(12/25) Welcome. On behalf of my entire family, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. It’s such a wonderful time of year and I consider it a great privilege to be able to celebrate with all of you the miracle of God. This child, the Christ, who became one of us in the form of this little baby named Immanuel, God with us. And so, I thank you for joining us today as we celebrate this Christmas week remembering the greatest gift that has ever been given to humanity.

The Bible says it this way in Romans chapter 6, verse 23,

"The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

And that is such good news, that’s worth clapping for, that’s worth shouting about, and so yes, we want to celebrate that. But as we are listening to songs about joy and peace and goodwill toward all men, maybe you’re looking at your life and you realize that your circumstances are really very different.

Well, today we want to Rediscover Christmas, because for some of you, and for many people in our community, this is an extremely difficult time of year. There can be many reasons, but I think the biggest reason is that Christmas is a family holiday, and yet we live in a time when there are more broken families than ever. And so, many of us are experiencing loneliness and isolation, separation and brokenness, and so your Christmas may be so much different from someone else’s. But it’s into that context that Jesus came, the Bible says it this way,

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (Matthew 4:16).

And so, it’s important that we Rediscover Christmas, understanding that Jesus came to bring light to people living in darkness, giving hope to the hopeless, and joy to those who are grieving.

You see, Jesus is very practical, and so he didn’t come for those who are doing well, but he came for those who are poor, for those who are hurting, whose hearts are broken and who are in bondage. In other words, Christmas isn’t just for those who have it all together, it’s not just for the Norman Rockwell picture perfect family, but it’s for those whom God is about to make their life better, because he’s going to step into their situation giving them the hope of change and new life. This is why the words of the prophet Isaiah are so significant, he said,

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

This promise that this child, the son, this one whom we call Jesus, is Immanuel, God with us, is what separates Christianity from other religions of the world. Their focus is on being with God, finding God through some form of meditation or maybe by doing something so that they can achieve a higher level of enlightenment. But Christianity is different because we discover that God came down to be with us, and so we’re not just going to be with him, but he says, "I’m going to be with you." Not only that, but he promises,

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Now, God’s presence with you doesn’t mean that you won’t have any problems or challenges in this season, but his peace and his power will enable you to rise above those problems. In other words, when God is with you, you have power because you have his favor, and when you’re with God, you have peace. That’s why when the Angels came announcing the birth of Jesus they said,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14).

And so, his presence helps you to overcome the challenges of life, but just because you’re a follower of Christ, it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed a wrinkle free life. It’s his peace that helps us along the journey of life, but we’re not guaranteed a life without valleys. We’re promised that we’ll never walk through those valleys alone, because the Lord is my shepherd, he is Immanuel, God with us. And so, he empowers us to overcome difficult seasons in life because of his presence, and the Bible says,

"In his presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11, NKJV).

And so, in this season you may struggle with loneliness, separation, and isolation, and even though deep inside you may ache for answers, in his presence is the fullness of joy.

In Genesis chapter 35, Jacob was learning to obey the Lord, and he was beginning to walk with God by faith. He and his family had returned to the place called Bethel, the place where he had encountered the presence of God and seen the angels ascending and descending from heaven in a dream. And now he experienced another encounter with God, in verse 9 he was given a new name, and the covenant promises were reaffirmed. After building an altar and worshiping God there, the Bible says that Jacob and his family "moved on from Bethel". Verse 16 says,

"While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth…" (Genesis 35:16-17).

Now, I’m not sure why this statement is repeated, it seems to be unnecessary because I’ve seen childbirth, and it has always been with great difficulty. But maybe it’s repeated here to emphasize the fact that this was not just a normal delivery. In fact, things were not going well, this had become a matter of life and death, Rachel was having great difficulty, and the midwife said to her,

"Don't be afraid, for you have another son." As she breathed her last — for she was dying — she named her son Ben-Oni…" (Genesis 35:17-18).

And so, in that moment Rachel names her son what is very true for her, and that is that this is Ben-Oni. It’s actually two words, Ben meaning son, and Oni which means trouble or sorrow, and it certainly understandable that she would feel that way. As she breathed her last, she named her son, the son of my sorrow, because she was in pain, and she was bleeding to death.

However, Rachel wasn’t the only one grieving, because at that moment Jacob lost the only woman that he has ever really loved. This was the bride that he had worked 14 years to obtain, and so he is hurting like crazy, but when she wanted to name the boy, "Son of my sorrow," the Bible says,

"His father named him Benjamin" (Genesis 35:18).

Jacob understood that what was true in this moment wouldn’t be forever, and so in the middle of his pain, in the middle of his loss, he decided to name his son, not according to the love, the hope and the dreams he was about to bury, but about what was born out of what he buried.

You see, Jacob had some experience in renaming, and so when Rachel said this is the son of my sorrow, he says no we’re going to call him something else. He took what was born out of this horrible and devastating situation and he named his son something different. He said, "We’re going to call him Benjamin" which means son of my right hand. And the right hand is the hand of blessing, it’s the hand of authority, and so Jacob refused to accept what others would call sorrow and instead called him a blessing.

I think this is so powerful because many of us have had to bury a lot of things this year. For some of you it may have been something as painful as a funeral, for others of you maybe it was your dreams, your plans, or the way that you thought you were going to do something. But no matter what it was, the truth of the matter is that you don’t get to choose what comes into your life, but you do get to choose what you do with it. In other words, you get to choose what you call it, and so what may be true about you right now, doesn’t have to be true about you later, and you can name it something else because God’s power is so much bigger than your past.

I believe this is important, but what really caught my attention about this text in verse 19, was not that "Rachel died and was buried." It wasn’t what Jacob buried, but it was the fact that she was buried,

"On the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)" (Genesis 35:19).

Rachel, the woman that Jacob loved, was buried just outside of Bethlehem. And this is so powerful because we’re uncovering prophetic significance. The Bible says in Micah chapter 5,

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Micah 5:2).

"Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites" (Micah 5:3).

The question I want you to consider as we Rediscover Christmas is what is the significance of Bethlehem?

For many of us we’ve got this Christmas card picture of Bethlehem with candy canes and gumdrops ingrained in our minds. Some of you even now may be thinking or even humming "O Little town of Bethlehem", but I want to try to help you get it in the proper perspective. Because Bethlehem wasn’t where Mary was planning to give birth to the Messiah, she just happened to be there when her water broke, and so for her this was inconvenient. For Joseph and Mary, the birth of Jesus came at the worst possible time, they were only in Bethlehem because of the census, and so I wonder how many of you recognize that what may seem to be a great inconvenience, may actually be the place where God gives you the greatest opportunity?

What often happens to us on the journey of life is that along the way we lose some things, and yet we fail to recognize what God is doing, and so the temptation for us is to identify with what we lost instead of what we gained. That’s what I love about the story of Jacob, because for him Bethlehem was the place where Rachel died, the place the love of his life was buried, but instead of naming his son in the sorrow of what he lost in that moment, he renamed his son Benjamin, the son of my right hand, the hand of blessing. And so, he didn’t name him after what he had lost, but after what he had gained.

This week I want to encourage you to Rediscover Christmas, making a conscious decision to reflect on what you have gained, remembering that the angel said,

"You are to give him the name Jesus" (Luke 1:31).

You see, it was Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, he came from the place where Rachel was buried, because Joseph went "to Bethlehem the town of David," according to the decree of Caesar Augustus,

"To Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David" (Luke 2:4).

And so, Bethlehem is the same place where that boy came from who took down that giant with a rock. Bethlehem is the birthplace of David, the birthplace of Jesus, the son of David, and that’s why Micah said,

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah…out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel" (Micah 5:2).

It was out of that little place, that little town of Bethlehem, where Rachel died giving birth to her baby. And so, out of Bethlehem came Jacob’s greatest pain, and yet out of Bethlehem came God’s greatest purpose. In the very same place, there was this tension, because God said, "Out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel."

Mary had to believe that; she had to believe that she had the favor of God; she had to believe that God was fulfilling his purpose in her life. And so, when the angel came to her and said,

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33).

Mary had to believe in the midst of this tension, Mary had to choose to believe that what was going to be born was so much greater than what was buried.

This was a difficult thing because so often all we can think about is what we buried and we don’t yet know what is going to be born, but that’s what I love about Jacob’s response. Jacob was able to focus because he knew that God had changed his name, he knew that God had said to him,

"Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel" (Genesis 35:10).

And so, he decided to change the name of his son that was born in pain, because he believed his son was born for a purpose. Jacob refused to have his son identified by the place where he was just passing through, he renamed Ben-Oni, that which was born in pain, refusing to have him defined by the struggle and he wouldn’t allow it to keep him from his destiny.

Jacob knew the promise of God, he knew that it was from his descendants that would come the ruler of Israel, just as Balaam prophesied to Balak,

"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17).

And so, in spite of the difficulty, in spite of literally walking through the valley of the shadow of death, Jacob recognized that it was only a shadow, and that God still had something waiting on the other side. And so, Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, but there was still one to come, a descendent promised, one who will rise out of Israel.

Which brings us back to Mary who asked the angel,

"How will this be since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34).

And I want to encourage you, whatever you are walking through in this season of Advent, keep walking by faith, walking towards that blessed Christmas morning, don’t let your circumstances, don’t let your pain define you, but Rediscover Christmas. In verse 35, the angel answered,

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:35-37).

And so, it’s an amazing contrast, because at the same time that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth had discovered that she was pregnant and had been in seclusion for five months. And so, we’ve got Elizabeth who is too old to have children, and Mary who is too young to have children. Elizabeth who is past the point of having children, and Mary who is a virgin and isn’t ready for this yet.

That’s the context with which John and Jesus come into the world, because nothing is impossible with God. And the Bible says that God brings these two women together to encourage one another. "At that time" verse 39 says,

"Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth" (Luke 1:39).

And so, the first thing Mary did when she found out that she was pregnant with the Son of God was go to be with someone else who was carrying something significant. She traveled about 50 miles to get to Elizabeth’s house and the Bible says,

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored?" (Luke 1:40-43).

Honestly, this is something that I have never noticed before, but it is something that I have thought about a lot over the past several weeks. You know, why is this church so favored, why have we been so blessed? And Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, ask this question,

"Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43).

Not only did Elizabeth recognize the favor of God, but the baby inside of her knew. The baby, John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for the Lord, knew that he was in the presence of the Son of God, the Messiah, who would save his people from their sins. And so, even in his mother’s womb, John recognizes the presence of Jesus. We know that because the Bible says in verse 44, that Elizabeth said,

"As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy" (Luke 1:44).

Even while he was in the womb, John leaped for joy in the presence of Jesus, because he recognized that God’s purpose was working in his life. And so, even in the womb, even on the inside, he’s experiencing something that he just can’t wait to experience on the outside. John is jumping and kicking, recognizing that the kingdom of heaven is near. He leaped for joy because this is the one who knew him before he was formed in his mother’s womb.

As I thought about John rejoicing in the presence of God and I was reminded of David when he brought the ark back to Jerusalem. When Luke said that the baby leaped with joy, he was echoing David’s experience in second Samuel chapter six. The Bible says, as they brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David they were rejoicing, worshiping in the presence of God and,

"When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf" (2 Samuel 6:12-13).

And so, every time they took 6 steps, they stopped and gave a sacrifice of praise. They offered a sacrifice, and watch what David does, the Bible says,

"David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets" (2 Samuel 6:14-15).

David leaped for joy because he had the favor of God, he danced before the Lord with all of his might, because he got the presence of God back. The favor of God was coming into his house, the provision of God was working in his house, and he rejoiced.

In the same way, when Mary arrived, John knew that he was in the presence of God, and even though he was in his mother’s womb he leaped for joy. He couldn’t see anything, but he sensed his purpose was near, and it’s in those moments when you can’t see it, you can’t even feel it, but I want to encourage you to believe it by faith. The apostle Paul said in Ephesians,

"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

I pray that you can sense that, that you can feel that, and believe that God has a plan and a purpose for your life. I want you to get ready to celebrate, ready to rejoice, ready to leap with joy, because you’ve got to believe just like John believed in the womb, that in every season of your life, God has plans prepared in advance for you to do.

And so, you’ve got to believe what Elizabeth said in verse 45,

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" (Luke 1:45).

What Elizabeth told Mary is the same thing that God is telling you today. Blessed is the one who believes what the Lord said, and I believe there are some of you today that need to get back in his presence so that you can get your joy back. This may be a difficult season, you may not feel like doing it, but you’ve got to believe that your joy doesn’t depend on what’s happening around you. God has anointed you, the Bible says,

"Therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy" (Hebrews 1:9).

And so, you can’t change your circumstances, but when you choose to rejoice, it’s not an emotion, it’s a decision. And when you choose to be joyful in spite of your situation, you are making a conscious decision to worship God, to celebrate what God is doing, to rejoice in what God has done, celebrating who he is and who you are in Christ.

There may be some of you who look at your life, you look at your situation or circumstances, and it looks to you like the son of my sorrow. But what is true at this time, in that moment, doesn’t have to be true in the future, because you can rename it. You can call it a blessing, you can say you are Benjamin, you are the son of my right hand. And what others may call a curse, you choose to call a blessing, because you know how good your God is.

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

And so, you can’t always choose what comes into your life, but you can choose what you call it, because there is a name above every name, and that the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As we continue with part 2 of Rediscover Christmas, I want to pick up where the Scriptures left off, because we tend to lump all of the events regarding the infancy of Christ into one great holy moment. And so, the reality is that it’s entirely possible that you can have all of these traditions and sentimental feelings about Christmas and completely miss the significance of what the Bible actually says.

As we turn to the word of God this morning, I want to pick up and focus on the moment in time where the Bible says in Matthew chapter 2, "After Jesus was born" (Matthew 2:1). And I think this is important because we get so caught up in the Christmas story, with a baby being born at the worst possible time with nowhere to stay, there is the chaos of the stable with the animals, and then we bring into the scene all the different characters. And so, we’ve got this pretty little manger scene in our minds as we bring in the angels, the shepherds, and the Magi, but we need to remember that as Joseph is going through this all he had to go on was what he heard in a dream.

I love the Christmas story, but I wonder if we don’t often miss the significance of the faith of Joseph and Mary. I mean, these are major life decisions that they are making, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe my dreams. And yet, Joseph and Mary are walking through this by faith, they have no idea how or where they are going to end up, and all their guidance has come from dreams and visions of angels. And so, we are watching Joseph and Mary walk through this by faith and it is possible to miss the significance because we are watching with the knowledge of the outcome.

Today, as we Rediscover Christmas, my hope is that we will discover hidden significance in the Christmas story, because it’s hard for us to understand what Joseph and Mary were going through. I mean, for them these were deeply troubling times, and yet we know that no matter what we are facing,

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

But they didn’t have this Scripture yet, the New Testament hadn’t been written, and it’s so hard to recognize the significance of what you’re walking through in the moment.

As we come to our text today in Matthew chapter 2, we stand in the afterglow of that first Christmas, cognizant of the phrase in verse one, "After Jesus was born." We have seen how God stepped down from eternity into a virgin womb, enclosing himself in her humanity as if she were wrapping paper, and then presenting himself to us as a gift in human form. And so, here we are today, the paper is still falling away, and the Bible says,

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14).

God borrowed the womb of a virgin named Mary, he partnered with her to wrap his gift, but even before the gift was presented to us, Luke tells us that the gift was discovered,

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb…" (Luke 1:41).

John the Baptist started leaping with joy in the presence of Jesus, and yet today we’re still unwrapping Jesus, we have knowledge, but we’re just catching glimpses of his glory, and we haven’t yet been fully exposed to the fullness of all that dwells in him.

God presented himself to us as a gift, Immanuel, God with us, so that we could declare,

"We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father" (John 1:14).

Fresh in our minds are visions of his humanity, "We have seen his glory," a baby laid in a manger, surrounded by angels, shepherds, and sheep, we are captivated by the glory of the One and Only. But it’s after Christmas, as we Rediscover Christmas, as we fast-forward to Matthew chapter 2, that the Bible tells us,

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:1-2).

And so, this is later, this is after Jesus was born that these Magi from the east came. And we need to understand that these are not prophets, not theologians, they’re not Bible scholars, they’re not even Jews, but they are educated men, scientists or astrologers. The Magi are Gentiles who have traveled a thousand miles from Persia, not because of prophecy, not because of the Scriptures, but because they said,

"We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2).

Just as John the Baptist recognized the Savior when he was still wrapped in the womb of his mother, the Magi came from the east following a star, following something they shouldn’t have even been following, because they sensed that there was something greater happening. In other words, Jesus, the Savior of the world was hidden, the gift was wrapped, but there was divine revelation, there was discovery as David declared,

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (Psalms 139:7-8).

And so, the Magi didn’t need a preacher or a prophet, they didn’t need the Scriptures, because God revealed himself through a star that they had never seen before. It’s no wonder the Bible says,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge" (Psalm 19:1-2).

Somehow, they understood with the coming of that star in the heavens that a promised King had come on earth. And of course, God can use anything, he can speak to you through a donkey, you can experience God in the valley of the shadow of death, and in the same way, God preached a message through a star to the Magi telling them that a new King had come.

"When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him" (Matthew 2:3).

You may have heard the phrase, "If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy," and that is exactly what we see happening here. King Herod was disturbed by this news and all of Jerusalem because when Herod is upset, when he gets angry, "Ain’t nobody happy."

And so, "He called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law" in verse 4, and he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah…" (Matthew 2:4-6).

We read this prophecy from Micah chapter 5 last week. We saw that from that little town of Bethlehem, out of that little place, out of that place of Jacob’s greatest pain, "Out of you," Micah said,

"Will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6).

And so, it was out of that little town of Bethlehem that came God’s greatest purpose, but Herod certainly wasn’t going to sit back and watch silently as his throne was threatened. The Bible says in verse 7,

"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him" (Matthew 2:7-8).

In other words, when Herod heard that the Magi were looking for a new King, he became jealous and fearful. And so, pretending that he wanted to go and worship this King too, he directed them to Bethlehem, but secretly he wanted to kill their dream.

Now, the Magi only had 5 more miles to go, and so, "After they had heard the king, they went on their way." And verse 9 tells us,

"The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed" (Matthew 2:9-10).

Now, you would’ve thought that Jerusalem would’ve been the place where Jesus was born, because that’s where the temple was. That’s the place where the chief priests were, that was the center of religious life in Judea, but Jesus was born 5 miles away. The Bible says, when the Magi arrived at the little town of Bethlehem they were overjoyed because they knew something big was happening. When the star stopped over the place where the child was the revelation was validated, their journey was successful, and so verse 11 says,

"On coming to the house, they saw the child…" (Matthew 2:11).

In other words, Jesus was no longer in the stable, he is bigger now, he’s in a house, he’s not a baby anymore. I know that for some of you that destroys your theology, because many of us have complicated the truth with tradition, we’ve diluted the Scriptures, believing Christmas carols instead of studying the Bible. But the Bible says on coming to the house, they saw the Christ, the child who is now a toddler,

"…with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh" (Matthew 2:11).

This was most likely a large caravan of travelers coming into Bethlehem, were not told that there were three Magi, but that there were three gifts, and each of these gifts are symbolic. The gold represents the divinity of Jesus, incense represented the priesthood of Jesus, and myrrh represented the preparation for Jesus’ burial at his death. And so, the Magi presented Jesus with these gifts and then verse 12 says,

"Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route" (Matthew 2:12).

God tells the Magi in a dream to go back another way because there was a trap waiting for them. I can’t help but wonder if God is going to take us back another way, he wants us to learn how to go back another way in the new year, because some of us can only have church one way, only do business one way, only interact with people one way, because I believe God wants to do something new.

The Bible tells us that the Magi went home another way, and Herod was left waiting and looking, but he couldn’t find Jesus because an angel had spoken to Joseph in a dream. The Bible tells us that the angel said,

"Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him" (Matthew 2:13).

Now, to the Jews that would’ve been the last place that they would expect God to keep his son safe, because that was the place where they spent 400 years as slaves, but Matthew tells us,

"Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod" (Matthew 2:14).

And so, now Jesus is back in the place that God brought his people out of, and on one hand it looks like Jesus is going to Egypt to escape Herod, but on the other hand the Bible says,

"So was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son" (Matthew 2:14-15).

Maybe you have noticed that sometimes God reroutes you, taking you to unexpected places, and so Jesus had to go to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod, but he was also fulfilling the word that God had spoken through the prophet Hosea.

However, "When Herod realized," in verse 16, "that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi" (Matthew 2:16).

Here we find that Matthew is giving us a panoramic view of the sovereignty of God, because sometimes we get stuck in our own human perspective. In other words, we get stuck trying to answer questions at the level of Herod, wondering why so-and-so said that, why did they do that, or why is this happening, when the question can only be answered by heaven. Matthew gives us a deeper understanding, telling us in verse 17,

"Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "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" (Matthew 2:17-18).

And so, once again we find prophecy fulfilled as the Holy Spirit reminds us of Rachel whom we read about last week. It was her tomb that was just outside of Bethlehem, it was Rachel who died giving birth to Benjamin, and so she is considered by many to be the mother of Israel which is why she is seen weeping for her children.

For 2 years Herod was searching for Jesus, killing the children, but Jesus was hidden in Egypt. That is, until one day, verse 19 says,

"An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead" (Matthew 2:19-20).

God said, you can go home now, those who were trying to kill Jesus are dead now. You don’t have to worry, you don’t have to hide, you don’t need to go into another year being afraid of what you used to be afraid of, because your enemy is dead. Those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead now.

The prophecy of Hosea chapter 11 is fulfilled,

"Out of Egypt I have called my son" (Hosea 11:1).

Matthew gives us a greater understanding of these words, not just speaking of the experience of Israel as God’s chosen son, but giving greater depth and power to Hosea’s words, he points to a more significant event, predicting that the child, Jesus, the Messiah, would be called out of Egypt. And so, God was doing something different, something more significant, as heaven spoke to the prophets, and spoke to Joseph as he brought his son out of Egypt.

There are some of you today whom God is speaking to, because you thought Christmas was all about Bethlehem, and some of you missed it, but what about Egypt? God says, "wait for it, you don’t have to understand why you are where you are, or what is going on in your life right now, or why you had to go through everything you had to go through." You see, the Bible says,

"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay" (Habakkuk 2:3).

And so, it doesn’t have to make sense right now, you just need to wait for it, it’s going to make sense in a minute, because God is going to show you.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

Some of you are waiting for your circumstances to change, waiting for your situation to change, but God is waiting for your obedience. You see, you thought Christmas was all about Bethlehem, but what about Egypt, what has God called you to do, where has God called you to go, and yet he is still waiting for you to move? God wants to do something significant this year, he is speaking to you, but you’ve got to get in step with his purpose, you’ve got to be in alignment with his will. And I believe that is why some of you haven’t seen your breakthrough, you say that you believe, but until you step out in obedience doing what he already told you to do you will not see any yokes broken in your life.

Matthew tells us that Joseph got up in verse 21, "took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee" (Matthew 2:21-22).

You see, most of us thought we understood the Christmas story, we thought we understood the significance of Bethlehem, with an unexpected delivery in an unexpected place. But the entire context of the Christmas story is obedient faith, that God doesn’t ask your opinion, he doesn’t need your input, because he had planned this from before the creation of the world. And so, sometimes there are things that God is bringing into your life that are born in Bethlehem and then there are things that are brought out of Egypt.

When Joseph left Egypt with his family, he wanted to go back to Bethlehem, he intended to go back where Jesus was born, but he didn’t because once again he was warned in a dream. He heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, and so he was afraid to go there, and the Bible says in verse 23,

"He went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene" (Matthew 2:23).

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but he escaped to Egypt where he was kept in safety until the time that those who sought his life were dead. In the same way, there are some of you whom God has been keeping you in this season, but God is about to give you my new assignment.

Joseph understood the assignment, he didn’t understand his dreams, he didn’t understand why, he didn’t understand how, but he just took God’s word by faith. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, escaped to Egypt, only to be raised in Nazareth, but Joseph wouldn’t call him what other people called him. Joseph called him what God called him, the prophet Isaiah said,

"And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

Even though Jesus was born in obscurity, born in a little place, and even though his birth was followed by mothers crying and grieving over their children who were no more, we must recognize that the coming of Jesus is really an opportunity to see God’s faithfulness in our lives. The coming of Jesus wasn’t intended to leave us holding onto our past, mourning and grieving over what was or what should’ve been, but to empower us by his grace to step out with hope into the future. Our past only magnifies the story of what God has done for us, and even now God is still working to fulfill the plans he has for you and what he wants to do through you.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott