Matthew 2:1-12 - Big Picture

Before you read this post, be sure to check out the comment by Rick Jones on the last post. Rick had some great insights on why Jerusalem was troubled by the birth of the King. Anyone else who would like to make comments, just click 'comments' under the post. On the comments page you'll have an opportunity to register. Pretty simple.

Alright, it's big picture time. I think the main idea here is something we've already talked about. This narrative is serving to show that Jesus is the Messiah, giving his 'credentials'. There are several things that point us in this direction.

1) There are the Gentile magi who travel from the east to worship the King of the Jews, having received special revelation regarding the child's location and identity. vv.1-2.
2) There is the Jewish madman Herod, who believes so strongly that the baby is the Christ that he tries to hunt the baby down, and finally kills all the male babies two years old and younger in Bethlehem on the off chance that one of them is the baby King. vv.3, 8, 16.
3) God appears to the magi in a dream and warns them not to divulge to Herod where the child is. God, through supernatural revelation is protecting this baby. v.12.
4) An angel appears to Joseph in a dream telling him to take the baby and Mary to Egypt. Again, God, through supernatural revelation is protecting the baby. vv.13-14.
5) The Lord appears to Joseph in a dream in Egypt telling him it is safe to take the child back into Israel. He later steers Joseph to settle in Galilee to stay away from danger in Judea. Again, supernatural revelation...vv.19-20, 22-23.
6) The biggest thing: four OT quotation/allusions showing that all of this was a fulfillment of Scripture. These are Messianic prophecies - Jesus fulfills them all.

These things so convince the listener that Jesus is the Messiah, that by the time we actually hear from him in chapter 3, we accept what he says. In everyday life, before I accept or believe something that someone says, I want to know who that person is. Same thing here.

Another somewhat latent theme, as I've written before, is the providence of God in all of these things. The OT quotations as well as the other supernatural things that happen show us that this is all going according to plan. The fulfilled prophecy doesn't just tell us that God foresaw what was going to happen, and that now the events are happening just as He foresaw. Rather it tells us what God determined would happen and that now He is working all these things according to His plan. If we believe that prophecy is simply God foreseeing things rather than divulging His plans, we must also believe that God is the luckiest being conceivable. Imagine the absurdity of thinking that all the things in this chapter happened according to chance and yet somehow worked out in God's best interest. And our best interest, for that matter. If we fast-forward to the cross, and believe that God has only foreseen things rather than planned them, then the cross is simply what Pilate gave Him to work with. Therefore, the cross was handed to God, rather than God handing it to Jesus. Scripture will not allow such a view (Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28; Eph 1:11).

Rather, we should cherish this birdseye view of God's providential care in the securing of our salvation. He has orchestrated every piece of the puzzle and this chapter shows Him bringing it together.

Also, a huge theme in the book that we will see over and over is the rejection of the Jews and the inclusion of the Gentiles. This chapter gives a small picture of this in that the Jewish figures reject the baby and the Gentile figures seek him and worship him. Jesus' ministry will begin focused exclusively with the Jews. As the tension builds between Jesus and the Jews because of their unbelief, Jesus then makes a decided change in his ministry and teaching. He will begin to build the new people of God, the Church. We'll see this change very clearly. God's providence is evident throughout, showing that the Church was not plan B. It was plan A (Rom 9-11; Eph 2-3).

So what is the application? Beyond just pondering the beauty of this portion of salvation history, we should look at the two camps in the story. We see people making choices. Some choose to seek the Messiah and worship him. Others reject him and even try to destroy him. Black and white. Yes or no. Christ presents every human being with a choice. Worship or reject. As we will see later in this book, he divides the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the believers from the unbelievers. He is the Great Divider. (He is also the great Uniter as he unites believing Jews and Gentiles in the body of Christ, Eph 2-3.)

Our preaching, teaching, and evangelism should highlight this choice. I'm afraid for many pastors Jesus has become an I'm-okay-you're-okay cosmic hippy/genie who just wants to make everyone feel good. If we are telling people that Jesus is the answer to their heartache and loneliness, we are not presenting him as the choice that he is. If he is Tylenol for the broken heart, one might think, 'That's a nice option. I'll keep that in mind.' But if he is presented in stark terms, that he must be embraced or rejected, and that this one decision has eternal ramifications, heaven or hell - now, that's a decision that demands attention.

Please understand, I am not saying that as we share we must frame Jesus as a choice. I'm saying that he IS a choice and that if we do not present him as he IS, we have not presented him at all. John the Baptist will be doing some hardcore preaching on this very subject in our next passage.

Have you made the choice yet? Still thinking about it? There are only two sides of the line. To be undecided is to be decided against him.

For next time, Matthew 3:1-12. Read it if you can. Several times would even be better.

Drink deep and I'll talk to you soon,
Greg