He Shall Be Called a Nazarene (Matthew Chapter 2 - Part 2)

Moore's Corner Church

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December 24, 2022

#advent #biblestudy #christmas

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand! (Matthew Chapter 3 - Part 1)

00:05: All right this evening we're going to pick up where we left off in Matthew chapter 2 so go ahead and Turn there in previous weeks.
00:13: We saw Christ and his kingship Last time we saw Christ and his divinity, but now we're starting to see
00:22: The role of Jesus as the suffering servant We're starting to see that develop because one of the gifts that was given to Jesus by the wise men is the gift of myrrh
00:32: And myrrh was a bitter herb And if you think about it from the very time he was born
00:40: Jesus his life was threatened Eventually Mary and Joseph end up settling in the city of Nazareth That was a place that people looked down upon and this is what the scripture says.
00:52: That's what I've titled this study He shall be called a Nazarene. So last time we saw
00:58: King Herod. What's Herod doing? He's secretly plotting to destroy the baby.
01:03: Jesus he lies to the wise men and when he realizes that the wise men are not going to return and Give him the location and identity of the
01:14: Christ child Herod decides to have all of the babies and the small children in Bethlehem killed in this attempt to protect his power and position of authority
01:26: And this event is known as the massacre of the innocents. So let's listen along Matthew chapter 2 verses 13 through 23
01:37: Now when they had departed behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream arise
01:45: Take the young child and his mother flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring you word
01:51: For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him When he arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt and Was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
02:09: Lord through the prophet Out of Egypt. I called my son Then Herod when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men was exceedingly angry
02:26: And he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts from two years old and under According to the time which he had determined from the wise men
02:39: Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet a Voice was heard in Rama Lamentation weeping and great morning
02:49: Rachel weeping for her children refusing to be comforted because they are no more
02:58: Now when Herod was dead behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt arise
03:07: Take the young child and his mother and go to the land of Israel But those who sought the young child's life are dead
03:16: Then he arose took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father
03:26: Herod He was afraid to go there and being warned by God in a dream.
03:31: He turned aside into the region of Galilee And he came and dwelt in a city called
03:37: Nazareth that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets He shall be called a
03:44: Nazarene So just to tie up a few loose ends from last week
03:52: I had said that based on the way the the star Moves the star of Bethlehem In verse 9,
04:00: I believe that the star was a unique miraculous event not the aligning of Mars in Jupiter like some people have tried to claim so People will disagree on that.
04:15: But I think the star of Bethlehem is just a miraculous Miraculous event verse 11 when the
04:21: Magi or the wise men Arrived it says and when they had come into the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and Worshipped him and when they had opened their treasures they presented gifts to him and what were the gifts?
04:40: Gold frankincense and myrrh So the stars announcing his birth
04:49: The the fact that the stars are aligning in relation to his Birth and the fact that this worship seems to be received all of this speaks of the divinity of Jesus Only God is worthy of worship only the
05:05: God -man in flesh Could explain the stars acting like that.
05:10: So we see his divinity We see his kingship and now we see some other things with this gift
05:17: What do the gold? frankincense and myrrh represent who knows who has
05:23: Some ideas. Yes Prophet priest and king good according to some of the early
05:31: Christian leaders Some have said that yet the gold represents
05:37: Jesus being a king the incense or frankincense Represents his divinity and the myrrh
05:46: Represents death or suffering and death, but I think that's what Robert said is right There's the three great offices of the
05:53: Old Testament prophet priest and King Jesus is the only man to hold all three.
05:58: So I think that's what the gifts symbolize Everyone agrees that gold is a gift fitting for a king
06:06: Incense is something a priest would offer in the temple So I believe that speaks of Christ in his office of as being great high priest and then the myrrh
06:16: Well, how would that symbolize him being a prophet? Well, what's that?
06:23: Yeah, because the prophets were all persecuted the prophets were hated they were despised many of them were killed so I think that's the symbolism their prophet priest and King gold frankincense and myrrh and Obviously around Christmastime this tradition that we have of giving gifts.
06:44: It's at least partially based on the wise men giving gifts to Christ.
06:50: All right So Herod sent the wise men to find the location of baby Jesus verse 12 says about them that they were divinely warned in a dream that they should not
07:02: Return to Herod so they departed for their own country Another way in this next section verses 13 through 15 is titled the flight
07:13: Into Egypt and it's important to point out that every step along the way
07:19: Jesus is fulfilling prophecy so from his birth at Bethlehem to Joseph and Mary spending time in Egypt all of this was spoken of by the prophets look at verse 13
07:33: Now when they had departed Behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying arise
07:41: Take the young child and his mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring you word
07:48: For Herod will seek the young child To destroy him. Okay, let's turn to Hosea chapter 11
07:57: Hosea of course is in the section of the Bible known as the minor prophets towards the end of the
08:02: Old Testament Hosea 11 as you're turning there, I'll read verse 14 says when he that is
08:09: Joseph arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt How many of you have heard about when
08:20: Jesus was born he was born into a poor family, right? This is one of the things that everybody knows everyone's heard that well, how did they afford this?
08:29: Stay in Egypt they could have been there. We don't know how long could have been a short trip It could have been a long stay in Egypt.
08:35: How did they afford to just up and move and to find lodging in Egypt? How do they afford it? Yeah, they had they had gold
08:43: They had frankincense and these are all expensive gifts and that really shows that God is a provider
08:49: He brought those wise men all the way from Babylon or Persia to give these gifts and now the family all their needs are
08:56: Provided for so I think that's That's pretty cool Verse 15 says that they were there until the death of Herod and all of this was done the family traveling to Egypt The scripture says that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
09:12: Lord through the prophet saying out of Egypt I have called my son
09:18: Well, which prophet said that? Well Hosea, okay. Let's look at Hosea chapter 11 verse 1
09:26: Says when Israel was a child I Loved him. So this is
09:31: God speaking when Israel was a child I loved him and out of Egypt.
09:37: I called my son So that's the reference but let's keep reading for the sake of context.
09:43: There's something interesting here that I've never really thought of before as They called them so they went from them.
09:50: They sacrificed to the bales and burnt Incense to carved images. I taught
09:56: Ephraim to walk taking them by their arms But they did not know that I had healed them so it kind of jumps forward to the children of Israel falling into the worship of of Idols, so the
10:11: Lord here is speaking through the prophet Hosea and when he refers to Israel What does he call
10:17: Israel? His son So based on the the context he is referring to the nation of Israel as the
10:29: Son of God How many of you have thought about that or maybe you you knew that that?
10:36: Israel as the nation the the people collectively were called God's Son, is that a totally new thought for anyone?
10:46: Yeah, I mean I know I've read this I've read it in Hosea before I've read it in Matthew, but I don't know
10:53: It's just never really dawned on me, so this is What okay?
10:58: Who's Israel? Well, we you know by now that Israel can refer to both the man Jacob, but also it can refer to the entire nation
11:08: Jacob or Israel in his old age He did travel to Egypt didn't he but he died there so Jacob the man died in Egypt So this statement that God is calling his son
11:19: Israel out of Egypt That's primarily a reference to Moses leading them out in the
11:25: Exodus however, there's clearly a messianic fulfillment as we just saw
11:30: Matthew mentioned in Matthew chapter 2 So with Bible prophecy, here's the thing to know about Bible prophecy there are dual
11:40: Fulfillments with prophecy if the prophet says something it will happen on a smaller scale once But then what he's really talking about is the future on a grand scale, so there's dual
11:53: Fulfillments we all know that religious Jews reject Jesus as the
11:59: Son of God So many Jews are taught These Old Testament passages about God having a son
12:08: They are taught that they are the Son of God as a people as a nation Israel is
12:13: God's Son How many of you have watched the TV show The Chosen? How many of you are at least aware of the
12:22: TV show The Chosen okay? So half of you have no idea of what I'm talking about well.
12:27: It's a very popular Show I guess it's not on TV. It's on you can find it online
12:34: But it's a very popular Like a miniseries about Jesus and the
12:40: Apostles I have to say I wouldn't recommend it because there's a lot of Mormon Involvement and that makes me nervous as to where the show is going to end up But I bring it up for this reason
12:52: I watched the first season or two, and I think it was the character playing Nicodemus when he's told about Jesus as the
13:01: Son of God He said God doesn't have a son. He totally rejected the idea that God has a son and he said the
13:08: Jewish people or the nation of Israel is God's Son and So that kind of clicked with me when
13:15: I saw it on the show And I'm like huh and then maybe he quoted the verse and anyways it is here in the
13:20: Bible that the nation Is is God's Son So let's turn to Exodus chapter 4
13:30: We saw it here in Hosea We saw it in Matthew chapter 2
13:37: This idea that the nation itself is called the Son of God How many of you are familiar with Isaiah 53
13:48: That's one of those passages that You read it and you say well the
13:53: Jews have to recognize this is talking about Jesus well, they don't they view the suffering servant as Israel as as the people they are all together the suffering servant of Jehovah So that might sound concerning like yeah, well that they have a point because it does call the nation
14:14: God's Son Well, hold on a second. Let's look at Exodus 4 21 through 23 It says and the
14:21: Lord said to Moses because I want you to understand Bible prophecy and how it works Says the
14:27: Lord said to Moses when you go back to Egypt See that you do all these wonders before Pharaoh, which
14:34: I have put in your hand But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go
14:40: Then you shall say to Pharaoh thus says the Lord What does he say?
14:45: Israel is my son my firstborn
14:51: So I say to you let my son go that he may serve me Who's the
14:57: Lord talking about there? Yeah, clearly he's talking about the whole group of them the the nation
15:06: And again in Hosea chapter 11 we see he's talking about the nation So here's the thing the
15:11: Jews are not completely wrong About it referring to them, you know collectively here's what they miss
15:20: They miss the double meaning they miss the nature of prophecy how there is a fulfillment
15:27: God God's Son is Israel. That's true, but it's pointing ahead to something else
15:32: It's speaking of something else They miss that all of these things in the
15:38: Old Testament the whole Old Testament all the stories all the characters Somehow they are all pointing ahead to who?
15:46: to Christ their types and foreshadows of Christ take for example
15:52: Abraham who is the father of the Jews? He's told to sacrifice his only begotten son and That's of course
16:03: Isaac but Isaac points to Jesus Isaac his birth was a miraculous birth
16:10: Sarah was barren Abraham he lay if you read the story Abraham laid the wood on Isaac's back to walk up the mountain
16:18: That is a picture of Christ. The the cross was on his back and he was on Mount Calvary Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness
16:27: Jesus him That's book of Numbers Jesus himself says in John 3 that that spoke of him being lifted up on the cross
16:36: The serpent is a picture of sin on the cross Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the
16:43: Righteousness of God in him. So all of these things in the Old Testament point ahead
16:48: To Christ so is Israel as a nation. Are they God's son? Well, yeah, that's what it says
16:56: But it's pointing ahead to God's ultimate like his true literal son the
17:03: Lord Jesus Christ, so Hopefully that helps John 546
17:10: Jesus said to the Jews if you believed Moses you would believe me for Moses wrote about me and then
17:18: John 539 Jesus said about the scriptures. These are they that testify of me?
17:24: So everything in the Old Testament including Hosea 11 verse 1 out of Egypt.
17:29: I called my son. Who is it about? Well, it's about Israel true, that's one fulfillment, but there's dual fulfillments
17:37: It's really ultimately about Christ. All right any questions on that?
17:45: Okay, so all of that to say this the more you study and understand scripture and how it's all tied in together
17:52: Hosea and Matthew and Exodus and Matt and it's all tied in together and we realize that Christ is at the center of everything
18:00: Once we start to see that then we recognize that Christ is still at the center of everything today
18:07: Everything that's going on in the world is headed towards one end and we are to recognize
18:15: That Jesus his rightful place is in the center of everything today.
18:20: He's the center of scripture He should be the center of your life. He should be the center of this nation
18:27: He should be the center of the world. He should be the center of everything What did
18:34: Paul say to live is Christ, isn't that what he said? Each and every week we have a day.
18:42: We have a whole day that is to be set apart Unto God the Lord's day and this is all meant to help us see the the true meaning of life
18:52: Which is to live for and to glorify God. That's why you're here
18:57: It's not just what Christmas is all about it is really what life is all about So when we celebrate
19:06: Christmas in Advent, I think the tendency for some people is to just look back
19:11: Yeah, the story about Jesus and the nativity and Herod and we're looking back. That's true
19:17: But we should be looking around as well. We should be looking around at what God is
19:22: Doing now what God is trying to tell us right now and then we should look forward and realize that Yes, Jesus in his first Advent fulfilled what some 300 prophecies maybe a little more
19:36: Well, there's still a whole lot of prophecy to be fulfilled in his second Advent So this should be our approach number one.
19:44: We look back at what God has done We do that when we open the scripture We look around at what
19:50: God is doing and that comes out in in the preaching and number three
19:56: We look forward to what God is going to do. So and I've I've taught you this going through Exodus Numbers Deuteronomy, we always take what the
20:06: Bible says and try to do what? Apply it to the modern day.
20:12: What does this mean for us today? So what does it mean? What does Christmas teach us what does all of this teach us?
20:20: Well, one thing is Christ should be at the center of Everything. Amen, everything.
20:26: Yes, everything. We don't want to have a dead faith and I realize I'm preaching here, but We don't want to have a dead faith where it's just all about looking back
20:36: And well what God has done in the past and what great men of God have done in the past Yeah, but what are men of God doing today?
20:44: What are God's people doing today? What are we preparing for going going forward?
20:50: All right. Let's look at verses 16 through 18. Go ahead and turn back to Matthew chapter 2
20:59: Matthew 2 16 through 18. This section is titled the massacre of the innocents
21:08: Well just that statement, you know, that could be a sermon that applies to the modern day the massacre of the innocents
21:14: That's happening in many different ways But we're for now we're focusing in on this text verse 16 then
21:22: Herod When he saw that he was deceived by the wise men because they never came back
21:28: He was exceedingly angry And he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem And it's all its districts from two years old and under according to the time which he had determined from the wise men
21:45: Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying a voice was heard in Rama Lamentation weeping in great mourning
21:55: Rachel weeping for her children refusing to be comforted because They are no more now who has a cross -reference.
22:04: Where do you see that as being a quotation from what book? Okay, so that's a quote from Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 15
22:15: So why is Matthew quoting? Jeremiah why is he talking about Rachel Rachel is the wife of who?
22:24: Jacob right Israel So who is Rachel?
22:29: She's Jacob's wife. She's the mother of Benjamin and Joseph and remember
22:35: Joseph had two sons Ephraim and Manasseh They were the two major tribes of the northern kingdom
22:41: If you look at a map of Israel the southern kingdom of Judah the northern kingdom Ephraim and Manasseh Take up the bulk of the land
22:48: So basically the idea that Jeremiah when Jeremiah quotes this and talks about Rachel He's talking about the northern kingdom being conquered by these
22:59: Syrians I mean they came in and they just slaughtered the Israelites and that's you know Symbolically Rachel is weeping for her children
23:07: Joseph Ephraim and Manasseh, so Jeremiah is talking about one thing right
23:14: Jeremiah is a prophet He's talking about something What are we talking about dual fulfillment of prophecy?
23:23: Right, so that's one thing but what's Matthew talking about? He's talking about something different. So why would
23:29: Matthew reference Rachel? Weeping for the inhabitants of Bethlehem What's the connection between Rachel and all of these innocent children being killed in Bethlehem?
23:45: What would be the connection? see Okay, yeah well
23:53: Yeah Well, so here's the thing in Genesis chapter 35
23:58: Rachel died young She died giving birth to Benjamin And if you remember they were traveling when she gave birth and they had to bury her with haste
24:10: And where did they bury her? right, they buried Rachel in Bethlehem so that's why
24:18: I believe She is referenced here. That's where she's buried and Her descendants her children.
24:24: The babies are slaughtered in Bethlehem. So Matthew remembers this prophecy and there's the dual fulfillment talking about the nation of Israel falling to the
24:34: Assyrians But also talking about the children being killed by Herod. I don't know I don't know if this excites you the way it excites me but when you see how scripture it can apply to this it can apply to that can mean this and Of course the scripture always has one
24:50: Real meaning but it has many different applications So, you know when people go around and they encounter things today and they quote you do this, right?
25:00: Something happens and that reminds you of a Bible verse Now, maybe that isn't technically the fulfillment of prophecy.
25:07: Well, we should always be Bringing the Word of God to bear. Hey, wait a minute. That's not right because Chapter or whatever verse whatever right?
25:16: Hey, this reminds me of what the Word of God says here And that should be an opportunity for us to tell other people about what
25:24: God is doing Because it applies to so many different things now just one
25:29: More thing about this event the massacre of the innocents How many of you have watched these
25:36: TV specials about? Jesus or usually it's around Christmastime and Easter.
25:41: Do they still do this? I don't know I canceled cable so I don't know if they still do this or not Do they still have these well, usually it's something like the the hidden Jesus, you know, the the real
25:54: Jesus Who's seen some of these programs? Yeah, they'll be on NBC or you know one of the major networks will run and it's always around Christmas and Easter and they bring in the experts right and they tell you
26:11: Their whole purpose is to tell you what really happened that the you know The Bible's wrong. None of this ever took place and here we're going to tell you what really is going on Well, this is one of the things that they love to say they say that Herod killing all these children that that never happened
26:29: You know why they say that I say well, there's no record of it. There are no ancient
26:35: Documents there are no historical records That point to this event. What's the obvious problem with that?
26:43: Yeah, we're reading an ancient historical document that references it I Mean, it's it's really unbelievable.
26:51: But yeah, that's what they'll say. Well, there are no Historical documents that will attest to this and what they mean by that is that there are no secular
27:03: Historical documents because you have the Bible, right? So this is the way these historians operate now, so I was preaching before now this is more apologetics
27:13: This is maybe to equip you and how to respond when a friend or family member says well
27:19: No, I saw on TV this show and they said that that never really took place or you know You we want to have an answer for this.
27:25: So here's what they do the historians the secular historians. Here's how they operate
27:31: They will base a whole theory If they found a small fragment of a document just a little piece or two
27:39: That would be enough for them to have a whole a whole theory They actually they based theories on a whole lot less evidence.
27:48: It's called Evolution, but that's a that's another story But when there's a religious document that That says something they they just dismiss it out of hand.
28:00: Oh, these people were Christians So you can't believe that Matthew or whoever wrote
28:05: Matthew. Well, they were followers of Christ You can't you can't listen to that. That's what they do
28:10: Their whole version of history is based on people that agree with them
28:16: Anyone who is a Christian needs to be canceled, you know, you shouldn't even listen to them.
28:21: What they're saying is of no Significance Why is that?
28:29: Well because the Satan that's Yeah, they don't want to be accountable for their sin well and that's all true
28:36: But the basic response is they're totally biased They only accept things that are in line with their religion now
28:46: They'll say that about us, you know, you Christians you only believe things that are in line with the Bible If somebody said that about me
28:54: Okay, guilty as charged. I mean, that's true But they do the same thing they only
29:02: Accept things that are in line with their beliefs. So they are just as religious as we are
29:10: We have our worldview our belief system. They have their worldview their belief system
29:17: They are religion Why don't they call it a religion Because they want to teach it in the public schools.
29:24: You can't you know, you're the separation of church and state You can't teach religion in the public school. So they don't call it a religion on purpose
29:32: That's how they get away with teaching it in the schools while banning. That's what they're doing.
29:38: They're suppressing They're banning the truth or they're banning Christian teaching so don't let them try to act like they're impartial and again
29:46: What does this have to do with Matthew, well the Massacre of the Innocents, this is a historical event
29:52: There are historical ancient historical documents the Gospel of Matthew that tell us this happened
30:00: But it doesn't fit their narrative. So they say well, that's not true. You can't listen to that So I'm I know
30:07: I've been repeating this a couple times the past month, but I really want you to get this They have a religion
30:16: What they are pushing and promoting is a religion. It's just a religion.
30:22: That's diametrically opposed to Christianity So all of that just wrap it up with this statement
30:31: You know if you watch something on the the news networks or network Television they are promoting a secular worldview at Morris Porter Church.
30:41: We're promoting Christianity on TV Hollywood they're promoting the secular
30:48: Religion and if I've learned one thing over the past several years one thing that I know for a fact the secular media is not a trustworthy source of information and We know that's true.
31:02: I'll stick with the Bible any day and Talking about Christmas.
31:07: I'll choose Jesus Christ over Santa any day, but that don't get me started on that Alright now the final section verses 19 through 23
31:17: This section is titled the home in Nazareth. So Jesus was born where?
31:25: Bethlehem and He was called though what a
31:31: Nazarene so he was born in Bethlehem for the purpose of Fulfilling prophecy because that's where King David Israel's great kings born in Bethlehem So his son the
31:42: Messiah would also be born in Bethlehem, so that's all about fulfilling prophecy But as far as where the
31:48: Messiah would be from he would be from the region of Galilee, and that's where Nazareth Was all right let's look at verses 19 through 23
31:57: It says and now when Herod was dead Behold an angel the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph In a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying arise take the young child and his mother and go to the land of Israel For those who sought the young child's life are dead
32:17: Then he arose took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father
32:28: Herod He was afraid to go there now. What does that tell you? Well it tells you that Herod was an evil man a violent man
32:37: Archelaus his son was just as bad You know maybe even worse and it says in being warned by God in a dream
32:45: He turned aside into the region of Galilee so he would have
32:51: Dwelt in and around Jerusalem or in Bethlehem But now they go to Galilee verse 23.
32:57: Why did this happen? And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets.
33:08: He shall be called a Nazarene Okay a couple things just to finish up Notice the chapter begins and We saw it right here.
33:21: It's talking about real people Herod right Quirinius that's in Luke.
33:28: It's talking about real historical figures, and it's talking about real historical places
33:34: So this isn't like some stories. You know once upon a time So this is real history, and I want you
33:41: I know you know this on some level, but I want you to think of the Bible as a historical
33:48: Document it's giving you real history It's just as legitimate and even more so than any other book of history people say well
33:57: That's not why the Bible is written. It's not really a book about history. Why not? all the history is
34:04: Is true it's accurate so the Bible all of the history can be It's been tested.
34:11: It's been examined. It is accurate so who's this guy? Archelaus okay,
34:16: I just want to read what the historian Josephus Said How many of you have heard of Josephus?
34:23: He's probably the most famous ancient historian. He was Jewish. He wasn't a
34:29: Christian, but you know he seems Somewhat unbiased in what he said
34:35: For the little I know about him anyways. He says this after the death of King Herod also known as Herod the
34:42: Great Caesar Augustus Divided Herod's kingdom among his three sons
34:49: Archelaus Antipas and Philip There were four quarters of the kingdom
34:57: Archelaus received two quarters or in other words half He ruled over the land of Judea I do
35:06: Mia also known as Edom and Samaria Antipas controlled
35:12: Galilee and Perea and Philip Controlled the remaining regions you know about Philip right he's mentioned in the
35:20: New Testament. He had a little run -in with John the Baptist John the Baptist preached against what
35:27: Philip was up to So none of these three sons of Herod had the title of King sometimes we refer to Herod Antipas as King Herod That's actually not what he was called
35:40: So none of them held the title of King Philip and Antipas were called what who knows what they were called
35:50: Tetrarchs Archelaus obtained the title of Ethnarch and That was an exalted title that he would receive
35:59: The title of king if he should prove himself worthy of it so all this is according to Josephus however after nine years
36:10: Archelaus was removed from power by Caesar Augustus For what reason take a guess his extreme cruelty now you probably think of Caesar as being pretty cruel
36:25: And the Romans is being cruel Archelaus was so cruel even
36:30: Caesar Augustus said we can't have this guy in charge. He's a madman Now what does that tell you it tells you a lot of things
36:39: But just the fact that Caesar Augustus is the one who pulled One of these
36:45: Herod's out of power. What does that tell you? They were all puppets. They were all puppets of the
36:51: Roman Empire Caesar was the real king and 30 years later when
36:57: Jesus stands before who's Jesus stand before Remember when he's on trial he goes to the high priests, and they send him to who punch, but who's he go to before Pilate He goes to Herod doesn't he but that's
37:13: Herod Antipas so it was Antipas that Jesus stands before and if you just remember and think of that story of Jesus When he was betrayed and arrested and eventually crucified who is the one who had to give the final order?
37:31: It was the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and all the while Pontius Pilate was calculating in his mind
37:38: How Caesar might react? Because he had Jesus delivered to crucifixion because he was afraid that he would be seen as a traitor
37:47: To Pilate so all that to say the Romans are really in charge of Herod the
37:54: Jews everybody Caesar Augustus is the true king Right Well, who's who's the true king?
38:04: Right God is the real king because through all of this
38:10: God is sovereign and his will is being done whether it's Herod or Pilate later on no matter who it is you know
38:20: Caesar thought he's in control Herod thought he was in control There's always somebody else in control, and it's
38:26: God who is in control. It's God who kept Jesus safe Right because if it wasn't for the
38:34: Lord revealing these things through the dreams Jesus would have been
38:40: Would have been killed so the Bible I say all of that because the Bible records real history
38:46: It has been said that History is you've heard this history is another other term for history is
38:54: His his story all the books written that contain
39:00: Historical accounts we would say the Bible is the most Accurate of all the historical books why because it's the only one that's divinely inspired
39:09: So Joseph and Mary back to the story They're warned again by God in a dream to avoid
39:15: Jerusalem and the surrounding area so they go north to a city in Galilee named
39:21: Nazareth and just a couple comments here, and then we'll close because People get this term
39:30: Nazarene mixed up with another word that sounds just like it Nazarite but Jesus was a
39:37: Nazarene and in their mind. They're thinking he's a Nazarite What's the difference between a
39:42: Nazarene and a Nazarite? I just had someone tell me this a month ago. Jesus was a
39:47: Nazarite right Being a Nazarite is taking a religious vow did
39:53: Jesus ever take that religious vow well No, because he drank the fruit of the vine
39:59: Right so that was that's a violation. I'm pretty sure Jesus touched unclean
40:04: Things you know he raised the dead and he healed those who had leprosy so he drank the fruit of the vine he touched unclean things and But the reason why people say that Jesus was a
40:17: Nazarite is Because all the pictures of Jesus all the paintings of Jesus display him as what?
40:24: Yeah, they all pictured Jesus as having long hair even though the Apostle Paul in first Corinthians 11 says that Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair is a shame to him
40:37: So it's just impossible to think that Jesus would have had long long hair
40:42: But I mentioned all that because Jesus is not a Nazarite alright If you if you remember anything about that whole thing remember this he is not a
40:50: Nazarite. He is what a Nazarene a
40:56: Nazarene is someone from the town of Nazareth So Jesus was born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy
41:05: But the family settled in Nazareth, and that's where you get this statement verse 23
41:12: That it might be fulfilled And I want you to pay attention to the words that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet
41:22: He shall be called a Nazarene What about cross references for this one?
41:29: You did the cross reference to figure out the prophecy was in Jeremiah. What's the cross reference for this?
41:36: The Prophet said that he shall be called a Nazarene where's where does it say that in the
41:43: Old Testament? What is that Okay, so there are some cross references
41:51: I'll just save you the time the Old Testament never says that he'll be called a Nazarene I don't know what those verses refer to something else may be in regards to this
42:00: Never calls him a Nazarene well isn't that a contradiction. I mean it says the prophets
42:08: Wrote that he would be called a Nazarene right isn't that what it says that the prophets as it is written
42:15: In the prophets is that what it says Pay attention to the words You know okay, it says prophets, what's the other word
42:26: I said, it's written is that what it says it's written Okay, it's spoken You know when studying the
42:34: Bible you got to pay attention So There's no Old Testament verse that says he will be called the
42:40: Nazarene But it doesn't say that there is it says that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
42:48: By the prophets you know if you go back to Matthew chapter 2 verse 5 speaking of Bethlehem.
42:53: What does it say thus it is written? So about Bethlehem it was written.
42:58: It's in the scripture this it was spoken So one possibility this idea that he should be called a
43:05: Nazarene one possibility is this is just an oral Prophecy that has been passed down from generation to generation, but never actually written in the scripture, so that's one possibility but here's
43:22: Another possibility, and I think this is probably the true explanation That Jesus it's written about him he the
43:29: Christ will be called the Nazarene It's sort of like a synonym to say someone is a
43:35: Nazarene is to say that hey this guy's no good You remember in John chapter 1 when
43:42: Philip comes to Nathanael it says we have found the Christ He's Jesus of Nazareth you remember what
43:49: Nathanael said And any good thing come out of Nazareth So Jesus here's the point
43:59: Jesus was looked down upon because He was from Nazareth it's another way of saying he shall be despised by men.
44:10: That's something that was written down most clearly in Isaiah 53 that Jesus is
44:17: Despised he's he's a man of sorrows He's someone the world looks down on so I want to close with what
44:23: Matthew Henry writes about this He says Nazareth was a place held in bad esteem and Christ was crucified with this accusation
44:34: Jesus The Nazarene and that could have been just his name, but it could have been an insult as well
44:43: Wherever this is what Matthew Henry says wherever Providence allots the bounds of our habitation we must expect to share the reproach of Christ yet we may glory in being called by his name that is being called
44:59: Christians You know Christian that was a derogatory comment, too When people were first called
45:05: Christians, it was an insult just like being called the Nazarene It was a pejorative.