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

Let’s Try This Out (more on Matthew 2:13-23)

After publishing my previous post and asking for input from people over Twitter & Facebook, I think I may have gotten somewhere.  One friend suggested I listen to a sermon.  In itself, I didn’t find the sermon to be all that helpful, but what it did do for me is get me thinking about sermons.  I seldom listen to sermons online, simply because I want to avoid the risk of being tempted to re-preach something.  What I study the Bible and write sermons, I do my best to come to the text trying to understand what it’s saying and what value does it have for the congregation I’m preaching to, apart from any theological bias (although it’s impossible for anyone to do that perfectly).

But I started searching the internet for sermons on Matthew 2:13-23.  I’ve been searching for commentary, but never sermons.  I came across a sermon that actually did a pretty good job speaking to the questions that have been holding me up with this text (but he misses the application, giving in to the simplistic providence theme I’m trying to avoid…see yesterday’s post for my reasons why).  But what this sermon did do is help me see a rather important connection that I had been overlooking…

The tendency that we often have when looking at this text is to focus on one of two things; we either focus on Jesus’ flight and return, or we focus on Herod’s “slaughter of the innocents.”  Much has been made of the lack of historical evidence supporting the “slaughter,” so we tend to be more incline to spend our time and energy focusing there.  But the text doesn’t give an extraordinary amount of attention to either point.  Matthew is focusing primarily on Jesus, trying to say something about him.  Based on the book as a whole, I’m coming to the text assuming that Matthew is still working to show his readers that Jesus is the messiah.  That is exactly what Matthew is doing, but not in the way we may expect him to – which is one of the reasons I’ve missed a very important “background text/figure.”  But the typical Jewish reader would have picked up on it immediately.

Filed under: Bible Study, Culture, Ministry, Theology

A Little More on Matthew 2:13-23

Yes, I’m still going around in circles with this.  In a previous post, I suggested that Matthew enters into a “sub-plot” of sorts here by recounting salvation history, all in an attempt to show Jesus the second Adam who ultimately brings salvation to God’s people (i.e. the messiah).  The problem is that, while I may have been the one to write it, I’m not completely convinced of it.  So I’m still wrestling with the escape to Egypt, “slaughter of the innocents,” and return to Judea.

I’m trying to keep in mind the fact that Matthew seems to have a three-fold focus for his gospel: (1) to show that Jesus is the promised messiah and (2) that the proper reaction then is to become his disciple which (3) is expressed/proven predominantly through personal missions.  I have this gut feeling that the previous sentence may be the reason I’m having such a hard time wrapping my head around this…but I’m not sure yet.

I raised these same questions/observations in the earlier post, but I feel as though it’s worth looking at them again:

1. Through his quotation of Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew believes it’s important that his readers (mostly traditional Jews) see a connection between Jesus’ time in Egypt and Israel’s enslavement and exodus.  This was important enough for Matthew to offer several proof-texts – but how does that connection re-inforce the three-fold purpose? (I think the answer to this question is key to unlocking the meaning of these 10 verses…)
2. What is the point/call to action of Jesus’ own exile to Egypt for us today?  How is this relevant for today’s audience?  I think the simple answer is something having to do with God’s providence, but I also fear that’s giving in too easily to one of Reformed theology’s favorite doctrines.  In other words, I think providence is too simplistic and difficult to fit-in to Matthew’s over-all purpose; it seems disjuncted…
3. The two OT passages the Matthew definitively quotes both strike me as a bit of a stretch in terms of their application to Jesus.  This is causing problems for me.  Hosea 11 is a reference to Israel, and I really doubt that the Pauline concept of the new Israel had been developed enough by the time Matthew was written to apply it here.  Jeremiah 31 refers to the Babylonian captivity of Israel.  Essentially, Matthew is saying that although these words were written to describe what happened then, they are actually referring to what is happening here.  My hermeneutical method doesn’t permit me to apply these verses to this scene in Matthew.
4. What is the theological/cultural/exegetical/and hermeneutical payoff for Matthew’s original readers for making this equation?  This is also a key question for getting at the heart of this text.  And yet again, I’m stuck here…

So here’s your job: what ideas, thoughts, insights, questions, etc. etc. do you have to unravelling Matthew 2:13-23.  This is the next text I’m preaching on, so I’d really like it if I could get some idea of what’s happening here before I have to preach it.

Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Discipleship, Evangelism, Ministry, Theology

Health Care is a Moral Issue

Health care is a moral issue.

Unfortunately, I haven’t heard anyone say this…not even the Christian community.  I’m not trying to be original here; I’m just saying that I haven’t heard anyone talk about it this way.  Sure there are financial implications.  But ultimately, I think this is something that needs to be removed from the political/ideological/financial arena and placed squarely in the morality arena.

Let me pick on some people – or groups of people – for a moment.  Thirty years ago the Republican party became the “party of morals” and they’ve run on that platform ever since.  They were God’s party – the party that defends America, the Bible, and family values.  ”Conservative” and “liberal” became extremely polarizing words, often used as insults, and became more and more difficult for a person to avoid aligning themselves with one side or the other.

It’s the Republican Party that has also become systematically opposed to providing health care for all Americans.  The basis of their opposition is that this would create a bigger government, and that’s bad.  The problem for most so-called “conservatives” (as I’ve said before, I really don’t like breaking people into such categories because of the subjectivity inherent in them) is that the moral issue of health care at this point in history is in conflict with a core belief in small government.  So when push comes to shove which way are the political conservatives going to go: morality, or political philosophy?

Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Church, Culture, Theology