WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.859 Well, morning folks, it's lovely to see you. For those who don't know me, my name is Graham 00:00:03.859 --> 00:00:08.259 and I've got the incredible honour of being the pastor of the church here. Let me encourage 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:12.700 you to grab a Bible if you have one with you, or perhaps you could grab one in front of 00:00:12.700 --> 00:00:18.480 you in the pew or scroll on your phone. And we're going to visit those verses in Matthew 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:23.379 chapter 2 again, verses 13 to 18 that we heard earlier. We're going to be thinking about 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:28.400 the Nazareth section of it next Sunday morning, so let me encourage you to come along to that. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:36.219 But Matthew chapter 2, in at verse 13. And let me ask you just to raise your hand if you've 00:00:36.219 --> 00:00:39.359 received a Christmas card this year, just as we get going. Raise your hand if you've got 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:45.500 a Christmas card this year. Okay, vast majority of us, excellent. I wonder if you can picture 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:51.920 the last Christmas card that you opened. What was the image that was on the front? Have a think. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:59.800 What was the image that was on the front? Maybe it was one of the classic Christmas seams. See if this 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:04.620 rings any bells. Maybe it was the stockings over the roaring fire. That's a classic 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:11.500 Christmas card image, that one. Maybe it was the Christmas day meal complete with all the trimmings. 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:16.740 Maybe it was a decorated gingerbread house with E numbers that were off the scale. 00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:22.739 Perhaps your parents, you'll love it when your kids come home with those ones. Perhaps it was 00:01:22.739 --> 00:01:28.219 Santa's sleigh, or maybe it was even the classic snowman. Or maybe it was the nativity scene 00:01:28.219 --> 00:01:33.599 complete with angels, shepherds, and wise men, as we've already seen, of an unspecified number. 00:01:34.679 --> 00:01:37.859 What was the last image you saw on the front of your Christmas card? 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:44.079 And let me ask you, I wonder how many of us saw a dragon on the front of our Christmas cards 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:54.659 that we opened this year? Or how about a raging king? Or how about a group of crying and grieving 00:01:54.659 --> 00:02:02.939 mothers? Or how about some ruthless Roman soldiers? I suspect that none of us saw those things on 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:08.599 the Christmas cards that we opened this year. We much prefer as a society the cute and the cuddly 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:15.439 and the romantic. But what we're going to see today is that's exactly the kind of Christmas 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:20.500 card that Matthew presents us with as we look at Matthew 2, right? The Christmas card that's 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:24.879 unlikely to fly off the shelves at Clinton Cards, the Christmas card that no one's searching 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:30.759 for on moonpig.com, and yet this is the Christmas card that Matthew presents us with in Matthew 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:31.459 chapter 2. 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:38.520 And while these might seem like kind of left field details to us, Matthew wants us to know 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:45.480 that these are crucial details that we need to understand if we're to grasp something of 00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:52.219 the enormity of the Christmas stories the Bible tells it, and to grasp the significance and wrap 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:58.360 our heads around the beating heart of the God of the Bible. 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:04.980 And so as we step into Matthew 2 today, picking up at verse 13, let me give you the view from below. 00:03:06.260 --> 00:03:10.640 Now Herod, as we've heard, is king in Jerusalem. Now there's an awful lot that we could say about 00:03:10.640 --> 00:03:22.240 Herod, but the headline is that this man is truly awful. Hardened with jealousy, rules with paranoia, 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:28.900 prone to fits of anger. In fact, there's records from a first century historian called Josephus, 00:03:29.420 --> 00:03:35.620 that Herod had three of his sons killed because he got it in his head that they had ideas to 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:42.620 steal his throne. And that when he himself was about to die, he even ordered that one member of each 00:03:42.620 --> 00:03:47.960 family in the local community be killed so that there really was a sense of mourning when he died. 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:55.900 This guy is absolutely brutal. And so two things happen in this scene. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:04.620 Firstly, God warns Joseph in a dream, verse 13, to take Mary and the boy Jesus and escape. 00:04:05.420 --> 00:04:11.420 Now pay attention to what Matthew is trying to tell us. It's not just anywhere they've escaped to. It's 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:17.139 not just a flee for your life. It's run for the hills kind of effort, is it? They've got to run to 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:24.639 Egypt. So that tells us straight away that there's a divine purpose behind everything that's going on 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:29.860 here. They've got to get up and they've got to go to Egypt. Now, likely at this time, there would 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:34.979 have been a community of Jews who are living down in Alexandria. So that's probably where they head to 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:41.920 find safety. But before we move on, just put yourself in Mary and Joseph's shoes for a moment. 00:04:43.200 --> 00:04:49.319 They've recently settled in Bethlehem, if you do the chronology of it, recently kind of settled there. 00:04:50.140 --> 00:04:55.920 And they've not been given one month's notice by their landlords. It's not a, we'll sleep in it and 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:02.200 see what happens in the morning kind of deal. They are told to get up and go. Now just picture it for a 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:09.620 minute. Panic packing, fear stricken, questions all over the shop. What's going to happen? Where are 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:16.819 we going? Who will we meet? What will happen to us when we get there? And this is a lot more close to 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:22.419 the distressing scenes that we've seen on our news screens from around the world this year, as people 00:05:22.419 --> 00:05:29.839 all over our world are fleeing for their lives. And it's worth pausing and remembering and noting that 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:38.779 this is the world that Jesus is born into. Not Disney world, not Cadbury world, not these kind of places 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:45.839 that we come up with, kind of fantasy lands where we go for a bit of escapism. He's born into our world, 00:05:46.719 --> 00:05:56.219 the news at 10 world, the world complete with atrocities, tears, heartache. And history shows us 00:05:56.220 --> 00:06:04.720 world leaders who down the ages have thought nothing of abusing their power. You know, you'd semi-expect 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:11.240 Jesus to almost live the first century equivalent of the American dream here, would you not? If Disney 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:17.180 were writing this, the boy born in the manger who negotiated and overcame every barrier, he started 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:23.280 his own global business, floated it on the stock exchange, sold it for a huge profit, is now living 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:31.299 in a mansion. But actually Jesus' story is the opposite of Disney, isn't it? It's the opposite of the American 00:06:31.299 --> 00:06:42.239 dream. And the child who is born here, who begins to grow up, knows darkness in this scene. And as we'll see, 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:52.119 he knows even greater darkness at the end of his life. His life is one of lowliness. If Jesus leaving heaven and 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:59.100 coming to earth was him lowering himself, if him being born in a manger in Bethlehem to peasant 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:05.360 parents was him lowering himself even further, well here he is knowing a hand-to-mouth existence 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:13.579 with parents on the run, knowing life essentially as a refugee. And would you see then the lengths that 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:20.279 God the Father has gone to for a lost and a sinful and a going-to-hell broken world out of his great 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:27.800 love for us? How vulnerable Jesus is willing to make himself in these moments. I love these words 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:33.759 from Puritan John Owen, the greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:41.519 you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you. And here is the lengths that God was willing to go to. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:49.399 So that's the first thing that happens. And the second thing is that Herod is waiting in Jerusalem 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:53.620 for the return of the Magi. So these are the men that he's sent on a scouting mission to find the 00:07:53.620 --> 00:08:00.680 king of the Jews. And the Magi, verse 12, having been warned in a dream, decide not to boomerang their 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:07.359 way back to Jerusalem. And so Herod realizes, verse 16, that he's been well and truly, watch the word there, 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:15.960 it's outwitted. He's been played. He's been shown for a fool. And the phrases that we would use, 00:08:16.080 --> 00:08:20.460 the bear has well and truly been poked, the hornet's nest has well and truly been kicked, 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:26.580 and Herod's fury is unleashed. And so what he does, I dig it, is he just does his mass 00:08:26.580 --> 00:08:34.080 when Jesus was born to the time when this is going on. And every baby boy under two is ordered to be killed. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:40.480 Now Bethlehem ain't a big place. Historians estimate that that's something like 20 or so 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:48.940 baby boys. But make absolutely no mistake that what goes on in the streets of Bethlehem is utterly 00:08:48.940 --> 00:08:57.940 horrific. And so this little section ends with Mary and Joseph and the toddler Jesus on the run to Egypt, 00:08:57.940 --> 00:09:04.360 and with the unimaginable grieving that's going on back in the streets of Bethlehem. 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:11.860 And so that's the Christmas card that Matthew presents us with in these verses in chapter 2. 00:09:13.560 --> 00:09:21.880 And so that's the view from below. Now what on earth are we supposed to do with that? 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:32.700 Well, Matthew also wants us to see the view from above. Two things in particular. Firstly, 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:39.320 that standing behind this is a bigger enemy with one goal in mind. 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:44.000 Do you know if you've ever had that experience of being behind the scenes at something? I remember 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.980 as a teenager being at the Globe Theatre down in London, where I was standing, 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:52.300 kind of making you stand downstairs, standing, just having the angle where I was able to see 00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:56.800 what was kind of going on backstage. And I could see the person pulling the rope. I could see the 00:09:56.800 --> 00:10:00.820 person directing the stage. I could see the characters coming on and off. And it was a great experience, 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:06.420 just seeing behind the scenes of something. Well, I think that's what Matthew's doing here. 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:13.519 He's almost inviting us to come and see what's going on backstage in Bethlehem. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:19.120 Because what's playing out on the streets of Bethlehem is a bigger cosmic battle. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:26.799 As the devil, the prince of darkness, makes his move, fully intent on snuffing out the light of the world. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.759 And he's doing it through King Herod. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.439 There was a French writer, I think I'll pronounce this right, Charles Baudelaire, who said, 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.600 and later quoted by Kevin Spacey's character in The Usual Suspects, 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:45.560 the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist. 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:51.080 And Matthew says to us, don't be fooled. Don't be fooled. 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:55.500 He said, right at the end of the Bible story, we get this book of Revelation. 00:10:55.500 --> 00:11:02.420 And it gives us the behind the views, the behind the scenes view in this scene. 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:05.420 And this is what we read on the screen, just a little bit of it. 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:06.800 This is what we read. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:14.079 Then another sign appeared in heaven, an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its head. 00:11:14.819 --> 00:11:19.259 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to earth. 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:23.159 The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:27.179 so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:33.779 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. 00:11:33.839 --> 00:11:36.419 And that's exactly what's going on in the streets of Bethlehem. 00:11:37.299 --> 00:11:42.139 As the devil makes his move, prince of darkness, trying to snuff out the light. 00:11:43.579 --> 00:11:46.620 And yet we read this in that Revelation section as well. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.899 It says, and her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:54.199 In other words, God has got his hand on his king. 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:57.439 God is protecting his king. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.439 God is manoeuvring his king. 00:11:59.819 --> 00:12:03.419 And God's always one step ahead in this account. 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:08.100 In all the chapters we've seen before in Matthew, God is always one step ahead. 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:08.879 Have you noticed that? 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:14.860 God is sending his angelic messengers to warn and instruct Joseph the Magi, 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:20.539 warning them in dreams, giving them specifics of what is going to happen and where they need to go, 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:25.279 guiding them, positioning them to the exact place that he wants them to be. 00:12:25.439 --> 00:12:27.120 He's always one step ahead. 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:34.639 And in actual fact, as we'll see in a moment, the devil's worst attack only plays into God's good purposes. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:41.919 As the king of light enters the world, fully intent on waging war against the darkness. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.639 And yet, make no mistake, says Matthew, standing behind this is a bigger enemy with one goal in mind. 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:54.519 But secondly, standing above this, there's a greater God with two promises to fulfill. 00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:58.899 So that's the word Matthew uses twice here. 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:02.639 And it's been the theme that we've been tracing over these last couple of weeks. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.840 The idea that Matthew sees in these events surrounding the birth of Jesus, 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:09.939 God making good on his promises. 00:13:10.319 --> 00:13:11.699 This is who this God is. 00:13:12.299 --> 00:13:15.039 And it's such a timely word for us, isn't it? 00:13:15.059 --> 00:13:20.120 As we enter another season as a society, as we think to ourselves, whose word can we trust? 00:13:20.699 --> 00:13:23.500 We hear conflicting opinions all the time about the vaccine. 00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:28.139 We hear conflicting opinions all the time about what might be happening in the places of power, 00:13:28.220 --> 00:13:29.279 what might not be happening. 00:13:29.980 --> 00:13:31.379 Whose word can we trust? 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:35.700 And the God of the Bible would step out to us today in his word and say, 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:37.200 you can trust my words. 00:13:37.439 --> 00:13:39.480 And that's what's going on with this word fulfilled. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:43.700 That this is going down exactly as God said it would go down. 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:46.980 We can trust every word that comes from the mouth of God. 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:50.980 And I'm convinced that Matthew, as he uses this word fulfilled, 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:57.539 intends for his Jewish readers to pick up in two divine deja vus. 00:13:57.539 --> 00:14:00.240 Have you had a deja vu recently? 00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:05.219 You know, that weird thing that happens, it's something triggers in your mind. 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:10.259 And you're left with that distinct feeling that I've seen something like this before. 00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:12.559 Right? 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:14.000 First deja vu, I think. 00:14:14.199 --> 00:14:15.919 And see if you can connect this. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.519 A king, this is what we read here, a king. 00:14:20.579 --> 00:14:22.419 The killing of innocent children. 00:14:23.339 --> 00:14:24.579 God protects his leader. 00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:28.279 God raises that leader up to save his people from slavery. 00:14:29.179 --> 00:14:30.339 Remind you of anything? 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:32.479 It's the Exodus. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.019 Except this time it's Herod, not Pharaoh. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:37.720 And it's Bethlehem, not Egypt. 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:39.279 And it's Jesus, not Moses. 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:43.100 And it's spiritual slavery, not physical slavery. 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:46.779 This is what this child will grow up to be. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.139 He will grow up to be the saviour. 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:51.840 He will grow up to be the greater Moses, 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.039 who will deliver his people from their greatest enemy. 00:14:56.100 --> 00:14:57.460 That's what he's come to do. 00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:00.960 And the second deja vu comes at verse 18. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:02.399 And this one's a little bit trickier. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:07.360 But I think what's going on is it's a quote from the prophet Jeremiah. 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:15.259 And if you consider that Rachel there is symbolically the mother of the 12 sons 00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:17.480 and therefore the 12 tribes of Israel. 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:20.180 She's almost the mother of the nation. 00:15:20.180 --> 00:15:25.259 What it's describing there in the context in Jeremiah 00:15:25.259 --> 00:15:31.320 is the pain that she is feeling of God's people being carried away from their homeland 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.300 586 by the Babylonians. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:41.480 As God's enemies deal yet another deadly and painful blow to God's people. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:42.460 What's the deja vu? 00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:43.640 It's the exile. 00:15:44.280 --> 00:15:46.379 When God's people are carried away. 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:52.039 And just a time of indescribable pain that's going on for God's people 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:55.100 as their enemies deal another hammer blow to them. 00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:58.920 And you bring those two things together. 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:01.860 Hosea 11 on the screen. 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:03.579 Out of Egypt I called my son. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:09.439 And Jeremiah 31 and Rachel weeping uncontrollably for her children 00:16:09.439 --> 00:16:11.379 who are being carried off by their enemies. 00:16:11.379 --> 00:16:14.439 It's almost as if Matthew's saying, 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:19.759 do you see how Jesus is living Israel's story? 00:16:23.439 --> 00:16:25.700 They're not just any points in Israel's story. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:28.419 The more I've thought about it this week, 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:33.720 it's the lowest and it's the most painful points in Israel's story. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:37.820 It's almost as if Jesus is standing in the shoes here 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:39.860 of everything Israel have gone through. 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:41.940 He's living their story. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.379 He's living their pain. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:47.879 And the thing about those two Old Testament properties 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:49.120 in their context 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:53.840 is that the pain that God's people experience in those moments 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.899 are couched with words of affirmation 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:58.659 about how God will act to deliver them. 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:00.860 About how he loves them. 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.480 Words reaffirming his commitment to them. 00:17:04.860 --> 00:17:08.259 That he will make a way for their sin to be forgiven. 00:17:08.259 --> 00:17:11.220 He will make a way to deliver them. 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:14.119 He will make a way to transform their hearts 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:16.099 so that they're no longer hearts of stone. 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:18.259 But he will give them a heart of flesh 00:17:18.259 --> 00:17:22.079 so that they know and they worship and obey him. 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:23.960 And that through Israel, 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.920 God will carry out his promises to the world 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:29.259 that he will bless the nations. 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:33.099 That's what God says he's going to do 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:34.900 on the other side of the pain 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:37.559 that his people know in those moments. 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.099 And yet God also tells his people in those prophecies 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:42.720 the context that they have failed 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.220 time and time and time again 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:47.779 to be the people that he's called them to be. 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:51.339 And yet while they may be failures, 00:17:52.339 --> 00:17:53.440 he is faithful. 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:57.440 While they may get it wrong all the time, 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.399 God will always be true to his promises. 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:00.519 And here's what I want us to know. 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:01.940 Even though we get it wrong 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:04.099 time and time and time again, 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:06.899 it's not about us being perfect for God. 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:08.639 It's about the God of the Bible 00:18:08.639 --> 00:18:10.480 being who he says he will be. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:15.360 Jesus will come and he will stand in their shoes. 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:18.140 He will do everything that Israel was called to do. 00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:20.079 He will fully worship God. 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:21.440 He will fully obey God. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.039 He will fully love God. 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:26.019 And he will be the one that will bring in 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:27.220 those blessings that God said 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:28.360 he would bring to the world. 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:31.640 Now let me just bring, 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:34.539 I realize that's complex in a sense, 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:36.620 but let me just bring one really simple 00:18:36.620 --> 00:18:37.900 big truth from it. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:39.900 And here it is. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.620 That the God of the Bible, 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:47.019 even in the darkest and the bleakest 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:49.120 and the most painful of moments, 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.500 offers real hope. 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:57.200 This God offers hope. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:00.720 So you look out on a world right now, 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:01.539 and I do this today, 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.019 look in the news and it's a hard watch. 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:06.259 Look out on the world just now 00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:08.880 that seems so incredibly dark. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.320 This God offers hope. 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:15.720 Maybe your mental health is off the scale right now, 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:19.159 and you cannot fathom how you're going to get through the fact 00:19:19.159 --> 00:19:21.379 that there might be another lockdown. 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:23.039 And you look at your life and you think, 00:19:23.139 --> 00:19:24.000 what is the point? 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:26.919 This God offers hope. 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:32.360 Maybe you struggle with the same sins all the time, 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:33.759 that your life feels routine, 00:19:33.900 --> 00:19:34.820 it feels mundane, 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:35.960 it feels worthless, 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:36.519 and you think, 00:19:36.600 --> 00:19:37.840 what does God make of me? 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:40.940 The God of the Bible offers hope. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:41.380 And boy, 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.160 does our world need hope right now. 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:44.680 You know, 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:45.259 we live right, 00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:47.099 if you look at our new screen, 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:47.539 Scotland, 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:50.619 we live in the drug death capital of Europe. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:51.879 This is where we live. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:54.799 Our country needs hope. 00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:56.559 Where are they going to find it? 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:57.819 Where are we going to find it? 00:19:57.859 --> 00:19:59.720 It's not to be found in a place. 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:02.220 It's not to be found in a feeling. 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:05.460 It's not to be found in a changing set of circumstances. 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:08.039 It's not to be found in a set of results. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.480 It's not to be found in a job. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:11.079 It's not to be found in your performance. 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:13.000 It's not to be found in the place where you live. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:14.319 Where is it found? 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:17.919 It's found in the person that's described to us here. 00:20:18.179 --> 00:20:21.720 It's found in the child who's a refugee on the run to Egypt. 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:23.399 That is where hope is found. 00:20:26.379 --> 00:20:27.139 And you say, 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:27.579 how? 00:20:30.399 --> 00:20:30.839 Well, 00:20:30.879 --> 00:20:31.460 in Matthew 2, 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:34.879 do you see how Herod is searching for the child Jesus in order to kill him? 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:37.639 And Jesus flees. 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:39.519 Well, 00:20:39.539 --> 00:20:41.819 24 chapters later in this gospel, 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:43.299 there's another hunt for Jesus. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:45.740 Except this time, 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:47.539 the man Jesus would be found. 00:20:48.179 --> 00:20:51.259 And willingly hand himself over to be crucified. 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:55.980 A Jesus's life that starts in darkness. 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:59.380 is going to end in even greater darkness. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:00.259 You know, 00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:02.539 as Jesus dies on the cross, 00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:07.180 as he gives himself over to be crucified in our place, 00:21:07.259 --> 00:21:10.860 what is it Matthew records is hanging over the land, 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:12.259 coming over the land, 00:21:12.339 --> 00:21:13.180 is darkness. 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:17.120 what's going on? 00:21:17.120 --> 00:21:19.980 It's symbolic of Jesus taking the wrath of God. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:25.779 That just and measured anger of our creator against our sin, 00:21:25.860 --> 00:21:26.420 the creature. 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:30.160 And Jesus is taking that darkness on himself. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.259 And he experiences the darkness. 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:38.300 He takes the darkness that his people deserve on himself. 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:42.259 And as Jesus rises, 00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:42.519 though, 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:43.240 on the third day, 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:44.759 the women run to the tomb at when? 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:45.839 They run at dawn. 00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:48.740 As all of us is, 00:21:48.740 --> 00:21:49.779 Matthew's telling us, 00:21:49.859 --> 00:21:51.240 in the rising of Jesus, 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.759 light has broken in. 00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:58.200 The one who's defeated death, 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:01.359 the one who's paid the price for his people's sin, 00:22:01.619 --> 00:22:03.440 the one who is going to usher in 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:07.059 the blessings which are going to come on his people, 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.220 the dawning of light has happened in this king. 00:22:12.840 --> 00:22:13.620 And Matthew's saying, 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:14.880 you've got to hope in this Jesus. 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:17.900 You know, 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:19.660 let me just tell you what this reminded me of 00:22:19.660 --> 00:22:20.640 just as we close. 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:23.440 It's reminded me of something. 00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:25.380 I remember we've done it with our kids a couple of times. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:28.980 Of a magic candle. 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:30.900 You ever seen one of these things? 00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:32.700 It's just, 00:22:32.840 --> 00:22:34.140 it's a lot of fun at the time, 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:35.920 and then it gets annoying after a little while. 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:38.880 But this is the image, isn't it, 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:40.600 that God has given us here through his word. 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:42.519 You blow it out, 00:22:43.360 --> 00:22:44.460 and it comes back. 00:22:45.280 --> 00:22:46.500 You try to blow it out, 00:22:46.580 --> 00:22:47.360 it comes back. 00:22:47.860 --> 00:22:48.820 You think you've got it, 00:22:49.040 --> 00:22:49.800 it comes back. 00:22:49.980 --> 00:22:50.920 You give it another shot, 00:22:51.060 --> 00:22:51.780 it comes back. 00:22:52.220 --> 00:22:53.720 And you realize after a while, 00:22:54.600 --> 00:22:55.980 it's just not going to go out. 00:22:57.600 --> 00:22:59.000 And John would write in his gospel, 00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:00.560 the light shines in the darkness, 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:04.660 and the darkness has not overcome it. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:05.440 In other words, 00:23:06.040 --> 00:23:08.100 the light that's going on in Bethlehem 00:23:08.100 --> 00:23:10.680 is never going to go out. 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:14.560 And the darkness will try its best to snuff it out. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.480 Herod will try everything in his power. 00:23:16.600 --> 00:23:17.900 It looks like he's won, 00:23:18.540 --> 00:23:20.300 but nothing will snuff out the darkness. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:21.580 At his crucifixion, 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:23.019 it looks like the devil has won. 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:25.360 They've got Jesus just where they want him. 00:23:25.860 --> 00:23:26.880 He's handing over his life. 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:27.880 He's making this easy. 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:28.900 Great, we've got him. 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:29.759 He dies on the cross. 00:23:29.840 --> 00:23:30.259 We've got him. 00:23:30.300 --> 00:23:30.900 We've killed him. 00:23:31.280 --> 00:23:32.000 No, you haven't. 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:35.320 The devil tries his worst. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:36.640 The darkness makes his play, 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.680 and this king of light will not be put out. 00:23:39.060 --> 00:23:40.820 Friends, if you're looking for hope this morning 00:23:40.820 --> 00:23:42.320 in the darkest of places, 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:44.860 you will find it in Jesus. 00:23:45.860 --> 00:23:47.160 And so Matthew has given us 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:49.100 the weirdest Christmas card ever. 00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:50.259 Ever. 00:23:50.360 --> 00:23:51.500 Ever you're going to receive. 00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:52.160 A dragon. 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:54.279 A raging king. 00:23:54.779 --> 00:23:56.180 Ruthless Roman soldiers. 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:57.119 Crying mothers. 00:23:58.500 --> 00:23:59.660 And it's not just a weird scene. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:01.480 It's a terribly dark scene. 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:05.119 And yet it's almost as if in that scene, 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:08.140 Matthew's just stuck on there a magic candle. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:10.660 And he says, 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:12.519 There is the light of the world 00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:13.700 who will not be put out. 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:17.279 I'll just finish with this wonderful quote 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:18.180 from Charles Wesley. 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:20.420 Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace. 00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:22.960 Hail the Son of Righteousness. 00:24:23.120 --> 00:24:25.900 Light and life to all he brings. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.779 Risen with healing in his wings. 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:31.660 Mild he lays his glory by. 00:24:31.840 --> 00:24:33.740 Born that man no more may die. 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:36.660 Born to raise the sons of earth. 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:39.080 Born to give them second birth. 00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:40.980 Hark the herald angels sing. 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.420 Glory to the newborn king. 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:45.099 Let's pray, shall we? 00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:07.519 The words of Isaiah 50. 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:09.420 Let the one who walks in the dark, 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:10.680 who has no light, 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:13.200 trust in the name of the Lord 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:15.980 and rely on their God. 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:18.960 Father, we just thank you so much 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:22.180 for your love for a broken world. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:25.900 Your action that you took 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:27.299 in sending your son Jesus. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:29.539 We thank you, Father, for who he is. 00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:31.940 Thank you for Matthew's nitty-gritty 00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:33.160 gospel account, 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:36.420 which tells us about the birth 00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:37.519 and the life of Jesus 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.500 and the real hope that is found 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:42.379 in the one who called himself 00:25:42.379 --> 00:25:43.619 the light of the world. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:46.440 And so, Father, I pray for those this morning 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:50.339 who are struggling in many different ways. 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:52.160 Oh, Father, would you bring knowledge 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:53.500 of who Jesus is today? 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:56.200 Father, perhaps those who are watching this 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:57.319 or maybe who are here today 00:25:57.319 --> 00:25:58.619 and who don't know you, 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:01.740 may today be the day of salvation, 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.900 the day when people put their faith 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:05.720 in Jesus Christ. 00:26:06.340 --> 00:26:07.540 And we just thank you, Father, 00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:09.460 that we would not have come 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:10.460 looking for you, 00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:12.660 but thank you that you are the God 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:13.980 who came looking for us. 00:26:15.259 --> 00:26:16.540 And so, Father, we make our prayers 00:26:16.540 --> 00:26:17.259 to you today, 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:18.580 knowing that you hear us, 00:26:19.060 --> 00:26:19.900 and we pray confidently 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:21.900 in heaven's champions, 00:26:22.620 --> 00:26:24.200 worthy and in his precious name. 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:24.840 Amen. 00:26:24.840 --> 00:26:24.940 Amen.