MESSAGES

FROM THE

WORD

THE POWER OF PROPHECY

Matthew 2:1-23

SERIES:  Christmas

Nov. 26, 2006

            There is no greater time of year than Christmas.  It is filled with tradition, joy, and celebration.  School children get two weeks off from school, the economy is boosted and families gather to share gifts and a meal.  Beyond the religious implications, this time of year is a wonderful experience for our culture.  Most importantly, Christmas is a reminder that God loves us and wants to bless us.  It is a reminder that the God of the Bible is not disinterested in His creation.

            For decades, churches have used this period to remind its members of the significance of the season.  Mostly practiced in what are known as “Liturgical” churches, this time is referred to as the Advent season.  It is usually the five weeks leading up to Christmas.  There are five specific aspects of the Advent season.  They are 1) the prophesies of Christmas, 2) Bethlehem, 3) the Shepherds, 4) the Wise Men, and 5) Christ.  Beginning today and continuing through Christmas, we are going to look at God’s word in relationship to these five specific aspects of the Christmas season.  This morning we will take on the subject of prophecy.

            When we discuss the issue of prophecy, we usually think about the return of Christ.  Such topics as the Left Behind novels, war in Israel, and the end of the world certainly come to the minds of many.  However, the very first prophesy in the Bible does not deal with the Second coming, but with the first coming.  We read       GENESIS 3:15           This prophecy by God involves the battle between Satan and Jesus.  Satan will bruise the heal of Jesus, but Jesus will crush the evil one’s head.  That all took place at the cross and at the tomb.  There are more than three hundred prophesies in the Old Testament.  Only about half involve the return of Christ.  Many involve the first coming of the Messiah to give Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  Let me just give you a few.

            He would be born of a woman

            He would be born of a virgin

            He would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

            He would be from the tribe of Judah

            He would be of the house of David

            He would be born in Bethlehem, live in Egypt, and             grow up in Nazareth

            He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey

            He would die on a cross

            He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver

            That money would be thrown into the Temple

            It would be used to buy a potter’s field

            He would be crucified between thieves, buried in a             rich man’s grave and return to life

            His side would be pierced

            His bones would not be broken

            His clothes would be parted and won by casting lots

            There would be a total eclipse at His death

            All of these were fulfilled in the life of Jesus.  There is a reason why God does this.  When God makes a prediction and it comes true, that gives us confidence that He knows what is happening.  If God gave ten predictions and they were not fulfilled, it would prove He didn’t know what was going to happen.  In the Christmas story, we want to look at three predictions that were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew.   

            FIRST, WE SEE THE PROPHESY OF HIS FLIGHT TO EGYPT.  We learn in the story of the wise men that Herod had asked them to search for the child and return with information as to his location, so that he would also worship the child.  Obviously, that was not Herod’s real plan.  Herod wanted to eliminate the competition.  However, God was not caught off guard.  We read    MATTHEW 2:13-15               One of our struggles in trying to understand the real Christmas story is removing our thoughts from the celebration of the American Christmas story.  In our cultural Christmas story, Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.  Because of the holiday traffic, the motels are all booked.  A kind inn keeper, realizing their reservations had disappeared into cyber-space, took mercy on them and allowed them to sleep overnight in the stable which has just been cleaned and by Molly Maids.  Mary went into labor, delivered her son, the shepherds showed up about an hour later and the next morning the three Magi arrived with their three gifts. 

            That isn’t quite the way it came down.  In Luke we learn about the trip to Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph.  Upon arriving in Bethlehem, they took up residence in the stable, which would have had barn animals and all that is associated with them.  The baby was born and then an interesting event took place.  Luke reveals that the shepherds arrived that evening.  However, Matt. 2:11 tells us that when the Magi came to Bethlehem we are told that they, CAME INTO THE HOUSE…SAW THE CHILD WITH MARY HIS MOTHER…”  Where did this house come from?  The answer is that we do not know.  My youngest daughter was born in a hospital about twenty miles away.  When she was born, we didn’t rent a house next to the hospital, we brought her home to our house.  We do not know how long Joseph and Mary stayed in the stable, but it couldn’t have been too long.  For some reason they lived in this home and didn’t return to Nazareth.  However, when Herod sent in the troops, he went after all of the baby boys two years old and younger.  We do not know the reason, but Jesus must have stayed at this home for a while after his birth and not traveled back to Nazareth.

            At whatever age Jesus was at this time, an angel came to Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt.  There is no explanation given for why the Magi gave the gifts they did, nor is the number of wise men ever mentioned.  However, gold is a nice present to have when you are on the run.  Notice Matthew’s commentary.  He tells us that this trip fulfilled a prophecy found in Hosea 11:1.  This also points out one of the difficulties in Bible interpretation.  The passage in Hosea deals with the promise God made to the Jews to bring them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.  The Holy Spirit took this passage and applied it to Jesus.  This happens in many passages in the Bible.  God gives a prophecy in the Old Testament that has an immediate application, but then is given a second fulfillment in the New Testament.  In theological terms, this is called type and anti-type.

            SECOND, WE SEE THE PROPHECY OF THE MURDERED CHILDREN.  In his heart, Herod was a butcher.  We will see more of him when we study the wise men.  Herod was a very unpopular king and was interested in eliminating his competition.  In fact, Herod had several of his sons executed for fear that they were plotting his death.  One of those executions occurred five days before he died.  He was so brutal and so disliked that when he realized he was dying, he had many of the most popular people in Jerusalem arrested.  He knew there would be rejoicing over his death so, he ordered all of those popular people executed upon his death so that there would be mourning when he died.

            I mentioned earlier that Herod was a butcher.  There is no greater example of this than what Matthew describes in    MATTHEW 2:16-18              I do not know if there is anything viler and more disgusting than individuals who target and hurt children.  Whether it is pedophiles or suicide bombers blowing up women and children in a bus, it moves at our souls to punish them.  Herod was a vile man who had one goal, stay in power.  When the Magi arrived and brought news of another king, the plot was hatched.  The Magi would discover where he was, tell Herod, and Herod would send in the storm troopers.  This gives you a little bit of the answer as to what was taking place.  If the Magi arrived in Jerusalem stating that a king had just been born, been told to give Herod an update, and a week later Herod sent in the troops, he would have killed all of the newborns.  There must have been a time lapse between when the Magi arrived and when Herod sent in troops.  We don’t know how or why, but this indicates that Mary & Joseph were now living presently in Bethlehem.

            Here is what happened and it presents us with the mercy of God and the unanswered question.  Knowing that Herod was going to send in his soldiers to kill the Christ child, God warned Joseph to head for the hills.  That shows the power of God.  There is a second aspect to this and one that is the ultimate unanswered question.  If God could warn Joseph, why didn’t God save the other children?  That is a legitimate question.  Ultimately, God never gives a satisfactory answer to that question.  Let me give you one possible explanation.  Herod was an evil man and one who did not want competition.  Let’s assume for a moment that God did warn all of the parents of children who were less than two years of age.  The parents would have fled; the soldiers would have found no children, returned to Herod and reported that the children had all been hidden.  Do you think that Herod would have left it at that and said, “Oh well, at least I tried”.  He probably would have sent the troops back with orders to “Kill them all, the whole city”.

            You might think that God being all powerful should be able to just stop all evil.  Why can’t he stop predators, murderers, and perverts?  The answer is, “He will, one day”.  The reality is that if He decided to stop all evil, there would be no human race.  He would slay us all.   Because of sin He has voluntarily limited Himself. 

            He does this in two ways.  He limits Himself by allowing evil to have its way and then turning that into a blessing.  This is Romans 8:28 in practice.  Second, He limits Himself by working through human agencies.  God has given the human race a manual on dealing with evil.  We call it the Bible.  When the culture follows the manual, there is peace.  When the culture rejects God’s manual, chaos is the result.  Herod’s rise to power was a direct result of decisions made years ago on the part of the people of God to reject God’s authority.  Tragedies that occur in your life are not always a result of your sin, but they are a result of sin somewhere.  God never answers the why question, because it will never satisfy.  Our task is not to ask why, but to ask “what now”?

            Let me give you another illustration of this.  In Acts 12 we read                 ACTS 12:1-3        This is another Herod and he had James arrested and executed.  He then arrested Peter and we read in verses 7-10 that an angel showed up at Peter’s cell, broke the lock, and released Peter from prison.  Both James and Peter were Apostles.  God sent an angel to protect Peter.  Why didn’t He send an angel to protect James?  The answer is, we don’t know.  We do know that God knows what He is doing.  Ultimately, we have to settle on that.  It leaves tension, but it results in God’s grace.

            THIRD, WE SEE THE PROPHECY OF HIS LIFE IN NAZARETH.  After the death of Herod, an angel appeared to Joseph and told him to return home.  We read           MATT. 2:19-23                  Joseph packed up his bags and headed home.  There is a very interesting aspect to this part of the Christmas story that I had not picked up on before.  We read                      LUKE 1:26, 27; 2:4             Both Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth.  I think most of us remember that.  Here is the interesting part of the story.  The angel told Joseph to return to Israel.  The angel did not say which city.  Joseph started on his journey, and seemed to head for Bethlehem.  It wasn’t until he heard that Herod’s son, who was worse than his father, was in power that he changed course.  Rather than go where he wanted to go, Joseph returned to Nazareth.  What does that tell you?  Remember the “house” the Magi found in which the Christ-child lived?  It seems evident that Joseph and Mary had moved to either Bethlehem or Jerusalem.  We can’t be dogmatic because the Bible isn’t specific, but it does tell us that Joseph sought to return to Judah, which is the area around Jerusalem. 

            Why would God use this evil king to prevent Joseph from moving back to Judah?  It is pretty simple.  We read     MATTHEW 2:23             Jesus had to end up in Nazareth to fulfill God’s plan.  This is an issue that we don’t like to hear much.  We saw just a moment ago that God sometimes takes tragic situations and works His plan out of that tragedy.  This is one of those situations.  God used a negative political situation to move Joseph where he needed to be so that God’s will could be fulfilled.  It may be that you have found yourself in a situation outside of your control.  The people who have the power and authority in your situation are not interested in your well being.  Things may be bleak, however you have a trump card and that is God. 

            God has a plan for your life.  It involves three things that all come out of the Christmas story.  First, it involves His promise of difficulties.  Second, it involves the provisions of life.  Third, it involves providential direction.  Haven’t you found that true in your life?  You have had trials, maybe even tragedies.  You have had God provide in normal and miraculous ways for your needs.  You have had God direct you in ways that are impossible to explain other than God’s involvement.  This is the life God planned for His son.  It is also the life He plans for you.

This message is from the teaching ministry of Glen Jackson, pastor of Faith Christian Church in Simi Valley, CA.