Truth in Love Matthew 2:23

Christ the King and the Meaning of Matthew 2:23

Hey, good evening. This is truth in love. I'm so glad that you could join me this evening to spend time together with me. Looking at God's Word. I'm so thankful to be able to do this and spend time together with you.

This is a fantastic opportunity. Once again try to do some research and and look. Investigate what's going on with with Facebook and Facebook live. I remember when I used to do the videos. It gives you the number it lets you know how many people are watching.

And it used to show you the name your name would pop up if you if you decided to view this video your name would Pop up on the video and I could see and I could speak to you. But it doesn't do that anymore.

They they changed formats. They they changed how they how they do their live videos and it doesn't show. Who views who watches anymore? I hope they bring that that feature back so that I can I can speak to you.

I can interact with you. So I just wanted you to be aware that that feature is no longer there. I can't see who is watching. Some of you may like that. I know I've spoken with one person that that wants to.

Really wants to stay anonymous, but but you know wants to watch. But uh, I say that to say I can't see who's watching so but I would love to know that that you're watching. So if you would Leave me a comment.

Say hello. Say hi. Let me know that you're watching. Otherwise, I don't know who's watching who's joining me. And of course the floor is always yours. If you have a question a comment you you want to talk about anything you want to talk about scripture.

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So Reach out to me any way that you can anyway that you would like to. And that would be fantastic. I call this truth in love and I get that from Ephesians chapter 4 verse 15 Paul says but speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head even Christ.

So we want we want to grow up in all aspects all aspects of Scripture. Grow grow up in all ice aspects in our lives. According to his word and we want to communicate that with one another and as Paul says to do that Communicate that truth in love.

And so I want to be able to do that as I do the videos. Hey Emily Thank you for commenting. It's good to see you guys. There there's so much that I want to cover tonight I think this is the first time that I've I've done a part two.

I watched a little bit of the video The other day just to do a little critique and and I apologize I guess I feel like I don't have a face face for video. God has given me The the countenance of I guess an angry or a sad person and it and I I don't naturally look happy or or Inviting so I apologize for for my natural.

Look I want to look I want to look like I am enjoying myself I'm enjoying my time with you that I have joy in the Lord. I want my face to reflect that. And I feel weird trying to smile the whole time.

So if I look sad or my countenance is just Looks maybe down Please look past that that's just how I am naturally and that's the way the Lord has made me I guess it is not a face for Video, but I do want to reach our community with the gospel For Jesus Christ, and I appreciate you doing that with me Like I said, I think this is the first time I've done a part two if you have your Bibles if you want to follow.

Along.

We're in Matthew because I wanted to continue to look at look into Why I say what I say when I make the comment Jesus is King. Go live in that victory. We want to live in the victory that Jesus won the fact that he is King and and how do we live in that victory?

And one of the best places to go I believe is gonna be Matthew where the theme of Matthew is that Jesus is King. He's showing us how he is King. And I just wanted to work our way through Matthew and see see how he Shows us that Jesus is King and how we can live in that victory.

Last time we went through Matthew chapter 2 verses 19 through 23 and the theme was or the title was the Christ Grows in obscurity and and so does his kingdom his kingdom. He has designed it to where his kingdom grows in obscurity.

And we looked at how both of those truths Were lived out and are being lived out today.

And.

So as we as we start I think I'm going to hit on a few few of those points. That I missed or didn't have time for last time but what we're going to do. The the verse we're just gonna look at one verse.

What it's gonna be our key verse. But it's gonna take us back to the Old Testament the the text that it refers to Matthew chapter 2 verse 23 if you if you have your Bibles if you want to follow along, but it says in that verse and.

Came.

Well.

Just to give you some context and being mourned by God in a dream. He departed for the regions of Galilee this will be Joseph and taking his family Mary and Jesus and to the regions of Galilee and verse 23 and came and resided in a city called Nazareth that What was spoken through the prophets? might be fulfilled he shall be called a Nazarene and and what we discovered last time was that you know, one of the popular views is that How to interpret this verse is Jesus being called a Nazarene they won't some folks want to make a relationship with with the Nazarite bow.

And and of course one of the most famous Nazarites was Samson he took the Nazarite balance. So, you know, they will want to make the comparison with Samson and Jesus, but in fact That's not what? These words and this verse is referring to it's not referring to the Nazarite vow.

And and what makes it so mysterious and and has has perplexed folks in the past is the fact that Nazareth Nazarene. It Matthew tells us that so that was That what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled.

But the fact of the matter is is that this This wording this this text this sentence or however, you want to say it is it's not found in the Old Testament That he shall you I mean you would think just like in the the other three that he quotes he In in verse 6 verse 15 and verse 18 Of the same chapter and of course, this is the fourth prophecy from the Old Testament that Matthew mentioned mentions.

But you would think like in the other three the previous three where he specifically gives you a reference That doesn't occur in in Matthew chapter 2 verse 23, you can't find it in the Old Testament. So, you know.

Some folks want to use that against Christianity against the the trustworthiness of Scripture but the fact of the matter is is that it is in the Old Testament just.

Not as.

It is normally found or how it how Matthew normally has referenced the Old Testament passages. So, how is it? How is it found? How do we find it?

Well.

You have to look at the word Nazareth and and Nazarene and both of those words both of those words mean branch and So the passage that we go back to where this this prophecy is fulfilled is in Isaiah and what I want to do is Not just look at that specific verse That fulfills this this verse in Matthew.

But just like just like the New Testament audience We want to be like the New Testament readers the New Testament audience where when a when an Old Testament passage was referenced they would have understood the context they would have understood where that was coming from and and what was going on in the in the Context of that time so you don't want to just take One passage.

You want to understand what's going on in the whole passage in the context of what's going on? so that you can understand what the author is trying to say what the Holy Spirit is trying to say and That's how the readers the original readers would have understood it.

The best example of that of course is When when Jesus is crying out from the cross and he actually quotes a psalm. But they when they heard that reference to that psalm They would have Understood all of what that not just that one verse, but they would have understood What he was saying from that whole passage and that that passage in psalm Helps explain that that hard to understand Place that hard to understand Message that Jesus spoke from the cross Where he says my God my God, why have you forsaken me and that that's a very hard Concept for us to understand.

But when you go back and look at the whole context the whole passage from that psalm It becomes more understandable and so the same thing is true here and all the other places you want to look at the the Context of that that Old Testament passage.

That's what I want to do tonight and walk through that Old Testament passage. What Matthew is referring to as he is is he is showing how Jesus is King How he is the anointed one how he is the Messiah the long-awaited Messiah anointed one and He's proving that he's showing that through this passage from Isaiah chapter 11 Isaiah chapter 11.

So if you if you're with me in your Bible, you want to follow along we're in Isaiah chapter 11 and Instead of reading I'm just gonna go through verses 1 through 10 and I'm not gonna read them all and then go back.

We'll read them as we go. So just for the sake of time but the the first verse is is going to give us a recap somewhat of what we talked about last time and I'm going to be able to point out some of the things that I left out from last time.

So Thank you, thank you guys for watching if you would if you want to partner with me and join me in trying to reach Out to our community. I would encourage you to share if you think this is something that would benefit others Spending time together with me looking at God's Word sharing the message of Jesus Christ.

I.

Would encourage you to share it. I don't I don't want to to say that as Someone who's trying to get views, I mean this that's what all these social medias being on social media is about today's is how many views can you get and and What type of video that you can make to get the most amount of views so that you you become an influencer.

You can get money from from YouTube or that's not what this is about. Let me share this with you before we get started. Since since we're on this Kelly and I were watching a TV a few minutes ago and of course commercial came on and it it showed the the commercial for the the Marvel movie the the Black Panther and Of course the leading character in that.

His first name is Chadwick and When I saw him I was reminded of how how young he was. So I looked him up and he's he was only two years older than I am and I remembered that he he died last year. He died last year of colon cancer and and just a I wanted to say fun fact.

But fun fact doesn't fit with us. The solemnness of the message there. But an entry interesting fact about Chadwick was that he is he was born in Anderson, South Carolina, and that's where he is buried.

Today.

But as I saw him and I saw his young life and Remembered how he he died last year of colon cancer. I reflected on How many folks are out there that are far from God you think about the folks that that are in Hollywood that that are Just they're just chasing after after fame popularity money.

Some of them try to tap into some type of religion, I guess to appease something in their conscience. You know that whether it's Scientology Mormonism Jehovah's Witness. You know a lot of stars are among those religions.

They're agnostic they're they're atheist and and then I think about The majority of folks that that go to church now I know one of the one of the things that I don't want to say it one of the one of the paths that that Has been taken by people amongst our generation and in generations before us in the in this modern era is is this this idea of Growing up and then leaving home sowing your wild oats creating your own family having children and then They're again trying to appease something in your conscience.

You and you decide well, I need to get back in church or I at least need to get my children back in church. But there's no relationship there with God. There's no desire to worship him and and be with other believers and and serve him.

It's just a pattern that was that's so common that Young people grow up Sow their wild oats get married Have a guilty conscience maybe and feel like that their children Need to be in church. But they themselves sometimes don't even go they just try to get their children in church.

Yeah, all these thoughts roll through my mind when I when I saw this young man that died last year from colon cancer and and all the different beliefs that that are out there and and how many that are still far from God that are even Involved in our churches which Reminded me of how important it is for us to share the gospel to share the love of Christ his grace and mercy and To do things like this where we share God's Word is so important because If they if they die without Christ then they will be without him forever and We want folks to know Christ and have a relationship with him and have life in him and we want them to Live with him forever and not face the alternative which is God's wrath.

And so those are the thoughts that that went through my mind as I saw that young man in that commercial that died last year. That so many thoughts and religions and beliefs out there and and in America We have we have Created a place where everyone's opinion is is Relevant to them and it's okay for them to have their own thoughts and opinions.

It's as long as it's right for them and and we just we can't Accept that truth. There's only one truth and it's the truth of the Word of God and there's only two destinations there's only two ways to live in Christ or without Christ and People need to hear that message if you if you love God if Jesus is precious to you and you love people.

They need to hear that message so I Hope you will join me and we we do this together. We do this with our churches. We do this together outside of church that we are reaching people for Jesus. Because we who want to glorify him.

We love him and we love people so. With that being said, that's why I want If you desire to share the the video. So now let's jump into Isaiah chapter 11 because this is what Matthew is referencing in Matthew chapter 2 verse 23 Jesus grew up in Nazareth and he was known as a Nazarene.

And why did he have to do that? Jesus had to fulfill of course all the prophecies about the Messiah that were found in the Old Testament and and one of those prophecies was here and there's also other references of Jesus being a branch.

Isaiah 11 of course here Isaiah 53 Jeremiah 23 verse 5 Jeremiah 33 15. Just I meant to name a few of other references of the Messiah. Having the title he must carry the title of a branch. And so for him to do that he had to have been from a place he could have been called a Branch he was called a Nazarene.

Someone from from the branch. It's very difficult to think about how to how to say that but He had to be from somewhere where he could be called a Nazarene the branch. Because the Messiah had to carry that title to fulfill these prophecies and it makes you think about how how wonderful and amazing how powerful how smart God is to have Orchestrated all these different minute details for all these prophecies hundreds and hundreds of prophecies to to be fulfilled exactly in Jesus Christ and and you know We're just looking and we're just starting here in Matthew 1 and in Matthew chapter 2.

Just a few of those prophecies that we would looked at are just simply amazing. We've referenced already the the other. The other prophecies that that Matthew mentions the the first one that he mentions was was the prophecy about Jesus being from Bethlehem and.

The second one was the the prophecy of the Messiah coming out of Egypt and then the the third was the the prophecy of Rachel hearing mourning from Rhema and and Rachel weeping over over her children and then the fourth prophecy here is in verse 23 of the branch and.

You.

What we have to do in our mind is is paint this large picture of what is actually going on. And make these words come alive in our mind and paint this huge picture so we can somewhat get a grasp of the magnitude of of the Orchestrating that God did to make all this happen.

That.

Mary and Joseph were from this area in Nazareth. But God had it planned where there would be a census Which this type of census didn't normally happen. But this type of census Called everyone to go back to the their hometown the town of their fathers.

So that a census could be taken so Joseph had to go back to Bethlehem and All that took to orchestrate that and then For the Messiah to come out of Egypt and for Jesus to fulfill that there had to be a reason for for Joseph and Mary and Jesus to to flee and leave Bethlehem to a place that was safe to go to Egypt.

And so that took place of course when Herod wanted to kill All the ones under two years old so that he could take care of this threat this threat that this this rumor that there was gonna there was a king of the Jews that what that had been born and Herod of course was the king of the Jews.

So there was this threat to him and his throne. So he had to take care of this threat which Led Joseph to take his family where it's safe so that Jesus could Fulfill the prophecy and come out of Egypt and then the prophecy of of Rhema.

A.

Voice coming out of Rhema of weeping and crying of Rachel. Rachel being Jacob's wife. And Jacob of course God changed his name to Israel. So Israel oftentimes represents the whole Jewish nation. Sometimes it just represents the northern kingdom.

Either way in this context in this verse Rachel being Jacob's wife represents the mother of the nation. And and why specifically Rhema. Well when. When Israel broke covenant with God He promised that that he would bring someone bring a nation to Take them out take them into captivity and.

So.

From Judah in the south and and Israel in the north Rhema is is somewhere right there around the border and this is the place of Departure where they would they would bring them all and they would depart from Rhema and Be exiled out of their home.

And so the the mothers being represented by Rachel Weep for the children of Israel because of the deportation because of the exile. They were taken out of their home and then here fulfilling this prophecy of the Messiah Rachel the representative the the mother of the nation of Israel Now doesn't cry for the deporting of the children of Israel she is now mourning and weeping the deport the deporting the deportation of the Holy One of Israel the Messiah being deported out of his home to Egypt.

And God is orchestrating all these things to happen. So these prophecies can be fulfilled specifically and Then of course we have our final one in verse 23 where Jesus fulfills Being known as the branch the sprout the shoot and of course The verse reads in Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit so so there's the the introduction of while we're here and And in glorifying God for what all that he has done.

And now we I want to make just a couple more points about the Obscurity of Christ and his growing up. That we can pull out of these passages in the in the Old Testament and also back in Matthew. If you if you look at Isaiah chapter 6 you see where God Cuts down the the tree and all that's left is is a stump and we see that in Isaiah 53 That is where it's referred to it's referred to a stump as well.

And so out from this stump you will have this this shoot That will that will spring up From the stem of Jesse from this from the stump of Jesse. So this Here we have to paint this big picture just to grab us get a small grasp of what's going on.

You have this this large tree the large tree, of course represents the this mighty nation this line of Jesse where you have King David as his son and this large tree with with large branches that that covers cover so much ground and This this large tree with this this large trunk God cuts down and all that's left is the the shoots the small shoots that came up from that tree and Isaiah goes on to say that the shoot grows from dry ground.

This shoot grows in a place where no other plant can grow. Only this shoot any other plant would die. But this shoot grows from from dry ground and this is where we get the concept of the of Christ and his kingdom growing in obscurity where you had once had this large tree that was massive and In this this lineage think when you think about a family tree From King David you have this massive Important lineage that's why the the trunk is so strong and so massive and covers the David's a nation covered so much ground.

But yet it was cut down to non-existence to where all you have left is this stump and that around the stump is Just simply dry ground where nothing else can grow. But yet out from this dry ground coming out from this stem this this stump is a branch which is going to bear fruit and the kingdom from this shoot from this sprout is Going to grow into a kingdom From dry ground where nothing else can grow into a kingdom That fills the whole earth and last forever.

Isn't that amazing how God works? If we go back to Matthew, this isn't one last point on the obscurity of Christ if you go back to Matthew and It if you look in chapter 1, of course, we we covered the genealogies in in a past video but it's there's something interesting to notice and this is related to the the tree representing the the lineage of Jesse and King David and how you how important and Noticeable that tree would have been.

If you look at the genealogies that that Matthew give us gives us in Matthew chapter 1 and you follow the names Follow the names from from the beginning and Follow them down until you get to of course Jesse and you get to David think about that that massive Lineage that massive tree family tree and then you get to a guy named Zerubbabel and from the beginning of the list until Zerubbabel if you will go to your references and Look up each one of those names.

You can find a reference you can find that individual in the Old Testament. But here's something interesting. After you get past Zerubbabel. You'll find this gap of.

Silence.

Where you can't find a reference to any of Christ's lineage. After Zerubbabel. So here you have this massive Lineage this massive family tree. That's so strong and powerful. But God cuts it down and then there's this shoot that springs up.

Not from this massive lineage creating this family tree but from Jesse from these.

Unknowns.

Comes this shoot that grows in dry ground. So we see how Christ grows from a lineage of obscurity.

Of.

No, nobody's. We we know their lineage because the the Jews were. They were they were good at keeping their lineage and their family trees and and who they belong to. But the strong family lineage the strong family tree was not the one it was.

It came from the gap the unmentions in the Old Testament. So we see there another example of Christ. Coming from obscurity. Think about. Think about Christ as that shoot growing. In a place where nothing else can grow and and just just making a practical point.

The the growth of and I'm transitioning from from Christ to his kingdom here. So the growth of God's kingdom Does not depend on Good soul. The the growth of God's kingdom the gross the growth of Jesus's kingdom does not depend on Good soul.

So in our day and time when you watch the news when you look at the newspaper. When you when you look around you and see what's going on. Don't be discouraged. Don't be pessimistic because Christ's kingdom Does not need good soul to continue to grow.

There is a promise that his kingdom is going to fill the whole earth and that it's going to last forever and The world around us may look like dry ground. How can God's kingdom grow? I Think it has been referenced here recently.

That.

There was a famous pastor whom I love and respect but the quote coming from him. Supposedly he's saying that we lose down here and that we are on a sinking ship if we are in God's kingdom if we are in Christ.

We are we are in a ship that that will never sink. They said the Titanic wouldn't sink and it did but the ship that we're in. If we're in Christ, we're in a ship that will not sink. This ship will not go down it will continue to grow and it will last forever and You can we can look around this world and see all the dry ground around us.

But God doesn't need good soul to grow his kingdom. He is going to continue to grow his kingdom no matter what the circumstances that you see around you. So don't be discouraged. Don't be pessimistic.

Keep your eyes on things above keep your eyes on Christ. Because that promise will be fulfilled in Christ. Two other references if you look at mark. And Going back to the going back to the the theme of Christ's kingdom growing in obscurity.

Mark chapter. Mark chapter 4 starting in verse 26. Jesus says to her I'm in John. I'm sorry about that. I should have all these places marks enough. Mark chapter 4 starting in verse 26. And he said Jesus saying the kingdom of God is like a a man Who casts seed upon the soul and Remember, we just talked about that Christ doesn't need good soul.

But he's telling us what the kingdom is like. He's like a man who cast a seed upon the soul and goes to bed at night and Gets up by day and the seed sprouts up and grows. How he himself does not know.

The soul produces crops by itself first the blade and then the head then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits he immediately puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. Christ is going to grow his kingdom and we not we may not be seeing how it all operates and and the mystery of How God is working?

But it is growing and it will grow. Even if we don't see it. That's why we can't focus on the dry ground around us and then of course like the the verses we referenced last time in in verses 30 through 32 and Jesus said How shall we picture the kingdom of God or by what parable shall we present it?

It is like a mustard seed which when sown upon the soil. Though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soul yet when it is sown grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and Forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.

And we talked about that last time how the kingdom of God started out small and now it does fill the whole earth and it is filling the whole earth with millions and millions of followers of Christ and How it grows we may not know.

But we can trust that it is Just a few other points just a few other ways that um Christ's kingdom grows in obscurity or How mysterious it can be sometimes? You can look at Matthew Matthew chapter 24 verses 36 through 44 and and Jesus is saying of that day and hour no one knows.

God.

Leaves many things in this kingdom and how it operates as a mystery. And first Thessalonians 5 1 through 3 The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 2nd Peter 3 10 day of the Lord will come like a thief.

And Revelations 3 3 I will come like a thief. You will not know What I have. What hour I will come to you? So there's a lot of mystery there's a lot of unknown there's a lot of things that we don't see.

But we can't get pessimistic. We can't get discouraged. What you need to keep our eyes on Christ. Now, let's continue in Matthew. Matthew. Isaiah chapter 11, but the passage that Matthew references as the fulfillment there Matthew here fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 11.

Looking at verse 2 and hopefully these next few several verses will go a little bit quicker and the spirit of the Lord will rest on him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and Strength.

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

So.

This is this is describing Who this Messiah will will be that he will be? Anointed by the Holy Spirit Isaiah goes on to say in chapter 61 that in as the Messiah will fulfill That the Spirit of the Lord is upon me that's a Going to be fulfilled in the Messiah.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and Then Luke chapter 4 verse 1.

Says.

Jesus.

Full of the Holy Spirit. So there Jesus. And Luke is giving Evidence that he is fulfilling this prophecy because Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit. He is the anointed one and he is full of the Holy Spirit.

And then Luke chapter 4 Continues on right there following that passage of that text Referencing back to Isaiah 61 which we just read where it says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me and Luke quotes Isaiah chapter 61 He says being being full of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit being upon me He is anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor to proclaim release to the captive sigh to the blind Free the oppressed and proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

So this anointing this being filled filled with the Holy Spirit Produces in him This task this fulfilling this task to do these things. And then if we um, this is interesting how it's it's worded here, but if you'll Look at it like a sandwich Verse 3 Part a the the beginning of verse 3 and then verse 5 part B the the second half of Verse 5 it kind of shows the the character of the Messiah that will come.

Verse 3 part a says and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. And verse 5 part B says and.

And.

Righteousness will be the belt About his loins and faithfulness the belt about his waist. This is showing his character and who he is and his relationship With God and how he how he views the Lord. And then we go on.

In the middle there verses 3 through 5. We're gonna see What he does as as the anointed one the one being filled with the Holy Spirit. We're gonna see what he does Along with you know fulfilling Isaiah chapter 61 in Isaiah chapter 4.

This is what This is what the Messiah will do. And again in verse 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord and he will not judge. But what his eyes see this is so important. This is so important for us today.

He will not judge by what his eyes see. Nor make a decision by what his ears hear but with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the Earth and will stride the earth with the rot of his mouth And with the breath of his lips when he slay the wicked.

So when he when he's making his judgments when he is performing these acts. Listen what it says and how he says he does it it says he will not. He will not judge by what his eyes see nor make a decision by what his his ears hear.

And we are we are. We are accused even even if we don't don't do it of Judging with our eyes and judging with with our ears. We're talking about the the the great sin of Racism that has always been around.

It's still around today, but Let me proclaim this this is how Jesus as a Fulfilling of Old Testament prophecy showing that he is the Messiah the anointed one the promised one to come.

Fulfilling.

These prophecies and how he worked being full of the Holy Spirit. This is how God operates. That Jesus when he judges he does not judge by what his I see like. That's where that's where racism comes from.

That's where All these other Judgmental Aspects of who we are. It comes from what we see and what we hear with our ears. Then we make judgment calls about our preferences about we what we like what we don't like but this is not how the The Holy One of God the anointed one the Messiah.

This is not how he judges he does not not judge with what the I see and What's so important for us to remember as Christians as Jesus was called a Nazarene carrying that title of branch. If we are in him we have been grafted into that branch and therefore we are Nazarenes and being in him as Christians again, I said this in a previous video.