A New Exodus
Matthew 2: 13 – 23.
Introduction
I can think of several reasons why I am glad we observe Advent in our church.
First, Advent is a time for us to slow down and anticipate—or even prepare ourselves—for the coming of Christmas. We are different from the rest of the world. We observe Christmas as one of our holiest days on the Christian calendar. However, we don’t rush into Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving is over. We take the next four weeks to anticipate the coming of the Christ child. Christmas is not yet here, but we anticipate that Christmas is coming. Therefore, we will prepare ourselves while we wait on the coming of Christ.
Second, Advent reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. For the world, Christmas is about Santa Claus, snowmen, spending too much money, stressful relationships with friends and family, and the hustle and bustle of trying to get everything ready. While many of us will experience these aspects of Christmas, Advent reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is the coming of the Christ child. God loved us so much that he became one of us. God entered into human history as a helpless child. This child was named Jesus, or “Yahweh saves.” He was called Immanuel, or “God is with us.”
Third, Advent helps us to step out of the noise of Christmas. Just consider some of the noisy things that happened on the first official day of Christmas shopping. A man in
Apparently, Christmas shopping brings out the worst in some people. It brings out competition, jealousy, ambition, and ultimately greed.
Advent helps us to get out of the competition, jealousy, ambition and greed of Christmas to focus on the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love that only Christ can bring.
Of course, there is nothing really new about competition, jealousy, ambition and greed. These terms describe the world we live in, the world we grew up and the world in which Jesus was born.
The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Jesus was born, Wise Men from the East came to
The Wise men were innocent. All they wanted to do was to find the One born King of the Jews. However, their visit enraged Herod and brought out his competition, jealousy, ambition and greed.
Matthew 2: 13 – 23.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
(NIV)
Over the past few weeks, I have been preaching from the Book of Exodus. When I first started studying Exodus, I read a statement by an Old Testament scholar that shaped the way I approached the Book of Exodus. He reminded me that when Christian preachers preach from the Old Testament, we ought to ask ourselves if we can preach the same sermon in a Jewish synagogue. If my sermons can be preached in a Jewish Synagogue, then I am not preaching a Christian message.
That one statement has helped me to discover the ways that the Book of Exodus anticipates the coming of Jesus Christ and helps us to understand exactly who Jesus is. In fact, this is what Matthew had in mind when he wrote his gospel. Matthew wrote the story of Jesus to Jewish people living in the First Century World.
In the First Century, the faithful Jews were living in hope and expectation. They were hoping for the coming Messiah. They expected this coming Messiah to be their deliverer, their king, and their savior. And Matthew wrote his Gospel to these hopeful, expectant Jews.
Matthew wrote with one purpose in mind. He wanted to show the faithful Jews of the First Century that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the legitimate Messiah. In order to prove Jesus was and is the legitimate Messiah, Matthew had to demonstrate how Jesus could be the King without holding political office. He also had to prove from the Jewish Scriptures that Jesus is the One the Jews had been hoping for.
Out of
Matthew spends more time than any of the other Gospel writers quoting from the Old Testament. He does this to serve his purpose. Again, he is writing to Jews and trying to prove that Jesus is the legitimate Messiah. The best way to accomplish this is to show how the life of Jesus—beginning with his birth—actually fulfills Old Testament prophecy.
We find a good example here in Matthew 2. Herod is jealous of the One born King of the Jews. He will go to any lengths to protect his kingdom. History tells us that Herod even went so far as to kill his own wife and two of his sons to stop a coup. It should come as no surprise that Herod would kill the baby boys under the age of two.
The surprise is that God steps in to protect Jesus. God spoke to Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to
Hosea 11: 1, “When
Hosea’s words remind us of what God said to Pharaoh in Exodus 4: 22 – 23, “Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says:
Hosea is writing about God’s love for
Hosea is not writing about Jesus, the future Son of God. But, for some reason Matthew finds this to be a prophecy about Jesus.
Matthew knows that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people. Jesus fulfills the specific prophecies of the Old Testament, AND Jesus fulfills the general trajectory of Scripture.
We need to be careful here, because Matthew can do things with the Old Testament that you and I cannot. Matthew can find Jesus in Old Testament passages where the Old Testament authors were not writing about Jesus, because Matthew was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew can look back at the Jewish Scriptures and claim that Jesus fulfills all the hopes of
God brought
Rachel Weeping for Her Children
Matthew used the same type of interpretation when he described the weeping and mourning that resulted from Herod’s command to kill the baby boys. He quoted the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 31: 15, “This is what the LORD says: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.’”
Jeremiah was predicting the Babylonian Exile. He was telling the people of
Matthew’s first Scripture was a related to the Exodus. This Scripture is related to the Exile. Both the Exodus and the Exile threatened to put an end to God’s people. And, in both the Exodus and the Exile we see the providence of God and God’s salvation. Matthew associates Jesus with the two most significant acts of salvation in the Old Testament.
In the Exile, there was weeping because the situation seemed hopeless. However, God was at work—even in the midst of Exile. God brought his people back from Exile. In Herod’s massacre of the babies, there was weeping because the situation seemed hopeless. Mothers wept and mourned because their futures were lost when the sons were killed. However, God was at work—even in the midst of a massacre. God rescued his Son, Jesus, the true hope and the true future.
A New
By associating Jesus with the two most significant salvation events in the Old Testament, he has given us a fuller understanding of who Jesus is. Jesus is the focus of God’s salvation plan.
God’s salvation began by focusing on the entire nation of
The entire trajectory of God’s salvation—moving from the nation of
Perhaps Matthew wants us to read the entire context of Hosea 11: 1.
Hosea 11: 1 – 11.
1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.
5 "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?
6 Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man-- the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.
10 They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD.
(NIV)
God never gave up on
Conclusion: A New Exodus
In the first Exodus, God accomplished two things. He rescued his people from slavery, AND he established his people as the Nation of Israel.
In the New Exodus, God accomplished the same two things. He rescued his people from slavery, AND he established his people as the
Slavery…Sin…Evil…Death. The Christ Child grew to become Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus lived a sinless and perfect life. He was faithful in a way that
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