The best argument for the existence of the God of the galaxies is the revealed plan of God. The plan is captured in the Bible, both the Jewish Scriptures and the New Testament. There are many speakers giving their picture of the plan of God as they learned and experienced it. Their takes are not identical but they are similar enough that the existence of a planned progression in history can not be avoided. As with a movie, a plan requires direction, which means a Director.
In the second chapter of Matthew’s movie we get a picture of the birth of Jesus from a Jewish mindset. Matthew made it clear that Jesus was not the founder of a new religion but the fulfillment of a very old expectation. The task before Matthew was to document that expectation along side the happenings in Bethlehem. The Magi came to Jerusalem from the east, having no skin in the game, asking a question, where might we find the King of the Jews, for we have seen his star rise? The Magi of an eastern country knew of the Jewish expectation as did the Jewish people who were asking for it’s fulfillment for a long time, where and when is our coming King to arrive? Where is the king who will bring back the old days?
There had not been a king of all united Jews for eight hundred years, eight hundred years of turmoil. King Herod the Great, to whom the Magi brought this question, was but a client king, paying taxes to Rome. There were only three kings in Jewish history that could claim the title, King of the Jews. King Saul was the first to be anointed as king and after a conflicted rule, his military commander and later adversary became king as recorded in 2 Samuel 5, 1&2.
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’ ”
The expectation was for a resurrection of these glory days in Jewish history when the nation was at it’s zenith. King David united the religious and national interests of the nation of Israel. When he was old and frail, he passed the kingship to his son Solomon who reigned over a prosperity and influence unknown in the world to that time. When he dies in 796 B.C., the kingship was passed to his son Rehoboam, who blundered national unity away in that same year. Israel would never be a unity of twelve tribes again.
The startling question from the Magi disturbed or troubled King Herod and the religious establishment of Jerusalem. Is he here? They were scared, if the King of the Jews is here, our authority and possibly our lives will soon end. King David’s father was named Jesse and the major prophet Isaiah predicts the coming expectation.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord--
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11 - 3a)
King Herod asked the teachers and priests, if this is happening, where will he be born? Bethlehem was the answer for the birthplace of this new King of the Jews is predicted by the prophet Micah, some seven hundred years before the time of Jesus.
“But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will become the ruler over Israel,
Whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
How old is old? Was Micah referring to the three Kings of old Israel, Saul, David and Solomon? Possibly the founding fathers of the faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the ancients and antecedents of this new ruler. Or older still, Micah may have been referring to the oldest possible father of all peoples, Adam and then God himself. Micah believed that God will be faithful to his people and to his plan. In any event, the questioning by the Magi was a big deal!
Upon getting false encouragement from King Herod, the star guides the Magi to the baby Jesus, whom they worshiped and gave gifts. Then dreams figured large in the birth narrative. After finding and worshiping the baby Jesus, the Magi are warned in a dream to avoid Herod and return home by another route. In a dream Joseph is warned of Herod’s festering homicidal rage and told to escape with the family to Egypt.
The dark side emerges in the narrative as Herod realizes that the Magi were not coming back to inform on the baby. He flies into a homicidal rage and orders the killing of all Bethlehem baby boys under the age of two, he planned, “this new King of the Jews will surely die.” From our supposedly civilized culture, we are shocked at the depth of evil hiding in the human heart, just waiting for the opportunity to kill. Imagine yourself as one of those soldiers sent to chop off the heads of the Bethlehem babies. One death would be grotesque but a few hundred Bethlehem deaths is obscene.
Matthew recognizes the slaughter as foretold in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 15.
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
The horror is real, just as is the sorrow. Human history is replete with such repeated tragedy. It is easy to condemn the monster Herod but are we Americans guiltless? Our American dark side has slaughtered millions of babies at the hand of their own mothers. Our American dark side has slaughtered millions of babies at the hand of doctors who once took an oath to do no harm. Our American dark side accepts a government and legal systems that condones the slaughter. Compared to us, Herod was a choir boy!
In Egypt they stayed until the death of Herod, when in a dream Joseph is told to return home. Matthew points to the words of the prophet Hosea, chapter 11 : 1. “When Israel was a child. I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” The immediate context of this verse is God’s love and concern for his people, Israel, and their rescue at the hand of God from Egyptian bondage. It is no surprise that a link is recognized between bondage of Israel and the forthcoming supposed mission of Jesus, a rescue from Roman bondage, both rescues emerging from Egypt.
Fearing King Archelaus, son of Herod, whose power was centered in the vicinity of Jerusalem, Joseph, Mary and the toddler Jesus settled in the Galilean suburb of Nazareth. Matthew says, “So was fulfilled what was said by the prophets, ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’ (v. 23)” Anyone with a literal interpretation of scripture would have difficulty with this verse. The prophets never make the blunt statement that Nazareth will be the home of the King of the Jews. The TNIV Study Bible makes a good guess, “Matthew may be alluding to the ‘Branch’ (Hebrew neser) of Isaiah 11:1, since the word also appears in the Targums, Rabbinic literature, and the Dead Sea Scrolls as a Messianic title.” (p. 1610)
Are you convinced that Matthew has documented a connection between the faith of the Old Testament and Jesus? This is a question for each of us to decide. The evidence is multifaceted and after a multitude of providential turns, the flow of events seem to reveal the hand of God and a plan is seems apparent. In some way, this baby Jesus will take center stage in the life of Israel. The question for our further reading is the character of this newly arriving King of the Jews. Was Jesus to be the expected unifying warrior king?
Moments before his crucifixion Pilot asked him, are you the King of the Jews? Jesus replies with an ambiguous, “So you have said”. Jesus took his last breath with the title “King of the Jews” scrolled above his head. The Romans who crucified him were making what was thought to be a joke while the religious leaders, who put the Romans up to the deed were ridding themselves of the number one threat to their power.
If you are convinced, the birth event means that his arrival was timely planned by the director God. It took long enough but who is to say God is slow? The God of the galaxies is all about timing, his timing, so check your watches.
GGoslaw
Landers, Ca.
