The Long-Expected Son

The Long-Expected Son

Ian Thomas

The Long-Expected Son

John 1:14

“The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and someday suddenly wake up and discover why.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

Main Idea: Christmas is the good news that God has come to us full of grace and truth.

I. God Has Come

Christianity says that the ‘Word’ (‘logos’; cf. Jn. 1:1) has come as a person. Christmas tells us that God is not content being studied as a concept or being theorized about from a distance; God has gone to great lengths so that we might know him personally. 

“The birth of Christ was the incarnation of God: it was God taking upon himself humanity—a mystery, a wondrous mystery, to be believed in rather than to be defined… Infinite, and an infant — eternal, and yet born of a woman — Almighty... supporting the universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms — King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph — Heir of all things and yet the carpenter’s despised son.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

“Dwelt among us” lit. means “tabernacled” among us. The OT tabernacle dealt with two realities:

1. God’s Presence

“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message)

2. God’s Glory

An encounter with God’s glory is dangerous in the Bible (cf. Ex. 33), but yet in Jesus Christ we have “seen his glory.” 

II. Full of Grace & Truth

Jesus comes full of both grace and truth; he does not “balance” these two attributes out, but embodies both of them fully, at all times. 

God’s glory, grace, and truth come together in a cosmic way at the crucifixion of Christ. Jesus is ultimately “glorified” on the cross (cf. John 13:31-32), which means we must always connect the cradle to the cross  to appreciate the full message of Christmas.

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” ~ Tim Keller

Luke 2:10-11: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

The Long-Expected True Israel

The Long-Expected True Israel

Ian Thomas

The Long-Expected True Israel

Matthew 2:13-23

“We ought to be reminded that Jesus is not born into a gauzy, snowy winter wonderland of sweetly singing angels and cute reindeer nuzzling one another at the side of his manger. He is born into a war zone.” ~ Russell Moore

Main Idea: The hostility of Jesus’ childhood proves he is the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan and our only hope.    

I. The Hostility of Christmas

There is hostility in this scene at 3 levels: 

1. Jesus’ coming evokes hostility from the world

“If you read the Bible, you’ll see that nobody who ever met Jesus Christ ever had a moderate reaction to him. There are only three reactions to Jesus: they either hated him and wanted to kill him, they were afraid of him and wanted to run away, or they were absolutely smitten with him and they tried to give their whole lives to him.” ~ John Stott

Psalm 2:1-2: Why do the nations rage

    and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

    and the rulers take counsel together,

    against the Lord and against his Anointed

2. Jesus’ coming evokes hostility from the Evil One (Cf. Revelation 12:4-5, 17)

“What’s noteworthy about [Herod] is that [he] takes the rage he had against Jesus in particular and directs it toward babies in general. When it’s Jesus versus the self, babies are caught in the crossfire. And it’s always that way… the demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy the “least of these” they’re destroying a picture of Jesus himself, of the child delivered by the woman who crushes their head.” ~ Russell Moore

• John 8:44: (the Devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. 

• John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...

3. Jesus’ coming evokes hostility within us

Luke 2:34–35: And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

II. The Hope of Christmas

Matthew is drawing attention to the divine orchestration of God in dealing with Israel that finds its ‘crescendo’ & ‘fulfillment’ in Jesus Christ. 

Before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, he was a homeless refugee with a price on his head. At the same time, in this passage and several others, Matthew insists that we see in Jesus, even when things are at their darkest, the fulfilment of Scripture.” ~ N.T. Wright

1. Jesus is the Greater Exodus (2:15; Hos. 11:1), who comes to rescue his people from their bondage to sin & Satan.

2. Jesus is the Greater Return from Exile (2:17-18; Jer. 31:15), who will bring hope & a new covenant (cf. Jer. 31:31-34) out of pain & mourning. 

3. Jesus is the Greater & True Israel (2:23), who leads not only a return from Egypt and from Exile, but a return out of the grave & a promised return from Heaven. 

John 1:46: “Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

The Long-Expected Desire of Nations

The Long-Expected Desire of Nations

Ian Thomas

Main Idea: The coming of Jesus reveals the desires of our heart and invites us to worship the true King.

This passage reveals 4 responses to the birth of the true “King of the Jews”:

I. Threatened By the King (2:1-3a)

• The ‘wise men’ (Magi) were Gentile, pagan astronomers who followed a star to the place where they assumed the new “King of the Jews” would be born: Jerusalem

• Herod (“The Great”) was a violent, paranoid, and oppressive ruler over Judea. He is “troubled” (lit. ‘disturbed’) by the news of a new King, since the birth of Jesus was a political threat to his power.

“If you want to be king, and someone else comes along saying he is the king, then one of you has to give in. Only one person can sit on an absolute throne… Jesus is calling for an allegiance to him so supreme that it makes all other commitments look weak by comparison. It is a claim of absolutely authority, a summons to unconditional loyalty, and it inevitably triggers deep resistance within the human heart.” ~ Tim Keller

“Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you… Humility is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God.” ~ Andrew Murray

II. Anxious About the King (2:3b)

“All Jerusalem with [Herod]” were also “troubled” by the news of the newborn King. They are likely troubled for 2 reasons:

1. If Herod is troubled, all of Jerusalem will be troubled with him

2. The announcement of the true King of the Jews will result in a “shaking” of the status quo

Haggai 2:7: And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures (‘desires’ in KJV) of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.

III. Apathetic Toward the King (2:4-6)

Though the Scribes & Chief Priests (who were polarized politically & theologically) pinpoint the exact prophecy from Micah 5:2 about the Christ being born in Bethlehem, they are spiritually indifferent to this news. They do not go and investigate this claim & their hearts remain unaffected. 

Matthew 15:7–9: You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

‘This people honors me with their lips,

  But their heart is far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

  Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” ~ C.S. Lewis

IV. Worshipping the King (2:7-12)

The only group to respond appropriately to the news of the birth of Jesus are the Gentile, pagan Magi. This is foreshadowing and fulfilling the work of the Messiah who will reign not only over Israel but  over every tribe, tongue, nation, and people (cf. Micah 5:2-5).

Isaiah 60:1-3: Arise, shine, for your light has come,

   And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

           For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

   And thick darkness the peoples;

               But the LORD will arise upon you,

   And his glory will be seen upon you.

           And nations shall come to your light,

   And kings to the brightness of your rising.

The worship of the wise men invites us to worship in 3 ways:

1. We worship joyfully (2:10)

2. We worship humbly (2:11a)

“Christ is always born in Bethlehem among the little ones. Big hearts never get Christ inside of them; Christ lives not in great hearts, but in little ones. Mighty and proud spirits never have Jesus Christ, for he comes in at low doors, but he will not come in at high ones. He who has a broken heart, and a low spirit, shall have the Savior, but none else.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

3. We worship generously (2:11b; cf. Isa. 60:6)

The Long-Expected Savior

The Long-Expected Savior

Ian Thomas

The Long-Expected Savior

Matthew 1:18-25

“In a very real sense, the Christian community lives in Advent all the time. It can well be called the ‘Time Between,’ because the people of God live in the time between the first coming of Christ, incognito in the stable in Bethlehem, and his second coming, in glory, to judge the living and the dead… Advent contains within itself the crucial balance of the now and the not-yet that our faith requires… The disappointment, brokenness, and pain that characterizes life in this present world is held in dynamic tension with the promise of future glory that is yet to come. In that Advent tension, the church lives its life.” ~ Fleming Rutledge

Main Idea: The incarnation of Jesus is a disruptive reality to save us from sin and free us from fear.

I. Christmas is the Fulfillment of God’s Plan (1:18, 22-23)

Christmas is more about a coming than just a birth. The birth of Jesus was the incarnation of God himself, fulfilling God’s plan and promise. Matthew identifies Isaiah’s interaction with King Ahaz and the promise of Immanuel (Isa. 7:14) as being fulfilled in the greatest sense in the birth of Jesus. 

“[Matthew] saw in Isaiah’s prophecy of the Immanuel sign-child a picture of our ultimate salvation. We face a coalition of hostile powers far worse than Syria and Ephraim of old. We face the alliance of sin and death, they never go away, and we are no match for them. But at this ultimate level the baby Jesus fulfills the truest meaning of Immanuel, “God with us.” Political crises come and go, but God goes with us into battle against the enemies that can oppress us forever. ~ Ray Ortlund

“The incarnation is the universe-sundering, history-altering, life-transforming, paradigm-shattering event of history.” ~ Tim Keller

II. Christmas is the Assurance of God’s Presence (1:19-20, 24-25)

The story of Christmas is not a sentimental, clean, or tidy account of a birth of the Savior. Christmas was disruptive in every sense for Joseph & Mary, and it is still meant to be disruptive in our lives today. This disruption is God’s grace to awaken us to the gospel. 

Three implications of “Immanuel” for our lives:

1. We do not have to fear (1:20)

2. We can embrace the cost of following Jesus (cf. 1 Cor. 1:23; John 8:41). 

3. We can relinquish control (cf. Matt. 28:16-20)

III. Christmas is the Promise of God’s Pardon (1:21)

The name ‘Jesus’ is the Hellenized version of the Hebrew “Joshua” which means ‘the Lord saves.’ Jesus came for a greater mission than no one else could take on: he came to save a lost humanity from our greatest enemy & tireless foe: our own sin. 

“The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary… the Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.” ~ J.I. Packer.

The Long-Expected Messiah

The Long-Expected Messiah

Rob Lourcey

The Long-Expected Messiah

Matthew 1:1-17

Main Idea:

The story of Advent begins with a genealogy to show that this is good news and not good advice.

1. Understanding the Setting

2. Understanding the Characters

3. The Continuing Story

I. Understanding the Setting

Meta-Narrative of Scripture:

God the Father is redeeming a people through God the Son, uniting them together by God the Holy Spirit, for His glory and our good.

II. Understanding the Characters

As Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience, he uses two characters from Israel’s history that are well known: Abraham and David

Matthew 1:1

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

Three groups of people:

1. The Known

2. The Familiar

3. The Obscure

The Known (vv. 2-6a): 

The Obscure (vv. 12-16)

2 Chronicles 36:22-23

22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"

“So the return from exile under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah didn’t solve the people’s problems. The decree from Cyrus is incomplete because the authors of the [Old Testament] were still waiting for a real return from exile and the coming of the Messianic kingdom of God. God’s people need a deliverer from a deeper kind of exile than simply being ruled by Babylon. In Chronicles, the literal exile has become an image of Israel’s ongoing “spiritual” exile, their slavery to evil and sin and their inability to obey the [Law]. This is all representative of the human condition: home and yet not home until the kingdom of God comes. The Chronicler, and the people, are anxiously awaiting this day.” -The Bible Project

III. The Continuing Story

If there’s room for people like this in Jesus’ family, there’s room for you and me.