Sermons Based on the Lectionary of the Syrian Orthodox Church

Sermon / Homily on Matthew 2:19-23

How Do You See Jesus of Nazareth?

By Rick Clayton

Gospel: Matthew 2:19-23

While studying Matthew's narrative about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has become apparent that, even from the time of His conception in Mary's womb, the world has rejected Him. The second chapter of Matthew has emphasized this fact in His early childhood as well.

In a series of references to Old Testament prophecies, Matthew has explained that God, in His sovereignty, foresaw and foretold, not only specific events regarding Christ's rejection but, in giving them, paints for us a picture of the life of Christ.

When our Lord Jesus and His family were forced to flee to Egypt to escape Herod's murderous plot to kill Him, we see God calling Christ out of Egypt and, therefore, giving us a clear picture of His life that was separate from sin. As we read the account of Herod's massacre of the male children in and around Bethlehem in an attempt to assassinate Jesus the true King of the Jews, we have displayed for us there the dire consequences of rejecting God's anointed Savior and King (see previous studies).

In 2:19-23, Matthew emphasizes again the rejection of Christ as demonstrated by His own people in the land of Israel. He points out that these circumstances depict the very essence of the rejection that Jesus would face all of His life, especially by the Jews. The narrative continues by telling us that, at this point, "Herod was dead." When Herod first heard that Jesus was born, his plan was to remove this new threat to his throne. But only a short while after his merciless act of indiscriminately killing untold numbers of small children in an attempt on the life of Jesus, we find that God has required the life of Herod instead.

Now that God had removed Herod, "behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, 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.'" As promised earlier (2:13), the angel brought further instruction from God to Joseph. Herod had sought the young Child's life, but God had providentially allowed Herod's massacre and then took Herod's life. "Then [Joseph] arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel." God had called His Son out of Egypt (2:15) which pictured this world of sin, and now Jesus, leaving Egypt, was back in the land of promise which pictured God's rest in salvation (Hebrews 3:12-4:13). It was in the land of Israel (the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [Israel]) that our Lord Jesus would spend the remainder of His life. It was there that He lived and then died for our sins on the cross that we might enter into the rest of God's salvation.

Joseph, Mary and the Child, Jesus, had left Bethlehem in the region of "Judea" (being the southern region of the land) and headed to Egypt which was even further to the South. It is evident here that that Joseph intended to return to Bethlehem where the Lord Jesus was born following their visit to register for the census (Luke 2:4-5). There that they had made their home for approximately a year. But because "Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, [Joseph] was afraid to go there."

God continues His faithfulness to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus as He directs them away from the danger with another "dream." At this, Joseph "turned aside into the region of Galilee. 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.'"

It is very important to note that both Joseph and Mary were originally from "Nazareth" (Luke 1:26; 2:4). The town was located in the northern region of the country known as "Galilee" approximately 55 miles north of Jerusalem. Because of the stigma produced by Mary's miraculous conception of Jesus before she and Joseph were married, to return to their hometown was certainly a difficult thing for them emotionally. Yet, that is where God sent them in fulfillment of prophecy, and there Jesus grew up and worked as a Man until His revealing to the nation as their Savior and King.

Matthew tells us that the family's settling in Nazareth was to fulfill that which was spoken by the "prophets." But what prophets? The quote used by Matthew, "He shall be called a Nazarene" is nowhere found in the Old Testament Scriptures. In fact, the town of Nazareth is not even mentioned. It was an out of the way place with an unsavory reputation -- an unlikely home for God's Son, the Savior and King.

However, Jesus would be called a Nazarene -- a term that had, for a long time, been equated with any person who was crude and even violent. In fact, Christ would even be referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" (e.g. John 1:45). It was so unlikely in the minds of the people that God's Messiah would come from such a place that Nathaniel, the disciple who was noted for his lack of deceitfulness, would say, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

The term, "Nazarene," would also later be applied to Christians in a derogatory way as with Paul in Acts 24:5. To be called a Nazarene was to label you as a lowly, sinful person. Again, an unlikely place for Jesus the sinless Son of God to live. Yet, it was appropriate. Appropriate because it identifies Jesus with the very sinners that He came to save. As unlikely as it was that God's Son would be from a place like Nazareth, it was even more unlikely that God Himself would enter into the sinful human race and become one of us, but He did. The Lord of heaven became like sinful mankind yet without sin so that we might, in turn, become like Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Our salvation is equally an unlikely thing!

God had all of this planned from the beginning. Some have offered various interpretations of this passage, linking it to some of Isaiah prophecies (11:1 - Heb. neser "a branch"), but it seems more likely that the term, "Nazarene", refers to Jesus as being despised and rejected by men -- seen as nothing special or acceptable.

Therefore, His being spoken of by the "prophets" as a Nazarene would refer to such passages as Psalm 22:6-8 which says, "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him." Those words were, of course, spoken by the Jews as they watched Jesus being crucified. They rejected Him so completely, that they even mocked Him while He was dying for the sins of the world!

Isaiah 53:3 likewise tells us that God's chosen One would be "despised and rejected by men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." It goes on to say, "And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him" (cf. Is. 49:7). The Jews, symbolic of all people, displayed the very nature of the rejection toward Christ that world has unless and until we are saved by God's grace through faith in His Son (Eph. 2:8-9).

There may also have been other prophecies that were not recorded in Scripture of which the Jews were aware. There are other sayings and events which were not recorded in the Old Testament but which are referenced in the New Testament. For instance, Jude mentions a prophecy of Enoch regarding God's judgment on the ungodly (Jude 14-15). Many of the sayings of Jesus were not recorded for us in the Gospels as John 21:25 explains. Luke, who penned the Gospel that bears his name, did not record Jesus' command that "It is more blessed to give than to receive", but he makes reference to it in Acts 20:35 as he quotes Paul's use of the command. Likewise, Matthew may be speaking of certain other prophecies which would have authority only because the Holy Spirit saw fit to include references to them in the New Testament. It does not verify any other extra-biblical writings as Holy Scripture.

But whatever the prophecies, the point is that they were made, and they spoke of Jesus as One who was despised and rejected. God saw to it that His Son would fulfill these prophecies in such a literal way and, yet, in such a symbolic way.

How do you see Jesus of Nazareth -- Jesus the Christ, God's Savior and King? You will either receive Him with all your heart, or you will despise and reject Him. I pray that, by seeing how clearly God has presented His Son as the sinless Savior and King, you will receive Him by faith and enter into eternal life. He has come and identified Himself with you, a sinner, by dying in your place for your sins. Will you identify with Him as the Savior by faith in Him as the Son of God? Will you place your faith in Jesus of Nazareth today?

See Also:

Sermons and Commentaries for the Second Sunday After Christmas

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