How's your geography? How's your geography? I'm not going to give you a quiz. I was really into geography. He's a geography teacher here. There's someone, I think, Naomi Lafroy is studying geography, some people doing A-level geography. Well, Matthew, the writer of the Gospel, he is really into geography, particularly in chapter 2. Matthew wants you to travel. Matthew wants you to get your map out. Get your sat map.
And he wants to take you to three places this morning. He wants to take you to Egypt, and to Bethlehem, and to Nazareth. And in each place, he wants to show you something about someone. Something about someone. And in each of these places, he's got history to tell you, like a good tour guide does. He touches an Old Testament prophecy. He wants to teach you theological geography.
So, first of all, we must visit Egypt. And when we visit Egypt, what Matthew shows us is he shows us the hope of God's people. We visit Egypt to see the hope of God's people. And he tells us about that in verses 13 to 15.
And especially how he tells us about how Mary, Joseph, and Mary and the child go to Egypt. Let me read them.
Now when they departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, rise, take the child and his mother. Note the order. It's not normal, is it?
Note who's got priority. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you.
Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.
And he remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Out of Egypt I called my son.
Now this isn't entirely straightforward, but he is quoting from Hosea, the Old Testament prophet Hosea chapter 11 and verse 1.
And it's hard to know exactly what it's got to do with Jesus.
Because if you go back to Hosea chapter 1, the whole verse reads.
So why don't you just come there? Hosea chapter 1 if you can find it.
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah.
Hosea chapter 11.
And it says this, when Israel was a child, I loved him.
And out of Egypt I called my son.
So when you go to Matthew chapter 2,
the whole verse reads,
when Israel was a child, I loved him.
And out of Egypt I called my son.
But Hosea chapter 11 refers to Israel, doesn't it?
Not to Jesus.
So when Israel was young,
I called them out of Egypt, I called my son.
It's picking up on what God says in Exodus chapter 4, verse 22.
Where God says,
Paul's Israel his son, his firstborn.
And again, what has that got to do with Jesus?
But hold the question.
Look with me at Hosea chapter 11, verse 2.
It says this,
But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.
They kept sacrificing to Baals,
and burning offerings to idols.
Again, what's that got to do with Jesus?
What is that talking about?
Well, it says the more they called them,
the more they kept going away from them.
The they's, God's prophets,
God's messengers, God's preachers,
the Lord's prophets,
they'd address the people of Israel,
and the more they addressed the people,
the nation of Israel,
and preached to them,
and the more they called them to faithfulness,
to come to God's ways,
the further the people of Israel went away from God.
They kept on sacrificing to Baal.
They kept on sacrificing to idols.
In other words,
what you have in Hosea chapter 11, verses 1 and 2,
is really a mini history of Israel.
From the time they were called out of Egypt,
in the Exodus,
and then their history,
was one of sin,
and failure,
and rebelliousness,
and faithlessness,
to God.
And again,
what does all that got to do with Jesus?
Why does Matthew pick up this one liner from Hosea?
Out of Egypt,
I have called my son.
And it's because I think Matthew wants you and I to see a certain parallel
between Israel and Jesus.
So to recap on the history,
just like Jacob,
at the end of Genesis,
in chapter 46,
he goes down,
doesn't he,
into Egypt,
with all his family,
to get away from a famine
that was going to destroy his family.
And Jacob and his family went to Egypt,
and they found in Egypt a place of refuge.
So, in the same way,
the child Jesus is taken into Egypt.
Here, he is rescued from the sword of Herod.
And he finds in Egypt a place of refuge.
And just as now he is in Egypt,
he will eventually come out of Egypt,
in the same way that Israel came out of Egypt,
in the Exodus.
So Jesus will have an Exodus from Egypt,
when he eventually comes back to Palestine.
And just as Hosea,
chapter 11, verses 1 and 2,
speaks of Israel when they were young.
So in chapter 2 of Matthew,
Jesus is young.
And he is as a child.
And just as Hosea 11 speaks of Israel as God's son,
so here Jesus is God's son,
as we'll find out.
So you see, don't you,
there's a certain parallel that you can see.
But Matthew not only wants you to see a parallel,
but a contrast,
as it were.
He is the new Israel.
He is the one true Israelite.
Jesus is the one who is retracing Israel's steps.
And so as he goes down to Egypt,
as a place in refuge,
and where he is as a youth,
as God's son,
will exit Egypt,
he will retrace Israel's history.
But what happened to Israel's history?
What does the mini Old Testament overview
of Hosea 11, verses 1 and 2 tell us?
It tells us that the more they were called,
the more they went away.
They kept sacrificing offerings to Baal,
and burning offerings to idols.
Israel was a faithless son.
But Jesus will be a faithful son.
Jesus will begin a new history.
He will begin a new history of faithfulness,
and obedience,
and righteousness,
in contrast to Israel.
And that is why Matthew wants you to visit Egypt.
Because you will see in Egypt
the true, faithful Israelite,
who is the hope of God's people.
And you might say, so what?
What, after all, difference does it make
that Jesus is going to be
this faithful and obedient Israelite?
And actually, you need the rest
of the New Testament for this.
Because the difference that it makes
is this faithful and obedient
and righteous Jesus
can be credited to your account,
can be put to your account.
The New Testament is full
of a doctrine called
the doctrine of union with Christ.
Sometimes, in fact,
it speaks more often than this
about believers than any other phrase.
It speaks about being in Christ.
That is the way the New Testament
describes believers.
That if one is in Christ,
if one is placed into Christ
by faith,
if they trust and rest
in Christ alone,
then everything Jesus did,
and everything that Jesus does,
becomes yours.
I'm going to tell you,
the Scottish minister gave this
illustration,
I gave it to you before,
of a Frenchman who wanted
to become a British citizen.
This Frenchman,
he was attracted to the British
way of life,
to British food.
So he took the test,
he took his kind of
nationalisation papers,
whatever they're called,
and he went through the process
to become a British citizen.
And after he became
a British citizen,
he was asked,
how do you feel now?
What difference does it make
that you now are an Englishman?
And he replied,
well it means that instead
of losing the Battle of Waterloo,
I won it.
Because when he became
a British citizen,
all that Britain
had fought for and achieved,
and one became his.
And you see,
the faithful Jesus,
who is the faithful Israelite,
who in place of God's
faithless son Israel,
now is the new Israel.
Who will walk in faithfulness
and righteousness
and obedience to his Father.
And we are in him.
And that is when you are
united in my faith,
all of his righteousness
and all of his faithfulness
and all of his obedience
becomes yours.
That's why it's worth
going to Egypt.
You might ask,
where does my rebellion
and my failure go?
And if you've been in the service,
you know it,
don't you?
It goes onto the shoulders
of the Lord Jesus.
On the cross.
All my sin is laid on him.
Matthew says,
go to Egypt.
Matthew says,
come,
our next stop is Bethlehem.
We need to go to Bethlehem.
And you must visit Bethlehem.
And the reason you must visit Bethlehem
is because you need to see
in Bethlehem
the mystery of God's providence.
The mystery of
God's providence.
What does the word
providence mean?
Short Cascism tells us,
doesn't it?
What is God's works
of providence?
God's works of providence
are his most
holy,
wise,
powerful,
preserving
and governing
all his creatures
and all their actions.
It's that he's in control
of everything.
It's that there is nothing
outside of
God's control.
And so we go to Bethlehem
to see the mystery
of God's providence.
It's an amazing chapter
is that
we see
in verses 12
and 13
and 14
that the Lord
had given the direction
to major.
Start of chapter 2,
wise men.
Rest of chapter 2,
evil men.
Foolish men.
And the Lord
had given the direction
to the Magi,
the wise men
and he warned them,
don't go back to Herod.
And they go back
in a different route
and then the Lord
warns Joseph
in a dream again,
don't hang about
but take the child
and his mother
and go into Egypt
because Herod
is seeking to destroy
the child
and Joseph
evidently
he gets up,
he doesn't question,
he escapes
Bethlehem
to go to Egypt
and he leaves
no forwarding address.
They become
a fugitive family.
They become migrants,
they become refugees,
they're on the run.
And yet Herod
is outwitted again.
Herod is outwitted again
and Jesus is preserved.
And we look at chapter 2
and we say
isn't that amazing?
Isn't that the
marvellous providence
of God
in preserving
and governing
all his creatures
and all their actions?
the spectacular
providence
of God
in preserving
and protecting
the saviour
that was born.
And we say
isn't this amazing?
But what about
the parents?
What about
the parents
of the infant
toddlers
in Bethlehem?
In verse 16.
You've read that verse
of you.
And then Herod
when he saw
that he'd 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
or under.
according to the time
he'd ascertained
from the wise men.
What do you say
to those parents?
What message
do you bring them?
When all of a sudden
Herod's police
come bursting
into their home
three or four of them
they push the father
to the ground
they fling the mother
into a corner
they go into the nursery
and they turn it
into a butcher's shop
with blood everywhere.
What do you do
in another home?
A policeman
bursts in
through the door
this time
they don't even knock
he grabs the infant
from the breast
of his mother
and he rams a sword
right through it.
We don't know
how many babies
it might have been
it might have been 10
it might have been 15
for a child's size
it's bad for him.
But what do you say
to those parents?
As they simmer
in
helpless rage
and overflowing
grief
at what has happened
to their home?
Do we preach
to them
of the marvellous
amazing
providence of God?
No we don't do we
we talk about
the mysterious
providence of God.
And I want you
to see really clearly
that the Bible
places both of these
aspects of the
providence of God
the amazing
providence
and the mysterious
providence
side by side.
We look at the way
that Jesus is preserved
and we say
look at the
marvellous
providence of God.
Look how faithful
God is.
And then we see
the butchery
that Herod's men
do
and we say
there is
mystery here.
There is a
mysterious
providence
of God.
we say
how baffling
God is.
And we ask
the question
couldn't the
God who
preserved
the Lord
Jesus Christ
from Herod's
clutches
also kept
more than a
dozen children
from being
murdered
from the
jaws of
Herod?
Why?
Why did
God not do
something?
Why did
God allow
this?
We have to
say that we
in one sense
we have to
say that it
wasn't God's
fault
that those
babies were
killed.
We have to
affirm that
there is evil
in this world.
Herod
was a
murderous
vicious
tyrant.
he had
done it.
When we
think of
terrorist
attacks,
when we
think of
shootings
that take
place,
some of
the
disasters
that
happen,
we do
need to
look at
the
responsibility
of man.
The
fault of
human
beings.
We have
to say
that there
are men
and women
who do
evil.
And when
we say
why are
these things
allowed,
we have
to realise
there is
such a
thing as
evil.
There's
lots of
people who
don't
believe
that.
And there
are people
that do
evil things
and there
are evil
men and
evil women.
But with
all that,
the Bible
teaches and
this church
believes that
God is
sovereign.
We believe
that God
is in
control.
What are
the works
of God's
providence?
The works
of God's
providence are
wise and
most powerful
preserving all
his creatures
and all
their actions.
And so we
have to come
back and we
have to say,
don't we,
why does God
allow this?
Why did God
allow that?
And here we
are faced with
the mysterious
providence of
God.
And you and
I, we want to
get it all
together,
don't we?
We want to be
able to fit
this into a
nice, neat
package that
can be summarised
in a couple
of bullet
points.
Something that
we can handle
and we can
explain easily
to others.
And something
like this
situation is
very, very
difficult because
you have the
marvellous
providence of
God on the
one hand and
you have the
mysterious
providence of
God on the
other.
And I've
not got answers
for you this
morning.
But I want
you to notice
one thing
before we go
on.
Where is it
that we find
this question
raised about
why does
God allow
this?
You and
I need to
see that this
question jumps
off the pages
of the Bible.
It is the
Bible that
raises this
question.
The Bible
doesn't hide
it.
It is the
Bible that
presses the
issue home as
we carefully
read the
text.
It is the
Bible that
brings this
issue in
front of
your nose.
It is not
some sceptical
21st century
philosopher.
It is not
some angry
atheist that
suddenly realises
this as if
you've never
thought about
it before.
We don't
have to wait
for some
tragedy to
strike.
No, it is
raised in the
Bible.
It is raised
all over the
Bible.
The Bible is
the place where
this issue is
raised.
It spells it
out plainly.
The marvellous
and the
mysterious
providence of
God.
What an
honest book
the Bible is.
How can we
get perspective
on this?
Matthew says
that the
incident is a
fulfilment of
prophecy.
Verse 18,
can you see
that verse?
That comes
from Jeremiah
31 verse 15.
And Matthew
takes that text
from Jeremiah
31 verse 15
about Rachel,
Jacob's wife,
and Jeremiah's
prophecy in
verse 31.
and in verse
15 he
pictures Rachel
personified.
And Rachel is
weeping and
mourning and
wailing over her
children.
Who is her
children?
Well, in
Jeremiah chapter
31 it's either
the northern
kingdom of
Israel being
taken into
captivity to
Assyria or
it's the southern
kingdom going
into captivity
in Babylon.
it's her
children being
taken away to
captivity.
But Rachel,
the mother of
Israel, is
weeping over
her sons and
daughters because
they're being
carted off into
exile.
And she refuses
to be consoled.
She refuses to
be comforted
because she says
at the end of
verse 18,
they are no
more.
What has that
got to say?
It's interesting
when you look at
Jeremiah chapter
31, that
verse 15 of
Jeremiah 31 is
the only negative
verse in the
whole of the
chapter.
If you break
Jeremiah 31 up
into the sections
that it should be
broken up into,
it comes to 10
sections of
prophecy, of
speaking the word
of the Lord,
of prediction.
And every one
of those sections
is positive and
helpful, even
joyful and
tone.
And this is
the point.
When the New
Testament cites
a verse from
a chapter in
the Old
Testament, which
they frequently
do, they
frequently cite
one-liners,
they expect you
to look at the
whole of the
Old Testament
chapter.
They expect you
to look at that
little verse in
the Old Testament
but look at the
context which it
comes in.
And after
Jeremiah states
this about
Rachel and
weeping for
her children,
the answer to
it comes from
Yahweh, the
God of Israel
in the next
line.
So let me
read it to
you.
Jeremiah 31.
this is what it
says.
Thus says the
Lord, keep your
voice from
weeping and
your eyes from
tears, for
there is a
reward for
your work,
declares the
Lord.
And they
shall come back
from the land
of the enemy.
There is hope
for your
future.
Do you see
what God is
saying?
God is
saying, and
it doesn't
take all the
pain away, it
really doesn't.
It doesn't take
all the pain
away on the
spot, but
what the
Lord is
saying, look,
you think
that you can
write finished
over, over
the history of
Israel.
But in those
moments, he
says, keep
your eyes
from tears.
they will
come back
from the
land of
your enemy
and there
is hope
for your
future.
And Matthew
takes that
over.
And what
does he want
us to hear?
He wants us
to see that
just as again
in Bethlehem,
Rachel and
Israel come
into awful
suffering, this
situation.
Yet there
is hope.
There is
hope for
the grieving
parents of
their sons
in their
son, the
firstborn
son.
And even
afreshly, God's
people are a
suffering people,
aren't we?
And the
message of
Jeremiah still
holds that even
though God's
people are a
suffering people,
they are not a
hopeless people.
And the
path of
God's
kingdom is
wet with
tears.
There's no
avoiding that.
Jesus says,
marvel, don't
marvel not if
the world
hates you.
And he's
saying to you
very, very
clearly this
morning, there
is this
mysterious
providence of
God.
And what we
do then is
we live by
faith beneath
the mysterious
providence of
God.
And it
means that we
don't, we
refuse to
bring up
simple, easy
answers for
such issues so
that they can be
made rosy and
cosy again.
And as God
preserved the
infant
stevia from
the knives of
Herod, even
in our weeping
and our tears
and our anguish
over strange
providence, he
still says to
you and I,
there is hope.
There is hope.
There's hope for
your future.
Matthew wants
to take you to
Bethlehem.
And then he
wants to take
you to
Nazareth.
He wants to
take you to
Nazareth to
see the
humiliation of
God's son.
Nazareth is
his third
stop in
verses 19
to 23.
Joseph wants
to go back
to Judah,
probably to
Bethlehem again,
but he finds
out that,
what's he
called,
Alcalaus or
whatever, is
ruling in the
place of his
father Herod,
and like
father, like
son.
And he
doesn't want
to go back
there, so
being warned
in a dream,
he goes up
north to
Galilee, and
it says he
settled there,
doesn't it?
He settled
there in a
city called
Nazareth, so
that what was
spoken by the
prophets might
be fulfilled,
and he would
be called a
Nazarene.
Now, why
this place?
Why all this
festival of
Nazareth?
Notice he
says, so what
was spoken by
the prophets,
he doesn't
just cite one
particular one,
so you don't
have an exact
quote to find,
but he
will be
called a
Nazarene.
Matthew says,
why all the
fuss, why
worry about
that?
The word
Nazar means
branch, there's
an illusion I
think to
Hebrews 11,
you know Hebrews
11, do you
remember that?
The tree that
is cut down
on a stump,
there's a
stump in the
field and a
root will come
out of
Jesse, and
that is a
fulfillment of
this, he will
be called a
Nazarene, but
what is all
this fuss
about it?
Nazareth had a
bad reputation,
as did
Galilee in
general.
The folk
down south
around Jerusalem,
the kind of
more true
blue Jews,
who had a
more straight
base Judaism,
they always
looked with a
sceptical eye
on Galilee.
Galilee was
regarded with
contempt.
There was a
saying, if you
want to get
rich, go
north, and
if you want
to get wise,
go south.
north around
Galilee, that
was where the
trade was.
The south
was the
study of
the law
of God.
And they
were saying
you can't
be prosperous
and pious.
Galilee was
more open to
outside influences,
more interaction
with pagans,
they were less
strict in their
religious
observances.
True Jews
regarded Galilee,
that area, with a
kind of quizzical
look.
And Nazareth in
particular.
even other
Galileans seem
to regard
Nazareth with
repose.
So in
John's Gospel,
Nathaniel from
Cana in
Galilee, when
he was told
that the
Messiah was
from Nazareth,
he said,
what are you
kidding me?
Can anything
good come out
of Nazareth?
And that's
why Matthew
has to explain
this.
How can you
have someone
who is really
the Messiah
coming from
such a rotten
place like
Nazareth?
I'm trying
to think
the
first one's
ridiculous.
But when I
was growing up,
two years before
I went to
my high school,
the Welsh
school,
Astrol
Goven
Goir,
took and
were given
our lower
school.
And I
think it's
fair to
say the
school I
went to,
Gowden
Comprehensive,
hated Astrol
Goven
Goir.
As far as I
was aware,
we had never
lost a rugby
game to them.
It was
unthinkable.
We treated
them with
absolute
disgust.
And you
always knew
that no
matter who
you played
in rugby
during the
year,
there was
always one
game you
would win,
Astrol Goven
Goir.
I can't
stand them
even now,
really.
We looked
down on
them.
John
Hartson
went to
Astrol Goven
Goir,
that kind
of person.
And what
Matthew is
saying is
Jesus grew
up in
Astrol Goven
Goir.
And the
reaction that
I had as
a teenager
to that
school,
that is the
reaction people
had towards
somebody in
Nazareth.
Can't you
have a
Messiah who
was a
little bit
more class
than to
grow up and
live in a
place like
that?
And he
had to
explain to
Jews who
would be
offended and
have a
problem with
that.
And that
is why
Matthew
goes to
the problem
and he
says,
wait a
minute,
there was a
line in
prophecy,
people saw
those things
as mutually
exclusive.
They thought
you can't
have a
Messiah,
God's
chosen king
who comes
from Nazareth.
It would be
like saying
the Pope
is a
Presbyterian,
you can't
have those
things,
it can't
be.
And Matthew
says,
but that's
what's
prophesied
in God's
word.
That the
Messiah would
really have
humble
associations.
Do you
see God's
humility?
Let me
read to
you from
J.C.
Ryle.
In
Nazareth,
the Lord
Jesus lived
thirty years.
It was
there he
grew up,
from infancy
to childhood,
from childhood
to boyhood,
and from
boyhood to
youth,
and from
youth to
man's
estate.
We know
little of
the manner
in which
those thirty
years are
spent.
That he
was subject
to Mary
and Joseph
were expressly
told.
That he
worked in
the carpenter
shop with
Joseph is
highly
probable.
We only
know that
almost five
sixth of
the time
that the
saviour of
the world
was on
earth,
was passed
among the
poor of
this world,
and passed
in complete
retirement.
Truly this
was humility.
Let us learn
wisdom from
our saviour's
example.
We are,
most of us,
far too
ready to
seek great
things in
this world.
Let us
seek them
not.
To have a
place,
a title,
a position
in society
is not
nearly so
important as
people think.
It is a
great sin
to be
covetous,
and worldly
and proud,
but it is
no sin to
be poor.
It matters
not so much
what money we
have and
where we
live as
what we
are in
the sight
of God.
Where are
we going
when we
die?
Shall we
live forever
in heaven?
These are the
main things
to which we
should attend.
I was in
McDonald's on
Friday,
I know it
was the
day of
fasting,
but I
ended up
studying at
the moment
so I'm
working in
different
coffee shops
and you
tend to
get to
mid-afternoon
and even
McDonald's
coffee tastes
good.
So I was
in there,
working away
and not
eating,
I promise
you.
It was a
remarkable
afternoon
really,
in that I
don't know
how it
happened,
but a
fight broke
out between
two girls.
One was a
Polish girl
and one
was a
Somali
girl.
I don't
know what
was said,
but it
erupted
very,
very quickly.
And the
words,
if I can
omit the
expletives,
are,
what are
you looking
at me,
you Polish?
To which
the response
was,
off you,
Somali
girl.
It's
quite weird,
I looked
around and
kind of
everybody was
just working,
well not working
normally,
but eating
there,
whatever it
is.
And it
struck me
doesn't it,
that both
immediately
went to
where they're
from,
and addressed
each other's
home country
with hate
and shame.
And both
were alleging
they are
outsiders who
don't belong.
And here
you have
Jesus,
don't you?
The
Messiah,
the Son
of God,
with humble,
shameful,
hated roots.
Do you
see how
Jesus is
willing to
stoop and
take the
lowest place?
I don't
know where
you're from.
I don't
know what
your background
is,
maybe you're
ashamed.
Maybe you
feel an
outsider,
even the
church.
But do you
see how
your saviour
is not
ashamed to
be smeared
with the
scummy name
of Nazareth.
And this
is our
encouragement
there.
That if
you have
in your
saviour a
fugitive,
a migrant,
a refugee,
who grew
up in a
despised
village,
do you
think that
maybe,
just maybe,
he might
be able to
understand you?
because the
centre of
this passage,
the centre
of Luke
chapter 3,
is a
child.
And amidst
all the
geography,
what Matthew
wants to
show you
is a
child.
And don't
take your
eyes on
him.
And Matthew
says everywhere
he went,
he was a
fulfilment of
scripture.
Spurgeon
wrote,
our prince
steps along
a pathway
paved with
prophecies.
And he
is one
who is
humble.
And he
is one
who is
able to
take the
lowest
place.
Go to
Egypt.
Go to
Bethlehem.
Go to
Nazareth.
Let's
pray.
Heavenly
Father,
we thank
you for
your
word.
We thank
you that
though there
were many
human
writers,
there is
one
writer.
The
Holy
Spirit
inspires
men
who
wrote
your
word.
We thank
you that
the
author
of
scripture
is
God.
And as
we see
the
Old
Testament
and how
it
connects,
Lord,
and is
fulfilled in
your Son,
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
we marvel at
your wisdom.
We marvel at
your grace
and your
power.
We thank
you that
there is
hope.
There is
hope for
the grieving.
There is
hope for
the mourning.
we thank
you that
the Lord
Jesus is
your
firstborn
son,
that where
we have
failed,
he has
succeeded,
where Israel
was disobedient,
he was
obedient,
he is
your
faithful
son.
And we
thank you
that Christ
is not
ashamed to
call us
brothers.
We thank
you that
he came
from the
highest to
live amongst
the despised.
may we
never think
more of
ourselves
than we
are
Lord.
May we
rejoice that
there is a
welcome even
for us,
for people
like us.
For we
pray this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.