Title: Nazarene/Matthew 2:19-23
Content Most of the life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels is about his public life. Records before his public life are only brief mentions of his birth and childhood.
In other words, the records from the age of 30 to the age of 33 are relatively small, but there are very few records about the life before that. No mention is made of it. Conjecture and speculation abound because of the lack of detailed records.
For example, they say that Jesus went to India as a young man before starting his public life, or that he practiced Buddhism as a disciple of Shakyamuni.
At one time, there were people who took pictures of such things and sold them as if they were a hot topic.
Last September, the General Assembly of our denomination declared these kinds of books as anti-Christian books and announced them to churches across the country.
Anti-Christian books are:
Kim Eun-tae: 「True truth in the Bible」, 「Jeong Jeong-ryeong」
Kim Jong-Sung: 「The God of the Bushman」, 「The Spaceman and Jesus」
By Rajnish: 「Follow me」
By Roy Amor: “Buddha in the Bible”
Min Hee-sik: 「The Roots of the Bible」
The Book of Glasses: 「The Roots of the Bible」
By Yoon Cheong-gwang: 「Bugong and the Bible」
Elaine Faisel: “Jesus Outside the Bible”
Lim Hak-San: “Is Christianity Really the Truth?”
「Comparison of Truth between Buddhism and Christianity」
Religious Studies Research Institute edition: 「The Lotus Sutra and Jesus」
Jeunggok Mun Eung: 「Comparative Study of Buddhism and Christianity」
Claude Barithom Rael: 「The Book of Truth」 (The Message from the Spaceman)
Treinger: “Buddha, Marx, and God”, etc.
The General Heretic Research Institute will continue to study and uncover the reality of anti-Christian books that are published in the future, which seek to undermine and destroy the truth of Christianity.
Judging from the Gospel accounts that he went up to Jerusalem with his parents when he was 12 years old, there is no problem with his childhood activities as he lived in Nazareth with his parents. The problem is his whereabouts from 13 to 29.
However, the most important of Jesus' actions is during the last three years.
For 30 years, what you ate, how many clothes did you wear, what color you liked, and how you spent your leisure time, etc. Ordinary things around you or private things are not important and have no meaning.
The important thing is that in three years, you have done what other people couldn't do even if you lived 300 years.
He preached the gospel and taught people. He healed many people. Is that all? He saved humans from their sins by dying on the cross. He rose again and will come again. pastor
The text teaches us the following lessons:
1. The fact that Herod was dead.
Verse 19 begins with “after the death of Herod”.
And in verse 20 it says, “Those who were looking for the child’s life are dead.”
Herod was a tyrant who indiscriminately slaughtered infants under the age of three when he heard the news of the Magi that Jesus had been born.
He was the son of Antipater and was inaugurated as King of Judea in 37 B.C. He built Herod's Temple, also called the Third Temple, with a huge amount of money to make up for his declining popularity and win the favor of the Jews.
His personal life was on the brink of an affair. For example, he had ten wives and murdered a son from a relationship with Doris, the most likely heir.
He died when Herod was 70 years old, 38 years after he became king, and on the fifth day after killing his son.
According to the records of the famous church historian Josephuss, he died in Jericho, and he fell ill with a terrible and filthy disease and rotted his internal organs. .
In other words, the baby lives and the king is dead. In the battle between the baby and the king, the baby won.
To say outside of common sense, the child must die and Herod must live. However, the child lives and Herod is dead. The persecutor is dead and the persecuted is alive.
The Herodian dynasty, ruled by Herod, has fallen, but the kingdom of the baby Jesus will exist forever.
The things of the world, such as power, money, knowledge, and honor, are things that Herod enjoys only for a while. They are never eternal.
But Jesus is forever.
In the Old Testament, Isaiah 53:2, it is said, “He grows up before the Lord like a tender shoot, like a stem on dry ground, having no form or appearance, there is no beauty in our sight to be admired.
It describes the appearance of Jesus who will come as the Messiah. Like a tender shoot, it is weak and lacks in appearance and appearance.
However, in Isaiah 9:6, the image of the Lord who will come as the Messiah is described in the exact opposite way.
“For to us a child is born, and to us a son is given, and government is upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful and Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We see two sides of Jesus in two verses: Jesus as a tender shoot, but Jesus as the Almighty King.
The figure of Jesus described in Revelation 1:14-15 is more majestic.
“His eyes are like flames of fire, his feet are like polished tin refined in a furnace, and his voice is like the sound of many waters.”
Isaiah 53:7 says, “Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so it did not open its mouth.”
The weak are strong and the soft are tough. The Herod dynasty, which committed violence and murder, has fallen, but the kingdom of the young Jesus and the Lamb is eternal.
2. This is a command to go to the land of Israel.
Verse 20 says, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel.” In verse 21, it says, “Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went into the land of Israel.”
We find command and obedience in verses 20-21.
“Go to the land of Israel” This command was not only given to Joseph.
He also told Abraham to go to the land of Canaan. He also prevented his son Isaac from leaving the land of Canaan.
Jacob also lived in Haran for 20 years, but eventually had to return to the land of Canaan.
After that, the people of Israel lived in Egypt for 400 years, but they also returned to the land of Israel after a great migration. Even today, the people who love their homeland the most among the peoples in the world are the Jews.
In the end, it was transformed into self-righteousness that was turned away as it was fixed as Zioism, but they are still doing their best to protect the “Land of Israel”.
What does the “land of Israel” mean to us? We must solve it in a spiritual way. We must not leave the spiritual territory, the inheritance we received through faith, and the eternal land of Canaan.
The land that the Lord has given, the place where the Lord dwells, and the place where we will live with the Lord forever is the land of Canaan. Even if you leave for a short time for any reason, you must come back.
Let's pay attention to the text.
He said, “He came into the land of Israel.” He took the baby and his mother Mary… .
Joseph's obedience is resolute and decisive. Although Herod died, the danger was not yet over. But he could not hesitate or delay when he was commanded to return.
“If our orders are clear, our obedience must be swift,” said Joo Kyung-ga Dixon.
If you prepare Egypt for the world and the land of Israel as the eternal Canaan, there are some things that people who want to enter the land of Israel should be aware of.
First, you must leave Egypt completely.
Whether you have lived for 400 years, 40 years, or stayed for 4 hours, you must completely abandon that place and go to Canaan.
There are things to put away regrets and things not to leave behind. Egypt is the world. If you leave regrets there, your religious march will be difficult. Let's throw away what we throw away.
Second, you must make a decision immediately.
You must not think, study, and leave. God's command does not require study review, analysis and evaluation.
Commands have absolute value and must be obeyed unconditionally. Decisions to obey and act immediately are necessary.
3. It is the fact that they came to be called Nazarenes.
Verse 28 says, “He came and lived in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled that he was a Nazarene.”
Nazareth was a town in the Galilee region, a small town perched on an elevation of 1600 feet above sea level. The distance from Jerusalem is about 56 miles.
Jesus was called the Nazarene or Jesus of Nazareth for the following reasons.
First, because the Old Testament prophets foretold that the coming Messiah would be a Nazarene.
Second, because he lived in Nazareth after returning from Egypt.
Third, it was to distinguish him from other Jesus. At that time, there were many people with the name Jesus, so to distinguish him from them, he was called Jesus of Nazareth.
Fourth, because it is closely related to the work of Jesus.
At that time, Seoul was Jerusalem. There was a temple, a parliament, and a governor-general. That is, it was the center of politics, economy, military, and religion. All young people with wills have longing for and dreams of Jerusalem. In other words, they had to advance to Jerusalem early to pave the way for success or career.
But Jesus was in Nazareth. Of course, during the Passover feast, he would go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. And you must have seen the riches and corruptions of Jerusalem each time.
The final destination of the gospel movement that began in Nazareth was Jerusalem.
In today's election terminology, it was like an operation to start a trio from the provinces and enter Seoul.
Jesus' ultimate goal was to go to Jerusalem and die on the cross.
Nazareth is a country. It is a place where simple people live together. There is compassion, there is dialogue, and there is warmth.
Christianity is a Nazarene religion, not a Jerusalem religion. It is a rural religion.
He was born in Bethlehem, a country village. He grew up in a rural village of Nazareth. The work he did was a carpentry job that even a villager could do.
Christianity is not a religion founded by a Roman emperor or a Jewish emperor. It was started by Jesus of Nazareth.
Christmas is the season to celebrate and give thanks to Jesus of Bethlehem and Jesus of Nazareth. If there is an easy reason to believe in Jesus, if there is a reason that anyone can easily believe in, it is Jesus of Bethlehem and Nazareth.
Let us deeply thank and celebrate the birth of the Lord. And let us spread Jesus of Nazareth to all the nations.