Life in the Kingdom, Book 1

Matthew 1

Great Possibilities

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

We get the full details of Mary's pregnancy in Luke 1:32-33 when the angel Gabriel visits her and tells her that she will be with child apart from her husband, and the child will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. So Mary already knew the child was destined to be the promised Messiah the Hebrews were looking for to lead them, the One God promised to put on the throne to rule forever, and Mary treasured these things in her heart.

When Elizabeth came to visit her, Mary magnified the Lord. Luke 1:46-55 records her song, which is full of Old Testament references, showing how much she had believed and valued the scriptures, so we can be confident that Jesus was saturated with the word of God while He grew up with Mary as His mother. His future kingdom was destined to be great.

Through the gospels and epistles, we learn that God's people also have a remarkable future. We have the possibility of ruling with Christ in His kingdom. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus said to His disciples, Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, . . . you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In our case, we must be trained in this life to reach that scripture’s fulfillment. Many of us are surrounded by a secular community, so we are not so immersed in God's word. We are not aware of the great plans God has for us, nor of the means by which He trains us to reach their fulfillment. Due to this ignorance, we misunderstand and fight against the very means God uses to train us -- hardships and suffering -- and our growth is sporadic. We are happy to call our children good kids because they stay out of trouble. Not so with God and His children. He actively trains them for the kingdom to come. Throughout the gospel of Matthew, we will discover the training methods God uses and examine the fruit God wishes to grow in our lives so we may be trained to receive a reward at Judgment Day, even to rule with Christ.

1:19-21 Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph was afraid for Mary and his future since he thought Mary was pregnant by another man and shame would surround their marriage. But God safeguarded key aspects of the salvation story with special acts of intervention; in this case, he spoke to Joseph in a dream to comfort him and give him direction.

Many of us wish that God would speak plainly to us so we could make better decisions. We say things like, Wouldn't it be great if a voice came from heaven telling me what to do, or revealing more about God to me? Be careful of what you wish for! In Acts 9:1-6, Saul of Tarsus fell to the ground when a bright light shone around him, and the Son of God spoke. As a result, Saul's life was completely transformed. Just a few days later, God spoke these remarkable words to him in Acts 9:16, For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.

People who want to encourage others to follow them usually don’t tell their prospective followers about the sufferings they will experience. But not only did Paul hear of the sufferings, he also agreed to them! Paul was later to write much of the New Testament, even to show us that suffering will be essential to our training and growth as Christians. He wrote in Romans 5:3-4, And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. God will use our tribulations (hardships) to train us in endurance as we learn to trust Him in hard times, and those experiences in turn will shape our characters to trust Him so much that we develop a confident expectation (hope) of what He'll do in the future.

And we learned all that without hearing the voice of God speaking out of the sky! His word is His voice to us. Let us not neglect it, but dive more deeply to learn more about the kingdom God wants to give us. The Holy Spirit at work in Mary will also work in us to teach and form us.

1:21 She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.

In the Greek, the word sin literally means to miss the mark. If I were in the woods and fired an arrow into the forest, without aiming the arrow to try to hit a specific target, I would not really know how good I was. But once I chose a target and aimed at it, I would quickly find out how skilled an archer I was. If I aimed at a target and missed, that would be the meaning of sin: to miss the mark.

We usually think of sin as doing a bad thing, such as being sexually immoral, losing our temper, or being bad people in general. If we knew what the mark was, we would have a clearer understanding of what sin is. If we knew what the target was, it would be easy to see all the times we've missed it. The mark is this: trusting Jesus. Anything else is sin. Without faith, without trusting Jesus, it is impossible to please Him.

If we are not believing God, then nothing we do is good; all of it is sin, and we are continually missing the mark. With this understanding, we can be sinners and yet never hurt a soul. Do you know what the greatest commandment is? To love the Lord with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's the mark, the target to aim at throughout your whole life.

His Name is Jesus

You shall call his name Jesus. Why did the angel tell Mary to give the baby this particular name? Why not name Him Billy or Tom? How about Alexander? That's a noble name. Because the name is the message. My name is Steve. The Greek version of my name is Stephanos. It's the name for the wreath the victors of the public games wore. The name Jesus means Jehovah is Salvation. The angel did not choose a word that means good deeds is salvation, or loyalty to the church is salvation, or believing in yourself is salvation, or being a nice person is salvation. Jehovah is salvation. The name is to help us see salvation differently: Oh, I've been trusting in my feelings and my good deeds . . . I'll trust in Jesus.

Trust in God and you are saved from your sins. Trust in God and you escape temptation. Trust in God and you are righteous in His sight. Trust in God and you are forgiven. Trust in God and He is with you. Trust in God and discover His love. As you have first believed in Jesus, continue to live that way: trust from the beginning, trust through the middle, trust to the end. That is what salvation looks like -- trusting Jesus.

Jesus' name tells all: Jehovah is salvation. Trust in God, not yourself, not your circumstances. Then He, Jesus, does what we can't do -- He saves us from our sins.

When we don't trust God, we miss the mark every time. When we trust God, we hit the mark every time. May we hit the bullseye today, all day.

1:22-23 Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, And shall bring forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel; Which is, being interpreted, God with us.

Each of the four gospels was written with different aims in mind, or for different groups of people. Matthew's gospel was written to introduce Jesus as the Messiah to devout Jews. To support this purpose, the book recites many passages from the Old Testament to show the Jews that Jesus was the fulfillment of those scriptures. Here, we learn that Mary's miraculous birth comes from an obscure passage in Isaiah 7:14.

This will not be an ordinary child. He will be God among us. Through this Jesus, God came down personally and lived among us. Through Jesus and His interaction with the people we get a better view of what God is like. With Jesus, God assumes flesh and blood, and many mysteries are removed.

The portrayal of Jesus helped me see the God of the Old Testament in a new way. Rereading those books, I get a different tone of voice when God speaks. He is not so much speaking in rage over Israel's sins, but in sorrow. Stern tones are softened. When I dwelt on the harsher aspects of violence, I had overlooked the many instances of God's mercy and grace throughout.

Any time we feel that God is distant or that God does not care, we need to reread the gospels and see a God who came for us, who was the word perfectly modeled in human flesh in the person of Jesus. John 1:14 tells us, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

1:24-25 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; and didn't know her sexually until she had brought forth her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

What do you do when God speaks to you? Respond to what He says. This is exactly what Joseph did. He continued his relationship with Mary as the angel directed. He did not worry about the looks the villagers cast their way. They named the child Jesus. With the words of the angel, Joseph rested in the fact that God had seen his predicament and assured him all would be well.

God continues to speak to us today through His word. Christian growth builds when we follow through on what the passage means. God directs us how to live our lives. In response, we consider how His words apply to us and the changes that need to be made to implement what He says. Then we follow in obedience. We can take comfort and respond as Joseph did, for God has provided direction and encouragement for our situations, too.

Review

In summary, what did we learn?

1. You who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones. One teaching missing from many pulpits is the idea that God is evaluating us for a position in Heaven. He is looking for those who are worthy to rule with Christ.

2. for it is he who shall save his people from their sins. Is this why you have a Savior? Jesus came to save us from our sins -- will we keep our sins or repent of them and see their power broken in our lives?

3. God with us. Sin separates us from God, so the effect of sins forgiven and broken is God is with us. Do you know God in your life, or do you know sin more?

A Prophetic Kingdom

Matthew 2:1-11

A Puzzling Chronology

2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,

The second chapters of Matthew and Luke contain narratives of the early life of Jesus. Many learned men and women have tried to piece the two chapters together so that they mingle inside each other. This does not work, however, because the events of the wise men in Matthew 2 cannot be placed among the events of Jesus in Jerusalem in Luke 2.

In Luke 2 the people are ordered to go to their hometowns to be registered. In response, Mary and Joseph leave Nazareth and go south to Bethlehem (just a few miles from Jerusalem). This is where Jesus is born and where the angels announced His arrival. Then, the shepherds come to see Him at the inn. Next, Jesus’ parents take Him to Jerusalem to be dedicated to God, Simeon blesses them, and then Anna talks about Him. They then return north to Nazareth near Galilee.

How do we fit the story of the wise men in there? We don’t. Instead, Luke 2:41 teaches us that every year Jesus’ family returned to Jerusalem for the Passover. This is a key verse. After the events of Luke 2, about a year goes by, the family returns south to Jerusalem for the Passover, stays near Bethlehem, and then Matthew 2 begins.

This chronology is bolstered by the fact that when the wise men come to Jesus, He is called a child and no longer a baby. That’s why Herod would order children two years and under killed. So the wise men go to Jerusalem and inquire of Herod where the King was born. In response, Herod’s scribes point to the prophecy of Bethlehem. The wise men follow the star until it stops over the house where Jesus is located. I theorize that the holy family is staying with other family members or relatives while they are there for the Passover.

Some Bible versions translate the opening verse of this chapter, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem . . . but the usage of when is misleading: when should be translated after so the chronology is correct. Upon making inquiries about this, I learned the Greek word can indeed by rendered after. The wise men did not come when Jesus was born, but a year or so later, not going to a manger in the inn, but to the house of Matthew 2:11.

Why do I insist that the events in these two chapters are in this order of chronology? Because some learned men who cannot reconcile the two chapters are teaching others that the chapters are figurative, not to be taken as literal events! Don’t make the same mistake. These are not mythical fables, but history. God sent a real, flesh-and-blood Savior exactly when and where He said He would.

The Prophesied King

2:2-6 Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.

They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet,

‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are in no way least among the princes of Judah:

For out of you shall come forth a governor, Who shall shepherd my people, Israel.'"

Did you know that more than a quarter of the Bible is composed of prophecies? Many of those prophecies are designed to help us identify Jesus, the one God would send to save us. Suppose someone told you I would come, and gave you three things to help identify me, such as being bald and wearing glasses and hearing aids. If someone came near and was bald with glasses, but had no hearing aids, you would keep looking until you saw a man who had all three features because you would need all three to identify me perfectly. It is the same with Jesus. God proclaimed many details about Jesus ahead of time so that when He came, we would be able to identify Him among the millions of men to come. Look at this list of literal prophecies of Jesus:

-- The Messiah would come at a particular time. (Daniel 9:25)

-- The Messiah would be born of a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:22-23)

-- The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. (Genesis 49:10, Luke 3:33)

-- The Messiah would be heir to King David's throne. (Isaiah 9:7, Luke 1:32-33)

-- A messenger would prepare the way for the Messiah. (Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:3-6)

-- The Messiah would bring light to Galilee. (Isaiah 9:1-2, Matthew 4:13-16)

-- The Messiah would be betrayed. (Psalm 41:9, Zechariah 11:12-13, Luke 22:47-48)

-- The Messiah would be falsely accused. (Psalm 35:11, Mark 14:57-58)

-- The Messiah would be silent before His accusers. (Isaiah 53:7, Mark 15:4-5)

-- The Messiah would be crucified with criminals. (Isaiah 53:12, Matthew 27:38)

-- The Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced. (Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10, John 20:25-27)

-- Soldiers would gamble for the Messiah's garments. (Psalm 22:18, Luke 23:34)

-- The Messiah would be forsaken by God. (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46)

-- Soldiers would pierce the Messiah's side. (Zechariah 12:10, John 19:34)

-- The Messiah would be buried with the rich. (Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:57-60)

-- The Messiah would resurrect from the dead. (Psalm 16:10, Psalm 49:15, Matthew 28:2-7)

-- The Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin. (Isaiah 53:5-12, Romans 5:6-8)

Through fulfilled prophecy we know that Jesus is the one God sent to save us. All the points line up. Similarly, the person who shared three features about me was accurate, so you could trust him to tell you when I'll come again. Jesus is coming again. Based on the fact that He fulfilled more than forty prophecies accurately predicting His first coming, I have absolute confidence in the prophecies for His Second Coming happening as God predicted. His word has been proven to be trustworthy.

Some of the people in Jesus' day knew what to do with the prophecies. In John 7, people were asking questions about Jesus. Some of them compared Jesus’ life to the prophecies to determine if He was the Christ. Some of them erred, since they were not able to put together the prophecies with understanding. Note that they all used logic and reason to determine these things. They did not admonish each other to merely believe, as many do today. With prophecy, God made a way to prove Himself, by giving us individual details of Jesus’ coming hundreds of years in advance and by giving us a mind that uses reason to arrive at conclusions. Through fulfilled prophecy, God gave us reasons to believe that Jesus is the Savior.

2:7-8 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.

Herod wanted to know more about the Christ child, so he asked the scribes about Him. Of course, he did this from corrupt motives, as we'll see later when he orders the children of Bethlehem killed.

How about us? Do we make any effort to learn more about the Savior who is preached to us each Sunday? Are we satisfied to hear as little as we do? Some pastors and teachers in the church are fountains of wisdom (and some are not). Many of them would welcome your questions. Unfortunately, people are asking personal questions of complete strangers on various internet forums. This is unwise because the advice may not be suitable at all. With a face-to-face talk, though, the wise counselor could ask questions, gauge the answers, consider your past conduct in the church, and give more personalized counsel with the Bible at hand.

Responding to the Message

2:9-11 They [the wise men], having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

What did the wise men do when they got the prophecy? They went to worship Jesus as King. What was His message? The kingdom of God is at hand. The prophesied King has come. We do not have to search for another. We now know who to devote our lives to.

The wise men journeyed a far distance to see Jesus. They fell down and worshiped Him and gave Him gifts. Now Jesus is as close as our lips and heart. We may worship Him at any time. There’s no better way to worship Him as King than to give ourselves as gifts to Him. Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. What is the kingdom of God? The reign of Jesus over all you think, say, and do. This is how you know you are in the kingdom, how you know you have accepted the message: you want Him to rule over all of you. Lord, I belong to you. What do you want me to do? Then we read the Bible to find out.

Something, or someone, is missing from this picture. Where are the scribes? They knew the scriptures. They were able to pinpoint where the Messiah was to be born. So why are they not accompanying the wise men? I can relate to the scribes. Sometimes I can get so caught up studying the word of God that I forget I am supposed to obey it. I read about worshiping God and forget to actually have a personal time of worshiping God. I read about Jesus being a King in a kingdom, put the book down, and live the rest of the day as if I were king in my kingdom. I don’t surrender to let Him rule in my heart. Are we as the scribes who merely accumulate head knowledge about God, or the wise men who seek Him?

I've always wondered how the wise men could follow a star that pointed directly to a particular house. When I look above at the stars, I don't see any particular ones pointing to my house -- they're all above the house! So I assume God had fashioned a particularly notable light to be easy for them to follow. It went before them, after all, showing itself to be no ordinary star.

That theory does not sit well with many. Invoking the miraculous is too easy, too pat. One of the most intriguing studies I've ever seen on this issue is found in the documentary, The Star of Bethlehem. The narrator had acquired software that showed what the heavens looked like at the time of the wise men. Using various scriptures with the software, he discovered amazing juxtapositions of prophecy and the stars. The discovery process is too difficult to relay here; however, the documentary is fascinating to watch as the narrator carefully built up his case. More information is found in the following Notes section, below.

Review

In summary, what did we learn?

1. These are not mythical fables, but history. Be careful about interpreting events in the bible as literal or figurative. If they are told in a historical style, you can usually accept it as a historical event.

2. In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet. We got a sneak preview of a Savior's life in the Old Testament. Jesus fits the profile in every way. He is the Messiah God promised.

3. and they fell down and worshiped him. This is our response when we learn of Jesus. Let's worship Him when we know more about Him.

Notes

The list of prophecies were taken from http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/a/Prophecies-Jesus.htm

The Star of Bethlehem. Site: http://www.bethlehemstar.com/ and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncoC9ZX2C6Y

A Guided Kingdom

Matthew 2:12-23

God Guides His People

2:12-15 Being warned in a dream that they shouldn't return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into 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 called my son.

How well do you handle warnings, commands, and rebukes in the Bible that are directed at you? The wise men and Joseph responded to the warnings in the dreams with obedience. Submission to the word of God is the highest expression of faith a Christian can have. How can we say we believe God when we don't do what He says? But when we obey, we are putting ourselves in the right position before Him -- He is greater than we are.

The wise men and Joseph heeded the warnings because they were endangered, yet assured of escape. A loving Father gives His children warnings to turn them away from dangerous consequences. He warns us in Galatians 5:19-21, for instance, that when we continue in immoral behavior, we are not fit for the kingdom of God. James 2:13 tells us that we will not receive mercy at the Judgment Seat if we are not showing mercy to others. The warnings encourage a change in direction to escape the consequences.

We may hesitate to obey God because we fear what following His will leads to. Yet surrendering to His will leads to the fulfillment of every promise. We enter into every good thing we read in the Bible through faith in God, not suspicion of Him.

2:16-18 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,

A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; She wouldn't be comforted, Because they are no more.

Satan has been against God's highest creation since the beginning, when he tempted Eve to go against God's will and bring death into the world God made. Satan has been at war with the Hebrews since ancient times, trying to eradicate any possibility of the promised Messiah coming to earth to redeem fallen humanity back to Himself. I can see in Herod another of Satan's attempts to prevent the Savior of the world from coming.

Death and destruction have followed the Hebrews and Christians since the first martyr Stephen was killed. Thousands of believers are persecuted every year in our time. But the Savior has come. He stands undefeated. And we in Him are victorious. Jesus has imparted the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and defeat every strategy of the enemy who still roars like a lion to destroy us. No matter the ways and means the enemy used to prevent the Messiah’s coming, God brought the promise to fulfillment. We can be fully assured that the prophecies for the Second Coming will be completely fulfilled, as well. No man or demon, not even death itself, shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Prophecies of the coming kingdom are promises that God will do what He says. Our trials will cause us to weep, but joy comes in the morning. Satan will continue his terrible work until then, but God will use the hard times to strengthen us and form a people for His glory.

2:19-23 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life are dead.

He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in