The Long-Expected True Israel
Matthew 2:13-23
“We ought to be reminded that Jesus is not born into a gauzy, snowy winter wonderland of sweetly singing angels and cute reindeer nuzzling one another at the side of his manger. He is born into a war zone.” ~ Russell Moore
Main Idea: The hostility of Jesus’ childhood proves he is the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan and our only hope.
I. The Hostility of Christmas
There is hostility in this scene at 3 levels:
1. Jesus’ coming evokes hostility from the world
“If you read the Bible, you’ll see that nobody who ever met Jesus Christ ever had a moderate reaction to him. There are only three reactions to Jesus: they either hated him and wanted to kill him, they were afraid of him and wanted to run away, or they were absolutely smitten with him and they tried to give their whole lives to him.” ~ John Stott
Psalm 2:1-2: Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed
2. Jesus’ coming evokes hostility from the Evil One (Cf. Revelation 12:4-5, 17)
“What’s noteworthy about [Herod] is that [he] takes the rage he had against Jesus in particular and directs it toward babies in general. When it’s Jesus versus the self, babies are caught in the crossfire. And it’s always that way… the demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy the “least of these” they’re destroying a picture of Jesus himself, of the child delivered by the woman who crushes their head.” ~ Russell Moore
John 8:44: (the Devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...
3. Jesus’ coming evokes hostility within us
Luke 2:34–35: And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary 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), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
II. The Hope of Christmas
Matthew is drawing attention to the divine orchestration of God in dealing with Israel that finds its ‘crescendo’ & ‘fulfillment’ in Jesus Christ.
Before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, he was a homeless refugee with a price on his head. At the same time, in this passage and several others, Matthew insists that we see in Jesus, even when things are at their darkest, the fulfilment of Scripture.” ~ N.T. Wright
1. Jesus is the Greater Exodus (2:15; Hos. 11:1), who comes to rescue his people from their bondage to sin & Satan.
2. Jesus is the Greater Return from Exile (2:17-18; Jer. 31:15), who will bring hope & a new covenant (cf. Jer. 31:31-34) out of pain & mourning.
3. Jesus is the Greater & True Israel (2:23), who leads not only a return from Egypt and from Exile, but a return out of the grave & a promised return from Heaven.
John 1:46: “Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
