Matthew
1:18 – 2:23
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
the prophet
Did you duck for cover when you went
outside? You know, for fear of getting hit by a falling satellite?
Yeah, neither did I. The odds are
pretty slim. One in twenty-one trillion. That’s according to the book Science
Speaks, by Dr. Peter Stoner. He was chairman of Science Division at Westmont
College and Chairman of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College.
Dr. Stoner was into numbers—kind of
like Matthew.
Both men wrote about Jesus fulfilling
prophecy. Matthew paints a word picture of how Jesus is the promised Messiah.
He marries Old Testament prophecies to eye witness, living color, examples of how
Jesus fulfilled every single one. Matthew knew the Old Testament and referred
to it over a hundred times, more than any other New Testament book. Over and
over he repeats, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.
Dr. Stoner, in Science Speaks, crunches
the numbers, and talks about the odds that over 300 prophecies, would all be
fulfilled in one man, Jesus.
The odds that One person would fulfill
just 8 of the 300+ prophecies are one in one hundred quadrillion, (1 in
10 to the 17th power). And you thought the odds of getting bonked in
the head by a falling satellite were slim.
But what does that even mean? What’s a
quadrillion anyway?
Dr. Stoner must’ve figured he’d have
to draw a picture for folks like me, so he said, it looks like this: Cover
Texas two feet deep in silver dollars. Make a mark on one of them. While
blindfolded, reach anywhere you want deep into the heart of Texas, and pick the
marked silver dollar.
By Divine orchestration, The Almighty
Creator, became vulnerable as a baby, and slipped into our world by way of a virgin’s
womb; just because of His unquenchable desire to be, Immanuel …God with us.
By the way, the odds of Jesus fulfilling
just forty-eight of the three hundred, plus, prophecies about the Messiah are one
in ten to the one hundred and fifty-seventh power.
Yet, Jesus, fulfilled, every.single.one.
That must be what John meant when he
said:
Before Mr. Stoner went to meet Jesus,
He said:
“Any
man who rejects Christ as the Son of God, is rejecting a fact proved perhaps
more absolutely than any other fact in the world.”
With that being said, we can rest assured
in these two immutable facts:
1. God is faithful to His Word.
2. Jesus Christ is indeed Immanuel, God with us.
Just as the Old
Testament points to the New, telling of what would be fulfilled; the New
Testament points to the Old, saying: See, it happened just as it was written,
just as it was said.
If the Holy Spirit wanted, He could’ve
named the New Testament: See, I Told You So.
Within Matthew’s painting of the
Christmas story, five prophecies (I told you so’s) are revealed.
1.
The virgin will be with Child Matthew 1:18-25, Isaiah 7:14.
Mary was found with Child of the
Holy Spirit. A miraculous supernatural conception. God sowed, Himself, into
a girl named Mary. God didn’t force His way. Mary graciously accepted His
Divine offer. “Behold
the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” Luke
1:38.
This was done so Jesus could be born,
a natural birth, as a man, yet without the sin nature, passed down from Adam. Jesus
and Adam were the only two men, without the sin nature.
Adam, blew it and sinned. Thus, Adam’s
corrupt DNA passed to the rest of the human race. Including Mary. Contrary to
the Immaculate Conception doctrine, Mary was conceived in sin, and in need of a
Savior, just like the rest of us. She even called Him, Savior: “And
my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:47.
The only antidote was to inject a
Vaccine, stronger than the sin nature, into the bloodstream of mankind. Jesus,
put it like this:
This
is My blood, shed for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28.
But, about the time Mary started to
show; the enemy showed up, and tried to abort the Seed.
You see, Mary was married. Well, kind
of.
Back in the day, a betrothal, (we’d
call it an engagement) was in many ways, a marriage. They took care of the
business end, up front—the fun part, the party and consummation, was a year or
so later. The betrothal was a legally binding contract. A bride-price was given
to the bride’s family; it was like alimony in advance, in case the marriage
failed. Breaking up was more than just a shouting match and a fling of the ring—it
required going through a divorce process.
Infidelity was a crime, punishable by
death.
During this betrothal period, Mary was
found with Child.
Joseph knew he wasn’t the dad. That
hurt. The enemy probably tempted him to explode and expose Mary to public shame
and death by stoning. And thus, abort the plan of God. But he was “a just man.”
He loved Mary. Didn’t want to hurt her, but couldn’t go forward with the marriage.
So, he decided “to put her away, quietly” (divorce her).
However, he didn’t act in haste. He
paused to ponder, and think things through. (Great example for us to follow). It
was during this time, while Joseph “thought on these things” the Lord had
opportunity to speak to him.
Undoubtedly, Joseph was relieved, and
obviously, he believed, because he followed through with the marriage to Mary; “but
kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus.”
Matthew 1:25.
Here Matthew paints a beautiful
picture of prophecy being fulfilled.
Sometime after the birth of Jesus,
some magi (wisemen) showed up in Jerusalem, asking,
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews. We have seen His star and have
come to worship, Him.” Matthew 2:2.
2.
O’ Little Town of Bethlehem
Talk of another king, freaked out, king
Herod; an insecure, political puppet of the Roman empire. So, he asked the religious
folk, where the Christ would be born. They had a knowledge of the Truth, but
totally missed His appearing, because their hearts were far from Him.
Nevertheless, they revealed the next, I
told you so:
“In
Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
‘But
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are
not the least among the rulers of Judah;
for
out of you shall come a Ruler
who
will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
Herod sent the wisemen to Bethlehem, saying,
“Go
and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring
back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
Notice, he never answered their
question; “Where is He?” Herod only told them what anyone, with any knowledge of
scripture, already knew; Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem was the birthplace of David.
The Messiah would be the son of David. Bethlehem was known for its wheat harvest.
Bethlehem means, house of bread. The Bread of Life, born in the House of Bread.
It didn’t take a wise man, (or a chariot scientist), to connect the dots and
know where Messiah was to be born.
I wonder if the wisemen were the first
to have thought, this guy doesn’t have a clue…how can he be running a
country?
Surely the wisemen were wise enough to
see that Herod was lying. But, even if they weren’t, God showed up to direct
their path. Instead of following Herod’s orders, they followed God’s star and
found the house (not stable) of the young Child, (not Babe). And there, in the
house, they gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Three gifts, so we
think, three magi, but nowhere does it say for sure, how many wisemen there
were.
Furthermore, the scripture doesn’t say
they went to Bethlehem. Perhaps they found the young Child in His house, in His
hometown of Nazareth, as per Luke 2:39.
God warned the magi not to
return to Herod. I doubt He ever told them to go there in the first place; considering,
that visit did more harm, much more harm, than good. It alerted the otherwise
clueless Herod, that The King was born; which triggered his jealous insecurity.
And then incited his fury, when the wisemen didn’t obey him.
Now when they (the magi) had departed,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise,
take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I
bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Which leads to our third, I told
you so:
Here, it’s important to remember Who’s talking.
God never needs to run and hide from anything or anyone.
At times, He may allow us to take refuge.
Mary and Joseph, took Jesus to Egypt, for a temporary place of refuge; while
God dealt with Herod.
God always speaks from a place victory,
not retreat. Out of Egypt I call…
Abraham went to Egypt in time of
famine, but just for a time. Israel went too. But they stayed. Instead of heading
out after the famine passed, they got comfortable and four hundred years later,
they were slaves.
America, it’s been four hundred years
since pilgrims landed on our shores. Have you gotten comfortable? Have you forgotten, we
too, are just pilgrims, passing through? Can you hear the shackles of slavery
shuffling ever closer?
But listen. Listen closely, and you
can also hear the strong, yet still, small Voice, ever calling, “Come out…”
Come out, says the Lord. Be “separate”
doesn’t mean, hunker and hide and live quarantined, in fear. In means, stand
up, speak out, be set apart and holy, full of faith, bold and courageous.
Jesus said, “I
will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
The word translated “church” is the word, ekklésia. It defines a group, called out, with authority
and power to endorse, enforce, promote and propel, God’s kingdom.
A new Gallup Poll shows that since the
pandemic, the emotional health and sense of wellbeing has plummeted, in all but
one demographic.
They are the ones who obey the command
of the Lord, to not forsake the assembling together of themselves, who faithfully
attend Church, at least once a week. Those who have a more optimistic outlook,
a healthier sense of wellbeing than the rest of the nation are those called out
ones, who believe the report of the Lord, who walk by faith, not fear, who refuse
to bow to the hunker and hide, fear mongering agenda.
The Gallup Poll shows what we knew all
along; God’s ways work.
4.
The Enemy Tries to Kill What he Fears
This peace that passes understanding,
this calm assurance, this joy of the Lord, will irritate the enemy into rage.
He cannot understand it, or deal with it. He fears it, so he fights it. It
makes him explode in the streets with senseless, violent fury, screaming, “Shut
up and give me what I want (although, they don’t know what they want) or I’ll
burn town the system!”
Herod’s demonic rage, fueled by fear,
caused him to order the slaughter of all boys from two years old and under.
This reveals our fourth prophecy; a
heartbreaking one.
Matthew recalls a mournful memory, as
history repeats itself.
Ramah, was just north of Jerusalem, where
over six hundred years prior, Nebuchadnezzar’s army, separated the captives
that hadn’t been killed; so families wouldn’t be together when they distributed
them throughout Babylon.
Rachel represents all the mourning mothers
of Israel.
The
thief comes to steal, kill and destroy…
Pharaoh. Herod. Hitler. US abortions.
…but I have come that you may have life and life, and life more abundantly (Jesus. John 10:10).
God
is love. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:8; 18)
5.
He shall be called a Nazarene.
Joseph and Mary, held His Promise, and
waited in Egypt, for God’s Divine timing and calling. We too, may find
ourselves in a holding pattern. Our prayers, our dreams, our promise, our gift,
our talent…seemingly, on hold. Getting old. Forgotten. Abandoned.
But God never forgets. His
gifts and callings are without repentance. While they were waiting, Jesus
was growing. God was working. And Herod was dying.
And then, He called them out, back to
Nazareth, which brings us to the fifth and final “I told you so.”
The thing is, nowhere is it written in
the prophets, that He shall be called a Nazarene.
One place, Isaiah 11:1, is as close as
it gets. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch
shall grow out of his roots.” The Hebrew word for Branch is, netser, a root word for, Nazareth.
But notice the Holy Spirit had Matthew
write, “what was spoken by the prophets…” Spoken, not written;
and prophets, is plural.
Calling someone a Nazarene was a term
of disrespect, it was derogatory, insulting. Perhaps it was like calling
someone, a hillbilly. (No disrespect to hillbillies. I love hillbillies. My mom
was one and wonderful). Or, perhaps it was more like calling someone, white
trash. That’s what it was like. It was insulting to call someone a Nazarene. Now this, was spoken by the prophets.
Why’d He do it? Why’d God go through
all of this? The vulnerable virgin birth? The lowly little town of Bethlehem?
The flight to Egypt? The sorrow of Ramah? The insults of Nazareth?
He went to the lowest level, stretched
to the very least, so none were missed, for one reason…
Just so we could be, what Christmas is
all about, family, united, together with Him. Because, the greatest presents that
could ever be given, is His presence.
Merry Christmas.
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