Please turn in your copy of the scriptures to the book of Matthew. I'm gonna look this evening at the second half of Matthew chapter two. Had a few people come up to me this morning and ask me questions about why the sermon title had a question mark and an exclamation point. After a silent night, what am I trying to communicate? Hopefully that'll be clear tonight. I even have my son, who's here to visit, ask me, I'm not gonna say which Advent hymn, but ask me, is this a sermon where you tell us why you don't like this particular Advent hymn? I'm not gonna do that. It's not Silent Night, by the way. It's a good hymn. But I want us to see the inherent tension in the story of the coming of Jesus. Before we read the text, I want to read one stanza from O Little Town of Bethlehem. It's a beautiful Advent hymn. I think many of us enjoy it, but I want to just read stanza three and then consider it in contrast with what we read at the end of Matthew 2. So this is a song about Bethlehem, a blessed city because Jesus was born there. And here's how it describes Bethlehem on the night of his birth. How silently, how silently the wondrous gift, being Jesus, is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in, comes silently on a silent night. Of course, the birth of Jesus was announced by a heavenly host of angels. I'm not quite sure how silent it was, but we see then, not that far off in the future after his birth, a not-so-silent night and even weeks and months in Bethlehem, and that's what we're gonna consider this evening. So Matthew 2, I'm gonna read verses 13 through 23, and let's remember that this is God's word to us. Now when they, that they is the wise men, when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophets. Out of Egypt I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they are no more. But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead. And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene." That's the reading of God's holy word. Let's turn to God again in prayer. Lord God, we are thankful to know that you speak to us in and through your word, and that you even provide for us the Holy Spirit who applies your word to our hearts. And so we pray, Lord, for the presence and work of your Holy Spirit this evening, that we would hear your word, respond in faith, and respond in the kind of faith that believes your promises and keeps your commandments. We pray these things in the name of Jesus, amen. So it's always dangerous for a variety of reasons to start a sermon with a movie, but I'm going to do it. I hope it helps us kind of enter into the text this evening. It's dangerous even because you might not have seen the movie and I might give something away, but we're going to try it. The Wizard of Oz, that's a movie I watched every year with my parents as a child, and there's a particular moment in the story where a curtain is pulled back, and you see something that you didn't understand before, and the story takes on new meaning. A mystery is unraveled, illusions are shattered, and the truth is seen more clearly. That's why we say something like getting a look behind the curtain. And I think that's what we're getting at the end of Matthew chapter two, is a look behind the curtain, a deeper understanding of what is happening as Jesus takes on human flesh and enters the world, and even a deeper understanding of what he comes to do. There's a tension, I think, that we find at the end of Matthew chapter 2. A tension in the whole story of the coming of Jesus, the eternal Son of God, in human flesh. Because on the one hand, in the first couple chapters of Matthew and the first couple chapters of Luke, we have described for us the birth of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, made flesh in order to bring salvation to the world. It's a glorious event of such impact and importance that an angel appears to shepherds in the field saying, fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. A host of angels sings glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. And these are events that give us reason to rejoice because Jesus came into the world to give grace and peace, to display God's saving power, and even to bring to a world that is loud because of sin and dark because of the fall to bring quiet and light. And so we can sing of a silent and holy night. We can sing of a son of God, loves pure light, radiant beams come from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace. It's a silent night. On the other hand, Matthew describes the violent opposition that Jesus encounters as he enters the world and the violent opposition that he encounters even as a little baby. Herod sends soldiers to kill every male child two years or younger. And so maybe you ask the question, how can we sing Silent Night? All is calm and all is bright. That's the tension that we're going to consider this evening. It's a tension that exists when Jesus enters the world. It's a tension that exists even today, after his death and resurrection, while he rules and reigns. We live in a world broken by sin, redeemed by the blood of Jesus for sure. slowly being restored and reconciled to God. And yet, until the completion of that work, sin and righteousness exist side by side. I want us to understand why that's true and how it's true and why this particular story gives comfort to us. Because this story, even in the midst of the tension, reminds us that God is engaged, He has a plan, that He's working out for our good and for His glory. So that in the foreground, we see the miraculous birth of a child and the joy of those around Him. But Matthew reminds us that the battle continues to rage. He tells us what's going on underneath the whole of the story of history, enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. And the serpent pulls out every possible tool and instrument and weapon in his attempt to defeat and to destroy the Son. But here's what I want us to understand, the real comfort that we'll see in this passage this evening, that that battle that rages even at the end of Matthew 2 is not an accident, and to God it's not a surprise, and though it's deeply tragic, it's not merely tragic, and it's not merely predicted and prophesied, but it's planned and ordained by God for our good and for His glory. It's planned and ordained by God that His eternal Son would come into a world that is noisy and dark and broken by sin and by the power of His death and resurrection bring life and peace. So I want us to see, first of all, the reality of the noisy, scary, fearful night into which Jesus enters the world. Our text begins with a description of the dark world into which Jesus was born. Soon after the wise men depart, an angel visits Joseph and warns him about the cruelty of Herod. Herod, he says, is about to search for the child to destroy him. Understand the wickedness of the man that's described for us in this passage. We don't have time to discuss the whole of his history, but this was a man who was characterized by suspicion and violence, by anger and destruction. He was continually worried about his throne, and he destroyed anyone who would seek to take it from him, or even someone that he thought was seeking to take it from him. He killed his wife, his aunts, and his uncles, three of his own sons because he suspected all of them were trying to take his throne. He's always suspicious. He's looking for threats to his throne. He's willing to do whatever it takes, including the murder of little boys, if his throne, he thinks, is in danger. Here's just one thing that he does that gives you a sense of the character of the man he's described in this text. When he knows that he's about to die, he sends his soldiers to arrest a long list of leaders in Bethlehem and everywhere else in the places where he rules, all the leaders in Jerusalem. He has them all gathered up and thrown in prison, and he tells the soldiers, when the heralds announce my death, kill all of them so that they will not take the throne from my family." That's the wickedness that we see in this passage. It's the wickedness from which Jesus and his family flees. But I want us to understand as well the character of this man as he fits in the kingdom of darkness that Jesus came to destroy. Because the battle in and of itself is not so much with Herod, but with the serpent. Isn't that what we see on display in this passage? It's the battle promised at the very beginning of the scriptures, the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman at war And the serpent uses every weapon in his power to seek and to destroy and to snuff out the kingdom of light. And Matthew's giving us a glimpse of the kingdom of darkness. Of course, we get not just a glimpse, but a full picture of it in the book of Revelation. You might turn there just for a minute. Revelation 12, verses one through seven. Revelation 12, verse 1, it says, And another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his head seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child, he might devour it." This is Matthew 2. described for us in great detail. Satan the dragon who swipes three, one third of the stars out of heaven. His minions who follow him and follow in his trail to seek to destroy the woman and her child. It's Mary in the pains and agony of giving birth, her son Jesus being born, and the serpent, the dragon, waiting to devour him. In the midst of the beautiful images that we find in Matthew and Luke, a little baby born to Mary and laid in a manger, shepherds and angels and wise men and presence, in the midst of these beautiful images rages a cosmic battle that will have lasting, eternal, everlasting, forever and ever consequences for the whole of creation. This story is more than the recounting of the birth of a wonderful, miraculous child. Christ's birth is a declaration of war against the power of Satan and sin and death. And that makes Herod's attack all the more scary. He's seeking to snuff out the promised son of God, to put an end to the hope of salvation that's been promised to Israel and indeed to the whole earth. But remember how the story ends in Revelation 12, verse 5. It says that she gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, maybe even Egypt. where she has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. And our Matthew passage comes to a happy conclusion as well. The Lord brings silence to a noisy situation by his own power and might. Before we move further in the text, I want us to just notice a few things about the world in which we live. where sin for a time holds some kind of sway. The world that's described for us in Matthew 2 is very much like the world in which we live today. Herod, in some sense, represents rebellious, sinful people who hate God and oppose his plan and his purpose, who live in sinful, selfish rebellion against the king of heaven and earth. And Herod represents as well power hungry proud rulers who seek their own purposes and who hate God and who hate righteousness. But we see in the midst of all of that that Jesus is a threat to the selfishness of sin And he provides for us in his life and in his death an answer to the sinful rebellion of the world. And he does so from the very beginning of his life in the shadow of the cross. Isn't that what we see in Matthew? Two, isn't it quite remarkable that the eternal son of God comes into the world and takes on human flesh. He knows that he's coming to take on poverty and to suffer and to die. And the suffering begins on day one. He doesn't get 12 years of childhood with a reprieve from the attack of the enemy before re-entering the battle. He emerges from the womb of Mary, and the dragon is waiting to devour him. And here's what I want us to understand, friends, as we continue to move in the passage, that all of this was ordained by God. and ordered by God in such a way that is for our good and for his glory. And I think that's what we see in this text, because in the midst of this dark and difficult world in which Jesus enters, we see that God has a plan and purpose ordained before the foundation of the world, and he accomplishes that plan in Jesus. The story doesn't end with the terrible violence of Herod and the tragic destruction of little children. I don't want to downplay the tragedy of the text. But ultimately, this is a story about God bringing peace to a broken world, and bringing that peace in the way he's always promised by his Son. And Matthew, more than any of the other gospel writers, shows the coming of Jesus to be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies of hope and salvation. Five times in the first two chapters, he reminds us that these things happened according to the purpose and plan of God. Chapter 1, verse 22, it says, Chapter 2, verse 5, he says, And then three times in our text this evening, verse 15, verse 17, and verse 23, again and again, he reminds us that these things happened according to the word and after the purpose and plan of God. In other words, he holds before us Jesus as the one who fulfills and accomplishes all the salvation promises of God, from Genesis to Revelation, all of them fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. The point of these pronouncements of prophetic fulfillment is to remind us that God's faithful. He's the God of Adam. He's the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He's the Lord who spoke to Moses in the burning bush, who delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. He's the God of David. And he's your God. And in sending Jesus, he answers the promises he made to Adam, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Hosea. He fulfills all of them in Jesus. So what are the prophecies he fulfills in particular in the passage before us? Look first of all at verse 15. Actually, start in verse 14. It says, He rose, being Joseph, and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Out of Egypt I called my son. He's quoting from Hosea 11 verse 1. Out of Egypt I called my son. Hosea is the last prophet sent to Israel before Assyria comes in and destroys their cities and enslaves them and takes them in to exile. And as they prepare for that day, which at this point is inevitable, he speaks a word of comfort to them, an assurance of God's love. He reminds them that the same God who delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt will remember the people of God during their exile in Assyria. In fact, their deliverance from exile recalls everything that was true about the exodus from Egypt. In essence, he's saying, out of Egypt I called my son, And out of Egypt I will call my son." He's a God who delivers his people. But as Matthew quotes this particular prophecy, he's raising the stakes. He's helping us to understand a greater fulfillment of the promises of God in his faithfulness to his people. He's reminding us that this prophecy and all these deliverances are simply pointing us forward to the great deliverer, Jesus. That now Jesus, after the pattern of Moses and Old Testament Israel, brings the people of God out of a time of great darkness and persecution into a future much brighter than their past. 400 years of silence. That's what we have before the Gospel of Matthew. 400 years of silence from God. Does that sound familiar? It's Egypt. 400 years of silence. His birth even looks like the rebirth of Israel during their time of bondage in Egypt. You see the parallels? Midwives sent by Pharaoh to snuff out the Israelite boys. Soldiers sent by Herod to stuff out the hope of Israel. But in Jesus, the Lord brings deliverance. And Christ, as the fulfillment of all those promises, even succeeds where the Israelites failed. Isn't that what we see over and over again, even in the Gospel of Matthew? Just one example. Rather than 40 years of trials in the wilderness, characterized by disobedience and unbelief, Jesus is tested in the wilderness for 40 days and obeys God perfectly in every way. In other words, he's saying, remember Moses. Remember Ezra and Nehemiah. Jesus is better. Jesus makes the story of the promises of God to his people complete. He succeeds where Israel failed. He brings the perfect salvation that God always promised. And, and hear this importantly for you, friends, he strikes the final decisive blow against the seed of the serpent. But there's another prophecy here in our text, verses 17 and 18. It says, "...then was fulfilled," and the destruction of these innocent children in Bethlehem, "...then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation. Rachel, weeping for her children, she refused to be comforted because they are no more." He's quoting from Jeremiah 31 verse 15 again, as the people of God are preparing to head into exile, enslaved in response to their sinful rebellion. And as the destruction comes very close, they weep. This is the prophetic word of the weeping prophet, who speaks hard words to the people of God. I don't want us to miss this from this passage, to get so caught up in the prophecies and miss the sorrow, the tragedy of these couple verses that this sinful, rebellious, wicked king would kill something like 20 or 30 or 50 innocent young children who've done nothing to him or to his kingdom simply because of his pride and sin. It's a deep tragedy, deep enough that Matthew can even suggest that Rachel from the grave after thousands of years after her death would weep at the news of this destruction. In fact, in the book of Jeremiah, this weeping is real, and it fits the circumstances. But do you remember what else happens in Jeremiah chapter 31? He reminds them that the weeping will end. The very next verse in Jeremiah says, keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work. He's reminding them, the prophet Jeremiah is, and Matthew's reminding the people of Bethlehem, and the Holy Spirit is reminding us that we serve a God who turns mourning into dancing. And one day, we'll wipe away every tear from our eyes. He's reminding us as well, just like the weeping of Rachel described in Jeremiah, that it signaled the end of exile, the promise of deliverance from bondage. So that Jesus' birth and the murder of these children, so terrible and worthy of tears, brings the promise of hope, the end of destruction, the perfect salvation of God ushered in by a perfect Savior. Matthew's reminding us by these prophecies and the Holy Spirit speaking through Matthew is reminding us as he points even to dark moments in the history of Israel. He's reminding us that God is always faithful. That he always brings deliverance out of destruction for his people. He's reminding us that the same God who did that for Israel is the God who does that for us in Jesus. And that despite the violent opposition that so often faces Christ and His church and His people, God again brings a wonderful salvation even through the most difficult of circumstances, the cross. But there's one more prophecy for us to consider, and this might be hard to believe, but it's even stranger than the first two. So what we find at the end is they prepare to return from Egypt. They decide not to go to Bethlehem because their lives are in danger. And it says, the very last verse of this chapter, that he Joseph with Mary and Jesus went and lived in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called, Jesus would be called a Nazarene." Now you can search the pages of the Old Testament and you'll find no prophecies that talk about Jesus as a Nazarene. You'll find no mention of Nazareth in the whole of the Old Testament. Not one page, not one verse. But what do we know about Nazareth from the New Testament? It's despised. Nathanael says in meeting Jesus, can anything good come out of Nazareth? His opponents say of Jesus that no prophet arises from Galilee. The Holy Spirit is reminding us of the humility of our Savior. who's the eternal Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who's born in Bethlehem, but he doesn't live there, that town of David that has some kingly overtones. But he's identified with Nazareth, with nothing to commend it. It's not so much about the place. He's telling us about the kind of Savior that we have in Jesus. Psalm 22 verse 6 describes Jesus in this way, Isaiah 53 says that he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with griefs. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. And he's your savior, if you're trusting in him. a Savior that not only enters into a sinful, broken world to carry out the salvation plan of God, but he does it as a humble servant, obedient even to the point of death, even the death of a cross. And it's through his obedient suffering and death that he leads the new great Exodus. out of a kingdom of darkness and into a kingdom of light. It's remarkable, isn't it, that Jesus, the very moment that he took on human flesh, I think we can even say in his conception, displayed humility. And that he suffered even from the very beginning of his birth. His life was in danger from the moment that he entered the world. And as we consider that this evening, I wanna end with just a few things for us to remember and consider about what this passage teaches us. First of all, friends, we need to understand that even the tragedies and difficulties of this life and the sorrows of this world broken by sin are not accidents or surprises to God. They're not merely tragedies, and they're not merely predicted and prophesied, but in particular, when it comes to Jesus' suffering and his death, they were ordained and ordered, planned and predestined. And Jesus did it willingly. And your sorrows and your difficulties in this life as well are not accidents or surprises to God so that you can know that even in your suffering, even in the most difficult of circumstances, you can know that God never leaves you helpless or alone. He protects and preserves. He orders and reorders for your good. But secondly, you can know that to be true because you know what kind of Savior you have. He suffered and persevered for you. He bled and he died for you. He was raised and he's reigning for you. We didn't talk about our sermons this week, but we're ending in the same place, right? This morning and this evening. He did all of this for you. Do you understand the mystery and glory of what that means? That in the annals of eternity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit planned out and purposed out a salvation that looked like this. and that the son willingly agreed to all the indignities of what it meant to be a suffering servant for you." Can you imagine the conversation between father and son that took place in that plan? The eternal father saying to his son, son, will you enter the world into a poor family for our people? And he said, yes, I will. Son, there'll be no room for you in the inn, but only a manger. Will you do this for them? He said, yes, I will. From your earliest youth, you will be chased away from your family and your grandparents and your cousins and sent to Egypt, the land of the enemies of your people. Will you do that for them? I will. born in and live and raised in Nazareth, for which you will be mocked, despised, reviled, and hated. Will you do that for them? I will. Threatened and accused, will you do that for them? I will. Beaten and cursed, crucified and buried for them? I will. That's your Savior. Friends, look to Him. Embrace Him. Rest in Him. Know the salvation and the deliverance from sin that is yours in Jesus. And then, friends, With that kind of faith that comes from above, you can face trials and difficulties, temptations and sorrows, resting and trusting in Jesus. I have a pastor and friend who, one time in preaching about suffering, said it in this way, in your trials, don't look for answers. Look for Jesus. Don't look for explanations. Don't try to explain the intricacies of the sovereignty of God. His ways are above your ways. But look to Jesus, a faithful Savior, a sympathetic high priest who suffered in all the ways and was tempted in all the ways that you are and that I am. And by faith, he's your Savior. Let's pray. Our gracious God, we come to you in the name of Jesus, rejoicing that the eternal Son of God was willing and ready to take on human flesh and to suffer and to die so that we might know forgiveness and life and fellowship with you. Lord, we rejoice that our Savior came, and we rejoice that he's coming again. Would you strengthen us by faith to serve him even in the midst of suffering and to do so with joy? We pray in his name. Amen.