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Matthew 1:18-2:23
Skip Heitzig

Matthew 1 (NKJV™)
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
Matthew 2 (NKJV™)
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,
15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; 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.
17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more."
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 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."
21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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40 Matthew - 2011

Every year people around the world recognize the birth of a poor Jewish child born in an insignificant city. The birth of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Scriptures, beckons us to worship and obey the King of the Jews. Let's examine Matthew's account of the miraculous circumstances of the nativity and the prophecies it fulfilled.

From its opening genealogy through its careful record of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, Matthew's gospel forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In this in-depth study by Pastor Skip Heitzig we'll consider Jesus' ancestry, birth, public ministry, death, and resurrection, and we'll gain a clearer understanding of Jesus as both Messiah and King.

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Study Guide

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Matthew 2

PRAY: Father, as I observe Joseph’s response to his dreams in Matthew 2, please teach me the importance of obedience.
Journal your prayer here:




PREVIEW: In Matthew 2, we see the wise men worship Him who had been born King of the Jews, Herod’s anger caused the death of male children, and Joseph’s obedience kept the Child safe—and fulfilled several prophecies.

Matthew 2 Outline:
Visit of Wise Men - Read Matthew 2:1-12
Flight into Egypt - Read Matthew 2: 13-15
Herod Kills the Children - Read Matthew 2:16-18
Jesus Returns to Nazareth - Read Matthew 2:19-23

Visit of Wise Men - Read Matthew 2:1-12

1. After Jesus was born, wise men paid a visit to Him. Where did the men come from, and what drew them to Bethlehem (v. 2)?



PROPOUND: In Matthew 2:1, the word after is used. How long after Jesus’ birth might the wise men have appeared? (See Matthew 2:16.)



2. Who did the wise men say they were looking for (v. 2)?




PROPOUND: The wise men were looking for the “King of the Jews.” Where else is this title of Jesus used? (See Matthew 27:29, 37.)



3. What was the purpose of the wise men's visit (v. 2)?




PRODUCE: Look carefully at the actions of the wise men once they found the Child. How is this response something that should be part of our personal time with Christ? (See also Revelation 4:10.)




4. When King Herod heard that the men had come to worship, he was troubled. Who else was troubled and why do you think this was so (v. 3)?


5. What did Herod do upon hearing about the wise men’s appearance (v. 4)?




6. Herod connects the One "born King of the Jews" (v. 2) with "the Christ" (v. 4). What did he discover from the chief priests and scribes?




7. What did Herod say he wanted the wise men to do when they found the Child (v. 8)? What do you think his real intentions were (v. 13)?



PROPOUND: The priests and scribes were likely aware of the wise men’s arrival and mission, yet they didn’t go to worship Jesus. Why?



PROPOUND: What navigation system did the wise men use to find the Child?

8. How did the wise men determine the precise location of the Child in Bethlehem (v. 9)?



PROPOUND: Why did Herod want to determine from the wise men how long ago the star appeared? (See Matthew 2:7.)


PROCEED: Contrast the locations and the words used to describe Jesus during the shepherds’ visit (Luke 2:16) with those of the wise men (Matthew 2:11). Share your findings with the group.





9. What did the wise men do when they saw the Child (v. 11)? Why should our response to Christ be the same as theirs?


10. What did the wise men present to the Child (v. 11)? (See also Psalm 72:10 and Isaiah 60:6.)


PROPOUND: What gifts did the wise men present to the Child? What did the gifts represent?

11. How were the wise men warned? What were they warned of (v. 12)?


Flight into Egypt - Read Matthew 2:13-15

12. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream (v. 13) for a second time (see also Matthew 1:20). What did the angel instruct him to do, and why?


13. What time of the day did Joseph depart for Egypt (v. 14)? What was significant about this?




14. What might have happened if Joseph had delayed his obedience? Why is it important to quickly obey God?




PRACTICE: Very little is known about Joseph; what can we learn from his response to the four dreams? How is this something we can practice in our own lives?



15. How long did Joseph, Mary, and the Child remain in Egypt (v. 15)?




Herod Kills the Children - Read Matthew 2:16-18

16. What words describe Herod's emotions when he realized the wise men did not do as he instructed (v. 16)?


17. What did Herod do in response to the situation (v. 16)?



PROCLAIM: God knew what Herod's intentions were all along—that's why He warned Joseph. Share with the group why it is important to obey God, even when it seems illogical or unreasonable.



Jesus Returns to Nazareth - Read Matthew 2:19-23

18. Joseph was spoken to by an angel a third time (v. 19-21). What was he instructed to do? What did he do?



PROTECT: Joseph obeyed what was communicated to him in his dreams. Think about how God communicates to you. Do you obey when He speaks to you?



19. Where in Israel did Joseph, Mary, and the Child end up? Why (v. 23)?



PROMOTE: Share with the group why you think Matthew specifically mentions the fulfillments of four different prophecies in chapter 2.



PROPOUND: Matthew 2:23 speaks of a fulfilled prophecy. What specific prophecy does this refer to?



PRAY: Father, thank You for the examples set by the wise men and Joseph in Matthew 2. Please help me to do as they did.
Journal your prayer here:

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Genealogy of Jesus
      1. 3 groups of 14 generations
      2. Trace lineage back to Abraham
    2. The nativity
      1. Still acknowledged (even celebrated)
      2. Poor Jewish family
      3. Insignificant city
      4. People from all over the world interested in His birth
    3. 42 generations of natural birth  followed by the singular supernatural virgin birth
    4. In a Barna survey, 88% of Americans claim to be Christian; of those 37% believe Jesus' birth is the most important part of Christmas
  2. Virgin Birth
    1.  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
    2. Parthenogenesis in the scientific world
      1. Honeybees: unfertilized eggs develop into drones
      2. Sea urchins, marine worms
      3. 1940 rabbit developed with chemical and temperature influences on the ova
      4. Never in the human realm
    3. Jesus and Mary scorned
      1. "They said to Him, 'We were not born of fornication; we have one Father --God.'" (John 8:41)
      2. Some believed Mary had relations with an unnamed Roman soldier
      3. Illicit birth
    4. Joseph
      1. Not the physical father of Jesus
      2. Didn't know at first who the father was
      3. Wouldn't lower his standards; desired to divorce her secretly
      4. Adopted father
      5. Legal father
    5. Two genealogies of Jesus
      1. Matthew
        1. Descending genealogy
        2. Provides legal authority for Jesus to be at the throne of David
      2. Luke
        1. Ascending genealogy
        2. Provides the pure bloodline
      3. The virgin birth is essential
        1. Jeconiah's bloodline cursed
          1. King of Judah; threat to line of David
          2. "As I live," says the Lord, "though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear--the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return. "Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol-- A vessel in which is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, And cast into a land which they do not know?  O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord: 'Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.' " (Jeremiah 22:24-30)
        2. "David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel" (Jeremiah 33:17).
  3. Name of Jesus
    1. Jesus
      1. Anglicized version of Greek: ἰησοῦν
      2. Hebrew : ישוע; Yeshua (or Joshua, Jehoshua) - Yahweh is salvation
    2. Immanuel
      1. God with us
      2. Title, description; not a personal name
    3. Isaiah's prophecy (See Isaiah 7:14)
      1. 600 years before the birth of Jesus
      2. King Ahaz (wicked scoundrel)
        1. Brought idolatry back to Judah
        2. Sacrificed son by burning him at the altar of Molech
        3. Conflict with Kings of the north (Syria: Rezin; Pekah: Israel)
          1. Ahaz made alliance with Tiglath-pileser
          2. Isaiah rebuked Ahaz for not trusting the Lord
          3. Isaiah promised Ahaz that God would protect Judah and the royal seed
          4. Ahaz wants nothing to do with Isaiah
          5. Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask for a sign: Ahaz declines; receives sign anyway: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
            1. You : plural the entire nation
            2. God will protect His interest in the lineage of King David
    4. Another sign given
      1. Around same time
      2. Prophecy of Isaiah's son Maher-ahlal-has-baz (See Isaiah 8:1-8)
      3. Befor the child was 3, Rezin and Pekah were dead
  4. Virgin Birth
    1. ha·'al·mah- a virgin
      1. Liberal scholars point out it could be translated "young woman"
      2. How would that be a sign?
      3. Translators of the Septuagint used the word παρθένος; parthenos - only means virgin; translated before Jesus' birth
    2. "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,"--Apostle's Creed
    3. "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15)
      1. Women don't have seed; seed is from man
      2. Mary the only person who birthed a Child without seed from a man
      3. Jesus existed in eternity past, was born, died, and raised to life
    4. Mary didn't stay a virgin
      1. Perpetual virginity of Mary
        1. Not biblical
        2. Established in Catholicism by Pope Martin in 649 AD
      2. Mary had other offspring: "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" (Matthew 13:55-56)
  5. The wise men and the unwise king
    1. Legend
      1. 3 men because there were 3 gifts
      2. Christmas carol: "We three kings of Orient are
        Bearing gifts we traverse afar
        Field and fountain, moor and mountain
        Following yonder star"
      3. Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar
    2. Μάγοι; Magoi; - Magi
      1. Magi, magician, magistrate
      2. From Mesopotamia, Babylon, Medo-Persia
      3. Priestly caste of Medes
      4. According to Herdotus: specialized in reading the dreams of people
      5. Daniel
        1. Interpreter of dreams
        2. Chief of the Magi
        3. Probably influenced them in telling them about the coming Messiah
        4. Intricate prophecies
        5. Prepared them to receive a future king of Israel
      6. Semitic people
        1. Related to Shem
        2. Monotheistic
      7. "I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult" (Numbers 24:17).
    3. Herod
      1. Not Jewish
      2. Jews hated him, but he tried to incur their favor
      3. Idumean (Edomite)
      4. Son of Antipar, who did a favor for Julius Caesar and given rule of Judea
      5. King of the Jews
        1. Herod loved the title
        2. Willing to kill anyone who threatened his position
          1. Killed Hasmonean wife: Miriamne
          2. Killed two sons
          3. Killed his brother in law
          4. From deathbed ordered the prominent citizens arrested and killed when he died, to ensure weeping upon his death
          5. "Safer to be Herod's pig than to be his son."
      6. What the magi said was considered law of the Medes and Persians
        1. Laid down the law
        2. Identified kings
        3. Approved authority
      7. The long journey to identify the King of the Jews caused Herod to panic
  6. Bethlehem
    1. Where Jacob buried Rachel
    2. Where Ruth met and married Boaz
    3. City of David
    4. בֵּית ; Bethlehem-house of bread
      1. Breadbasket of Israel
      2. Where wheat was grown
      3. Appropriate that the Bread of Life was born there
  7. Priests
    1. Asked a biblical question and gave an immediate response: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2).
    2. They did nothing
      1. 5 mile walk to Bethlehem
      2. Magi made an arduous trip; spent money and energy
    3. Knowing God's Word is not enough
      1. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).
      2. "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)
      3. "Too many have been inoculated with a mild case of Christianity, so as to be immune to the real thing"
      4. Application: Are you hungry for Him? Not just knowledge about him, but Him personally.
  8.  Star
    1. Theories
      1. Jupiter
      2. Alignment of planets
      3. Meteorite
      4. Inner vision (not real)
    2. Likely the Glory of God
      1. "The glory of the Lord shone around them" (Luke 2:9)
      2. Pillar of fire in the desert
      3. Shekinah
    3. Stopped over where the Child was
      1. In a house
      2. Jesus probably 6 months old
      3. Circumcised
      4. Mary's purification over
  9. Worship
    1. Gentiles were the first to worship the King of the Jews
      1. Prophetic that the gospel would go into all the world
      2. Didn't worship Mary and Jesus; but Jesus alone
    2. Gifts
      1. Customary to give gifts to a superior
        1. King of the Jews
        2. Immanuel
      2. Gold
        1. Metal of kings
        2. Customary to appear before monarchs with a gift of God
        3. Possibly funded the flight to Egypt
      3. Frankincense
        1. Gum obtained from the resin of certain trees
        2. Used by the priest with the meal offering
        3. Signifies Jesus as the Great High Priest
        4. Gives off a sweet aroma when crushed: "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5 NAS)
      4. Myrrh
        1. Sap like substance
        2. Used as spice, perfume, and embalming fluid
        3. "And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds" (John 19:39).
        4. Jesus' humanity
        5. Jesus would die for the sins of the world
  10. Flight into Egypt
    1. The young Child and his mother
      1. Word order (normally adult would come first)
      2. Centrality of Christ highlighted
    2. "Out of Egypt I called My son" (Hosea 11:1)
    3. Egypt
      1. 75 miles from Bethlehem
      2. Alexandria 150 miles from Bethlehem
        1. Enclave of Jews protected
        2. 1 million Jews, culture, synagogues
    4. "Thus says the LORD, 'A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel  weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more'" (Jeremiah 31:15)
      1. Jewish mothers identified as "Rachel"
      2. Weeping for those killed by the Babylonians
      3. Prefigured what happened when Jesus was born

Hebrew terms: ישוע; Yeshua (or Joshua, Jehoshua) - Yahweh is salvation; ha·'al·mah- a virgin; בֵּית ; Bethlehem-house of bread
Greek terms: ἰησοῦν; Jesus; παρθένος; parthenos-virgin
Publications Referenced: "We Three Kings of Orient Are" by John Henry Hopkins
Figures Referenced: Herdotus; Philo
Cross References: Genesis 3:15; Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 8:1-8; Isaiah 53:5; Jeremiah 31:15; Hosea 11:1; Micah 5:2; Matthew 13:55-56; Luke 2:9; John 8:41; John 19:39; James 1:22; 2 Peter 3:18

Transcript

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Let's pray.  Father, we do thank you.  We thank you Father for the gathering together of your people, gathered together because we have a common interest in spiritual things.  We have a hunger for truth and we find that living in this world surrounded with influences and value systems that are not yours, we need a frequent bath in truth.  We also remember what Peter said that we would grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and so as we study His birth and His life as we grow in the knowledge of Jesus, help us also to grow in the grace which is His characteristic.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Just waiting for the alarm to end.

(Laughter)

I did ask these guys at the beginning if they'd ever looked up their ancestry in, I have noticed that discovering one's ancestry has become very popular in the last few years.  There are several websites or computer programs that allow a person to do that.  Ancestry.com is probably the most famous.  Their tagline is Discover Your Story in History -- Discover Your Story in History.

And people it seems are interested in finding out their story, their family story, there family tree especially if they are related to a famous event or a famous person and they find out that they're in the lineage of somebody who was at that event, that signing, that historical launch of a boat or when the mayflower came over or a famous person who rule.  All of those things seem to be very interesting to a lot of people.

I was interested when we went to New York last year to Ellis Island and stood in that Great Hall were so many came from all over the world to America came to that Harbor and what a must have been like to see the Statue of Liberty as their boat sailed in an inducted Ellis Island.  Even Ellis Island provides a service on the computer that you can trace your ancestors and if they indeed came over on the boat, what boat it was, when it arrived and get the manifest of that ship who the captain was, who the other passengers were and some of the history and where they came from.

We're not surprised when we open up the Gospel of Matthew to discover 42 generations.  Jesus is traced back 42 generations and they're listed here.  In three different sections of 14 generations all the way back to Abraham.  Don't you think it's amazing that this One Man who is born in a poor Jewish family from a family that comes from the Northern parts of Israel in an insignificant town who later migrated to Bethlehem that that Boy born in that poor family that after 2000 years, people are still interested in His birth.  All over the world once a year, the birth of Jesus Christ is either celebrated or acknowledged.

I was shocked when I first went to Baghdad, Iraq.  An out front of our hotel was a manger scene, in a Muslim country, in a country hostile toward the West at that time and their was Baby Jesus in the manger, Mary and Joseph, the wise men, the shepherds.  Not only in front of our hotel I thought it was because American, but all over the Baghdad I saw signs Merry Christmas and manger scenes and it dawned on me that this poor Jewish carpenter is acknowledged after 2000 years of history.  Why is that?  Well, that's partly answered in Chapter 1:18 where we look now.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows:  After His mother Mary was betrothed," that's that formal period of engagement, "to Joseph, before they came together," that is before they were united as husband and wife, "she was found with child," pregnant, "of the Holy Spirit."

You can now see what Matthew is up to.  He has recorded 42 generations of natural birth and now, he inserts a supernatural birth, the virgin birth, the singular event that happened to only one person historically and that is Jesus Christ born of a virgin.

As amazing as it is, the people all over the world acknowledge or celebrate Christmas.  What is sad to me is that there's a number of Americans who identify themselves as Christians who will say that the birth of Jesus Christ is not the most important part of Christmas.  Didn't that amaze you?

George Borny and his research group interviewed and assessed American belief systems.  Of the research that they did, they found 88% of the group that they researched, 88% claimed to be Christians and only 37% of that group thought that the birth of Jesus was the most important part of Christmas.  Others said it was about gifts giving and receiving, family love, get together, that kind of thing.

What makes it so unique and why we should be excited about the birth of Jesus in this world, one of the things is the virgin birth of Christ.  Jesus Christ was born of a virgin predicted by Isaiah the Prophet.  You probably already know that scripture in Isaiah 7.  "The Lord will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Immanuel."  That was the prediction made by Isaiah the Prophet about virgin birth.

Now, some people try to talk it away out of this and they'll say things like, "Well, virgin birth is even known in our physical world and the scientific world.  We have a thing called parthenogenesis," and they'll point to the honeybee as one of their examples, that the unfertilized egg of a honeybee can develop and does develop into a drone, a male bee.  Or they will say certain sea urchins or a marine worms when placed in different salt solutions, those eggs begin to develop, take on different forms.  Or they'll point back to what happened in 1940 when a rabbit was developed by chemical and temperature influences placed upon the ova that cause the development of that rabbit.  They'll say, "See, that's parthenogenesis, that's not an unknown phenomena.  It's quite common," perhaps, but not in the human realm.

The idea of the human being born in the virgin womb of a woman was unheard of so much so that even after it happened, as we will discover as we go to the gospels, Jesus was scorned, Mary was scorned, there was a stigma placed upon the family like, "Yeah, right, a virgin birth.  We all believe that."

So when Jesus was confronting the scribes and the Pharisees at one point, they intimated about this.

In John Chapter 8, they said, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God."  Intimating, "We were not born of fornication," but probably you were.  The idea posited by some is that Mary probably must have had some relation with an unnamed Roman soldier in a garrison in Galilee.  So it wasn't a virgin birth, it was an illicit birth.  The Bible is clear on this.  "Before they came together, she was found with child by the Holy Spirit.  Then Joseph her husband, being a just or a righteous man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly."

Now Joseph, since he wasn't the actual father and he didn't know who the father was, he just probably thought she had some kind of sexual relations with someone and, "I can't marry her.  I'm a just man.  I have standards that I go by and I'm not going to lower my standards.  I want to serve God so I don't want to hurt Mary, I do love her, so perhaps I can divorce her secretly before she really starts to show and I can protect her and hide her away."

But he was minded to end the relationship and we know it didn't happen and Joseph and Mary did come together and they were a married couple.  Joseph is the adopted father of Jesus, but not the actual father, but he was the legal father of Jesus.

So this is where I want you to tune in for a moment.  If you read through the gospels especially Matthew and Luke, you discovered genealogies.  We read one last week, that's Matthew's genealogy.  Luke also has a genealogy of Christ but it's different.

Now, we know that Matthew's is the genealogy of Joseph because Joseph's father is mentioned and so we believe that Luke is showing us the genealogy of Mary because a man named Heli is mentioned which was not the father of Joseph.  His father Yaakov is mentioned in Matthew.  But his father-in-law was probably Heli that's Mary's dad and her genealogical record gets traced.  There's also a difference in the way they're written.  Matthew is a descending genealogy.  Luke is in ascending genealogy.  Luke descends from Abraham all the way down to Joseph.  Luke ascends from Heli, the father of Joseph all the way back to David and to Abraham, et cetera.

But why two genealogies?  Well, if you just go back and look at Verse 16, you'll notice that says, "Jacob begot Joseph," so that was his father, Yaakov, Jacob, not the one in the Old Testament obviously, a different one.  "Jacob begot Joseph."  Now, notice that says, "The husband of Mary."  It doesn't say, "The father of Jesus."  But he's shown as, "The husband of Mary, of whom," that is Mary, "of whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ."

So Joseph will show and provide his genealogy, here in Matthew, provides the legal authority for Jesus to be at the throne of David while Luke shows not the legal authority but the racial purity.  You're saying I'm a little bit lost.  Why is that important?  It's absolutely important and this is why the virgin birth is so necessary to believe.  Just go back a few verses.  Keep following me here.  I'll put it all together.  Look at Verse 11 of Chapter 1.  We have, "Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon."

Now if you remember, I asked you to remember that name Jeconiah.  Jeconiah was one of the kings of Judah.  But something happened to Jeconiah that poses a threat to the entire dynasty of King David, the entire line of King David.  His bloodline gets cursed.  I'd like you to see that.  Keep a marker here and go back to Jeremiah Chapter 22.  Jeremiah 22 in your Bibles.  Now I've cheated because I put a ribbon marker there so I can get to it easy in advance but just turn to Jeremiah 22 and watch something here.  In Jeremiah 22, we have an incredibly huge problem that cannot be solved unless there is a virgin birth.

In Verse 24 of Chapter 22 of Jeremiah, "'As I live,' says the LORD, 'though Coniah,'" which is the short form of Jeconiah, "'though Coniah or Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet of My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans.  So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die.  But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.'"

"'Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol—a vessel in which there is no pleasure?  Why are they cast, he and his descendants, and cast into a land which they do not know?  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD!  Thus says the LORD:  'Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.'"

"Write this man down as childless."  Now, it doesn't mean he didn't have children.  He did have sons but none of them succeeded him to the throne.  His bloodline gets cursed here.  Now, he's the king of Judah and the way it works is there is a succession from King David all the way down, all the way down, all the way down, until we get to Jeconiah.  Now, this man, his bloodline is cursed, none of his descendants God says, "Will sit upon the throne."  That's a problem especially since the Messiah has to be at the lineage of King David and follow that dynastic succession.  We have a problem, the bloodline is cursed especially when we get to Jeremiah 33 where it says that there will never be a descendant that will cease to sit upon the throne of David.  God promised a descendant of King David to sit upon the throne, but here it says, "Jeconiah is cursed."  Jeconiah's sons never succeeded him.  His uncle succeeded him because of this curse that God pronounced.

Okay, so how was the Messiah, the Son of David going to qualify to be the legal and pure son of David if the bloodline is cursed?  Well, that's where we come to genealogies.  Matthew will show you that Jesus has the legal right to the throne of David all the way back through Jeconiah to King David, because it's mentioned as we read to Matthew, Jeconiah was mentioned.  But you said the bloodline is cursed, exactly.  Jesus Christ was not the actual son of Joseph in the bloodline, only the legal son of Joseph because Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Luke shows you the purity of the bloodline but Mary's genealogy bypasses Jeconiah, bypasses Solomon and goes back to King David through a different son of David, named Nathan, not Jeconiah, not Solomon.

So we have a pure bloodline untainted, Jeconiah is out of the picture with Mary.  Jeconiah is in the picture with Joseph, but that provides the legal right for Jesus to occupy the throne of David.  But because Jesus wasn't the actual son of Joseph, he has the legal right but maintains the purity of bloodline from Mary.  Does that help?  Do you understand that?

So now, we understand why there are two genealogies and why the virgin birth was so important.  God pronounces a curse on the bloodline, then He gets around His own curse by providing a virgin born Messiah.  So He can keep his promise.  Jeconiah, your bloodline is cursed from here on out, but I will have the Son of David with the pure bloodline all the way back to King David.  He has the legal right through his stepfather or adopted father, Joseph, but the legal and the racial purity that comes through Mary.  So we have those two genealogies.  I hope that clears it up a bit.

Verse 19 of Chapter 1 of Matthew, "Joseph her husband, being a just man, not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.  But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  And she will bring forth a Son, and you will call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.'"

Jesus is the anglicize form that comes from the Greek form of the Hebrew Yeshua.  It's the shortened form of Yehoshuah or Joshua or Jehoshuah.  It all means the same thing.  It means Yahweh or God the Lord is salvation.  "You will call His name Jesus, God of salvation, for He will save His people from their sins."

So all these was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet saying.  Now we get the quote from Isaiah the Prophet, "'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'"

Now, the term Immanuel is a title or a description.  It's not a formal name.  It is not a personal name.  He will by his description, be God in human flesh, "God with us, Immanuel."  So remember, it's a title.  It's a description.  It's not a personal name.  This prophecy was given by Isaiah 600 years before the birth of Jesus.

Now, let me, if you don't mind tell you about how it happened.  Can I tell you the story of how the prophecy came?  Because if you go home and read it, you'll go, "Man, that's pretty confusing."  Here's how it came out.  The king at that time was named King Ahaz, a real scoundrel, wicked dude.  His dad was pretty cool, Yosiah, very righteous king reigned for 52 years in Judah but his son Ahaz takes over.  Ahaz was wicked, brought idolatry back into Judah even sacrifice one of his sons burning his son to death at the Altar of Molech, wicked.  There were two kings at that time who were above him.

What I mean by that is geographically, they were above him in the northern Kingdom of Israel and in the country of Syria.  The king in Syria was named Rezin.  The king in Israel was called Pekah and Pekah and Rezin didn't like Ahaz so they thought, "Let's depose him, kick him off the throne and we'll put a king in his place that will do what we want him to do."

So what Ahaz does when he finds out their plan is he makes an alliance with another nation, the nation of Assyria.  The king's name was Tiglath-Pileser.  He asked Tiglath-Pileser, "Hey, let's be buddies Tiglath and let's make an alliance because these guys are trying to kick me off the throne but you're a big gun, you're Assyria.  You can help me.  We can form an alliance and you can take care and protect me."  So he makes an alliance.  When he does, Isaiah the Prophet comes to Ahaz and basically says, "Shame on you Ahaz!  Why would you trust a king rather than the Lord your king?  Why wouldn't you trust God for protection?"  And he rebukes him for not trusting the Lord for making a human alliance.

Later on, Isaiah the Prophet comes to him a second time and he wants to assure the king that God will make sure that those two kings in the North that want to depose him won't have their way, that God will protect Judah and the royal seat.  Ahaz doesn't want to have anything to do with Isaiah the Prophet and Isaiah said, "Ahaz, listen to me.  Ask God for a sign.  He goes, "I'm not going to ask God for a sign."  So Isaiah said, "Well, God is going to give you one anyway."  "Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, God with us."

You see, what kind of a sign was that to a king in Israel especially about a boy who wouldn't be born for 600 years?  Well first of all, when Isaiah said, "God will give you a sign," the "you" in Hebrew was plural use.  It's not just you, the king, but you, the entire nation will have a sign.  It's a sign for the nation not just one man.  The idea was is that God is going to protect His interest in the lineage of King David.  He's going to make sure that He fulfills His promise and the promise will be fulfilled in the virgin born Immanuel.  Okay.  You're with me, right?

Around the same time, another sign was given to and through Isaiah the Prophet.  The Lord said, "Isaiah," this is in the very next chapter in Isaiah Chapter 8, "you're going to have a son and you should name him this," here's the name God told him to call him, "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz".

Now your parents that are looking for Biblical names, thank God you're not Isaiah the Prophet.  Imagine having to dedicate Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz to the Lord.  Here's what God said, "Before your son is even weaned, those two nations up North are going to be forsaken," and true enough, before that little boy, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz was three years old, those two kings that were threatening the kingdom of Judah died.

The signs were the same even as Isaiah's son was the proof and the prediction that God would ensure the future of the royal seat of David.  The ultimate fulfillment would come 600 years later when the virgin born Son of God would be the king of the Jews, the King of Israel, the fulfilled Messiah.

So that's that context of the promise in Isaiah Chapter 7 because if you go and you read it again, boy, it's just tough to unravel, tough to understand.  So, "You will call His name Immanuel."  Verse 23, which is translated, "God with us."  "Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded and he took to him his wife, and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn Son.  And he called His name JESUS."

I've got to lecture in on something else.  Those who are liberal scholars like to point out what they see as a problem with the text of Isaiah Chapter 7.  The text in English says, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son," and the Hebrew word is "Alma" and the liberal scholars will say, "Well, Alma doesn't necessarily mean a virgin.  It simply means a young lady," not a virgin, just a young woman. 

Now whenever I hear that, my immediate question is, how would that be a sign to anyone?  "Behold, a young woman will have a baby."  That happens like everyday all the time.  There's no sign there.  The sign is a virgin having a baby.  Now, that's a sign.  That didn't happen everyday.  Also, when the liberal scholar says that could mean a young woman, they have a huge problem because when their translators in Alexandria, Egypt of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament from Hebrew and the Greek made the translation of Alma in Isaiah 7.  They chose the Greek word parthenos.  "Behold, a parthenos will have a Son," and in Greek, it can only mean a virgin, not a young woman, always a virgin.  They understood the meaning of Alma.  They translated it way before Jesus was even born as a parthenos, a virgin born child.

So no getting around the virgin birth, no skirting it, it's a cardinal doctrine, it's one of the creeds the churches believed in from the beginning part of the Apostles' Creed.  I believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  So the virgin brought forth the Son.  Joseph was born.  He's told by the angel and so he named his Son, Jesus.

Something else.  Wasn't just Isaiah that predicted the virgin birth?  I believe we see it predicted in Genesis Chapter 3.  There's a phrase, do you remember?  Since we studied it, well, wouldn't that long ago, right?  Genesis, just a couple of books ago.

(Laughter)

In Genesis 3, there's that phrase, "The seed of the woman," remember that?  "The seed of the woman will crush the serpent."  The seed of the woman?  Now, that's an oxymoron because we know something biologically as well as theologically that the seed doesn't come from the woman but from the man.  So when he talks about the seed of the woman, we have something very unique.  Mary was the only woman who had within her the seed that produce a child that did not come from a man, from a human being but from the Holy Spirit.  So the virgin birth I believe was predicted way back in Genesis Chapter 3.  Jesus Christ was the only person who existed before he was born.  He existed in eternity past as the eternal Son of God.  He for a time was placed on this Earth in the virgin womb of a young woman named Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit.  He was born.  He died.  He was raised from the dead.

Now, look at that last verse, Verse 25, "He did not know her," notice, "until she brought forth her firstborn Son.  And he called His name Jesus.  Mary did not stay a virgin.  She was a virgin when Jesus was born.  But after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had normal relationships.  They had sexual relationships and they produced other children.  I was brought up with an idea in the Catholic Church of the perpetual virginity of Mary, that Mary was a virgin and stayed a virgin.

Now, that's a doctrine that doesn't come from the Bible.  It doesn't really come from early church tradition, it comes later on by one of the popes around the 649, Pope Martin came up with that one.  But if you were to turn for example to Matthew Chapter 13, there's a list of his brothers and sisters.  Matthew 13, I'm reading Verse 54, "When He had come to His own country," that's Nazareth, "He taught them in their synagogue, so they were astonished and they said, 'Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  Is this not the carpenter's son?  Is this not His mother called Mary?  And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?'"  He had four brothers, they're named here.  "'And His sisters, are they not all with us?  Where did this Man get these things?'"  So Jesus had brothers and sisters but He himself was born of the virgin.

So now, Chapter 2 of Matthew.  "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.'  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

Now, we all know the story.  It's the story of the wise men and the unwise king.  But though we know the story and we pay tribute to it every Christmas season, we really don't know who they were, we don't know how many there were.  Tradition has embellished the story.  In the Middle Ages, names were given to the wise men and because there are three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, it is supposed that there were three wise men but it doesn't say there were three wise men just that there were three gifts.  It was actually a song written in the 1800s and that's where we've got the idea, "We three kings of Orient are bearing gifts we traverse afar.  Field and fountain moor and mountain," if you know the song, you sing it.

But it doesn't say that there were three and even though in medieval times, they were given names, Gaspar, Balthazar and Melchior.  The text doesn't say that all of that stuff is made up.  So who were these guys?  Well, the word in Greek in magoy.  We get the term magi from it.  We also get the term magician from it.  We also get the term magistrate from it, somebody who adjudicates at law, magi, magician or magic, magistrate.  It is believed that the magi come from Mesopotamia from Babylon and then from Medo-Persia that they were a priestly caste of the needs and according to Herodotus, the Greek Historian, they specialized in reading the dreams of people.

Now we understand from reading the Book of Daniel that there were wise men in Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar had troubling dreams.  Daniel interprets the dreams.  Daniel is eventually placed as the chief overall of the magoy, overall of the magi over the wise men of Babylon.  According to history, the magi were Semitic.  They were Semites.  They were related to the Jewish race.  They were sons of Shem.  They were also monotheistic.  They had that in their belief system.  It is also thought that since Daniel himself was the chief overall the magi of Babylon that no doubt since he was there over them and there were the Jews in captivity for 70 years in many state afterwards that Daniel and others influenced the magi in telling them about this coming ruler, the Messiah.

Daniel received so my intricate prophecies about the Messiah and His coming.  So he primed the pump and got them ready to receive a future king of Israel.  I don't know I can't prove it but maybe he even shared that beautiful prophecy out of the Book of Numbers where it says, "A star will arise in Judah and a king will come from Israel."  So they came to Jerusalem primed and ready following some astronomical site saying, "Where is He who has been born the King of the Jews?"

Well, it said, "When Herod the King," Verse 3, "heard this, he was troubled literally agitated or shaken to the core and all of Jerusalem with him."  And you know why that is?  Let me tell you that a little bit about Herod because you read a lot about him in the New Testament.  Herod was not Jewish.  The Jewish hated him.  So he tried to do a lot of things to incur their favor.  He himself was an Idumean(ph).  He was from the other side of the Dead Sea in the country of Edom or Jordan.  He had a father named Antipater and Antipater had done a favor for Rome, and so Julius Caesar gave to Antipater the area of Judea to role over as a gift.  "I'm giving you the Jews.  I'm giving you Judea.  You can rule over them.  In fact, I'll give you an army and you can call yourself by this title, 'The King of the Jews.'"  Herod now succeeded Antipater and Herod the Great loved the title King of the Jews.  He was the King of the Jews.  The Jews hated him.  But he called himself the King of the Jews because Julius Caesar allowed him that title and he was willing to kill anyone and put away anyone that he saw as a threat to his position as the King of the Jews.

He realizes, "I'm in Jewish country here, man.  This is Judea.  There's Jewish all around.  I am not a Jewish."  So he marries a Jewish wife.  He had several wives.  One of them was called Mariamne.  She was not only Jewish.  She was Hasmonean.  Remember that term from last week, Judas Maccabeus and those ones who revolted and brought forth the temple reinstitution in Hanukkah?  So she came from that background.  She was Hasmonean.  She was Jewish and he did that again to incur the favor of the Jews.  He also built them a temple and built many things that they could enjoy their lives with.

But because he was a wicked man and a paranoid man and sought to kill anyone who might even take the kingdom from him, he eventually killed his wife Mariamne.  He didn't trust her.  He killed his two oldest sons so they couldn't take the throne.  He killed his brother-in-law, the brother of Mariamne because he thought, "He's trying to steal my kingdom."  So he just started killing people.  It got to be so crazy that one of the sayings that went about back then was this, "It's safer to be Herod's pig than it is to be his own child."

It was so bad that when Herod was on his deathbed, he knew he had no time left, he ordered all of the prominent citizens of Jerusalem to be arrested, imprisoned and when he died, the order was, "As soon as I die, kill all those prominent citizens of Jerusalem."  Herod has this rationale, "I know that when I die, nobody will weep for me.  So I want to make sure that there is weeping at my death, kill them."

So now you can understand the paranoia when this magi, this kingmakers, oh, by the way, it was thought that whatever the magi said was considered to be the law of the Medes and the Persians if you remember that from the Old Testament in Daniel, the law of the Medes and the Persians.  When that was put into effect, it was irrevocable law.  So these were magistrates, they laid down law from Mesopotamian rulers.  They identified kings and put the seal of approval on authority.

So for them to make a long journey, hundreds of miles through the desert to identify the king of the Jews, you can understand why this man who called himself the king of the Jews would be absolutely paranoid.  So he asked his Chief Priest in Verse 4 and 5, "Where is this Christ to be born?"  Notice they have the answer immediately.  They said, "In Bethlehem of Judea," and then they quote the Prophet.

Do you remember Bethlehem and its significance in biblical history?  Bethlehem is where Jacob buries his wife Rachel.  Bethlehem is where Ruth meets and marries Boaz.  Bethlehem is where David grows up.  He's born and is raised in Bethlehem.  So much so, that Bethlehem becomes known as the City of David.

Now, the word Bethlehem is from two Hebrew words "Beth" which means house or place of and "Lehem" which means bread.  It means the place of bread because it was the breadbasket of Israel.  The wheat was grown in those valleys around Bethlehem.  That's where Ruth and Boaz were out in the fields when she was.  So it means the house of bread, the place of bread.  How significant that the bread of life would be born in Bethlehem, the house of bread with all that rich biblical history, the City of David, because he was from the lineage of David and would sit on the throne of David.  But they said Verse 5, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

Here's what blows my mind.  These were like professional clergyman.  These were the priest.  There asked a biblical question and they can come up with the answer immediately.  They didn't have to say, "I don't know.  Let me go onto my logos program on my computer and let me just run a quick Bible search."  They could quote chapter and verse.  They could pull out of their memory the 8th century B.C. Prophet Micah Chapter 6 Verse 8, "But you, Bethlehem."  They knew the verse, they knew the scripture, but what amazes me is they didn't even get up to check out if this could be the fulfillment of that promise.  Bethlehem is only a five-mile walk.  It's the outskirts of Jerusalem.  It's very close.

Here, these magi had taken a long trip over the plains through the desert.  They've expended money.  They have expended energy and here's this guy just a few miles away who go, "That's the prophecy.  He's probably born in Bethlehem," that's what he says.  "So get up and check it out."  You think one of them say, "Let's go with these guys and see if this is right."

Here's my point.  You can know a lot about the Bible.  You can quote chapter and verse.  You can have your little Bible memory verses and have it all down and you can do everything short of putting it into practice.  James says, "Be doers of the word not just hearers only, because when you do that, you deceive yourselves."  These men were deceived.  They knew chapter and verse but they didn't want to go to check it out.

I pray that none of us were like that.  I pray that we would grow in knowledge but as I prayed grow in grace, it would change our lives, that we will never become like one said, "Inoculated with a mild form of Christianity so as to be rendered immune from the real thing."  You just get enough of the Christianity inoculated and then you can just kind of go to a place where you hear the truth and you are exposed to the truth but it never penetrates into the heart.

Listen well churchgoers and Bible studiers.  Are you hungry for Him, not just knowledge about Him, but Him personally pursuing Him?  All they had to do was make a personal application and check it out.  They didn't do it.  Then Herod when he had secretly called the wise men determined from them what time the star appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and he said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."

Now we hear that and we go, "Yeah, right," like, "not going to happen," but he pretends to be a worshipper.  He claims to be a worshipper and not everyone who claims to be a worshipper is a worshipper.  "When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them," now watch this, "until it came and stood over where the young Child was."

There's been so many theories and conjectures as to what this star really was.  I've read articles on it.  I've read commentaries about it, some say it was Jupiter, the king of planets.  Others say it was a combination of the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter in the shape of a fish, which was the early symbol of Christianity.  Others say it's a low-lying meteorite.  Others have said it's an errant comet that showed up in the sky in the night sky.  Others have said it's an inner vision.   Really, it wasn't real, it was the inner star.  (Laughter) Your own personal like inner light thing you knew, my lucky inner star.

Now in hearing all of those theories, I don't know that I believe any of them.  Simply because it says the star stopped, it stood still.  It was apparently moving and then it stood still over where Jesus was.  Comets typical don't do that nor do meteorites nor do Saturn or the other planets especially the inner light isn't going to do that.  I'm feeling it, the inner light -- there it is right here.

(Laughter)

Here's the theory.  Here's the thought.  Let me throw this out at you.  Perhaps this was the glory of God.  I'll explain.  "The shepherds were out in the fields watching their flocks at night and an angel came to speak to them and it says, 'The glory of the Lord shone around about them.'"  There were some visible light like manifestation.  It was light where they were and it shone around them.

We were in the Book of Exodus and we remember that there was a visible manifestation of the presence of God, the glory of God over the Tabernacle, a pillar of fire by night, a sign that led them that stopped and started and stopped and started.  That's the kind of glory of God could be exactly what these wise men saw.  The sign that was put up in the sky like a star and they followed it and it would be so symbolic because just like the children of Israel were being delivered and had been delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh.

So here was the sign of the Messiah who had delivered the world from the bondage of sin forever and so unlike man, they got the sign.  It stood it says over where the young Child was.  Notice that "Young Child".  "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  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:  gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way."

He's not called a baby anymore.  He's called the young Child.  He's not in a manger any longer.  He's in the house.  Time has passed.  The Child has been circumcised.  Mary's purification 30, 60 days is over with.  Child has grown.  He's probably no more than six months old but probably a several months old by the time the wise men came.  They didn't come Christmas Eve or Christmas night when the baby was born.  I know you see the manger scene, there's the wise men, there's a baby, there's a shepherd, they're kind of hanging out together.

(Laughter)

This is long after the shepherds.  They're now in their own home in Bethlehem and He's not called a baby, but He's called the young Child.

Don't you find it interesting that the first group to worship the King of the Jews was not the Jews?  They wouldn't even go check it out.  It was a group of gentiles.  How pathetic that the gospel would go into all the world.  What a prediction even of what the last words of Jesus to his disciples were, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."  These gentiles probably primed by Daniel the Prophet were the first worship Jesus and he says and the text is very clear, I want to draw your attention to, "They worshipped Him."  They did not worshipped Mary and Him.  They worshipped only Him.  He and He alone was the object of their worship.  When they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him and there are three, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It was always customary to give a superior gift when you're in His presence.  They recognize He was the King of the Jews.  They recognized He was royalty.  They recognized He would be Immanuel because they worshipped Him and so they bring gold.  Gold was the king of metals and the metal fit for a king.

Typically, you'd never appear before an ancient monarch without some gift of gold.  I don't know how much gold.  But it was probably enough to fund their trip into Egypt and probably that's how Joseph paid for that long excursion into Egypt to go there and come back probably from the gifts of the wise men especially the gold.

Next on the list is frankincense, that's a gum resin that was use by the priests.  The priests would offer frankincense with the meal offering.  So Jesus, gold, a metal for the King of Kings.  Frankincense, He is the great high priest.  Oh, by the way, frankincense hardens into these little crystals and it doesn't give off its scent except one time you have to crush it.  When you crush it, it gives off a sweet aroma.  Remember Isaiah 53?  "He was pierced for our sins or inequities.  He was crushed for our inequities.  The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."

Next on the list is myrrh.  Myrrh was a sap that comes from a tree in Saudi Arabia.  It was used for perfume.  It was a spice.  But it was also used as an embalming fluid.  When Jesus died, 100 pounds of spice myrrh it says and aloes was mixed for His burial.  So it was typically used as an embalming fluid.

Now, of all the gifts you would want to get as a parent for your baby.  I doubt embalming fluid would be on your list and if somebody gave you a little package marked embalming fluid, you would be terribly put out and offended.  I talked about the gift that balms, embalming fluid would certainly be it.

But again, this is a prediction, a prophecy that He would die for the sin of the world I believe, gold, frankincense and myrrh.  "Now, when they departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, 'Arise, take the young Child and his mother.'"  Again, notice the word order, the angel didn't say take Mary or take the mother and the young Child, "Take the young Child and the mother."

In ancient writing, this was never done.  The word order was always the adult first then the child.  But here, the centrality of Christ is being highlighted so it's first, the Child then the mother.  "'Flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; 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 to Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Out of Egypt I have called my Son."

Egypt is only 75 miles away from Israel that is border to border or from Bethlehem where they were to the border 75 miles.  But it was 150 miles from Bethlehem to the big city where they probably went, Alexandria, Egypt.  Now, I say they went to Alexandria because there was an enclave of Jews given protection by Alexander the Great at the city named after him, a million Jews with synagogues and schools so they would have felt at home there.  Philo the Great Historian came from Alexandria.  The Septuagint, that translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek by those 72 scholars took place at Alexandria.  They would've felt at home there nourished in Egypt.

"Then Herod," Verse 16, "when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all of its districts, from two years old and under," that cover all the basis, "according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then it was fulfilled what was spoken up by Jeremiah the prophet saying, 'A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.'"

"When Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared 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.'  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 Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and he dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'"

Now, the time is up.  But it's interesting that Matthew quotes a prophecy of Jeremiah up in Verse 17 and 18.  A voice that is heard in Ramah, "Rachel weeping for her children."  When Jeremiah gave that prediction, what he was predicting was the Babylonian Captivity and how the Babylonians would come in and kill people and take others of them captive, and the result would be Jewish mothers under the title Rachel.  Why Rachel?  Is Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, the favorite wife of Jacob?  And she was the one who cried out saying, "Give me children, or else I die."  So Jewish mothers would typical identify themselves with Rachel and the idea of Rachel weeping for her children are Jewish moms who are weeping for sons and husbands and daughters who have been killed by the Babylonians whom Jeremiah predicted.

What Matthew is simply saying is what happened with Babylon prefigured what would happen when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  So one was a type of another you might say.  And then Verse 23, we don't have really time to cover that.  We'll just touch on the next week as we get into Chapter 3, "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by the prophet, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'"

Let's pray.  Our Father, we love studying about the One who saved us, Jesus, who would take away our sin, who would save His people from their sins.  We love studying about Immanuel, God with us and so thankful that this virgin born One from Heaven, One who is with You from eternity past stepped into our world and being a man, He could understand what we go through what we experience.  As a man, He could suffer what man suffer, what women suffer.  As a man, He could die to death that we die.  But as being God, having the nature of God and the nature of man, He was the sinless atonement, sinless sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice.

We confess we don't totally understand that we don't totally get it, but we marvel nonetheless and we do worship even as these men who were called wise men.  Anyone is wise who worships Christ.  Anyone is a fool who pretends to be like Herod or worshipper of Christ or like these religious folks who knew the scriptures but didn't know their Lord or even get motivated enough to find out if the scripture was fulfilled.

Lord, I pray that we as churchgoers and Bible studiers would seek the Living God, would seek the relationship and the communion with God that we wouldn't turn into just a church that is a school because then, it wouldn't really be a Body of Christ, it would just be a mouth and a set of ears.  But as the Body of Christ, we're all connected to one another and to You to find out what Your purpose is for us and to be a part of the process of changing lives.  Thank you Lord that we have a night where we can go in-depth and we can study these things.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/7/2011
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Matthew 1:1-18
Matthew 1:1-18
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As we turn our attention to the New Testament, Pastor Skip explains what transpired during the 400 years of silence since the Old Testament. Our firm grasp of the political setting, language, and Matthew's purpose and perspective establishes a solid foundation for understanding his gospel. In Matthew 1, we see Jesus revealed as the royal Heir to the throne of David—the Messiah, Immanuel: God with us.
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9/21/2011
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Matthew 3
Matthew 3
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Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest man among those born of women. John saw himself in the light of who Jesus is: not even worthy to loose His sandal. From the womb, he was filled with the Spirit, continually pointing people to Christ. Let's consider this powerful prophet, his ministry, and the message he preached.
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9/28/2011
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Matthew 4:1-17
Matthew 4:1-17
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Prior to the start of Jesus' public earthly ministry, He was led up to be tempted by the devil. As we review His encounter with Satan, we uncover important principles of spiritual warfare. We consider not only when and how Jesus was tempted, but also how He fought—and the ministry that began on the heels of the battle.
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10/5/2011
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Matthew 4:18-5:4
Matthew 4:18-5:4
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Leaving life as they knew it, the disciples followed Jesus and became intimate witnesses of Jesus' teaching, preaching, and healing. As we dive into this portion of Matthew, we turn our attention to their calling and listen in as Jesus begins the greatest sermon ever preached.
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10/19/2011
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Matthew 5:5-16
Matthew 5:5-16
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The economy in God's Kingdom is quite different from that of the world: it's paradoxical; it's progressive. Let's consider the Beatitudes and discover what kingdom living looks like, and how it impacts those around us.
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10/26/2011
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Matthew 5:17-32
Matthew 5:17-32
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The multitudes listening to Jesus teach were undoubtedly shaken by His powerful statement: "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). How, then, could one be saved? As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we remember that salvation is not available through human achievement--only by divine accomplishment.
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11/2/2011
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Matthew 5:33-6:8
Matthew 5:33-6:8
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As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we'll grow in our understanding of the contrasts between the world and the kingdom of heaven. Followers of Jesus are called to a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees—a righteousness based on our genuine relationship with Christ, rather than mere outward obedience.
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11/9/2011
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Matthew 6:9-34
Matthew 6:9-34
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Jesus taught His disciples to pray in this manner: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we learn that when we make God's kingdom our focus, He provides everything we need.
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11/16/2011
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Matthew 7
Matthew 7
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Jesus calls His followers to live differently from the world -- to live a kingdom lifestyle. In this study from the Sermon on the Mount, we consider what kingdom living looks like in both our relationships with others and our relationship with God.
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12/7/2011
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Matthew 8:1-26
Matthew 8:1-26
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Throughout his gospel account, Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah. Building upon the foundation of fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' identity is authenticated by miraculous signs. As we examine Matthew chapter eight, let's consider the compassion and grace Jesus demonstrates.
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1/18/2012
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Matthew 8:23-9:9
Matthew 8:23-9:9
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Matthew carefully crafted his gospel to speak directly to the hearts of his Jewish audience. Through his detailed record of Jesus' genealogy, fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' actions, instructions, and miracles, Matthew proves that Jesus is Messiah. Let's take a close look at several of those miracles, and gain a firm grasp of His Deity.
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1/25/2012
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Matthew 9:10-31
Matthew 9:10-31
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To the Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners were part of a lower, unpleasant class. But Jesus longed for fellowship with all people. He shared intimate meals with them, ministered to their needs, and reached out to the unlovely. As we study this passage in Matthew 9, we learn how we are also called to be heralds of the good news that brings spiritual health and enduring joy.
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2/1/2012
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Matthew 9:32-10:31
Matthew 9:32-10:31
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The Lord calls His followers to proclaim His message to the world—we are appointed to carry out a divine purpose. We learn in this study that we, like the apostles, find abundant life only in letting go of our own ambitions, plans, and comfort.
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2/8/2012
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Matthew 10:32-11:19
Matthew 10:32-11:19
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In His second major discourse of Matthew, Jesus equips and instructs His apostles about going into the world and reaping the spiritual harvest. In this passage, Jesus expounds on the courage needed to complete the mission and warns His followers of certain persecution. He reminds us that while not all who hear will believe, God's wisdom is powerfully demonstrated in changed lives.
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2/15/2012
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Matthew 11:16-30
Matthew 11:16-30
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In order to truly worship God, you must know Him. Speaking clearly and openly in this passage, Jesus proclaims some of His strongest warnings and makes some of His most intimate promises. He reveals the Father to His followers and assures us that life lived under His rule yields peace and rest.
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2/22/2012
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Matthew 12:1-21
Matthew 12:1-21
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Though God intended the Sabbath to be a day of rest, keeping the Sabbath became difficult work by New Testament times. The oral traditions of the Pharisees had become weighty burdens-burdens the Lord did not mean for His people to bear. In this passage, Jesus demonstrates mercy and the true intent of the Sabbath as He and His disciples meet physical needs in the face of strong opposition.
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2/29/2012
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Matthew 12:22-42
Matthew 12:22-42
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Though our current culture embraces a form of spirituality, the biblical view of God, Satan, and good versus evil has been dismissed by most. Ignorance and indifference cause them to relegate Satan to the stuff of fairy tales and myth. In this study from Matthew 12, Jesus demonstrates His authority over the devil and his minions--giving us a glimpse into the supernatural and a reminder that, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
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3/7/2012
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Matthew 12:43-13:17
Matthew 12:43-13:17
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Jesus consistently brought His message of hope to the common man: He spoke in parables to bring revelation to His followers and to conceal heavenly truth from the hard-hearted. In this message, we examine parables of our Master Teacher and Holy Judge, and discover that truth can be a blessing, but also a curse--we must be diligent to understand and apply God's Word to our lives.
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3/14/2012
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Matthew 13:18-52
Matthew 13:18-52
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Jesus often used parables to explain spiritual truth to His followers. In Matthew 13, His seven kingdom parables are recorded--word pictures which explain the beginning, opposition, expansion, and culmination of His kingdom. Let's consider His teachings and apply these lessons, so that we may be fellow workers with Him in spreading the good news.
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3/21/2012
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Matthew 13:53-14:36
Matthew 13:53-14:36
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In this passage from the gospel of Matthew, we see powerful examples of the results of both faith and the lack of it. Those who might have known Jesus best failed to trust in Him and missed out on His work in their lives, while others were carried through the storm in His care. As we consider our own trials, we should rest in His hands, knowing He has power to change us and use our lives for His glory.
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3/28/2012
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Matthew 15
Matthew 15
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God is less concerned with the outward appearance than He is with the inward attitude. In this passage, Jesus boldly proclaims truth in a confrontation with the Pharisees, warning his followers to avoid hypocrisy. We also witness His tender response to the persistent faith of a Gentile woman, and His mercy for the multitudes. As we study Matthew 15, let's consider our own approach to Him: Do we recognize that we cannot live without Him?
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4/11/2012
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Matthew 16:1-20
Matthew 16:1-20
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Through stern rebuke, gentle prodding, and powerful teaching, Jesus instructs those around Him about who He is and how we can know and serve Him. Matthew 16 records several lessons in faith - warnings and wisdom which encourage us in our own spiritual journey.
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4/25/2012
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Matthew 16:21-17:27
Matthew 16:21-17:27
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Jesus calls His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. From this passage, we gain a clearer understanding of what it means to exalt Him as King in our lives and also get a preview of His future glory, when He will reign over all the earth.
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5/2/2012
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Matthew 18
Matthew 18
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How should sin be dealt with? As we examine Matthew 18, we learn not only to deal radically with sin in our own lives, but also the steps toward reconciliation with a sinning brother.
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6/13/2012
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Matthew 19
Matthew 19
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In the U.S., the lifestyle of Christians often mirrors that of unbelievers--divorce, self-indulgence, misaligned priorities. Using God's Word to teach lessons about divorce and eternal life, Jesus exhorts his followers to enter the kingdom of heaven--to live in wholehearted faith and obedience to the Him. Let's consider what Scripture says about godly living and the reward Jesus promises to His faithful followers.
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6/20/2012
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Matthew 20
Matthew 20
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As followers of Christ, what awaits us in eternity? In this study, we consider not only our eternal home but also our eternal reward. Saved by grace through faith, we must see beyond the circumstances and status of this world, and look toward our future glory.
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7/11/2012
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Matthew 21:1-32
Matthew 21:1-32
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In this intriguing passage, Jesus enters Jerusalem in a precise fulfillment of prophecy. It's an exciting study, where those who know they need forgiveness find refreshment and hope—and those who rely on their own righteousness receive a stern rebuke.
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7/18/2012
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Matthew 21:33-22:22
Matthew 21:33-22:22
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Jesus taught with complete authority, denouncing the misconceptions of the religious leaders of the day. With skill and precision, Jesus uses parables and their own words to silence their challenges and expose their motives. Let's consider His words, heed His warnings, and remember that He alone is righteous and worthy of praise.
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7/25/2012
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Matthew 22:23-23:39
Matthew 22:23-23:39
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In dealing with the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus speaks wisely, uncompromisingly, and with the authority of heaven—His Words shoot straight to the heart. Though many try to fit Jesus into their pre-conceived mold—to accept Him and His Words only as far as they are comfortable—we learn here danger of that the perilous position.
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8/1/2012
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Matthew 24:1-30
Matthew 24:1-30
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In this passage—the Olivet Discourse— Jesus provides a summary of end time events: the future of the world. We look forward to the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus, but those found outside of Christ face unparalleled suffering and judgment. Let's contemplate the wrath of God that's in store for this world—and share the hope of the gospel with those who don't yet know Him.
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8/8/2012
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Matthew 24:31-25:46
Matthew 24:31-25:46
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In this section of the Olivet Discourse, we consider Jesus' Warning Parables. As we examine the text, let's remember that while the church escapes judgment, many are left to suffer the Great Tribulation. We must be righteous, be ready, and be responsible.
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8/15/2012
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Matthew 26:1-30
Matthew 26:1-30
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As Jesus gathered with His disciples to observe the Passover one last time, He brought fresh meaning to a festival which had been celebrated for thousands of years. Rather than a memorial to their physical deliverance from bondage in Egypt, the meal represents His broken body and shed blood—and spiritual deliverance from sin for those who believe.
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8/22/2012
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Matthew 26:31-75
Matthew 26:31-75
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Following the Last Supper, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane and willingly surrendered Himself to the will of the Father: Jesus was crushed for our sin, abandoned to the Cross, so that we might have fellowship with Him. As we study Matthew 26, we consider the spiritual battle before us, the choices we make, and the ultimate victory that is ours through Jesus Christ.
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8/29/2012
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Matthew 27:1-50
Matthew 27:1-50
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In this message, we see the ultimate demonstration of God's love—the cross. Jesus, the King of the Jews, was betrayed, falsely accused, illegally tried, scourged, and ultimately crucified. As we consider the details of His crucifixion and death, how could we be anything except amazed and humbled?
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9/19/2012
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Matthew 27:50-66
Matthew 27:50-66
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As He hung on the cross, betrayed by his friends and separated from His Father, Jesus declared "It is finished!" Victorious, not defeated—He completed the work the Father gave Him to do. In that dark hour, the grave gave up some of her dead, the earth quaked, and in the temple, the curtain that separated men from God was torn from top to bottom. As we study this text, let's consider the price Jesus paid to redeem us and the personal, intimate fellowship with God now available.
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9/26/2012
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Matthew 28
Matthew 28
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Jesus' resurrection: great news for His disciples—troubling news to his enemies. As the chief priests grappled with a cover up, the disciples met with the risen Lord and were commissioned to "Go and make disciples of all the nations." As we consider our text, we discover the good news for ourselves: Jesus is not dead—He's alive and has all authority in heaven and earth.
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There are 36 additional messages in this series.
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