Mat 2:16-23; Are the Poor Really Blessed?
length: 28:24 - taught on Nov, 29 2023
Class Outline:
Wednesday November 29, 2023
Theme: God wants us to understand that we are poor in this world so that we will be like Him rather than not like Him.
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 "Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child's life are dead." 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: "He shall be called a Nazarene."
Fifth fulfillment of OT prophecy in Mat 1-2:
He shall be called a Nazarite.
No one prophet or prophecy is in mind since Matthew refers to “prophets.”
One explanation is that Jesus was a Nazirite (Nazirite vow) - abstained from wine (all things grape), did not cut hair, remained ritually pure. This view is wrong, as Jesus was not a Nazirite.
"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
Another explanation is that Nazarene is explained by a similar sounding Hebrew word in ISA 11:1.
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
“branch” - netser. But what does a Hebrew word have to do with a town in Galilee?
Certainly Matthew has more in mind than this arcane reference. Plus Matthew refers to prophets, not one prophet.
A better explanation is available. Nazarene = despised and forsaken.
“To be called a Nazarene was to be spoken of as despicable.” [Morison]
This view connects Matthew’s reference with the general tenor of the Old Testament that the Messiah would be despised and rejected.
But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
8 "Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him."
They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become estranged from my brothers
And an alien to my mother's sons.
9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick.
And I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
And for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers,
"Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You."
Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
These go along with Jesus’ humble place of birth in Bethlehem.
This interpretation of “He shall be called a Nazarene” also goes along with Matthew’s emphasis on Jesus’ humility and rejection (8:20; 11:29; 12:19; 15:8; 21:5).
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”
HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT;
NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.
'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU,
GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY,
EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'"
Rejection:
Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
Nazareth was a despised place:
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
The population understood that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem, but the Father purposely, secretly, hid Jesus away in Nazareth.
In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also made Me a select arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet." 41 Others were saying, "This is the Christ." Still others were saying, "Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 42 "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, "Why did you not bring Him?" 46 The officers answered, "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks." 47 The Pharisees then answered them, "You have not also been led astray, have you? 48 "No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 "But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed." 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, 51 "Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?" 52 They answered him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee."
When Paul is accused by the elders sent by the high priest, they deride him with the title:
a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
When the mob comes for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, He identifies Himself with the title.
Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" 5 They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I am He." And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 So when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Therefore He again asked them, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus the Nazarene." 8 Jesus answered, "I told you that I am He;
In both cases He responds, “Ego eimi.” In Greek you can just say “eimi” with means “I am” (first singular). By adding the pronoun “ego” (I), Jesus is drawing emphasis to Himself. “Are you the Nazarene?” “I, Myself, am.”
Conclusion / Application.
None of us are worthy of praise, acclaim, or honor. All of us, in essence, are Nazarenes.
Why has God put up His Son in the despised Nazareth? Why has God not showered us all with the best material gifts in the world and the honor and admiration of all people? God loves us so much that He wants us to be like Him, and He will not rest until it is accomplished.
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
"I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE."
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."
Being in Christ is to have His life. Our own life apart from Him was not near good enough for God. He would not, nor cannot bless that life.
As believers, our transformation still demands choice. To boast in the Lord is to know Him. Not only knowing of Him, but as a Person, knowing Him. And that demands learning as well as living the Scriptures.
Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the Lord.
This is why we are to never seek the riches and glitter and fame of the world. Those things only distort the creatures God so desires us to be. If God gives them to you, fine. But even with them, in this world you are poor, and blessed are you if you know that.
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