthew 2:1-23 Introduction In Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities, irony is used all throughout in different forms. One of the easiest ironies for Dickens to use was the irony that was lived out in history: the French revolutionaries fought for justice and used brutality to achieve that end. Irony is when we would expect one thing, but instead get a different and often opposite result. In fact, irony still occurs today in real life. For example, when one turns on the summer Olympics hosted by Paris, you might expect elegance and civility for the opening ceremony, but instead you’re met with a blue smurf-like man and a mockery of the Lord’s Supper. Irony is an important tool for the biblical authors as well, and it’s important to pick up on it when we can. We might have expectations about how pagan magicians should act. We also might have expectations about how the king of Israel should act. We also have expectations of the Messiah. What we’re going to find as the narrative unfolds is that as long as our expectations are informed by the Bible, only the Messiah will meet our expectations. The Wise Men’s Visit The story begins, like any good story, with the setting, and Matthew mentions specific things here that are important. Matthew tells us the when and the where. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah in the days of Herod the king. . .” These events take place after Jesus was born. And you have to sort of take your nativity sets and Christmas plays out for this one. Most scholars agree that it took the magicians years to travel to Bethlehem. So, Jesus could be 1-2 years old at this point. In other words, this is probably at least a year after the angels sang and the shepherds came. Next, Matthew gives the location: Bethlehem of Judah. He specified which Bethlehem (the one in Judah) because it fulfills prophecy. Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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.” Finally Matthew tells us this is in the days of Herod the King. Most date Herod’s death to be around 4BC, this could make Christ’s birth as early as 6BC. Mentioning Herod of course is also foreshadowing of what’s to come. Herod had Edomite blood, meaning he was partly a descendent of Esau and most Israelite resented him for that fact. He started getting more paranoid and cynical closer to his death. One Roman official made a play on words saying it would be better to be Herod’s ὑς than his υἱος. But he did a lot to beautify the temple and build up Jerusalem. Then, some main characters enter the scene, “behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.” The Greek word used for these wise men is μαγοι which is magician. These were most likely Parthian astrologers. Under past empires, such as the Babylonian empire, the magoi were religious priests who served as advisors to the king known for their ability to understand the mysteries of the universe such as interpreting dreams, stars, and other divination (why magoi is translated as wise men). The Scripture forbids such practices. It’s interesting because the Scripture never denies the practices ability to work or actually gain some supernatural knowledge or power. But it seems clear that any such knowledge or power is demonic which is why it is forbidden. So, the bar would not be set very high as for the expectation of these pagan astrologers. Maybe we would expect them to try to come assassinate the Messiah, or do something else to stop God’s plans. But the story takes an ironic turn.Matthew 2:2–6 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; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘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.’ ” Here the plot begins to rise. The wise men go around the biggest city in the area inquiring about the birth of a great king. To them his birth seemed so obvious they thought everyone would know and be excited about it. Here we learned what summoned them. They say, “we saw his star when it arose.” Now, there’s a lot of different ideas out there about what this could exactly be and how it could be tied to the Jewish people. I’m of the persuasion that this was a supernatural phenomenon. not a convergence of stars or a planet nor a comet. Whatever it was, they divined it had to do with the king of the Jews, perhaps noting another pagan prophet’s prophecy, Numbers 24:17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” The wise men come out to worship this king. This word can also be used to pay homage, but certainly Matthew chooses it to show these wise men were doing more than they really knew they should be doing. Verses 2 and 3 introduce for us our two major kings in the narrative: King Jesus who was recently born and King Herod who is about to die. But notice also the big difference in the response to the news of the birth of the king. The pagan magicians want to worship him. But the people of God and their king are troubled. Notice that phrase at the end of v. 3 “and all of Jerusalem with him.” This isn’t just a story about a rebellious king, but a rebellious people. So king Herod summons his wise men to find out where this king is supposed to be born. Remember, Herod at this point is at peak paranoia. He ascertains that this king would be born in Bethlehem. Now, its easy because of familiarity with the story not to get enraptured in these details. This is the king of the people of God. The king of the people of God asks the wisest of the people of God to go to the Word of God to discover where the promised ruler of the people of God is going to be born. One would expect the people of God and their king would welcomed the ruler who was promised by God, seek him out and celebrate. But again, irony takes another twist that will later unfold. Herod brings in the wise men to find out when they first saw the star (v.7). Then he sends the wise men to do his bidding under the guise that he too wants to worship this king—you know, the very thing he should do (v.8). Again, miraculously, this star leads the wise men directly to Jesus (v. 9), showing the stark contrast between these pagan astrologers who should be blind but see clearly and king Herod who should see just fine but is blind to this star’s light. These wise men are practically giddy, look at Matthew 2:10 “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” This is the exact opposite of Jerusalem who was “troubled.” They worship him and give gifts fulfilling Scripture of foreign kings coming to worship the Messiah (Psalm 72, Isaiah 60:6) Matthew concludes this portion of the story with Matthew 2:12 “And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.” King Herod’s Wrath In v. 13, Joseph is warned to flee to Egypt. Here we see more irony that a pagan land is safer for the Messiah than the promised land. This also fulfills prophecy according to Matthew. This prophesy is what we call typology which we will talk about tonight, so please come to hear that. In v. 16, Herod unloads his full wrath. Matt. 2:16-18Matthew 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.” Matthew is painting the story in such a way to make a clear connection to Pharoah in the Old Testament who through all the Hebrew baby boys in the Nile River. But the dark turn is that this is not a foreign pagan king, this is the king of the people of God. Three pagan wise men come and honor the true Messiah and the king of God’s people in rage kills all the baby boys in an attempt to kill God’s messiah. The point is clear. The people of God do not need the Messiah to rescue them from Roman oppression, they need to be rescued from sin. We all need to be rescued from sin. The quote Matthew gives is from Jeremiah 31:15. In the original cont...

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The Birth of The King

Dec 11, 202400:43:42Tap to summarize

Matthew 1:18-25 In Matthew 1:1-17 we saw that Matthew purposefully framed his genealogy to accomplish two major things: 1. to prove Jesus is central to all of history and 2. to prove Jesus is the rightful king in the Davidic line. And thus, the names he chose and the way he framed them were not accidental, nor a mere recording of history. This is important to keep in mind as we continue read through the Gospel of Matthew. First of all, what Matthew records is historical, these things did actually happen. At the same time, the way Matthew arranges things and the details he gives are not just for us to sit back and ponder the history, but rather to teach specific truths about who Jesus is. And so when we get to the birth narrative, we are going to see the same things. The birth narrative is true history and Matthew gives details to teach important things about Jesus. It is my goal to prove this point to you over and over again as we walk through this Gospel. In the 600’s BC in the region now known as Nepal, which boarders modern-day India, there was a young boy born into aristocratic royalty named Sidartha Guatamma. An elderly hermit journeyed a long way to see this new baby and found in him 32 marks of a great man. He predicted baby Sidartha would either become a great king or a great religious leader. His father sheltered him from the outside world to ensure he would become a great king. But journeying outside his home one day he came in contact with an elderly person and was shocked at the process of aging, which he had never apparently seen. He also saw a decaying corpse, a diseased person, and a hermit. All of this lead him to leave his life of luxury. Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods was so infatuated with a human woman that he pretended to be her husband and ordered the god of the sun not to rise for three days. Through this affair, he made his wife jealous, and fathered a son named Hercules. Whether these stories were known to Matthew or not is unknown. More than likely Matthew would have known of the Greek stories due to the hellenization of his day. But I share these stories with you to show a great contrast between them and the narrative in the Gospel. 18-19Matthew 1:18–19 ESV Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Mary and Joseph are betrothed. Being engaged at that time is not like it is today; as you can see, the only way to end such engagement is divorce. So, this marriage would have been planned. They would not live together until they had a “coming together” ceremony. The engagement would last a year then the woman (usually 13-14) would go and live with her husband. But before such a ceremony can take place, Mary is with child, and Joseph knows he is not the father. Notice at the end of verse 18 it says, “found to be wit child from the Holy Spirit.” Notice the great contrast between this story and the story of Hercules? The miraculous birth of Jesus is not the result of some god’s insatiable lust. Rather, it’s all a part of God’s wonderful plan. Luke’s account focuses more on Mary and her perspective, but even then there is nothing weird or grossly romantic about the story. Matthew purposefully keeps it to the point, “from the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, who is truly God and deserving of our worship, was active in creation. The Holy Spirit is also active in recreation. Jesus says in John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” And so, we see the Spirit gives new life mysteriously and powerfully. But Matthew turns to focus on Joseph. v. 19 mentions that Joseph is a just man. This, for me, harkens back to the book of kings where the normal formula to transition to a new king is to mention how many years he reigned and if he did right or evil in the sight of the Lord. “Just” here had to do with Joseph’s relationship to the Law of the Lord. Because Joseph is a man who desires to uphold the law, and because Mary has been unfaithful (at least as he understands), he only has one lawful course of action: to seek a divorce. But Joseph is wise and compassionate. Joseph can go to what would essentially be like the Judge Judy of his day and put Mary to open shame. But instead, as the text says, he resolves to divorce Mary quietly. I find it an extremely positive character trait that Joseph is willing to lay aside his lawful rights for the benefit of others. 20-23Matthew 1:20–23 ESV 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. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). The phrase “as he considered” should probably be best understood as this dream takes place after he decided divorce Mary. Angels are commonly used throughout the Bible as God’s messengers. Remember that angels are separate spiritual beings from humans and unlike what It’s a Wonderful Life would teach (and other pop culture esp. throughout that time), humans don’t become angels when they die. Notice how this angel addresses Joseph as “son of David.” This is a detail that can be easily skipped over in a casual reading of the text, but consider its importance for a moment. Matthew has already given a lineage of Joseph not to just give biological facts. Matthew was tracing Joseph’s royal lineage: the fact that Joseph would rightfully sit on the throne. The angel discloses to Joseph the fact that Mary had not been unfaithful, the conception of the Christ is miraculous. And because no such sin took place, there is really no grounds for divorce. The angel says in v. 20, “for that which is conceived in her if from the Holy Spirit.” This miraculous conception Christians call the incarnation which refers to the taking on of humanity. Jesus always existed, he is eternal, he is fully God. However, there is a point in history when Jesus, being fully God, also became fully human. Notice the doctrine of incarnation is not reincarnation. Jesus did not exist before in a different life. He was not a different person before he was born to Mary. There is continuity between who he is before and who is after. Jesus was also aware of his divine identity and purpose in his life. He knew he was destined to die for the sins of the world and predicted this many times to his disciples. Athanasius was an early church father who defended the truth of Scripture against a false teaching known as Arianism. Arianism taught that Jesus was not fully God and there was a time when Jesus did not exist. Athanasius says, “The results of the incarnation of the Savior are such and so many, that anyone attempting to enumerate the should be compared to a person looking on the vastness of the sea and attempting to count its waves.” I too want you to be able to marvel at the beauty of the incarnation. A few centuries earlier, Ignatius a church father who lived from 35-107 said, “Look for Christ, the Son of God; who was before time, yet appeared in time, who was invisible by nature, yet visible int he flesh; who was impalpable, and could not be touched, as being without body, but for our sakes became such, so that he might be touched and handled in the body, who was impassible as God, but became passible for our sakes as man, and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes.” This truth we will consider some more at our conclusion. Now, look at verse 21, “She will bear a son. . .you will call his name.” This formula is very similar to Isaiah 7:14 which is quoted in v. 23. But, before we get to the significance of Jesus’s name, I want you to note the Jewish expectation of Jesus’s day. The prophets promised a remarkable reinstatement of the great Davidic king after the return from exile. This did not occur in any spectacular way, and they were again eventually conquered by the Romans. They were anticipating the Messiah to come save them from Roman oppression and establish an earthly kingdom. Look at what the child is to be named, “Jesus.” This name means “YHWH is our salvation.” And what will he save the people from? Sin. For many Jewish people at the time this would be quite anticlimactic. Somewhere along the way, the biggest problem had stopped being sin and had instead became oppression and lack of freedom. It’s very easy for us to do the same thing. It’s easy for us to ide...

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All of History Points to Jesus

Dec 10, 202400:42:48Tap to summarize

Introduction If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter one. This book (Matthew) is the beginning of a new chapter in the Bible. You can see that it comes right after the divide between the testaments. Not all the books of the Bible are in chronological order, but Malachi does actually take place last in the Old Testament, in order of time. There is a span of 400 years between Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew. This time period will be important to our story, but we will get to it later. Matthew writes this book as a new beginning. Of course, what he wrote is fully inspired by God, so God wrote this too, but it’s almost as if Matthew knew these words would be penned as the beginning of the New Testament. And there’s a big reason behind that. Look at Matthew chapter 1 v. 1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.” Now, this will get a little bit nerdy, but bear with me, because I found this extremely interesting. It’s really easy to read past this line and sort of think nothing of it because the next few paragraphs are the very genealogy Matthew wants to introduce. But Matthew is doing something else here that every original reader would have picked up on, but its something we can easily miss today. Remember that Matthew wrote in Greek which was like the English language of his day. It was the common language, the trade tongue. The Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew also got translated into Greek a few hundred years before Christ. This was called the Septuagint. The Septuagint (OT in Hebrew) would have been the Bible most were familiar with and read. This is important because most of the time a New Testament writer quotes from the Old Testament, they quote from the LXX not from the Hebrew. So also when a New Testament author alludes to the Old Testament, they allude to the LXX not the original Hebrew. So, the point of all this is, Matthew makes a direct allusion to Genesis. Genesis is, as you all know, the first book of the Bible. The Hebrew word that forms the structure of the book of Genesis is תוֹלֵדֹת. This is usually translated as “generations” or “record.” So most translations of Genesis 2:4 “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” And that translation reflects the original Hebrew. However the Greek Septuagint translates the word תוֹלֵדֹת as a word that sounds like “Genesis” where the book gets its name. So Genesis 2:4 from the LXX reads like, “This is the book of the “genesis” of heaven and earth.” Likewise, the LXX for Genesis 5:1 reads, “This is the book of the “genesis” of mankind.” Matthew purposefully uses that same Genesis word. . .which could be rendered, “The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ. . .” When we think of the term “Genesis” we think of a term of origin. And there is some truth to that, but we do not want that Christ had an origin point. Jesus is eternal. He says in Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” So Jesus never had a beginning, but he did have a birthday. This is why we refer to his birth as the incarnation: Jesus, who always exists as fully divine, became fully man in order to fulfill God’s plan. The term in Genesis, תוֹלֵדוֹת in Hebrew and “genesis” in Greek functions more as a stage setting term. It puts a spotlight on the main focus of the book. And in the gospel of Matthew, this term works the same way: it puts the spotlight on Christ. Matthew words things carefully to point to the fact that Jesus is the true Messiah and King. I believe this is where our main application lies. We always want to strive to make the main point of the text the main thing we apply to our lives. And that can be a difficult thing to do, especially when we are reading something like a list of names. How many times have you gone through a genealogy in the Bible, got to the end of it and wondered, “What’s the point of all these names?” Well, I pray today, we can find Matthew’s point and apply that point to our lives. Our first name on our list is Abraham, but before we get to him, there’s some other history we should cover. In the beginning, God created everything good. Mankind was the peak of this creation, in his image, designed to rule over his created realm. But mankind rebelled against God and decided to rule on their own terms which lead to disaster, destruction, and death. But not all hope was lost. God promised a seed, and offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). And so satan makes it his job to so corrupt this seed that God’s promise may never come to pass. And it seems as though he had succeeded by Genesis 6, all of mankind’s thoughts was only evil all the time. But God wasn’t done working. He chose Noah out of that wicked generation to continue his plan. The wicked world was destroyed in the historic flood, but again, not all hope was lost. Matthew presents the rest of history up until the time of Christ in three major epochs. Look at verse two Epoch 1: Abraham Matthew 1:2–6 ESV Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, Abraham was promised something specific in Genesis 12. So not only does Abraham continue the promise given to Eve in Genesis 3 to have a head-crushing offspring, now this head-crushing offspring is said to be a blessing to every family on earth. Genesis 12:1–3 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” Notice that interesting promise to Abraham at the end of verse 3 of Genesis 12? “All the families of the earth shall be blessed” How is it possible for the offspring of a seemingly insignificant man bless every single family on the earth? Matthew seems to pick up on this promise by mentioning Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. These women were outside God’s chosen people, but brought in to God’s people by his grace, thus, being a foretaste of the Abrahamic promise. The Abrahamic promise is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Epoch 2: David Look back at verse 6, I’m going to reread that entire verse to note something significant:Matthew 1:6–11 ESV and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. I reread the entire verse six to point out the significant pause Matthew gives us. He brings attention to the fact that David was the king. And just as the promised seed was further clarified through the promise to Abraham, so too is that promised seed further clarified by a promise to David. 2 Samuel 7:12–13 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Now this promise has some dual-fulfillment. In some ways Solomon fulfilled it, but only as a picture of what was to come. You see, Solomon, though great and the wisest man, failed. The kingdom split right after him. But God promised to establish the throne of David forever, and so he has in the Messiah. You see, the Messiah is predicted to be the head crusher, the blessing of every family on earth, and to be king for all eternity. All of these promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. After David the lineage takes a significant turn away from Luke’s account of Jesus’s genealogy. Some take ...

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A Tale of Two Kings

The Birth of The King

All of History Points to Jesus

Goshen Baptist Church

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A Tale of Two Kings

The Birth of The King

All of History Points to Jesus