The King We Desire
Text: Matthew 2:13-23
Core Idea: Jesus is not only the King we need but the King we desire for He leads us out of slavery, leads us back home, and leads us even when we’ve rejected Him. Then this Christmas, let’s worship this King because He came to save us, to give us worth, to give us hope, and to give us a reason to rejoice again.
INTRODUCTION
Merry Christmas, Lighthouse. It is delightful to see all of you today. If you’re visiting us for the first time, thank you for spending your time with us. I pray that you’ll come to see how beautiful and wonderful our God is. No matter how your week was, no matter how far you think you are from God, no matter what you think of yourself, He hasn’t stopped loving you – He hasn’t stopped pursuing you. And I know this because that’s the message of Christmas: The Savior King was born in a manger for you and me. Then I pray that you would be reminded of His unending love for you today. Christmas this year feels even more special because the last two Christmases were very different. For all our lives, we were conditioned to expect certain things during the Christmas season, and for the most part, we enjoyed them as planned – gifts, food, carols, friends, and family. Our whole lives, Christmas has been celebrated in the nearness of our relationships – we came together, we ate together, we worshiped together. But suddenly, COVID took that away from us – and for the first time, we realized that many things that we took for granted were, in fact, blessings. Brothers and sisters, what we have here is a blessing. Then I pray that we’ll treasure this moment and cherish one another knowing that this time together is a gift from our Father.
Well, we are going through the first two chapters of Matthew this Advent. Last week, we looked at the birth of Jesus through the eyes of the Magi – and learned that Jesus isn’t just the King of the Jews but the Savior of the world, the Lord of our lives. Now, the story we’re about to read may seem like an unlikely passage to preach on Christmas because it’s a very dark story. And honestly, some of you may be wondering, “What a depressing message for Christmas. Shouldn’t we focus on joy and peace? I mean, isn’t Christmas all about hope?” And you are absolutely right – but we must start here because the first Christmas was actually filled with great suffering. Jesus’ coming wasn’t received with celebration and laughter – no, it was filled with great pain and sorrow. It involved weeping and wailing. And I don’t think it was a coincidence.
Christmas undoubtedly is the most wonderful time of the year, but the reality is that, for some, it might be the most difficult time of the year as they’re still dealing with painful circumstances of life. For some, this may be the first Christmas without your loved one. For others, it could be that you’re stunned and crushed by events outside of your control. And others, it could be that you’re grieving over your broken marriage, burdened by parenting, frustrated in your singleness, confused by your job situation, worried over your finances, etc. This year may have left you perplexed and speechless by the unexpected trials. But where we may be wordless, know that the Word of God is not. Listen to what David Mathis said, “Christmas doesn’t ignore our pains; neither does it bid us wallow in them. Christmas takes them seriously and reminds us that our God has seen our pain and heard our cries for help, and He Himself has come to deliver us.” One more quote from Nancy Guthrie, “Tears do not reflect a lack of faith. Tears are a gift from God that help to wash away the deep pain of loss.” Friends, the darkness of Christmas reminds us that we don’t have to pretend like everything is okay. We don’t even have to hide our grief. But we should draw near to God. It invites us to tell Him how we feel, pour out our hearts to Him, and receive Christ, who promises to be with us always. He will comfort us, and He will give us a reason to hope again. Then with that in mind, if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 2:13-23. Let me read this for us.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” 14 So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the Child and His mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that He would be called a Nazarene.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Three reasons why Jesus is not just the King we need but the King we desire:
· HE WILL LEAD US OUT OF SLAVERY
· HE WILL LEAD US BACK HOME
· HE WILL LEAD US EVEN WHEN WE’VE REJECTED HIM
1) HE WILL LEAD US OUT OF SLAVERY
Last week, we left off with verse 12 where Matthew tells us that the same God who supernaturally guided the Magi by a star advised them not to go back to Herod but take a different route back to their country. If you recall, Herod was disturbed by the birth of Jesus, who the Magi referred to as the King of the Jews. And as a result, he was desperate to find out where Jesus was born so that he might kill Him and eliminate the threat. But when the Magi didn’t return, Herod was furious. And he was about to give an order that would cause great mourning and weeping in Bethlehem. Then knowing this, God intervened. Verse 13. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said, “Get up. Take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” So, Joseph obeyed and left for Egypt that evening. Now, their journey from Bethlehem to the closest Egyptian-controlled territory would’ve been at least 65 km – that’s like the distance between Toronto and Niagara Falls. Then imagine walking that distance with your wife and your newborn Son. That journey must have been not just uncomfortable, but also painful and brutal – yet they obeyed. Even though they knew that they would be refugees in a foreign land, they obeyed.
Verse 15: “And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’” When Matthew learned that Jesus journeyed to Egypt and came back as a baby, his mind immediately went to Hosea 11:1 and concluded that God must be fulfilling this truth. But here’s what’s confusing: this verse wasn’t a prophecy. Hosea wasn’t saying, “This is going to happen in the future.” In fact, it was the opposite – in Hosea 11, God was actually reminding the Israelites of what took place in the past. God was looking backward to the moment when He brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. Now, this OT context is very important for understanding Matthew’s point. If you remember, in Exodus, God used ten miraculous plagues to deliver Israel. The first nine plagues were painful but the most destructive one was the tenth and final plague, where God struck down all the firstborns in the land of Egypt. But, for His people, God prescribed a way to escape this plague of death. God told them that each family was to kill a lamb without any defect and put its blood around the doorframe of their house – and God promised that when He sees the blood, He would “pass over” that house (which is why it’s called the Passover) and spare them from the judgment of death. The Passover was a picture of God’s gracious deliverance. Then this deliverance climaxed at the Red Sea where God fully and finally saved His people from the hands of the Egyptians. When Matthew was thinking back on this event and saw what was happening to Jesus, he recognized that God was signaling a new exodus for His people. Pastor David Platt helps us see this clearly: “In the OT, God saved His people by bringing miraculous deliverance from Egypt. But in the NT, God saves His people by bringing the Messianic Deliverer from Egypt.” Do you remember what the angel said to Joseph in Matthew 1:21? “She [Mary] will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Then just as God delivered His people (His first son) from Pharaoh by bringing them out of Egypt in the OT, He was now delivering His people from sin by bringing Jesus (His true Son) out of Egypt in the NT.
How did Jesus accomplish this? By becoming our Substitute. Let’s think back to the Passover story – the part about the lamb. What this teaches us is that the penalty of death for one’s sins could be paid by the death of another. And this idea of substitution is at the heart of the gospel message. Listen to how John the Baptist described Jesus in John 1:29, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” In other words, Christmas is about Jesus Christ coming as the Lamb of God to die as our Substitute. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death” – which means that it was just for God to strike us since all of us have sinned against Him (Rom. 3:23). But Jesus on the cross means that He was killed on our behalf so that His blood would be put on the doorframe of our hearts and God’s wrath would pass over us. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “‘He Himself bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed.’” Friends, Jesus Christ is the King who leads us out of the slavery of sin by dying for us so that we would receive life. Don’t you want a King like that – Someone not just great, Someone not just good, but Someone who would also give Himself for you? Jesus is that King. Christians, my prayer for you has been that this truth will hit you differently today. It’s so easy for us to hear this and just move on because we’ve heard it so much. But today, I pray that this truth will somehow cause you to rejoice again – to give thanks despite the pain of your circumstances. Brothers and sisters, Jesus was born in a manger to die for you and me. Then when was the last time you’ve taken the time to reflect on the pain of Christ (not just yours) that set you free from sin? When was the last time you’ve taken the time to think through the cost that God had to pay in sending His own Son? Jesus is the King who will lead us out of slavery – but that’s not all.
2) HE WILL LEAD US BACK HOME
Verse 16. “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” I’ll be honest – it wasn’t easy reflecting on this as I have a son who is only 15 months old. My heart was heavy thinking about these children being snatched from their parent’s arms to be brutally killed. The wailing and weeping that must have taken place in Bethlehem – the agony and grief that must have swept across the city. And I couldn’t help but ask, “Why? God, why did You allow this? Wasn’t there another way?” But God remained silent. Now, some tried to answer this by saying that God allows the natural consequences of sin and evil to be felt so we can see that something is radically wrong with humanity and even with us. They argue that if God simply erased all pain that was brought forth by sin, we would never realize how deadly sin is and we would never look for a Savior. That is true. But it still doesn’t take away this heaviness from our hearts. Friends, I don’t know why God allowed this to happen or, for that matter, why He allows pain and suffering in our lives. But there’s something I do know, something that this Christmas reminds us of – that He is Immanuel (God with us). And this God understands our pain because just like us, He experienced despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, grief, and more – even death. And this God tells us that He will comfort us and walk with us through the darkest valley (Ps. 23:4). But there’s more.
Verse 17, “Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” When Matthew reflected on this event, he immediately recalled Jeremiah 31:15. Now, the context of this verse is that Jeremiah was reflecting on the day when God’s people were taken into exile. The Babylonians invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the city, and took the Israelites to Ramah where they were sold into slavery and sent to different Babylonian cities. Families were torn apart – never to see each other again. Mothers and fathers were weeping for their children and children were wailing for them. Many of them were removed from their homes – taken into a foreign land where they didn’t belong. And in the midst of this unspeakable pain, listen to what God said to them in Jeremiah 31:16-17, “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded. They [their children] will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants. Your children will return to their own land.” God promised that He will bring His people back from exile – bring them back home.
Then Matthew quotes this verse knowing that just as the mothers of Israel were inconsolable in exile, the mothers in Bethlehem would’ve been devastatingly crushed, heartbroken. But at the same time, Matthew quotes this verse knowing that God’s promise to bring His people back from exile was now being fulfilled in this King who was born in a manger. This King will heal our hearts and reconcile us to God. This King will reverse the curse and make everything sad come untrue. This King doesn’t just lead us out of slavery. He will lead us home where we belong – in the presence of God. That’s what Christmas is all about. Matthew wants us to see that God was about to take all that Herod intended for evil and overturn it for good. And the joy of that moment (that moment of deliverance) will cause our memory of the painful past to vanish – just like a woman in labor forgets her pain as soon as the baby is born. Death will be swallowed up in victory. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ will not only comfort us and walk with us in our pain – He will also end our mournful exile and bring us home. And this is the reason why we choose to hope in our pain. This is the reason why we choose to rejoice in our pain. This is the reason why we choose to look forward in our pain knowing that this King is coming back for us. And at that time, He won’t come back lying in a manger – no, He’ll come back riding on the clouds to wipe away every tear from our eyes. And He will usher in the Kingdom where there will be no more mourning, crying, and pain for we will be with Him forever. Then this Christmas, place your hope in this King – He’ll never let you down. He will bring you home.
3) HE WILL LEAD US EVEN WHEN WE’VE REJECTED HIM
Verse 19. After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him that it was safe to go back to Israel. But on his journey back, Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod – and he was afraid to go there. So, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and lived in a town called Nazareth. Now, this doesn’t seem all that important – just a transitional verse to fill in the gap. But Matthew tells us in verse 23 that this too was a fulfillment of what the prophets had said – “that He would be called a Nazarene.” Again, here’s what’s confusing: none of the prophets actually said anything like this. Then what’s going on here? To make sense of this, we must first note that Nazareth was a forgotten and insignificant place. In fact, it was so obscure that the OT never even mentions it – not once. This may be why, in verse 22, even Matthew had to first preface it by saying Nazareth was in the district of Galilee – just in case the readers didn’t know. When Nathanael heard that Jesus was from Nazareth, he said in John 1:46, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” You see, Nazarenes were scorned, ridiculed, and despised. And that’s exactly what Matthew wanted to point out – that the King who has come is going to be humiliated, hated, and rejected by the world. He will be the Suffering Servant – the King who is humble, vulnerable, and overlooked. Now, that’s something that has been prophesied by many. For example, Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain… [people] held Him in low esteem.” In other words, in verse 23, Matthew was summarizing an idea that had been brought forth by many prophets in the OT.
Then what is this teaching us? Why is it important for us to know that Jesus would be scorned and rejected? Think with me. We just read that the King of the universe has come to save sinners, but that this King will be rejected by the very people He came to save. I shared last week that the reason why God guided the Magi first to Jerusalem, not directly to Bethlehem, was because God was extending His grace to Herod and the religious leaders. He wanted to save them as well – but they chose to become His enemies. And unfortunately, we are no different. We are just like Herod – afraid that this King will bring us down from our thrones. We are just like the religious leaders – afraid that this King will disturb our comfort. We are just like them – and we actively resist and ignore His lordship. We are the ones who despised and rejected Him – the One who came to give us life. Then like I said before, we deserved death. But Christmas reminds us of God’s extravagant love for us. Most of us love people who are worthy of our love. Just think about the people you and I love. I love my children because they’re incredibly lovable to me. It actually doesn’t matter what they do – I just can’t stop loving them. But that’s generally true of the people we love – we love them because, in some sense, they’re worthy of our love. But that’s not how God loves. The Bible tells us that He loves those who are unworthy, undeserving of His love. He loves His enemies. Romans 5:7-8 says, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He loves us and will lead us even when we’ve rejected Him.
Then here’s the implication for us: this means that we can come to God just as we are. We don’t have to prove our worth. We don’t have to earn His love. No matter who we are, no matter how much we’ve messed up, no matter how broken we are, no matter the sin in our lives, if we place our trust in Christ, God will embrace us, love us, and delight in us. Now, some of you might be suspicious – “Are you really telling me that I don’t have to prove my worth, ‘perform’ to be loved by God?” Absolutely. Our God is not petty. He is unimaginably generous with His love and compassion for us. Our understanding of God may be distorted because we live in a world where we must prove our worth and significance. So, we think, “Why would God be any different?” But this is why the gospel is good news – it says that Jesus frees us from the burden of impressing God because He has impressed God on our behalf. His righteousness becomes ours. Brothers and sisters, do you ever feel like God has grown tired of you and is holding you at arm’s length because you’ve disappointed Him, because you’ve failed Him over and over again? You question His forgiveness because you can’t even forgive yourself – you feel like you don’t deserve His love. You feel like you’re unworthy which is why you’re hesitant to go to Him. But listen to what Jesus says in John 6:37, “Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” Notice that He didn’t say, “Whoever comes to Me feeling bad enough for their sins” or “whoever comes to Me with readiness to put in double the effort to fight their sins” or “whoever comes to Me after punishing themselves for what they’ve done” – no, He simply says, “Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” That is what this Christmas story is about. So, Christians, come and swim in His amazing love for you.
And if you’re not yet a Christian, here’s why this matters for you: some of you have said Christianity is intriguing but you want to get your act together, your life together before you commit to anything. You’re still asking, “What should I do next?” But do you see what you’re doing? You’re still trying to prove that you’re worthy of His love – that you’re ready. But listen to Jesus’ words again: “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” This Christmas, just come and receive this wonderful love He has for you. You can’t do it on your own – let Him do it for you.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus is not only the King we need but the King we desire for He leads us out of slavery, leads us back home, and leads us even when we’ve rejected Him. Then this Christmas, let’s celebrate this King. Let’s worship this King because He came to save us, to give us worth, to give us hope, and to give us a reason to rejoice again. He is all that we need – and He will satisfy our souls completely.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Christmas is about Jesus Christ coming as the Lamb of God to die as our Substitute and lead us out of slavery. How can this truth speak to your life today?
2) Christmas is about Jesus Christ promising to end our mournful exile and lead us home. Are you going through a difficult season in your life? Share and pray for one another – that we would all continue to trust and hope in Christ.
3) Christmas is about Jesus Christ choosing to love us and lead us even when we’ve rejected Him. Have you ever felt like God has grown tired of you and is holding you at arm’s length because you’ve disappointed Him, because you’ve failed Him over and over again? Then how can this truth anchor you to His extravagant love today?