Jesus is IT (Matthew 2:13-23)

Matthew has just recounted the story of the magi coming from the east and worshipping Jesus as king.  What’s remarkable about that particular story is that Matthew is the only one of the four gospel to tell the story of the magi.

I begin there for the simple reason that this morning’s text is largely dependent upon some of the details from that scene with the magi.  By way of introduction, take a look for a second at verse 2:2 – the magi have just arrived in Jerusalem and they go straight to King Herod to ask…

READ VERSE 2:2

For a king like Herod, that was the last question you wanted to ask.  Herod was known for responding to even the most minor of threats with the full force of his cruelty.  And so such questions and the suggestion that there may another king running around was bound to result in some rash response from Herod.  Then in verse 12 we read about how the magi were spared from that wrath via a dream, and shortly after that, Joseph – through a dream – is warned to take Jesus and his mother to Egypt.

Typically, when we look at this text we tend to go in one of two directions with it.  On one hand, we frequently focus on the escape to Egypt as a picture of God’s providence and preservation of toddler Jesus.  Or sometimes we focus on the “slaughter of the innocents” and try to reconcile how it is we can believe such a thing happened when there is not one strand of evidence outside of Scripture that Herod ever committed such a cruel act.

Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Faith, Ministry, Sermon, Theology

The Visit of the Magi (Sermon on Matthew 2:1-13)

It’s a joy to be back in Portland and able to worship here at Parklane again.  I graduated from Calvin Seminary in May, and Mishaela and I have been back in the area for about 3 months now.  Just so everyone’s up to date on what we’re doing here, we decided about a year and a half ago that would start walking through the door to church planting.  What’s more, we also began to feel a real burden to see more CRC congregations in Oregon and to minister to Portland.  And so, we moved back to Portland and we’ve been working to establish ourselves in the Sellwood neighborhood, with the hopes of starting a new faith gathering in that part of town.  I suppose it’s also worth pointing out that Mishaela and I are expecting our first child in February, which we are very excited about.

As a church planter I’ve been gravitating toward the gospel of Matthew – and for good reason.  A question I’m sure many of us have wondered about is “Why are there four gospels?” After all, if the goal is to present a biography of sorts of Jesus life, won’t one do the trick?

The reality that is often overlooked is that each gospel comes with its own particular slant on what happened.  Each gospel writer, when he set out to record the events of Jesus’ life and his teachings, did so with the intention of achieving something more than just recording the events of Jesus’ life.  It’s that particular slant that has resulted in the gospels occasionally telling a slightly different version of an event or even omitting or including stories that the other gospels haven’t.

Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Discipleship, Faith, Ministry, Original Languages, Sermon, Theology

Women, Gentiles, & Jesus, Oh My! (Sermon on Matthew 1:1-17)

I used to make a regular habit of posting sermons I preach.  For whatever reason I’ve been getting lazy with this.  I’ve obviously been reading through – and studying – Matthew’s gospel and blogging about what I’ve been learning, but many of those posts seems to have a more academic bent to them and I’m probably not making the discipleship connection like I want to.  Fortunately, I’m doing a much better job with that when I turn around and preach those texts.  So I’m going to commit to being more diligent about throwing up my sermon manuscripts when I preach as a counterpart to the more academic posts.

This is the first sermon I preached in conjunction with studying Matthew.  Enjoy!

READ MATTHEW 1:1-17

My guess is that very few of us have ever heard a sermon on a genealogy.  Although I’m still on the younger side, I know I never have.  In fact, there almost seems to be a part of us that shies away from genealogies as much as possible.  I mean, when was the last time you actually read the book of Numbers for example.  And if you’re like me, you tend to skip the genealogies of Genesis – and Matthew – to get to the things that are more interesting and exciting.  For whatever reason, over the years we’ve come to see these parts of Scripture as mostly pointless filler that seems to have virtually no value for us today.  They may have been important to the people 2,000 or 4,000 years ago, but to us it’s just a big waste of time.

My prayer is that this morning I can change your opinion a little – at least of Matthew’s genealogy.

In the way of introduction there are a few things to keep in mind as we look at this text.  First off, we absolutely cannot underestimate the fact that each of the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – are written from a particular perspective.  This might make some of you uneasy to think about.  When each author sat down to write his gospel, he did so with the intention of making a point.  In other words, the gospels are not simply relaying the cold, hard facts of Jesus’ life and teachings.  That’s why the gospels sometimes put the same story in different places or present slightly different versions of an event.  There was something in the life of the author or early church that necessitated the author to write what he did.  We then discover clues to what that thing was and it helps us understand what we’re reading better.

Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Faith, Ministry, Sermon

Fulfilling All Righteousness (Matthew 3:15)

So Jesus replied to him, “Let it happen now, for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

This has got to be one of the most confusing and difficult comments in the Bible to explain.  I certainly don’t claim to have figured this out, but I’m trying.  And so before I go any further, let me put out this disclaimer: Read this post as though I were thinking out loud but haven’t settled on anything yet. This is the next passage I’m preaching on and I really want to get this figured out…or at least come up with something that I can hold to with confidence.

The questions that arise when we look at this text are fairly obvious – one in particular: Why did Jesus have to be baptized? Jesus’ own answer to that question is the above quote.  The problem is that Jesus – being God – was already righteous and sin-free and therefore had no need to be baptized.  The answer I keep coming across in the commentaries is the suggestion that his baptism was a way for Jesus to “identify with” the people he came to save.  Since he came to save sinners, he needed to identify with sinners through baptism.  Unfortunately, they also fail to explain how they got to that point, the logic behind, and worst, the Biblical evidence that gets them to that point.  And in my own study – as screwed-up as it is – I’m not getting that.

The approach I’ve been taking is to look at the words that are used and attempt to find correlations with other texts.  I begin with “fulfill.”  the Greek word is pleroo (πληρόω).  Within the pages of Scripture, this word is typically used in discussions on the Law.  Such use is consistent within both the Greek NT and the Septuagint (Greek OT).  Now let that sit…

Filed under: Bible Study, Christianity

John is the New Elijah (Matthew 3)

I was often told growing up that John the Baptist was the last OT prophet, which I always thought was kinda weird since he’s talked about in the NT.  Designating John as a prophet is a bit simplistic.  Matthew goes to great lengths to depict John as the Elijah from Malachi 4:5.  While John’s confrontation with the Pharisees and Sadducees is often taking apart from Jesus’ baptism (when preached or studied in a small group), understanding the relationship between Matthew 3 and Malachi 4:5 almost demands that the story of John and Jesus’ baptism be considered together.

Malachi 4:5…

See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

Matthew introduces John with a quote from Isaiah 40:3.  Isaiah is speaking of the coming of the messiah and one sign that the messiah has either arrived is well on his way.  As proof that John is this voice, Matthew states in verse 1 that “John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness…”

But it’s in 3:4 that Matthew really solidifies his belief that John the Baptist was the Elijah spoken of in Malachi.  I preached this text once in a preaching class, but completely missed the point of Matthew describing John’s clothing.  Matthew describes John this way:

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

Filed under: Bible Study