The Dawn of Redeeming Grace by Sinclair B Ferguson

 

THE DAWN OF REDEEMING GRACE

by Sinclair Ferguson

Chapter 1 - In the Beginning

Matthew's gospel has been described as "The Gospel of the Kingdom." Jesus taught about "the kingdom", how his miracles were signs of its presence and he explained the new and different lifestyle of its members - chapters 4 verse 23 to 6 verse 29. He ends his gospel with an indication of Jesus' kingship "all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me" chapter 28 verse 18

Matthew is about a new genesis. Matthew 19 verse 28 talks about the new world, literally the palingenesia, the beginning again.

Chapter 2 - The Hopes and Fears of All the Years

One turn of the page from Malachi to Matthew and we arrive at the the New Testament or new covenant. But why start with a family tree? Normally if we make out our own family tree we start with ourselves and work backwards. 400 years have passed and God's people were under Roman rule.

There are 3 ways in which Matthew is describing Jesus in this genealogy ...

Jesus is the Christ - mentioned 4 times in verses 16, 17 and 18. The word "Christ" is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah meaning the anointed king whom God had promised to send to deliver his people from bondage.

Jesus is the son of David, the king in Israel after Saul - a promise was given to David that his kingdom would stretch from one end of the earth to the other. 2 Samuel 23 verse 5 shows David's confession of faith in God keeping the covenant.

Jesus is also the son of Abraham.

Why the 14 generations between each? In Hebrew there are no vowels so David was spelled D-V-D. D is the 4th letter of the alphabet, the dalet and V the 6th letter, the vau - 4 + 6 + 4 gives you 14.

God keeps his promises! God directs history towards this moment - that is sovereignty and faithfulness!

Chapter 3 - Cherchez La Femme - Look for the women!

One word could summarise the inclusion of 5 women in the family tree of Jesus - GRACE. 4 of them were outsiders, not Jewish and Matthew goes on to show more outsiders included in the orchestration and future reign of his son Jesus - the wise men.

Notice the contrast to Luke's gospel. He describes poor shepherds as being the first visitors whereas the wise men in Matthew's gospel were rich. The shepherds were local but the wise men were from a distance.

Jesus extends his grace beyond the chosen people and brings Gentiles into his covenant - long before Calvary. God overcomes the effects of sin and shame as he works out his purposes. God keeps his promises in ways we could never have anticipated. At the end of Matthew Jesus instructs his own disciples to go to outsiders, indeed all nations.

Chapter 4 - A virgin conception

Notice how Joseph was dealt with by God - through dreams. In fact there are 4 in the opening 2 chapters of Matthew. We do not hear any words uttered by Joseph but we have a glimpse of his thoughts. All his hopes and plans for the future lay in tatters. His own reputation and social standing were gone. Everything looked so bleak. But he did not act in haste. He waited on God.

When Christ comes into our lives he turns them upside down and inside out, he changes everything. This was true not only for Joseph but for Mary, the wise men, Herod and his court as well as an entire city.

We have a glimpse of a man who came to receive Jesus into his home, into his life and into his heart. It is a glimpse into the way the heavenly Father was preparing him to nurture his incarnate Son. The man God uses he first bruises! Joseph was being completely cast upon the Lord.

Chapter 5 - A Waking Nightmare

Matthew describes Joseph as "a just man". The Greek word is dikaios. It is also used of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke chapter 1 where it is translated righteous. A righteous man in the bible is someone who belongs to God's covenant family, receives his blessings and lovingly seeks to obey his laws and statutes.

Joseph knew the Law and what should be done in view of his present circumstances. Mary had committed a capital offence. She had broken the entire second table of the Law - dishonoured her parents, in essence it was like killing Joseph, it was stealing what was pledged to him, she had lied to him and she had desired something that didn't belong to her. The just thing to do under the circumstances was to treat Mary as guilty and divorce her - an act of public humiliation. A nightmare scenario.

But .... Joseph thought he would try and do it quietly as possible. He was following Micah 6 verse 8. He thought and thought. He wanted to work things out in his mind. He decided to sleep on it. He didn't have the full picture - this child was "conceived ... of the Holy Ghost."

Chapter 6 - Dream Angel

God was untangling the knot that Joseph had tried to loosen in his waking hours. He did it in a way that prevented Joseph from thinking he had worked it out for himself. And in his kindness he dissolved any fears Joseph had in wondering whether he was following his own plans and desires with disregard to God's word.

Now things fall into place he had no need to fear he was disobeying the Lord by marrying Mary. No matter what the consequences might be, Joseph would do what the angel said. He needed no further consideration. He was decisive when he woke up.

God needed Joseph - what he would face in the future required strength and protection for Mary and her baby. He would be the defender of God's king and kingdom in the coming hour of crisis. And he needed to be sure that he was doing God's will and not just his own.

The truly admirable thing about Joseph was that what he most feared was failing to obey the Lord. He knew how important it is to have "the true fear of God upon your hearts; be really afraid of offending him". That is why the angel said "Joseph son of David do not fear to take Mary as your wife." It is the will of your Lord.

I cannot help admiring God's work in Joseph's life. God had shaped and prepared him so that he was ready to be entrusted with the task of being the human father for God's own son. Joseph was willing to do whatever God said.

This is the first of only 2 times we meet Joseph. We know nothing of his life before this but you can be sure that God looked on him and decided he was his chosen man.

In my life I can see the trace of God leading up to specific moments when God has prepared me for some dramatic events. It has been in the preparation beforehand that God has been shaping me and looking back it is only then I have known his personal guidance. Learning to obey God in all aspects of my life is so important.

Chapter 8 - What's In a Name?

What's in a name? I have often wondered at the meaning of names. And when you come to the story of Jesus' birth and the choosing of his name you notice that it was God who chose his son's name, not Joseph his earthly father. Looking back through his family tree that name never appeared before. The angel gave the explanation for the name - "He shall save his people from their sins." Yeshua or Joshua/Jesus means "Yahweh (the Lord) saves."

Remember Joshua in the Old Testament? He had been instrumental in bringing the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. This was their salvation from Egypt. But Jesus himself was the God who saves. It reminds us of Psalm 130 verses 7 and 8 "With the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities."

The Jewish people hoped for a Messiah who would be a military conqueror, delivering them from Roman rule and leading them into the glorious new age promised by the prophets. But Joseph was learning that the fulfilment of those prophecies would be in a different way. The people's greatest need then and now was spiritual and moral. Jesus would save his people from their sins.

I wonder did Joseph realise that this would include not only the Jews but Gentiles too?

Jesus' name is everything. It is who he is. That is the promise today for you and I!

Chapter 9 - "Isaiah hath foretold him"

The New Testament contains more quotations from Isaiah than from any other book. Matthew's Gospel alone has as many as 40 quotations!

In Matthew chapter 1 verses 22 and 23 Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7 verse 14. To understand these words we need to go back and see what was happening in Isaiah's day.

Isaiah was sent by God to Ahaz the king at a time of national crisis. God was telling Ahaz to ask for a sign but Ahaz refused - he didn't want God in his life. Isaiah responded that if this was his choice then God would send a sign - "Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel."

This sign was not pointing to good things. In fact Ahaz's family was doomed. There was coming a day of judgment and destruction but one day ... a light would come in the midst of the darkness. How? By the birth of a child who would be called "Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

In chapter 4 Matthew refers again to Isaiah but this time chapter 9 referring to the "great light" that would dawn on those in darkness, the son whose kingdom would last forever. He would be the "shoot from the stump of Jesse" on whom "the Spirt of the Lord shall rest" (Isaiah 11 verses 1 to 9). He would bring cosmic restoration.

Later Isaiah talks about the Suffering Servant who would save his people from their sins. Matthew in his writing was reflecting back to these prophecies and could see their fulfilment in Christ.

Matthew tells us that Jesus and Immanuel, the 2 names given to him indicate what he came to accomplish - saving his people and who he was - God with his people.

Our faith is supernatural from start to finish and the virgin conception is but one element in it.

The words "genealogy" and "birth" both translate the same Greek word - genesis. God was beginning again in Jesus Christ.

And God brought it all about! Joseph did nothing. The baby didn't drop down into the manger from heaven but was conceived by Mary. She was passive, not active. She couldn't conceive on her own. It is God who saves, we cannot save ourselves.

Chapter 10 - The Way of Obedience

In Matthew chapter 1 we read of an angel coming to tell Joseph that the baby Mary was pregnant with was from the Holy Ghost. Notice he was told after the conception had taken place whereas for Mary in Luke's gospel it was before. Why the difference?

Firstly because Mary needed to know in advance but Joseph didn't. Joseph also needed to be tested to prepare him for the trials that lay ahead. But one thing they did have in common was they were both told not to be afraid. Both of their fears were different. For Mary it was because she had met an angel. For Joseph it was two fold.

Joseph was afraid of grieving God by following the desires of his own heart and secondly he feared the consequences of marrying Mary. Everyone would know very quickly of their situation. But the angel told him to continue trusting God. Little did he know what God had planned. A few months later he and Mary would begin an extended period away from home, conveniently far away from prying eyes and loose tongues.

Nor would he have been able to imagine that strangers from the east would bring them valuable gifts or they would be refugees in Egypt. Those gifts would sustain them during their time away.

Sometimes when things happen in life we cannot help but stand in amazement at how God is in complete control. But it is not just in the big things - it is the little insignificant things and the detail is unbelievable. Repeatedly this is the experience of many, myself included. But it is only in looking back that we can see the reality of it all. For Joseph in Matthew chapter 1 that must have been his experience. Joseph heard the word of God; he believed the word of God; he obeyed the word of God whatever the cost might be. Joseph was chosen by God. He was prepared by God to protect and nurture his incarnate Son. Think about the time Jesus would later spend watching and learning from his earthly father. And Joseph would have taught him the scriptures. What a responsibility was placed on his shoulders!

Chapter 12 - Wise Men from the East

Matthew chapter 2 is like one of those fairy stories you read as a child. We are taken hundreds of miles away from the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem to wise men in the east. If like me you wonder who these men were - simply put they had the conviction that events in the natural order influenced human life. They believed that the heavenly world above them disclosed significant truths about the shape of history around them. Their conclusion was that a special king of the Jews had been born. How did this special star make such an impact on their lives? They would have had some information as God's people would have been exiled there. They would have known the story of Balaam and his donkey from Numbers 22. He came from Pethor, a place where centuries later Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at the battle of Carchemish. Balaam had been summoned by Balak King of Moab to pronounce a curse on Israel but instead he prophesied and it his prophecy that is significant ... "I see him, but not now; I behold him but not near: A star shall come out of Jacob and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel." Maybe these men heard of Daniel who had also had dreams and a vision of a coming king and his kingdom. Did this help them to understand more of what was happening? Someone compelled them to travel and discover if everything was true. A secret instinct to find a king - many can trace their own journey of faith in similar ways. They can look back to people, places and situations which have helped them to come to know Christ personally. It might have involved a long searching for the truth but God is waiting to welcome them. Have you that same experience?

Chapter 13 - A Dangerous Turning

The wise men of Matthew chapter 2 were neither Christian or Jewish - a fact that is not recognised by lots of people. Yet God led them through their interest in heavenly signs to make this momentous journey to seek out the new king. They didn't know who was behind it all. 

But why did the star lead them to Jerusalem and not Bethlehem?

The palace would seem an obvious place to look for a king. The present King Herod was very troubled when he heard of these wise men. But the whole city was equally troubled too. But God had planned that his Son would not be born into riches, rather into poverty. 

Our impression of God goes way beyond what we imagine at times. Later in the scriptures Paul tells us "for your sake he became poor so that by his poverty you might become rich." This king of the Jews is beyond our human imagination. God kept the wise men safe even though they had come to the wrong place and to a king who could easily have destroyed our world of the knowledge of King Jesus. 

When we mess up in life God doesn't give up on us. Maybe as you look back on the past year you have many regrets. It has been a tough year. Yet God is still waiting for you to come to him. The wise men soon realised that as they left the palace that day. Even when things don't go the way we planned God is waiting to show us his way for us to follow. Are we ready to get back on the road and search for Christ again?

Chapter 14  - Knowing Without Going

The Herod of Matthew 2 was known as "the Great". His reign lasted 37 years and was not without success; his special interest was in building projects and these included the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple.

He was of Edomite descent and therefore not a true Jew. He executed one of his 10 wives, 3 of his own sons and hundreds of their supporters. Maintaining his throne was his priority - indeed his neurosis. 

His first move was to demand that the wise men be brought to a secret meeting. He gathered together "the chief priests and the scribes of the people" and "inquired of them" where the King of the Jews, the Messiah was to be born.

These chief priests and scribes knew much if not all of the Old Testament by heart. Perhaps they were able to give Herod the immediate answer - "in Bethlehem". They could even give chapter and verse - Micah 5 verse 2. They possessed what the wise men lacked - the scriptures but lacked what the wise men had - the desire to find him.

It is possible to know the bible well and yet to be tone deaf to its message. They could read the truth the bible taught them but their hearts were hardened. They saw no need to find Christ for themselves.

At Christmas we are perhaps in more danger than at any other time of the year of saying the right things with our lips without really engaging our hearts.  We see 3 responses to the good news of Jesus Christ even today ...

A hunger to hear more;

an indifference that passes itself off as sophistication;

a hostility that manifests itself often in an antagonism to Christ, his people, the lifestyle he taught and the exclusive claims he made about himself.

The rejection of Jesus is usually done in more subtle ways today than it was by King Herod or his theologians.

There are only 3 responses you can make to Jesus Christ ...

Learn about him and seek him - as the wise men

Know about him but be indifferent to him - like the Jewish scholars

Realise that he is the promised Saviour and King - but seek to destroy him as Herod did.

Which is yours?

Chapter 15 - Can you Trust a Herod?

The wise men were pagans. And now they had received a personal summons to meet no less a person than Herod the Great. Surely he would know the answer to their questions. So perhaps their journey would have a happy ending after all.

Perhaps they missed his arrogance and ruthlessness. After all, he seemed interested; and he had gone to the trouble of researching the answer to their question even before they met him. Surely this man would help them?

They left for Bethlehem, apparently believing every word. They lacked the discernment to see through the king.

Would we not have done the same?  

The wise men had unwittingly stumbled into a spiritual war zone and they were in danger. It never cross their mind that the new king would have enemies, that one of them would be the old king. We can be grateful to God that he protected them.

Chapter 16 - Following a Star

The "star" is only mentioned in Matthew but it continues to fascinate people. Was it a supernatural phenomenon created by God exclusively for the occasion? Matthew does not tell us. Down through the years 3 views have attracted most attention ...

The first view is that what would have looked like a star to the wise men may in fact have been a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. In antiquity Jupiter was the "royal" planet and Saturn represented "the west."

A second view is that it was a comet. 

A third alternative is that it was a nova or super nova produced by a stellar explosion. What has made this view attractive is that such a phenomenon took place over a 2 month period around 5 BC. This theory goes back at least to the great astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630). He is said to have written these beautiful words about his science: "I was merely thinking God's thoughts after him. Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."

What is certain is that God employed a phenomenon in nature (the star was not a figment of their imagination) to prompt the wise men to look for Jesus. The scriptures show no special interest in the star's nature, only in its significance: it was going to lead these men to Jesus.

From Jerusalem the travellers then set off in a southerly direction towards Bethlehem. As night fell, they saw a welcome sight: the star was still there! 

"Behold the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." 

This means that the star directly aligned with Bethlehem as they headed south from Jerusalem.

The wise men needed more than the star. God had used an astronomical event coupled perhaps with ancient prophecies to awaken their interest. But they needed more. Just as God had overseen the twists and turns in Jesus' genealogy, he had now superintended the wise men's wandering into danger in Herod's palace to give them the final clue they needed: the teaching of Scripture!

For us, we can have no knowledge of Christ or his work as Messiah and Saviour. Without its testimony to him we can never find him.

The important thing is not how spectacular God's work is but how effective it had been. All that matters in our lives is that we have come to Christ and found in him what we were looking for, even if we did not at first know what that really was. And that is a reason to be profoundly thankful.

Chapter 17 - Finding Christ

Matthew began his gospel by inviting us to see the birth of Jesus through Joseph's eyes. But then his camera angle moved to an undisclosed location in the ancient Near East, and he invited us to look through the eyes of some ancient scholars.

What did they see? First, they saw a star and followed its path westwards; then they saw Herod the Great; then they saw the scriptures, the prophecy of Micah; then they saw the star once again and followed it.

In Matthew 2 verse 11 they arrive in Bethlehem and at a specific house. What do they see now? "They saw the child with Mary his mother." (verse 11)

Matthew repeats these words - the child and his mother - another 4 times in the passage - verses 13, 14, 20 and 21. The child comes first in your vision. He is small and humanly speaking, helpless; but he takes centre stage.

Matthew points to Old Testament prophecies. He himself quotes from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Hosea as well as recording the words that Herod's counsellors quoted from in Micah. And here the repeated use of the phrase "the child" was meant to remind his first readers and hearers (and us) of words found in the context of Isaiah 9 verses 1 to 7.

This is the child the magi or wise men saw. Isaiah had written that this "child" would bring about a great deliverance "as on the day of Midian" (Isaiah 9 verse 4). He was referring to the "Battle of Midian" when guided by God, Gideon had reduced his army in stages from 32,000 down to 300 men carrying 300 trumpets and 300 jars with torches inside them. They surrounded the Midianite camp by night and then, on the signal they smashed the jars - letting the light shine out - blew the trumpets and shouted in triumph, the Midian army fled in disarray (Judges 7 verses 1 to 25). 

Isaiah saw that this child would be everything we lack. He is the "Wonderful Counsellor"; for our weakness he is the "Mighty God"; for spiritual orphans and prodigal sons, he is the "Everlasting Father"; in our distress, he comes to us as the "Prince of Peace."

The travellers from the east were seeing more than they could take in when "going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother." Matthew, a Jew, is allowing us to see him through Gentile eyes. For Jesus is both the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy and the answer to Gentiles' longing.

The wise men could not have understood all of this. But even what they did understand about the child led them to worship: "They fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh."

These were expensive presents, fit for a king. And although the child was found in modest - even impoverished circumstances, they did not hesitate to open their treasures and offer them to him.

Notice to whom they gave the gifts - not to Joseph and Mary but to Jesus. They had come to worship him. Their gifts were expressions of Jesus' royalty and perhaps their loyalty too. And they brought more than the gifts in their hands, they offered themselves too: "They fell down and worshipped him."

When we see Christ and when we recognise him as King, we too will fall down and worship him and offer to him the richest treasures of our lives - we lay at his feet the brightest and best of the things we hold dear.

Chapter 18 - A Divine Warning

Matthew doesn't tell us how long the wise men stayed on in Bethlehem. They certainly stayed overnight, long enough for one of them (or was it Joseph?) to have a dream, warning them: Don't go back to Herod. Perhaps that simply confirmed what they were beginning to suspect: he was not to be trusted. They bade farewell to Mary and Joseph and began the long journey home.

Matthew tells us no more. Nobody knows any more.

Facts about the Magi ...

They observed a new astronomical phenomenon.

They interpreted this as a sign that a new king of the Jews had been born.

This affected them in a way that was, apparently, not true of their colleagues and neighbours.

They decided to set out on a long journey that took them eventually to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

In preparation they either purchased or gathered together several expensive gifts to present to the new king.

En route they made enquiries about the new king. 

The news about them reached the ears of King Herod.

Their questions disturbed Herod.

Herod's reputation for cruelty was such that this had a ripple effect on the citizens of Jerusalem.

In preparation for interviewing them, Herod summoned the religious leaders to ask about the birth of the Messiah.

Herod called them to a secret meeting.

Herod sent them to Bethlehem.

They were thrilled when they discovered that the star could still be seen.

They realised that it was aligned with Bethlehem.

There in Bethlehem they found the King who was the reason for their journey

They presented to the child the gifts they had brought for him.

They bowed down and worshipped him.

They stayed overnight and probably had extended conversations with Mary and Joseph.

They were warned through a dream not to report back to Herod.

They went home by a route avoiding Jerusalem.

What can we learn from all of this? From Matthew's perspective, the Lord's hand had clearly been on these men from the very beginning of the story. God worked out his purposes through an unusual providence in the magi's ordinary working lives combined with an inner personal compulsion to respond to it. And over a period of time he brought them to Christ.

There was something unique about the wise men's experience. But we can also trace a pattern. An awakening takes place, and then a drawing, and then a discovering, and then a worshipping.

The Lord had his hand on them, just as he has his hand on us. And so we can look in hope for the ways in which he has his hand on the lives of non-believers whom we know and love.

Chapter 19 - Long Journeys

As the wise men slowly made their way out of Bethlehem at the beginning of their long journey home, what might their expressions have given away?

Satisfaction perhaps? They had set out guided by a heavenly body; they had reached their intended destination guided by a Jewish prophecy; they had found the king for whom they were looking. The mission, from that point of view, had been successful.

Or perhaps they were perplexed. Their quest had precipitated a conflict situation that they could not have anticipated. Even more unexpected - the newborn king was not a palace resident. His crib had been a manger. The "princess" who gave birth to him was in fact the teenage wife of a carpenter husband. Yet unlike the occupant of the Jerusalem palace, this little family could trace their lineage all the way back to Israel's King David. It seemed that the wise men had discovered the rightful heir to David's throne. Yet he had been born into obscurity. And now they were leaving him knowing that his life and his parents' lives and perhaps even their own lives, were under threat.

They had found what they sought. They left with thoughts they would ponder for the rest of their lives. 

These scholars must have asked themselves what kind of king this child would be. What destiny lay ahead of him? 

It may be that the wise men had even more than that to ponder. Matthew and Luke tell the nativity story from different perspectives, reflecting the memories of different people. Neither of them makes any attempt to provide all the details. The chronology seems to have been like this ...

Joseph and Mary journey to Bethlehem

Jesus is born

Shepherds from the fields around Bethlehem come to see him

A week later Jesus is circumcised and officially named

A few weeks later a visit to Jerusalem takes place for Mary's purification

The little family returns to Bethlehem and now finds a house in which they can stay

The wise men arrive

Joseph and Mary would have been in Jerusalem before the visit of the wise men. There they had met the 2 elderly saints, Simeon and Anna.

By another "secret instinct of the Spirit", Simeon had recognised the baby Jesus as the Messiah and had spoken of his future glory. But he had also given a hint of the suffering that lay ahead for both Jesus and his mother ...

"Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also)".

What consolation it must have been to Mary (and perhaps to Joseph too) that Anna, long widowed and therefore familiar with pain and grief, was there to reassure them (verses 36 to 38).

The returning scholars had much to ponder and much still to discuss and try to understand en route home. They now had in their possession the 2 central threads in the tapestry of the gospel. But were they able to weave them together to see that what lay ahead was the child's death and resurrection?

How much they understood would depend on how much Joseph and Mary understood and were able to explain.

Within a day or two all of them were gone - the cosy scene shattered by dreams warning of danger. The men headed back east, while Joseph and his little family headed south, no doubt all of them travelling along roads that would help them to avoid detection by Herod. The sword was already piecing Mary's soul; the shadow of the cross was already falling on the child.

The wise men and the parents shared one thing in common: knowing Jesus means taking up the cross and following him. Yes there had been a price to pay for the wise men's long journey westwards; but there was a different kind of cost now. And for Mary and Joseph life could never be the same again. They would all discover that the shadow of the cross that fell on the child would also touch them. 

Each of the people gathered in that house in Bethlehem gave Jesus all they had. His parents gave their lives to him; the magi gave their precious gifts. But surely they all left Bethlehem with a sense that "he is no fool, who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed with that which he cannot lose."

Chapter 20 - Out of Egypt

The warning that accelerated the wise men's homeward journey was soon followed by another dream and another flight. An angel appeared in Joseph's dream, warning him that Herod's search-and-destroy team was about to arrive in Bethlehem: "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." They needed to leave immediately. Head south to Egypt and don't leave there until I tell you! No territory governed by Herod was safe for them. And so they became refugees in Egypt.

It would have taken only a few more days for Joseph and Mary to get to the Egyptian border than to go north to Nazareth. Herod wouldn't have expected them to leave the country. And in Egypt they would have been outside his territories altogether. Still even getting to the border was a week's journey - and a week must seem a long time when there is a price on your head.

Matthew is not telling this story to evoke pity for this little family or to shame governments into doing more for today's refugees. His real point is to tell us something about Jesus.

Matthew wants us to see Jesus as he is. The point in this story of Egyptian exile is about Jesus' identity; for, later, once Herod was dead, Jesus would be brought out of Egypt and thus "fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophets, "Out of Egypt I called my son." The words are a quotation from Hosea 11 verse 1 which reflects on the rescue of God's people - his "son" Israel - from slavery in Egypt.

There are echoes of the story told in Genesis and Exodus. A family goes down into Egypt; a child is rescued from a wicked ruler; he grows up and leads his people out of their bondage; they pass through the waters of the sea; they are tested in the wilderness; eventually they reach the borders of the promised land.

These events are like a shadow cast backwards into history from the life of our Lord. He is the reality. He is the true Son of God who was called out of Egypt; he would go through the waters in his baptism in the River Jordan; he would be tested in the wilderness.

Matthew is telling us that in Jesus a greater exodus has begun. 30 years later, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus would discuss with Moses and Elijah the "departure" (literally the "exodus") that he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. This true and final exodus would not be a physical deliverance from an earthly Pharaoh. Nor would it be freedom from merely physical servitude. it would be deliverance from Satan, and from the guilt, and power and shame of sin.

Jesus being taken into Egypt was not simply for his own safety. It was to fulfil a prophecy - to fill out and fill up a pattern that God had written into his own people's history to point them forward to the full and final exodus that would bring us eternal salvation. And brought it he has. Now there is no earthly danger, worldly power, or spiritual snare that his people need to fear.

Everywhere we look in this story, we discover that it is all about salvation. That is its central message. That is the Christmas message. And it is our greatest need. If only we would see it!

Chapter 21 - The Child Pogrom

As the wise men were heading east, and Joseph and his little family were now on their way south, another group could be seen getting ready to make a sinister journey from further north. Soldiers from Herod's palace were being mustered to travel quickly down the Jerusalem-Bethlehem road. They constituted an execution squad ...

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 and under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 

The extent of Herod's pogrom was certainly not as massive as the medieval carols suggest, for Bethlehem was only a small town with perhaps a thousand inhabitants. There would have been a relatively small number of boys aged 2 and under in that region. Every one of them was viciously deprived of life. The Lord Jesus never met another man from the town of Bethlehem who was his exact contemporary.

Embedded in Matthew's gospel from the very beginning is the message that Jesus the Saviour is for all the nations. Matthew begins with the Saviour's family tree punctuated by Gentile women, tells us about Gentile scholars from the east seeking him, and then records Jesus himself being carried to the land of Egypt. And the gospel ends with him sending his apostles to make disciples of "all nations". His birth has worldwide significance. Jesus has come so that "Satan ... might not deceive the nations any longer" (Revelation 20 verses 2 and 3).

Herod's murder of these little boys tells us how viscious Satan' opposition to Jesus is. This was the opening salvo of a war that would be waged against our Lord for the rest of his life. Herod himself was but a lieutenant in the history-long strategy of Satan to prevent Jesus accomplishing what he came into the world to do; namely "save his people from their sins".

What happened in Bethlehem therefore was yet another stage in the conflict that God had announced in Genesis 3 verse 15. The seed of the serpent would oppose and eventually seek to crush the seed of the woman. The story that began in Genesis 3 verse 15 was now running on through Matthew 2 verses 1 to 17 and 16 to 18 to its climax. John saw this conflict in dramatic and symbolic form in the book of Revelation - chapter 12 verses 1 to 5.

In the real time version of John's vision the child had been born. The coming of the wise men was the first hint that the undeceiving of the nations had begun. And so the evil one let loose his dupe, King Herod, against the child.

Herod is faced with a choice. He has heard that the long-promised Messiah, King, and Saviour has come. He has only 2 alternatives:

He can yield to him, go with the wise men to find him, worship him and open his treasures to him as his Saviour and King.

or

He can resist him and do everything in his power to destroy him.

He now had no other choice. There was still hope for Herod until this point; but then all hope came to an end. "Unless you believe that I am he" Jesus would later say, "you will die in your sins" (John 8 verse 24). Everything we know about the last days of Herod the Great suggests that he did die in his sins.

Jesus promises us "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (chapter 6 verse 37) - no matter how great your past resistance to him has been.

Chapter 22 - Another Prophecy Fulfilled

Matthew's nativity account is a reminder to us that the first Christmas not only brought joy; it also involved lament. As the soldiers invaded Bethlehem to fulfil Herod's evil decree ...

"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."

What did Jeremiah mean? He was describing the tragic scene of the people of God being gathered together at Ramah to begin the long march that would take them into exile. The significance of Ramah was that it lay in the territory of Benjamin, where Rachel's tomb was (1 Samuel 10 verse 2). We read in Genesis 35 verses 16 to 18 of how she, Jacob and their family had been travelling from Bethel on the road to Bethlehem when Rachel went into labour. She died shortly after childbirth, but not before naming her son "Ben-oni" ("son of my sorrow"). Jacob, courageously, renamed him "Ben-jamin" meaning "son of my right hand."

Rachel's sorrow - her "weeping" in Ramah - was because she knew she would never see children again. Over 1000 years later, in Jeremiah's time, it was as though it was happening all over again. In the exile. it looked as if these children of the patriarchs would never be seen again in the land God had promised to give them.

Now, in Matthew 2 it was not a foreign conqueror who was seeking to destroy the hope of Israel but their own king. A pattern was being repeated, but this time the stakes were higher. Now the risk was not simply the destruction of the people's hope in the covenant promise but the destruction of the promised child, who was himself the covenant of God. As Matthew thought of the weeping mothers of these dear boys, no wonder he saw this child massacre in Bethlehem as the ultimate fulfilment of the ancient pattern.

When the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament, they usually seem to assume that their readers will be familiar with the original context of the quotation. 

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant ... I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people ... For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31 verses 31 to 34

For all the darkness of Jeremiah's earlier words and their application to the Bethlehem pogrom, is Matthew assuming that our minds and memories will run on to the new covenant promise?  As in Jeremiah's days, so too in the days of the Bethlehem infanticide; there is hope. For the promised child, whom the serpent has sought to crush, has been protected. And one day he will crush the serpent. Yes, in the process his own heel will be crushed but the blood he sheds will be that of a new covenant. Yes, Rachel weeps and Bethlehem despairs; but God will keep his covenant promise. For all his promises will find their ultimate "yes" in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1 verse 20).

I wonder how many fathers in Bethlehem remembered the words of their town's most famous son - the great King David, who himself lost a child 

David said to his servants, "Is the child dead?" They said, "He is dead" ... David said "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." 2 Samuel 12 verses 19 and 23

Years later, when David faced his own death, he repeated again his faith in God's word: "He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure" (2 Samuel 23 verse 5) So too, the mothers and fathers of Bethlehem could place their hope in God's promise.

In whatever way death casts its shadow on us this Christmas, we too can find comfort and assurance in God's unbreakable covenant with us. And as we remember the grieving parents of Bethlehem, we can pray ourselves for the little ones we know.

Chapter 23 - Safe to Go Home?

All parents shape their children in profound ways - for good or, as appears to have been the case in King Herod's family, for ill.

In the spring of the year 4 BC, the announcement came from the royal palace at Jericho: "King Herod is dead." He had been bitter and vicious to the end, but now the monster who had tried to destroy the Son of God was no more and once again "an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph". it was time to go home; their refugee existence was over.

But where was home?

After Herod's death the Emperor Augustus divided up his territories into 3 sections, each under the rule of one of his sons: Archelaus, Philip and Antipas. Archelaus went to Rome, accompanied by Antipas to dispute the terms of their father's will. (He had made 6 different ones!) At Passover, just before he left for Rome, he had some 3,000 people killed. As Joseph and Mary travelled north, they heard that Archelaus was now governing Judaea. So long as that was true, there would be no safe house for them there. So they by-passed Bethlehem and headed north to Galilee.

The Lord Jesus would never be free of the Herod family. Herod the Great stands at the beginning; Herod Antipas is there at the end (Luke 23 verses 6 to 9). In that sense the Gospel narrative contains a tale of 2 families who, at times, cross paths: the Herod family on the one hand and Jesus and his spiritual family on the other.

30 years later, Herod the son was in the presence of John the Baptist - a man who could have told him, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1 verse 29). But he had him executed.

Not so long afterwards, having wanted to meet Jesus (Luke 9 verse 9) - but, like his father before him, planning to kill him (Luke 13 verse 31) - Antipas was finally in the presence of the Lamb of God himself, as Jesus stood trial before him (Luke 23 verses 6 to 11) But nothing had changed - except, perhaps, that now Antipas was a man with a seared conscience.  He felt nothing in the presence of the Son of God except a desire to see him perform some sign for his entertainment. And failing to receive one, "Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate." (chapter 23 verse 11)

Herod Antipas treated the Lord Jesus as "a lamb that is led to the slaughter." But adds Isaiah, "he opened nor his mouth" (Isaiah 53 verse 7). Despite all Herod's questions to him, Jesus "made no answer" (Luke 23 verse 9). Now the time had come when Jesus had nothing more to say to him than, by implication, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7 verse 23).

A few years later, the Roman Emperor Caligula banished Herod Antipas to what is now France - on the accusation of the emperor's friend, Herod's own nephew!

The Acts of the Apostles later introduces us to that nephew: Herod Agrippa 1, grandson of Herod the Great. He persecuted the church (Acts 12 verse 1); he had James, the brother of John, executed (verse 2). He arrested Peter (verse 3) who was delivered on the evening of his probable execution by a remarkable angelic visitation (verses 6 to 17). In retaliation Herod executed the prison guards (verse 19).

Soon afterwards, as he sat in royal council, people - no doubt cowed by his viciousness - acclaimed him: "The voice of a god and not of a man!" But now the end came: "Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied" (verses 23 and 24).

And finally in Acts we meet Herod's great-grandson Herod Agrippa II, who taunted Paul with the words, "in a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" (verses 26 to 28)

In telling the story of Herod's family and their persecution of Christ and his church, the New Testament indicates that the history-long conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman was continuing - but also that the victory of the seed of the woman was secure.

What Herod the Great seems to have given his sons at the first Christmas was an example of hatred of the Lord Jesus. And, alas, his sons eagerly opened and used the present. 

Will we give our children an example of love for Jesus this Christmas? It is the best present they could receive. It is a wonderful thing at Christmas time to want to give your children a home where Jesus is welcomed and an example of a life devoted to him. 

Chapter 24 - Jesus the Nazarene

Matthew closes his nativity account with an enigmatic statement: "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."

How did living in Nazareth fulfil the expectation of the prophets?

Jewish people, like Matthew and those who first heard his gospel, loved word plays and puns. So perhaps in calling Jesus a Nazarene, Matthew is playing on the sound of the Hebrew word "branch" (netser) used in the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 11 verses 1 and 2 "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch (netser) from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him."   In Matthew's own day these words were already being interpreted as a reference to the messianic King. Matthew has been showing us that Jesus was from the "stump" (that is, what remained of the family) of Jesse, King David's father. he was the one the prophets had foretold. Jesus, son of David, son of Jesse - Jesus the Nazarene was Jesus the Netser-One!

John's Gospel records the somewhat "look-down-my-nose" comment that Nathanael made when he heard that Jesus was from Nazareth: 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' 

Matthew is not trying to trick us by saying, See if you can find this verse in the Old Testament. He may be playing on the sound of the name of Jesus' hometown. He is also saying that the message of the prophets was that the Saviour would not emerge from the ruling classes, from the royal palaces, or from the powerful people. 

"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." Isaiah 53 verse 2

In other words, a "Nazarene-type". Right from his infancy, the child Jesus would give every indication that he was the Suffering Servant of Isaiah's prophecy. From the beginning to the end, "though he was in the form of God ... he made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant ... And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2 verses 6 to 8)

Matthew's story - which began with Abraham, in whose seed all nations would be blessed, and was later entwined with the root of David - eventually leads to Jesus, who was "called a Nazarene"; the Suffering Servant, prophesied by Isaiah, who was "despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief". But the deeper truth was that "he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53 verses 3 and 5).

The Christmas story was heading to the Cross from the very beginning.

Christmas then, is the dawn of redeeming grace. And Matthew's Gospel ends with the light of God's grace reaching further still, as Jesus the Nazarene - crucified, risen and about to ascend to the right hand of his Father - tells his followers to "go ... and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28 verse 19).

Matthew knew that neither he nor all the apostles together could personally go to every nation on earth. But his Gospel account could; and so he wrote it. And it has reached us.

Worship is the only present he wants from us. What could be better on Christmas Eve than to give it - to give ourselves - to him?