Author: Jefferson Vann

THE DISCIPLE’S DUTY

Luke 17:1-10 NET.

¹ Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! ² It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ³ Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.⁴ Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ So the Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷ “Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’? ⁸ Won’t the master instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready to serve me while I eat and drink. Then you may eat and drink’? ⁹ He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, will he? ¹⁰ So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.'”

Jesus is with a group of his disciples in today’s text. It includes the smaller group of his twelve apostles (mentioned in verse 5). There is no mention of a larger crowd of onlookers. There is no mention of the Pharisees or any other group of opponents. This is an opportunity for Jesus to zero in on those who are genuinely his disciples and to give them marching orders. He’s outlining how these disciples should live. He’s telling them what their duties are if they are going to live under his rule while they wait for his second coming.

That makes today’s text ideal for us as we try to reboot and start our new year out right. We need marching orders, too. We must reflect on how we lived in the past and determine what changes we can make to live like Jesus wants us to. In our hearts, we all want to do that. We get frustrated with ourselves because we have done things that we regret and failed to do things we wanted to do. So, let’s take the words of Jesus in today’s passage as marching orders from our King as we begin this new year.

First, do no harm (1-4).

The first command that appears is for us to watch ourselves (in verse 3). Verse 1 explains what we are to watch for. It says that stumbling blocks are going to come. A stumbling block gets in people’s way and trips them, causing them to fall. Stumbling blocks are not attacks from the outside. They are not going to come from the government. They are not going to come from proponents of another religion. Stumbling blocks are dangerous because they are right here among us. Stumbling blocks will come in every Christian church, school, and home.

The purpose of the stumbling block is to damage the faith of Christians. It is to cause the little ones to stumble. They may be literally little ones – that is, young Christians. Or they may be Christians who are still new to their faith and inexperienced. But stumbling happens when another Christian says something or does something that causes the little one to stop believing and leave the church.

Jesus is telling his disciples that their first responsibility now that they are part of his church is to protect the others they fellowship with. We all know that every true believer has gifts that reproduce their faith in others. Jesus is telling us in today’s text that we also can destroy the faith of others. We need to know that. We must know our capability to do great good and great harm.

Hippocrates, the Greek father of medicine, required the doctors that he trained to pronounce a vow that we now call the Hippocratic oath. The oath was simple: “First, do no harm.” That seems to be what Jesus tells his disciples in today’s text. He tells them that they have the potential to be a blessing in other people’s lives or to destroy them. He tells them to bless and not curse, to help and heal, not disrupt, and devour.

Jesus says it would be better for a believer to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of the little ones to sin. He’s not saying this is the punishment for being a stumbling stone. He’s saying that if you are tempted to make other people stumble, it would be better to have yourself drowned before you even get the chance. That is how important it is that we believers watch out for this problem.

Jesus cares about you, and he cares about the Christian brother or sister next to you. He commands us to protect them. Their faith is fragile, and we can damage it without being careful. We can damage them by something we say. A false doctrine coming out of our mouths – a lousy attitude reflected in a Facebook post – people are watching and listening. We can damage them even if we don’t intend to. They are watching our actions, too. Revenge, pride, lust, greed, superstition – any of these sins reflected in our actions can ripple out toward others and cause a tsunami.

But there is one specific act that Jesus highlights in today’s passage. It is the one thing that can cause more stumbling than any other thing in the Christian community. We need to be extra cautious about this thing. It is the lack of forgiveness. Jesus says If our brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against us seven times a day and seven times returns to us saying, ‘I repent,’ we must forgive him. What Jesus is talking about her is a disruption in a relationship.

We constantly fail Jesus in this matter. Our default activity if someone disappoints us is to break ties with him. We even do it as groups. Churches split. Denominations split. All of Christendom has been divided into a myriad of factions and faiths. This is precisely what Jesus warned us about. We tend to divide rather than unite. Even when we unite, it is in contrast to those with whom we have chosen to divide. We are Protestant, not Catholic. We are Evangelical, not liberal, fundamentalist, or modernist. Maybe some of that history could not have been avoided. But the result is that we display a divided church. A split church harms.

This morning, Jesus’ command for us is, “First, do no harm.” Whatever we say in this life, let it be to build other Christians up, not to tear them down. Whatever we do, let it be an example of authentic Christianity, not the ways of the world. The world is watching – we know. They are watching to see if we are what we say we are. But the church is watching, too. It is a church that is vulnerable. It can be harmed.

Second, trust God’s grace (5-6).

I mentioned that Jesus was speaking to a group of disciples, and the group included the twelve whom he had appointed as apostles. In verse 5, the apostles speak up for the first time. They give Jesus a request. In the context of this passage, it sounds like Luke has taken this part of the conversation from another incident. Many commentators treat verses 5-6 as if they are separate paragraphs.

I don’t think it is necessary to do that. The apostles had just been challenged not to harm the church. I’m sure it occurred to them that they would need some tremendous supernatural, miraculous power to keep them from botching things in the church. With that in mind, it sounds perfectly natural to ask for solid faith.

Jesus could have done that. He could have zapped the apostles with a robust and powerful faith that forever prevented them from making ministry mistakes. But notice how he replied to them. He told them that their faith did not need to be any stronger. He had already called them people of little faith. But here, he told them their little faith was all they needed. They had mustard seed faith, which is all the faith you need. With that tiny faith, they could uproot a mulberry tree. The mulberry tree has big, black, solid roots and is almost impossible to transplant. What Jesus is telling his apostles here is – Don’t worry, you’ve got what it takes.

Everyone in Christian leadership struggles with what the apostles are dealing with here. The needs are significant, and the potential for failure and harm is immense. We all know about prominent church leaders who failed so publicly that it brought disgrace to them and shame to their churches. And that is the tip of the iceberg. For every leader who fails, countless followers are so damaged that their lives are never the same again. This problem is genuine. That is why we should pay close attention to what Jesus tells the apostles. The solution is not another miracle. The faith God gave you when you accepted Christ is enough.

People who have significant responsibilities do not need immense power to succeed. They need the ability to trust in their already given power. They need to learn to trust God’s grace. That big, stubborn mulberry tree does not match your little mustard seed faith. God has already given you solid faith to handle all your responsibilities. You have to trust him and do what he told you.

What is valid for the apostles and their leadership is true for every Christ disciple. You have challenges at work, with your family, in your community. You have political challenges, health issues, mental and psychological problems. You have financial problems. The list goes on and on. When you think about them, you are tempted to despair. Jesus does not deny that the problems exist. He isn’t telling you to pretend that they are not there. He is telling you that they are not a problem to him. He can get you through this. Tomorrow, there will be another set of problems, and he can get you through them, too.

We have already looked at Jesus’ command about prayer – that we should ask and it will be given to us, seek and we will find, knock and the door will be opened. The apostles had just requested for faith to keep them from being stumbling blocks. Jesus’ answer, in this case, was that they had already been given a faith strong enough for this challenge.

There will be times when all of us face challenges that we will feel inadequate to meet. We will fall on our faces and ask Jesus to increase our faith to meet those challenges. Sometimes he will do that. But sometimes, he will remind us that the grace we have been given is sufficient. We need to trust that grace.

Third, serve humbly (7-10).

In the third section of today’s passage, Jesus is still talking to his apostles. He understands that those in leadership in his church are prone to a particular sin, which can cause many to stumble. That sin is pride. One of the major emphases in the Gospel of Luke is the contrast between how Christians should live and how the Pharisees lived. The Pharisees were proud of their external obedience, prosperity, and prominence.

The apostles had just begged Jesus to give them a strong faith. Jesus had reassured them that they had a faith strong enough already. But he knew what was going on in their minds. He wanted them to trust in God’s grace in their ministries. But he did not want them to become arrogant enough to think they were a higher class of disciples.

That was why Jesus introduced this little parable into the conversation. He started talking about the apostles and their slaves. The apostles did not own any slaves, and Jesus knew that. But, still, Jesus told them that when their slaves came home for dinner, the twelve apostles would not stop what they were doing and make dinner for their slaves!

Why did Jesus say such a thing? Was he endorsing slavery? Nope. Was he promising that the apostles would become so prosperous and powerful that they would each have slaves to do their manual labor? We know that did not happen.

No, the last verse of today’s passage is the key to what Jesus is saying. It says that when the apostles have done everything they were commanded, they should say, “We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.”

The Pharisees believed that a strong faith produced prosperity and prominence. The apostles had just been assured that their faith was strong enough for their challenges. It was not too much of a stretch for the apostles to think that if they kept winning, they would eventually become great people. They would be tempted to allow the yeast of the Pharisees to enter their lives.

Jesus had to teach them how to resist that temptation. Again, Jesus could have zapped the apostles with a supernatural power to resist pride. Instead, he reminded them of their actual status in God’s kingdom. In the kingdom of God, there are no super saints. There is no hierarchy. Even the twelve apostles themselves are merely slaves to the Master.

Disciples must help others, not harm them. We must trust God’s grace for every need and serve humbly our one master. May we do so.

For further study:

Carroll, John T. Luke: A Commentary, 2012. pp. 340-342.

Ellis, E E. The Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1981. pp. 207-209.

Evans, Craig A. Luke. Peabody (Mass.: Hendrickson, 1990. pp. 253-255.

Foster, Lewis. Luke. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub, 1986. pp. 217-219.

Geldenhuys, Norval. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1960. pp. 431-434.

Gooding, David W. According to Luke: A New Exposition of the Third Gospel, 1988. pp. 278-280.

Green, Joel B., and Michael C. McKeever. Luke-acts and New Testament Historiography. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 1994. pp. 610-615.

McCarren, Paul J. A Simple Guide to Luke. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013. pp. 105-106.

Ringe Sharon H. Luke. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 1995. pp. 218-219.

FREED FROM SIN

Romans 6:15-23 NET.

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, ¹⁸ and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. ¹⁹ (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. ²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness. ²¹ So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. ²³ For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Last year, we began a series of studies on what the gospel is all about, based on the writings of the Apostle Paul. We continue that series today as we start out this new year. We should focus on the gospel message because it defines us as Christians. Every believer should be able to explain the gospel. At some point, our non-Christian neighbors, friends, and family members are going to notice that there is something different about us. They will wonder why we don’t react to our problems the way they do to theirs. They will want to know our secret. The gospel is our secret, not a secret that God wants us to keep. He wants us to tell people why we live like we do because he wants them to repent and start living that way, too.

The apostle Paul was an expert at explaining the gospel, and we are fortunate to have his explanations in his letters in the New Testament. Paul said that he was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

Every Christian should know this gospel and be able to explain it. But, more than this, every Christian should be able to live by this gospel of grace. It is one thing to know a fact. It is another thing to live it. We live in some truths even though we cannot fully explain those truths—for example, gravity. Gravity was here among us long before Newton got bopped by the apple. We know more about gravity now, which can be used for our benefit. But we cannot escape gravity without a costly trip to space.

But the gospel is not an automatic law like gravity. The gospel is a message that has to be understood, accepted, believed, and lived. People who are ashamed of the gospel and want to live another way are free to do so. But Paul taught us that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. So, people who choose not to live according to the gospel will not be saved. That makes the gospel message very important. That makes those of us who know the gospel very significant. We know a truth vital for the salvation of ourselves and others.

Jesus once told some Judeans that if they continued to follow his teachings, they would know the truth, and the truth would set them free (John 8:31-32). They didn’t think they were slaves. The truth is everyone is going to be a slave to something. Believing and living the gospel message frees us from sin and enslaves us to God. Today’s text explains the mechanics of that truth.

The question: Is willful sin permissible under God’s grace? (15).

Does God’s grace in Christ license us to sin all we want to? I think that is a fundamental question to ask. It helps us get to the foundation of what grace is. We already know from previous texts in Romans that every one of us was born in sin, and we needed a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. His death on the cross brought us salvation. By putting our faith in Christ, we are justified and declared righteous before God based on God’s grace.

The question Paul brings up here is what it means to be under grace. We know what it means to be under the law. It meant condemnation. It meant never being able to escape sin and its consequences. It meant being born a sinner, living in sin all your life, and dying in sin. The question Paul brings up here is once you are under grace, is sin even a thing anymore? Can we sin now because there is no longer a law to condemn us for sinning?

The answer: No, because grace must be obeyed (16-18).

Grace has not licensed us to sin. Grace has given us a way to escape sin. We were going our way and booked passage on that excellent unsinkable ocean liner called the Titanic. The Titanic is a picture of our self-determination. We boarded, and things were going well until we encountered that iceberg. Then, suddenly, we were sunk in the ocean of sin on our way down to the bottom. God’s grace came along and rescued us from the freezing waters about to take our life.

The question that Paul brings up here is this: Is it okay to jump back into the water? His answer is, “What are you, stupid?” It ain’t going to happen. You don’t jump back into the water because the water was what you had been rescued from. You don’t jump back into sin because sin is what got you into trouble in the first place.

Grace is the lifeboat. That’s why once you enter a life of grace, you have to live that life. Grace must be obeyed. Paul tells the Roman Christians that they had been obeying sin all their lives, and they were all on their way to the second death. Then God’s grace came into their lives, and it rescued them. Having been rescued from sin and its consequences by grace, they voluntarily became enslaved to God’s righteousness. They exchanged one slavery for another.

Grace has freed us from sin and enslaved us to God (16, 22).

In verse 16, Paul says you are slaves to the one you obey. It’s going to be one or the other. Either you are going to be slaves to sin, or you are going to be enslaved to God (verse 22). There is no neutrality. There is no freedom without freedom from sin, and you cannot get free from sin without staying in the lifeboat.

I am not saying we must live sinless lives to get saved. Look at the last five words of today’s text. Those words are “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The gift of grace that makes salvation possible is not something we can or cannot do. It is what Jesus Christ did for us. If it were not for Jesus, there would be no grace. There would be no rescue. But the question Paul addresses in today’s text is what it looks like to be rescued. He answers that the person Jesus rescued will be forever in debt to the one who pulled him out of the water.

The picture that Paul draws is one of redemption. Someone who is redeemed has been rescued from slavery and then voluntarily sets himself to serving his redeemer. It is exchanging one slavery for another, but there is a big difference between the two slaveries.

Living by grace leads to life; sin leads to death (19-23).

Paul asks the Roman Christians to think back to the time before they became believers in the gospel. He reminded them that they had presented their members (all aspects of their being) to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more and more of the same. They are now ashamed of the things they used to do. But it is more than a shame that they feel. It is a relief. They have been rescued from certain death.

We know that Paul is not saying that the Roman Christians will live forever. He is not saying that death is an illusion. He’s talking about a different kind of death here. Everyone dies and goes to the grave. We die not because of our sins but because of the sins of our ancestors in Eden. God told Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed his prohibition and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die. Ever since they did that, all of us surely die. The payoff of that sin is death.

But the Bible tells us that everyone will be raised from that death to face judgment. That is where the gift of God comes in. On judgment day, Jesus will grant eternal life to all who have faith in him. But those who have not been rescued by grace will have to pay the penalty for their sins. That penalty is death. But that death is different from our natural death. Everyone will be raised from natural death to face judgment. But the second death is permanent. From it, there will be no resurrection.

Put another way, there are two inheritances: permanent life and permanent death. How do I know I am going to inherit permanent life instead of permanent death on judgment day? Well, am I in the boat or not? Has God’s grace rescued me, or am I still swimming around in the freezing water of my sin? Have I put my faith in Christ and his finished work on the cross, or am I still trying to live my way?

Paul has told the Roman Christians a hazardous thing. He told them about justification by faith. He told them that everyone who puts their faith in Christ will not inherit the death they deserve but will inherit eternal life instead.

But in today’s text, he explains something significant for all of us. He explains that the grace that saves also sanctifies. The lifeboat that rescues us from sin’s consequences also becomes a lifestyle that imitates God’s holiness. Someone who is saved presents his members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification. Eventually, living in that grace will result in glorification. That is why Paul’s question in today’s text is so absurd. “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” It ain’t going to happen because grace is our way out of sin.

It is suitable for us always to ask ourselves questions like this. We must think about these things at the beginning of this new year. We should ask what kind of life we plan on living. Do we want to jump back into the same old freezing water that was dragging us down to death? Or do we want to take advantage of God’s great grace that he has given us in Christ?

The gospel is more than simply a doctrine to be believed. It is also a life to be lived. It is a slavery to God and his righteousness. It is more than just being grateful for the lifeboat. It is taking that lifeboat and helping others into it. It is dedicating your life to the one who has saved you, and that means committing yourself to doing his will. It is obeying the commands of your coming King – not to get saved, but to get other people saved.

_____________________

For further study:

Colenso John William. St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans: Newly Translated and Explained from a Missionary Point of View. D. Appleton 1863. pp. 134-137.

Johnson Luke Timothy. Reading Romans: A Literary and Theological Commentary. Crossroad Pub 1997. pp. 109-112.

Jong Paul C. Exegesis on the Book of Romans. I. Hephzibah Pub. House 2006. pp. 346-355.

McGee J. Vernon. Reasoning through Romans. 2nd rev. ed. Thru the Bible Books 1981. pp. 103-107.

Pate C. Marvin. Romans. Baker Books 2013. pp.149-153.

Stott John R. W et al. Reading Romans with John Stott. IVP Connect an Imprint of InterVarsity Press 2016. pp. 103-107.

Westcott Frederick Brooke. St. Paul and Justification: Being an Exposition of the Teaching in the Epistles to Rome and Galatia. Macmillan 1913. pp. 256-261.

IN A DREAM #4

Matthew 2:19-23 NET.

¹⁹ After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” ²¹ So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee. ²³ He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

This is the last in a series of four Advent messages based on Matthew’s Gospel. When I first read through the text of Matthew 1:18 through chapter 2, I noticed that the phrase “in a dream” appears five times. That’s why I used that phrase in the title of all four of these sermons. I’m not really so lazy that I didn’t want to change the church sign every week. But it was nice that altering the sign was less complicated. I think I’m getting older and wiser, but maybe I’m just getting older.

The final two dreams of Joseph appear in today’s text, and they direct him first to bring his family back from Egypt, and then specifically to settle in Nazareth. Matthew carefully shows that every aspect of Jesus’ life is a fulfillment of prophecy. In today’s text we learn that the family settles in Nazareth because the prophets predict that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. It’s not entirely clear which Old Testament prophecy is being referred to here. Some have suggested that it was a misreading of the idea of the Nazarite vows in Judges 13. I don’t think this is very likely because one of the requirements of a Nazarite is avoiding wine, and Jesus drank wine. He drank wine at the wedding in Cana. He drank wine with his disciples on the first Communion.

Others have suggested that Matthew was referring to the prophecy in Isaiah 11:1 which says that “a shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots.” Isaiah was predicting that Jesse (the father of King David) would have another descendant who would rule over all of Israel as David did. The word bud (sometimes translated as “branch” is נֵצֶר (netser) in Hebrew. We can only guess as to the reason why Joseph chose to settle specifically in Nazareth, so here is my guess: I see Joseph deciding to settle in Galilee, so sometime after they leave Egypt, I see Joseph pondering a list of Galilean towns. When he comes to Nazareth on the list, he remembers Isaiah’s prediction about the נֵצֶר.

That would follow the pattern that we see in all these texts. The pattern begins with a command from an angel in a dream, and Joseph accepts the dream as valid because it is verified by a prophecy. To put it another way, whenever Satan tried to dissuade Joseph from obeying God’s revelation in a dream, Joseph was able to resist the devil because of his knowledge of God’s word. We would do well to follow Joseph’s example. Jesus himself resisted the devil by declaring God’s truth in his word to counter Satan’s lies.

Matthew’s Christmas stories parallel the story of Moses in seven ways:

1. Joseph dreams (Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19, 22; Genesis 37:1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20).

If you remember the story of the Old Testament Joseph, you know that it all started with Joseph having some dreams that he revealed to his brothers. His brothers were not at all happy with his dreams. In fact, they were so annoyed at Joseph that they planned to kill him. But they wound up selling him into slavery in Egypt. That was how Joseph got to Egypt, and interpreting dreams was how he wound up saving all of Egypt and all the Israelites there.

• There is an escape to safety (Matthew 2:13-14; Exodus 2:15).

In the New Testament, the escape is to Egypt, but in the Old Testament, the escape is from Egypt. The hero changes from Joseph to Moses. He flees to Midian and settles there as a shepherd. God preserved his life there in Midian until it was time for the next stage in his plan to save his people. When the time was right, God sent a burning bush to get Moses’ attention and give him his call back to Egypt.

• There is a massacre of children (Matthew 2:16; Exodus 1:22).

In the New Testament, it is Herod the Great who calls for the elimination of the children in and around Bethlehem. In the Old Testament, it is Pharaoh. He is worried that the Hebrew slaves would grow too strong and revolt against the Egyptians. So, he orders the destruction of all the boys being born to Hebrew women. Moses is born, and hidden away for a while, then his parents put him in a basket and set him in the Nile River. His sister Miriam watches as the basket is retrieved by Pharaoh’s daughter. He is adopted by her and grows up in the household of the very man who ordered his execution.

Incidentally, Jewish legend tells us some very interesting things about baby Moses that are not mentioned in Exodus. According to the legend, Amram (Moses’ father) had actually divorced Jochebed because he didn’t want to risk fathering a boy who might be killed. But his older daughter Miriam (since she was a prophet) convinced her father to remarry her mother because God would have a special plan for the boy.

• A king dies (Matthew 2:19; Exodus 2:23).

In the New Testament, the king who dies is Herod the Great. In the Old Testament, it is the Pharaoh who had ordered Moses’ execution. In both testaments, the death of the ruler is the clue that it is time for the next phase of redemptive history to take place. And that phase would require relocation.

• A return is commanded (Matthew 2:19-20; Exodus 4:19).

Joseph and Mary are to take young Jesus and return to Israel. Our text says that after Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” In the Old Testament, Moses is commanded to return to Egypt because his task is to rescue the children of Israel from bondage and lead them to the Promised Land. Exodus 4:19 says The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” Not only is there a command to return, but the wording of the command in both texts is very similar.

• The command is obeyed (Matthew 2:21; Exodus 4:20).

Joseph gets up from his dream and starts packing for his trip. He takes his wife and child with him. Note again the similarity to what happened in the Old Testament. Exodus 4:20 says “Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt.” In both Testaments, we see grace and human responsibility hand-in-hand. God reveals the plan and expects his people to walk according to that plan. Moses in the Old Testament, and Joseph in the New – are examples of that.

• The people are saved (Matthew 1:21; Exodus 3:7-12).

Finally, the outcome of Joseph’s obedience is that Jesus is kept safe until it is time for him to go to the cross as humanity’s Savior. The outcome of Moses’ obedience was that he was kept safe in Midian until it was time for him to return to Egypt and rescue his people.

Now we come to the “so what?” of today’s text. Joseph obeys and brings back Jesus to settle in Nazareth. So what? How does what Joseph did apply to you and me? Joseph had a mission, and he had to be willing to go where God wanted him to go to accomplish that mission. I know some people who would not be willing to move from where they live even if an angel told them to do so in a dream. Remember Pilate? While he was putting Jesus on trial, he received a message from his wife, warning him not to condemn Jesus. She said that she had suffered greatly as a result of a dream about Jesus. Pilate ignored her and her dream.

We also have the surer word than any dream in the written Scriptures today – a word that is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. Yet people continue to ignore it. People continue to do what they want and ignore what God wants. Even in the church there are people more interested in maintaining the status quo than accomplishing God’s mission. What if Joseph and Mary had that attitude? What if they had said, “Lord, we will follow you if we are allowed to stay in Judea?”

During this coming new year, the LORD will challenge us to go beyond our comfort zones to accomplish his mission. May we obey his calling and may our obedience result in many people being delivered from sin’s bondage.

For further study:

Aus Roger David. Matthew 1-2 and the Virginal Conception: In Light of Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaic Traditions on the Birth of Israel’s First Redeemer Moses. University Press of America 2004. pp. 12-14; 19-57.

Brown Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. New updated ed. Doubleday 1993. pp. 107-119.

Fortna Robert Tomson. The Gospel of Matthew: The Scholars Version Annotated with Introduction and Greek Text. Polebridge Press 2005. pp. 38-41.

Graves Mike and David M May. Preaching Matthew: Interpretation and Proclamation. Chalice Press 2007. pp. 9-22.

Harrington, Daniel J. Meeting St. Matthew Today: Understanding the Man, His Mission, and His Message. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2010. p. 20.

Kelly Joseph F. The Birth of Jesus According to the Gospels. Liturgical Press 2008. pp. 51-56.

Younger, Carol D. The Gospel of Matthew: Hope in the Resurrected Christ: Adult Bible Study Guide. Dallas, Tex: BaptistWay Press, 2008. pp. 40-44.

IN A DREAM #3

Matthew 2:13-18 NET.

¹³ After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴ Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”

Preaching a sermon based on a traditional Christmas text is difficult. The paths are well trodden. That was why I was somewhat nervous about planning a whole series of messages based on the Christmas stories in Matthew’s Gospel. But God’s word is always powerful and effective. It is like one of those special knives in the kitchen drawer that stays sharp no matter how often it is used. Here’s what I see in today’s story:

Joseph’s faith was challenged by suffering.

After the wise men leave, Joseph finds it hard to come down from the thrill he feels. Visitors from other nations have graced his home, worshipping Jesus and blessing his family with precious gifts. They spoke of their interview with Herod and his request that they tell him of Jesus’ location. At first, Joseph thinks that is wonderful. If these Gentiles are so excited about Jesus, imagine how thrilled Herod would be! But then Joseph remembers what kind of person Herod the Great is. He is a sick man, mentally and physically. He has already murdered so many people to protect his throne. What would he do to a child who people claim is the new king of Israel?

With those thoughts floating around in his mind, Joseph finds sleeping hard. When he finally does sleep, he gets another dream.

Like his previous dream, an angel appears to him. But in the first dream, the angel tells him not to fear. In this dream, the angel tells him the exact opposite. He says that Herod is going to look for baby Jesus to kill him. The angel instructs Joseph to pack up and get out of Bethlehem quickly. His family had not lived in Bethlehem long, so that would not have been too difficult.

The tricky part of the instruction was when the angel told Joseph to escape. He said that they must go to Egypt. This would not be like his departure from Nazareth for the census. This was a move to another country. Joseph and his family would be refugees.

All around the world today, some people have had to leave their homes and move to another country. They are called refugees or displaced people. Many of them are forced into unbearable situations. They are between a rock and a hard place. They cannot stay, and they are not welcomed wherever they go.

The United States was built by this kind of person. Waves of immigrants came to this country in search of a better situation or to escape certain death from war, famine, or some other tragedy. Most faced prejudice and opposition here and where they came from, but they were determined to endure it in the hope that their descendants would overcome it. Some even came to our shores on slave ships – against their will.

Joseph did not want to be the father of a family of refugees. He wanted stability and peace for his family, and he was sure that a move to Egypt would disrupt those plans. But Joseph obeyed the angelic revelation, so he took his family and escaped.

Imagine how Joseph felt when he got word of what happened in Bethlehem after they left. Many innocent families suffered. Their little boys were not guilty of any crime. Their only problem was that they were born at the wrong time in the wrong place. They were born in or near Bethlehem at about the same time as Jesus. They suffered because of an evil king inspired by an evil spirit named Satan.

When you read through the Bible and encounter a story, you must ask yourself why this story is included and why it is included in this particular spot. What does the story of the slaughter of the innocent children tell us that we need to know? Why is this part of the Christmas stories in Matthew’s Gospel?

I think that Matthew is showing how important Jesus is. The wise men’s visit showed that Jesus was so important that a delegation of prominent visitors from a foreign country would travel for months to see him and show their appreciation for him.

The escape to Egypt was God’s way of protecting Jesus from the soldiers that Herod sent to kill him. The slaughter of the innocent children showed that Herod was determined to eliminate this child because he saw him as a threat to his rule. Satan wanted to eliminate Jesus for the same reason. God is doing something significant here, and the suffering is collateral damage.

This passage is also a personal message from the Holy Spirit to you and me. God is going to be doing something significant in our lives as well. But we will also experience suffering. That suffering is a test for us. It tests our faith in God. Satan brings that suffering to make us question whether God is at work in our lives at all. He accuses us of being unimportant to God. He submits our suffering as evidence for his case. He says that God would not allow such stressful events to occur if God loved us.

The exact opposite is the case. The Holy Spirit is confident that his power in us is enough for us to overcome any obstacle we might face. We will experience storms in this life, but our Master himself is with us, sleeping peacefully in the boat. Joseph and Mary experience trouble, heartache, and uncertainty. But the same Jesus was with them, asleep in the manger. He is Emmanuel, and his presence is all we need.

Joseph’s faith was strengthened by revelation.

Matthew highlights two points in today’s story to show how the Holy Spirit ministered to Joseph and empowered him to keep obeying despite the suffering he faced. The first is the ministry of an angel. An angel who spoke to him in a dream told Joseph what he must do.

All through the Gospels and Acts, angels appear in the historical record. They are there to reveal God’s word and to encourage God’s people. Jesus suffers deprivation and temptation in the wilderness. Angels come to minister to his needs (Matthew 4:1). Jesus agonizes in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then an angel comes and strengthens him (Luke 22:43). Angels revealed the fact of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2, 5; John 20:12). Angels revealed the fact that Jesus is going to come again (Acts 1:10-11). 

Whenever you see an angel, God says, “Don’t fear – I am in this.” Joseph was blessed to have four dreams in which angels appeared to him. There were four different dreams, but each one was a revelation of God’s presence and gave him confidence to keep obeying and believing.

The ministry of prophets also bolstered Joseph’s faith during this time. Satan would come to Joseph and say, “How is Jesus going to make a difference for his people now? He’s stuck here in Egypt. Joseph could counter: “The prophet Hosea said that God called his son out of Egypt. Egypt is the present, but God has a future for my son.”

Satan would come to Joseph and say. “Jesus couldn’t even stop these mothers from losing their sons in Bethlehem.” Joseph would counter: “The prophet Jeremiah spoke of Rachel mourning when her descendants went into exile. God was still in it. This tragedy signifies evil, but my son will change that.”

Today’s text is a challenge for all of us to keep believing and obeying no matter what comes our way. Suffering is not designed to stop us. It is intended to show the world that our faith is in God and his word, not our circumstances. Joseph led his family well, crisis after crisis. Now, we need to lead our families with the same confidence.

For further study:

Anderson Edward E. The Gospel According to St. Matthew; with Introduction and Notes. T. & T. Clark 1909. pp. 9-10.

Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew., 1958. pp. 24-29.

Baumgaertner John H. The Bitter Road: a Lenten Journey with the Suffering Christ from Bethlehem to Calvary and the Garden. Concordia Pub. House 1968. pp. 21-31.

Crowder Bill. Windows on Christmas. Discovery House Publishers; Distributed to the Trade by Barbour Publishing 2007. pp. 26-32.

Erdman, Charles R. The Gospel of Matthew: An Exposition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1920. pp. 30-32.

Lange, Johann Peter, and Philip Schaff. The Gospel According to Matthew. New York: C. Scribner, 1865. pp. 62-63.

Wilson Stephen Douglas. In the Fullness of Time. Broadman Press 1991. pp. 76-86.