Joy out of Oppression (Matthew 2:13-23)

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2)

Joy out of Oppression (Matthew 2:13-23)

Knitting…

I can’t really knit. But knitting is amazing. People take a long thread and turn it into a beautiful jumper.

As we look at our Bible passage today, we will see that Matthew is knitting together some amazing themes, to show us a true picture of who Jesus is and how he came to fulfil the Old Testament.

1 simple story and 3 strange quotes

In the passage is a simple story. Jesus has been said to be the new King of the Jews, by the Wise Men who visited. But Herod, who was made king of the Jews by the Romans, did not want the threat of another king.

So, God warns the Wise Men not to return to Herod and Joseph to flee to Egypt with Jesus. Sadly, though, Herod desperate to destroy the baby who may be king, orders the murder of all the children in Bethlehem. Jesus is safe, but Bethlehem is sad. Soon, however, Herod dies, and Joseph it is safe to return to Israel and settles in Nazareth.

One simple story, but Matthew uses the story to knit together three rather strange quotes. He seems to be saying, that Jesus fulfils the quotes, but none of the quotes are about a future king, the first looks back to the birth of the nation of Israel as it came out of Egypt, the second records the sadness of Israel being taken into exile by the Babylonians and the third does not even appear in the Old Testament. This is not a simply the Old Testament said this would happen and now it has. Matthew is doing something much deeper with the quotes here.

So, let’s follow the threads and see what we can find.

Egypt

Follow string to 1st board, with ‘Egypt’ written on front.

“Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hosea 11:1)

Egypt, is where the nation of Israel were slaves,

until God brought them out of Egypt and made them into the nation.

Coming out of Egypt was the birth of a new nation.

This verse looks back to that moment.

‘My son’ refers to the people of Israel.

Tear off ‘Egypt’ half of sign to reveal star of David and X

However, in Hosea it tells us that they kept turning away from God,

even though God longed to have them back.

Again and again, Israel proved to be a failure as God’s son.

Tear off ‘Egypt’ half of sign to reveal Jesus and tick

Now, Matthew seems to be saying,

that Jesus was going to fulfil God’s vision for Israel as his Son,

in a way that Israel never would.

In Matthew 3, at his baptism,

God speaks from heaven and says,

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

When Israel left Egypt they went into the wilderness

and often failed God there.

When Jesus was taken into the wilderness,

he was tempted, but never gave into temptation.

Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeds.

• Jesus proves himself to be the true Son of God.

He does not just give us rules to follow, but a life to copy.

He shows us what it means to live as part of the true family of God.

Will you live to be like Jesus?

Ramah

Follow string to 2nd board, with ‘Ramah’ written on front.

In the Old Testament, Rachel was the favourite wife of Jacob.

However, there is confusion about where she was buried.

Some texts suggests she was buried near Bethlehem,

other texts suggests she was buried in Ramah.

So, in some way Rachel is associated with both places.

So, because Rachel was associated with Bethlehem, he uses a quote from Jeremiah:

“A voice heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children,

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

(Jeremiah 31:15)

Tear off half ‘Ramah’ to reveal sad face.

Matthew tells us about the terrible killing by Herod of the children in Bethlehem,

in an attempt to destroy Jesus. The people in Bethlehem must have been very upset indeed and because of their association with Rachel, this verse seems to fit their upset.

The verse actually refers to the people of Israel being taken away from their homes

and forced to go into exile in Babylon.

Ramah was the staging post for those taken from Jerusalem as they were prepared

for the long journey. This was a sad moment. Israel were being oppressed

by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.

This also all echoes Israel’s time in Egypt, when the king of Egypt Pharaoh,

ordered the firstborn males of Israel to be killed and thrown into the Nile.

All these stories record terrible moments for Israel under oppression.

Whether by Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar or Herod.

Tear off half ‘Ramah’ to reveal happy face

But, they are also only parts of a story that are all about hope in God’s

ultimate rescue.

Moses miraculously survived the murder of the babies in his time and God ultimately used him to lead Israel out of slavery and to the promised land.

The next verse in Jeremiah tells Israel to stop weeping, because God will rescue them from exile in Babylon and bring them back to the promised land. And God did as Jeremiah promised.

Jesus like Moses was miraculously rescued from the murder of babies, by a warning in a dream to Joseph to flee to Egypt. And Jesus will return to bring salvation. Not from Herod, but from sin and death itself.

• Jesus offers hope to the oppressed. We live in a world ravaged by sin and in particular, the oppression by terrible tyrants like, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and Herod. But even as we suffer in a sinful world, Jesus brings us hope that just as he ultimately died on the cross, because of human sin, he will lead us to the promised land of God’s eternal kingdom.

Nazareth

Follow string to  3rd board, with ‘Nazareth’ written on front.

So, we come to the last quote. Except it is not a quote. You won’t find it in the Old Testament, and the fact Matthew says what was said through the ‘Prophets’, suggests that this is meant to be a summary statement of a theme of the teaching in the Old Testament.

“He will be called a Nazarene.”

So, what could it mean? This is debated, but I am most persuaded that the link should be made to the Hebrew word, Nezer, which means, Branch.

“Branch,” is a title used in the Old Testament of the hoped for Messiah.

Tear off  half ‘Nazareth’ to reveal crown

The clearest link is to the famous verse in Isaiah 11:1.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)

Jesse was the father of David, so this is looking forward to God’s promised king.

But there is another quote, with the title, ‘Branch’, which goes further.

Tear off half ‘Nazareth’ to reveal people

“Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: `Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD.” (Zech. 6:12)

Just as David’s son, Solomon, was the one to build the first temple in Jerusalem, so the prophecy says, a future Messiah will build a new temple in Jerusalem. When Jesus was born, there was already a temple being built in Jerusalem, by the King Herod. What Matthew seems to be saying with this title, is that this child has come to build the true temple, by the true king.

• But, Jesus did not build a temple out of stones, but of people. He built his church, the new temple to replace the stone one built by Herod. Not built on the backs of oppression, but on the foundation stone of Jesus crucified. This temple, would be worldwide and spread the glory of God worldwide.

Today, you too are invited to be a part of that temple, and bringing glory to God, where we are in this place. As we approach a New Year, why not take the opportunity to be built by Jesus, the Nazarene, into the true temple of God.