Latest / Reformed Thinking / Rachel’s Tears and the Nazarene’s Triumph: Providence, Prophecy, and the Path of the King (Matthew 2:16–23)

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Rachel’s Tears and the Nazarene’s Triumph: Providence, Prophecy, and the Path of the King (Matthew 2:16–23) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed Thinking, the deep dive where we aim to
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  get straight to the theological heart of Scripture.
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  Glad to be here. Today we're looking at a passage
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  that honestly often gets a bit smoothed over, especially around
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  Christmas time. Matthew 2, verses 16 to 23, the
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  end of the infancy story. That's right.
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  And our source material really pushes us past any kind of, you
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  know, overly sentimental picture of Jesus birth.
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  Yeah, it forces us to confront some really dark stuff, Herod's
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  rage, which is just shocking. And Rachel's weeping, that deep
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  sorrow, and Joseph having to flee, basically becoming a
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  refugee. It's really the cross casting
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  its shadow backwards, isn't it? The threat to Christ is there
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  from the very start. It is, and our goal today really
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  is to see how these moments, these, these acts of human
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  cruelty, these dark providences, how God is actually governing
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  them. Right governing them to move his
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  plan forward to advance the case for Jesus as the Messiah.
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  Yeah, we're looking for the scriptural logic, how atrocity
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  gets woven into prophecy fulfilled, how it confirms
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  Jesus's identity. As the king, yes, but the
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  despised king, the royal king, who takes the path of lowliness.
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  Exactly. And we'll look at this through
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  maybe 3 main theological ideas. OK, first, divine Providence.
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  How God governs evil without being his author.
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  That's crucial, the big one. Second, the whole theology of
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  lament. What place does grief like
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  Rachel's have within covenant hope?
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  We'll look at Jeremiah 31 for that.
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  Oh, OK, good. And finally, what on earth does
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  it mean that he'll be called a Nazarene?
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  That title? It's like a banner for his whole
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  mission, mixing lowliness and royalty.
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  OK, sounds like a full discussion.
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  Let's start in the beginning of this section then.
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  Matthew 2.1 sting. The scene shifts.
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  The Magi are gone, Joseph has already been warned and left for
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  Egypt, and Herod realizes he's been played.
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  Yeah, and understanding Herod the Great's character is pretty
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  key here. This isn't just any king.
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  No, he had a reputation. A terrible one, known for
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  extreme paranoia. Ruthless doesn't quite cover it.
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  He killed family members, wives, sons if he even suspected they
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  might be a threat to his power. So when these foreign
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  dignitaries, the magi, basically sneak out without reporting
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  back. He feels exposed, weak, weak,
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  manipulated. His ego takes a massive hit and
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  his political threat meter just goes off the charts.
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  And Matthew's description captures that explosion, but
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  it's so brief, almost clinical. He says Herod became Ethanian.
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  Consumed with rage and intense, excessive fury.
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  Because he realized he'd been impust tricked or mocked.
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  Mocked is a good sense of it and the the economy of the language,
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  As you said, it's chilling. It tells you everything about
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  the danger. Level and then there's that word
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  itself up us you mentioned the sources point out an irony here
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  a. Huge one.
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  That same verb meaning tricked or mocked.
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  Here it feels mocked by the magi, right?
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  And his response is mass murder. OK, but Matthew uses that very
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  same word later, describing the mockery Jesus endures during his
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  passion. Matthew 27.
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  With the same Greek word. The same one used for the
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  soldiers mocking Jesus, putting the robe on him, the crown of
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  thorns. So the slight, the perceived
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  mockery that triggers Herod's violence is described with the
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  same term as the actual physical, intentional
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  humiliation of Jesus before his death.
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  Precisely. It sets up this powerful
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  contrast. Herod, the human king can't
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  stand feeling mocked, so he uses his power to destroy Jesus.
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  The true King freely accepts real mockery, real humiliation,
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  and through that very path he comes to his throne.
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  It's a profound critique of worldly power versus godly
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  suffering. Wow.
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  OK. And Herod's rage isn't just like
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  a tantrum. It leads to a specific,
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  horrifying action. A calculated 1 not just random
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  violence. He orders the killing of all
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  male children in Bethlehem and the surrounding area.
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  Who are two years old and under. Yeah, that age cut off is
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  telling. It's based on the timeline he
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  got from the Magi about when the star appeared.
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  So he's trying to surgically remove the threat,
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  systematically eliminate any potential rival born around that
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  time. It's consistent with everything
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  we know about his tyrannical character.
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  Perceived threats were dealt with ruthlessly.
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  And this act, this calculated horrific sin, it, it immediately
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  brings up the central theological problem, doesn't it?
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  How is God sovereign over this, over the specific evil act
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  without somehow endorsing it or causing it?
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  This is where we really need the the careful distinctions of
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  Reformed theology, particularly the doctrine of Providence.
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  Like we find in the Westminster Confession Chapter 5.
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  That's a key articulation, yes. Providence isn't just God
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  watching things unfold. The confession defines it as God
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  actively let me get the wording right, directing, disposing and
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  governing all creatures, actions and things.
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  All actions, even sinful ones. That's the hard part.
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  Why is that framework that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass
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  so necessary here? Because it makes us hold 2 vital
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  truths together, even though they seem paradoxical to us.
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  OK, what are they? First, God is absolutely
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  sovereign. Nothing, not even Herod's sin,
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  happens outside of His eternal decree and plan.
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  It's all part of His purpose. Nothing is random.
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  OK, but second, Herod acted according to his own wicked
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  nature. He made a free, morally
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  responsible choice driven by his own malice and paranoia.
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  He bears the full guilt for that atrocity.
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  So God ordains it, but Herod is responsible for it.
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  How does the confession phrase that balance?
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  It says God ordains all things, yet He does so in such a way
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  that he is not the author of sin, nor does he violate the
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  will or freedom of the creature, nor is the contingency of
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  secondary causes taken away, but rather established.
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  That's the compatiblest mystery we talked about.
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  God's sovereign decree is compatible with genuine human
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  freedom and responsibility. It is, and Herod's action is a
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  stark example. God didn't force Herod to sin.
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  He didn't approve of his sin. But He incorporated Herod's
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  freely chosen wicked act into his own perfect plan.
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  How does this specific act show God governing it?
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  What was the outcome God intended?
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  Look at what happened because of Herod's decree, the Christ child
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  had to flee Where? To Egypt.
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  Fulfilling prophecy and setting up the new Exodus theme, right?
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  And then, upon return, the danger from Herod's son forces
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  another move. Where?
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  To Nazarene. Setting up the Nazarene theme of
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  humiliation. Exactly.
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  Herod's specific sin, committed freely out of his own evil
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  heart, becomes the very mechanism God uses to guide the
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  Holy Family, fulfilling his redemptive historical script.
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  The evil is overruled for holy ends.
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  It's like the sources say, this isn't a loose thread or a
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  mistake in the plan. It's caught up somehow into
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  God's good purpose. It is.
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  Think Genesis 50.2 O Joseph says to his brothers, You meant evil
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  against me. But God meant it for good.
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  Or Acts 2.23 Peter preaching about the crucifixion.
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  He says Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan
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  and foreknowledge of God. But by the hands of lawless men,
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  you crucified and killed him. Same pattern.
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  God's plan, human evil, human responsibility, all held
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  together. And God accomplishes His
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  purposes through different kinds of means.
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  In this story, we see both extraordinary and ordinary means
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  at play. Making that distinction is
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  helful for us today. OK, let's break that down.
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  What are the extraordinary means here?
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  Those are the direct supernatural interventions, the
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  specific angelic warnings Joseph receives, and dreams.
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  Telling him to flee to Egypt, Telling him when it's safe to
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  return. Warning him about Archelaus.
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  Right. Clear, direct commands.
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  Our sources highlight that this kind of guidance belongs to a
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  very specific, unique time in redemptive history.
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  Why unique? Because revelation was still
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  unfolding. The Word hadn't become fully
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  Incarnate and then ascended yet. The Canon wasn't closed.
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  Christ himself, the revelation, was physically present and
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  needed direct protection. God was essentially providing
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  divine navigation to keep His Son safe.
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  So that's extraordinary. What about the ordinary means,
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  or what theologians sometimes call secondary causes?
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  That's how God usually works now, and we see it here too.
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  His Providence unfolds through, well, normal events and human
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  choices. Like what?
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  Like the political situation itself, Herod's known tyranny,
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  the cruelty of his son Archelaus, which made Judea
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  dangerous, these are historical realities God uses, and
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  crucially, Joseph's own actions, his sanctified prudence.
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  Sanctified prudence. I like that term.
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  What does it mean here? It means Joseph didn't just sit
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  back and wait for another dream. After every step, he received a
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  warning and he acted on it faithfully, promptly, wisely.
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  He used his God-given reason and judgement.
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  So God's promise to protect Jesus didn't mean Joseph could
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  be reckless or passive. Not at all.
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  God's sovereignty doesn't negate human responsibility.
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  Providence isn't fatalism. God's unbreakable plan to
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  preserve his Son was carried out through Joseph's responsible
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  actions. Fleeing to Egypt, waiting for
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  the signal to return, then making the sensible choice to go
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  to Galilee instead of Judea because he heard Archelaus was
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  ruling there. Exactly.
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  It shows this interplay between God's decree and our duty to act
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  wisely and faithfully. God's purpose is achieved
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  through ordinary, responsible human means, guided in this
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  unique case by extraordinary revelation.
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  And this whole sequence, the threat, the flight to Egypt, the
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  return, it's deliberately framed by Matthew using Old Testament
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  patterns, isn't it? Especially the Exodus.
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  Oh. Absolutely.
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  The language Matthew uses for the return command is striking.
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  Matthew 2.20 God tells Joseph in a dream rise, take the child and
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  his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought
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  the child's life have died. And the sources are clear.
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  That phrasing directly echoes the command God gave to Moses in
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  Exodus 4.19 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation Matthew
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  likely used. What did that say?
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  It says go return to Egypt for all the men who sought your life
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  have died. It's almost identical.
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  That can't be accidental. Matthew's making a clear
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  theological point. It's a redemptive historical
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  announcement. He's saying Jesus's return from
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  Egypt is the next chapter, the greater fulfillment of Israel's
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  defining deliverance story. So Jesus is being presented as
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  the new Moses, yes. Look at the parallels.
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  Both Moses and Jesus face death threats as infants from
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  tyrannical rulers. Pharaoh and Herod, right?
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  Both were preserved. Moses in Egypt itself.
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  Jesus by flaying to Egypt. Both were called back when the
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  threat had seemingly passed. But Jesus is the greater Moses.
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  His deliverance is bigger. Much bigger Moses LED Israel out
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  of physical slavery in Egypt. Jesus, This new Moses coming up
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  from Egypt, leads his people out of a deeper bondage, slavery to
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  sin, exile from God's presence. And that repetitive phrase
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  Matthew uses? Take the child and his mother.
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  It's like a drum beat. It is.
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  It underscores God's unwavering purpose to protect His Messiah.
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  Every step is guided, ensuring Jesus reaches the place He needs
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  to be to fulfill His mission as the ultimate deliverer.
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  Which brings us to that final move.
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  Joseph gets back to Israel, but he hears Herod's son Archelais
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  is now ruling Judea. And Archelais had a reputation
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  almost as bad as his father's. Yeah, history tells us Arcolase
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  was exceptionally cruel. Joseph rightly saw Judea,
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  especially Bethlehem or Jerusalem, as dangerous.
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  So he gets another warning in a dream, the last one mentioned in
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  this narrative. And combining that warning with
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  his own prudent assessment of the political risk he withdraws.
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  He heads N to Galilee. Which was under a different
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  jurisdiction, ruled by another of Herod's sons, Herod Antipas,
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  who was perhaps less immediately threatening at that point.
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  Generally considered a safer region.
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  Yeah, more remote. And he settles the family in a
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  specific town there, Nazareth. A practical decision Avoiding
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  danger. A prudent decision?
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  Absolutely. But for Matthew, it's more than
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  just practical. This move to Nazareth is
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  theologically loaded. It's setting the stage for
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  Christ's identity. It's essential to Matthew's
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  whole argument. It wasn't just about finding a
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  safe house. It was about fulfilling the
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  prophetic pattern of the Messiah's required lowliness and
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  obscurity. Herod's violence, Joseph's
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  obedience, the political climate.
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  It all works together to place Jesus exactly where prophecy
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  needed him to be in Nazareth. Which leads us right into the
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  next section dealing with the sorrow and the significance of
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  that final location. Right after describing the
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  horror of the slaughter, Matthew pauses the action.
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  He inserts A quotation from the Old Testament from.
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  Jeremiah 31, verse 15. It's a moment of profound grief,
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  interrupting the narrative flow. It is, Matthew writes.
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  A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and loud lamentation.
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  Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted
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  because they are no more. By quoting this, Matthew is
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  doing something specific. He's not just reporting the
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  mother's grief in Bethlehem. He's framing it.
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  He's re narrating it. He's placing this specific
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  atrocity within the long, tragic story of Israel's suffering and
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  loss. He's giving it canonical weight.
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  So who is Rachel here? Why is she the 1 weeping?
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  Rachel was Jacob's beloved wife, and traditionally her tomb was
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  located near Bethlehem, often associated with Rama, which was
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  a staging point for the Babylonian exile.
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  So she becomes this symbolic figure, the archetypal mother of
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  the covenant people. Her weeping represents the
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  collective grief of Israel throughout history, especially
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  the trauma of losing children and being driven into exile.
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  Matthew was saying what happened to Bethlehem?
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  This is that kind of pain. This is exile level grief.
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  And the description of her grief is so raw, she refused to be
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  comforted. What does that refusal signify?
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  The original Hebrew there, Mianahi numb, implies A
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  conscious volitional refusal. It's not just that comfort isn't
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  available, it's that the loss is so total.
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  They are no more that cheap comfort, easy platitudes.
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  They just won't do. It's an honest acknowledgement
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  of the depth of the tragedy, yes.
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  The sources suggest it's not rebellion against God, but a
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  refusal of inadequate, superficial consolation when
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  faced with a devastating loss, when evil seems to win so
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  decisively, like with Herod's soldiers or Nebuchadnezzar's
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  army, sorrow needs its space, its voice.
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  And it's significant that Matthew includes this quote
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  without any criticism or correction.
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  Yeah, very significant Scripture validates genuine lament.
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  It gives permission for grief. It tells the Church, tells us
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  that sorrow has a legitimate place.
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  This pushes back against any kind of stoicism that pretends
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  pain isn't real or shouldn't be felt deeply.
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  So sanctification isn't about not grieving.
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  No, it's about grieving honestly before God.
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  But, and this is the crucial turn, grieving within the
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  boundaries set by His promises. Which is why Matthew quotes
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  Jeremiah 31, because verse 15, the verse about Rachel weeping,
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  isn't the end of the story in Jeremiah.
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  Absolutely not. If Matthew had stopped there, it
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  would just be despair, but he deliberately picks a voice
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  embedded within one of the most hope filled chapters in the
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  entire Old Testament. Jeremiah 21 doesn't end with
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  tears. What comes immediately after
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  Rachel's refusal to be comforted in Jeremiah?
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  God speaks directly to Rachel, to grieving Israel.
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  Keep your voice from weeping, in your eyes from tears, for there
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  is a reward for your work. They shall come back from the
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  land of the enemy. Hope restoration.
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  There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your
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  children shall come back to their own country.
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  Initially, this is about the physical return from Babylonian
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  exile. But Jeremiah 31 goes even deeper
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  than that, doesn't it? It moves towards the ultimate
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  restoration. It builds and builds right up to
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  the pinnacle, verses 31 to 34, the explicit promise of the New
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  Covenant. Where God says He'll make a new
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  covenant, write his law on their hearts, forgive their iniquity
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  and remember their sin no more. Yes.
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  The ultimate answer to exile isn't just coming home
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  geographically, it's coming home to God spiritually, through
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  forgiveness and a changed heart. So by placing Rachel's tears
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  within that chapter, Matthew was making a powerful theological
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  statement about the Bethlehem massacre.
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  He's saying that even this horrific event, this deep
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  sorrow, is encompassed by God's ultimate plan of redemption.
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  The grief is real. It's validated, but it's bounded
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  by covenant hope. And Jesus himself, the child who
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  escaped Herod's sword, is the fulfillment of that hope.
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  He is the ultimate answer to Rachel's tears.
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  He's the end of exile's son who has come to deal with the root
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  cause of the exile, sin and separation from God.
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  The child preserved from Herod is preserved for something.
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  Preserved for the cross to shed his blood and inaugurate that
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  very new covenant promised in Jeremiah 31.
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  Remember the Last Supper? This cup is the new covenant in
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  my blood, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
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  Directly linking his death to the promise that follows
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  Rachel's lament. It confirms it.
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  The sorrow is real, the lament is necessary.
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  But because of Christ's work, the weeping doesn't get the
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  final say. Comfort will come fully and
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  finally through Him. So the resolution isn't found in
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  explaining the suffering away, but in the redemption
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  accomplished by the one who survived it.
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  That's the biblical pattern. Not primarily explanation, but
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  redemption. The child saved from the
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  slaughter will ultimately conquer death itself.
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  Which leads us to that final verse in the passage Matthew
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  2.23. Joseph settles the family in
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  Nazareth, and Matthew says this fulfills what was spoken by the
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  prophets, plural. Yes, he shall be called a
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  Nazarene. Now this is famously tricky
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  because that exact phrase he shall be called a Nazarene isn't
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  found in any single Old Testament prophet.
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  It's not, and Matthew's use of the plural the atuna prophetune
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  through the prophets is the key. He's not citing one specific
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  verse. So.
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  What is he doing? He's signaling a summary, a
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  composite fulfillment. He's drawing together a
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  consistent, unified theme or portrait of the Messiah found
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  across multiple prophetic writings and capturing it with
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  this one title, Nazarene. OK, so what's the theme or maybe
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  themes that Nazarene summarizes according to the prophets?
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  The sources argue it brilliantly captures two major, seemingly
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  paradoxical prophetic themes about the Messiah.
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  Paradoxical. How so?
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  On the one hand, it points to his prophetic humiliation and
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  lowly presentation. On the other, it subtly hints at
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  his prophetic royalty and branch identity.
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  Humiliation and royalty wrapped up in one name.
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  OK, let's unpack the humiliation part first.
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  How does Nazarene signify loneliness?
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  Well, first, just on a literal level, Nazrios Nazarene simply
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  means someone from Nazareth. And Nazareth, well, it was
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  nowhere special. It's a small town in Galilee.
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  Right, Galley itself was kind of looked down upon by the Judean
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  elite in a bit of a backwater, culturally and religiously
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  suspect to some. And Nazareth within Galilee.
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  It had zero historical significance, no great battles,
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  no famous kings, no major prophetic connections in the OT.
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  It was obscure. And we see that attitude
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  reflected later in the Gospels, don't we?
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  That famous line from Nathaniel? John 1.46 Philip tells them they
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  found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and Nathaniel's
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  immediate reaction Nazareth. Can anything good come from
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  Nazareth? That tells you everything about
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  the town's reputation. Contemptible.
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  Obscure. So for Matthew, Jesus being
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  identified with this town being called the Nazarene perfectly
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  fits the prophetic picture of the Messiah as someone who would
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  be despised and rejected. Which prophets predicted that?
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  This draws on a whole stream of prophecy.
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  Think Isaiah 53.3 the Suffering Servant.
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  He was despised and rejected by men.
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  A Man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.
• 19:19
  Clearly fits. Or Isaiah 49.7 where God's
• 19:23
  servant is called the one deeply despised, abhorred by the
• 19:26
  nation. OK, even Psalm 22, which Jesus
• 19:29
  quotes on the cross, describes the sufferer as a worm and not a
• 19:32
  man. Scorned by everyone, despised by
• 19:35
  the people. So Matthew's using Nazarene as
• 19:38
  shorthand for the despised. 1 The Messiah, who, according to
• 19:41
  the prophets, plural, had to come in lowliness and face.
• 19:45
  That seems to be the primary meaning, yes, to be called a
• 19:48
  Nazarene is to wear the label of scorn fulfilling that specific
• 19:51
  prophetic requirement. OK, that covers the humiliation,
• 19:54
  but you said it also whispers royalty.
• 19:56
  How does that work? That seems like the opposite.
• 19:58
  This is where a potential word play comes in, linking in
• 20:01
  Nazarene Nazerios to a specific Hebrew word, no spelled NETSER.
• 20:08
  No. And what does that mean?
• 20:09
  It means branch, shoot or sprout.
• 20:12
  A branch? How is that royal?
• 20:14
  Because of where it appears prophetically, the key text is
• 20:17
  Isaiah 11.1. The Jesse passage, right?
• 20:21
  There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a
• 20:24
  branch no from his roots shall bear fruit.
• 20:27
  So the gnar, the branch, is the Davidic Messiah, the descendant
• 20:31
  of King David, Jesse's son. It's a royal image.
• 20:34
  It is, but notice the context. The branch doesn't spring from a
• 20:37
  mighty flourishing tree. It comes from a stump.
• 20:40
  The dynasty looks dead, cut down.
• 20:42
  Hope arises unexpectedly from seeming insignificance.
• 20:45
  Which fits perfectly with the Messiah growing up in obscure
• 20:48
  Nazareth, not the royal city of Jerusalem.
• 20:50
  Exactly. The narrow imagery itself
• 20:52
  combines royalty with lowly origins.
• 20:54
  Growing up in Nazareth embodies the noir prophecy, the hidden
• 20:58
  royal shoot emerging from the stump.
• 21:00
  And does Matthew's use of prophets plural fit with this
• 21:03
  branch idea too? Are there other branch
• 21:04
  prophecies? Yes, and this is likely part of
• 21:07
  why he uses the plural while Isaiah 11 uses no.
• 21:11
  Other prophets use a related Hebrew word, amma TSEMACH, which
• 21:17
  also means branch or sprout, to describe the Messiah.
• 21:20
  Like Jeremiah. Jeremiah 23.5 God promises to
• 21:23
  raise up for David a righteous Amma, a branch who will reign as
• 21:27
  king, and Jeremiah 33.5 teen repeats it.
• 21:30
  And Zechariah too, right? Zechariah uses Amma twice in
• 21:33
  chapter 3 and chapter 6, pointing to the coming priestly
• 21:36
  and kingly Messiah called the Branch.
• 21:39
  So Matthew is likely weaving together the NAR from Isaiah
• 21:42
  with the Ummah from Jeremiah and Zechariah all pointing to the
• 21:45
  Davidic branch. It seems very probable he's
• 21:47
  making a sophisticated theological connection.
• 21:50
  Nazarene sounds like no, and it perfectly embodies the location
• 21:53
  for the Nofum Messiah to grow up.
• 21:55
  Obscure, lowly, yet the promised royal branch.
• 21:59
  So Nazarene becomes this incredible synthesis.
• 22:02
  It holds both truths together. It does.
• 22:03
  It proclaims this is the King David's branch of royalty.
• 22:06
  Yeah, but he comes in despise obscurity, humiliation,
• 22:09
  lowliness isn't a detour from his kingship, is the God
• 22:12
  ordained path to it. Just like Philippians 2
• 22:14
  describes, he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant.
• 22:18
  Therefore, God highly exalted him.
• 22:20
  That's the pattern. The humiliation starting right
• 22:23
  here in Nazareth isn't accidental.
• 22:25
  It's central to his mission as mediator, just as the confection
• 22:29
  outlines for the work of Christ. This early obscurity sets the
• 22:33
  trajectory for the cross and the subsequent glory.
• 22:36
  So Matthew 2 ends by establishing that the Messiah's
• 22:39
  path is fundamentally 1 of chosen lowliness, which
• 22:43
  paradoxically confirms his royal identity according to the
• 22:46
  prophets. A stunning conclusion to the
• 22:48
  infancy narrative. OK, we've traced the narrative,
• 22:51
  the Providence, the lament, the fulfillment in the Nazarene.
• 22:54
  How does all this guide the Church today?
• 22:56
  We don't have angels giving us travel directions and dreams
• 22:58
  anymore. That's the right question, and
• 23:01
  the first point of guidance flows directly from that
• 23:03
  contrast. We established Joseph's dreams
• 23:05
  were extraordinary, part of that unique redemptive historical
• 23:09
  moment. So what's the norm for us now?
• 23:11
  The norm is guidance through the closed Canon of Scripture.
• 23:15
  This is a bedrock principle for us, affirmed in confessions like
• 23:18
  Westminster Chapter 1. God's special revelation, the
• 23:22
  kind Joseph received, has ceased.
• 23:24
  Why? Because Christ has come the
• 23:27
  ultimate revelation. Exactly.
• 23:29
  And because he inspired the apostles to write the New
• 23:31
  Testament, completing the written word Hebrews.
• 23:33
  One says God spoke in the past through prophets, but in these
• 23:36
  last days he has spoken definitively through His Son.
• 23:40
  And Second Timothy 3 tells us Scripture is sufficient,
• 23:43
  thoroughly equipping us for every good work.
• 23:45
  So practically, this means we shouldn't be seeking guidance
• 23:48
  through new dreams, visions, or supposed prophetic words today.
• 23:52
  We should actively refuse that kind of mysticism.
• 23:54
  Chasing private revelations often leads people away from the
• 23:57
  clear teaching of the Bible. Our guidance comes through
• 24:00
  ordinary means. Which are.
• 24:02
  Reading and studying the Bible, letting the Word shape our
• 24:04
  wisdom. Prayer asking God for wisdom,
• 24:07
  not specific signs. Seeking wise counsel from mature
• 24:10
  believers and church leaders and diligent, responsible action in
• 24:13
  our own lives. Using the minds God gave us,
• 24:16
  informed by His Word. Precisely the sufficiency of
• 24:19
  Scripture means we have what we need for God's own glory, man's
• 24:22
  salvation, faith and life. OK, so no extraordinary dreams,
• 24:26
  but the doctrine of Providence still applies.
• 24:28
  God is still governing all things.
• 24:31
  How do we live in light of that? You mentioned the compatibilist
• 24:34
  reflex earlier. Yes, and putting that into
• 24:37
  practice is maybe one of the biggest challenges and comforts
• 24:40
  of the Christian life takes constant spiritual effort.
• 24:43
  Remind us what it is. It's holding those two truths
• 24:45
  together, God's absolute sovereignty and our real
• 24:48
  responsibility. So we pray as if everything
• 24:51
  depends 100% on God, because ultimately it does.
• 24:56
  His decree governs all. OK, trusting his plan.
• 24:59
  But then we act as if our choices and actions genuinely
• 25:02
  matter and have real consequences because they do.
• 25:05
  God uses our responsible actions as means to accomplish His
• 25:08
  purposes. We have to exercise prudence.
• 25:10
  Can you make that concrete? How does that look day-to-day?
• 25:14
  Maybe drawing from Joseph's example?
• 25:15
  OK, Joseph was warned about arcoles, a real danger.
• 25:20
  God's promise to protect Jesus was still in effect.
• 25:23
  But Joseph didn't test God, he didn't say, well, God promised,
• 25:26
  so we'll just walk into Judea anyway.
• 25:28
  No, he prudently withdrew to Galilee.
• 25:30
  Right. So for us today, maybe you're
• 25:33
  playing for God to provide for your family's needs.
• 25:35
  That's trusting His sovereignty. The compatible is reflex means
• 25:39
  you also diligently look for work, manage your finances
• 25:42
  wisely, and make responsible choices.
• 25:45
  You pray for safety and you lock your doors at night.
• 25:48
  You pray for healing and you seek appropriate medical care.
• 25:51
  It's trust and action, not one or the other.
• 25:53
  God ordinarily works through these secondary causes through
• 25:56
  our prudent decisions. Joseph's choice to go to Galilee
• 26:00
  was a wise, responsible decision prompted by a warning, and God
• 26:04
  used that decision to fulfill his plan.
• 26:06
  We make similar prudential choices daily, for safety, for
• 26:09
  well-being, and we should do so without feeling like we're
• 26:12
  lacking faith. And holding this tension
• 26:13
  protects us from errors, right? Two big ones.
• 26:17
  On one side, he guards against fatalism.
• 26:19
  Just shrugging your shoulders and saying whatever happens,
• 26:21
  happens, leading to apathy or recklessness that ignores Joseph
• 26:26
  taking action. Doesn't take responsibility
• 26:28
  seriously. And on the other side, it guards
• 26:30
  against triumphalism or presumption, thinking that
• 26:32
  because we're Christians, bad things won't happen.
• 26:34
  Or we can ignore dangers That ignores the very real threat of
• 26:38
  Herod and Archelaus, the reality of suffering in a fallen world.
• 26:42
  We trust God's ultimate purpose, but we acknowledge the present
• 26:45
  dangers and act wisely. Now, thinking about the
• 26:48
  slaughter itself, the horror of Bethlehem, how does that guide
• 26:52
  the church's ethics, particularly around lament and
• 26:55
  life? It forces us to take both
• 26:57
  seriously. First, lament.
• 27:00
  As we saw with Rachel, Scripture gives us permission to grieve
• 27:02
  honestly and deeply. The church needs to be a place
• 27:05
  where sorrow isn't shut down with quick fixes.
• 27:07
  We need to allow grief its full biblical voice.
• 27:10
  But crucially, that lament must always be bounded by covenant
• 27:15
  hope. We weep, yes, but we weep toward
• 27:19
  God, clinging to the promises sealed by Christ.
• 27:22
  We rehearse Jeremiah 31, forgiveness, restoration, the
• 27:26
  new covenant, even through tears, trusting that comfort
• 27:29
  will come because of Jesus's work.
• 27:32
  We don't let sorrow become despair.
• 27:33
  And the brutal reality of the infant's deaths.
• 27:36
  It confronts us starkly with the sanctity of every human life,
• 27:40
  the value God places on the vulnerable.
• 27:43
  Herod saw infants as disposable pawns in his power games.
• 27:46
  God went to extraordinary lengths to preserve one specific
• 27:49
  child, showing the immense value of that life.
• 27:52
  So this pushes the church towards an active duty.
• 27:55
  A duty to protect the vulnerable.
• 27:57
  In our own time, this means supporting life affirming
• 27:59
  ministries, advocating for justice, caring for the
• 28:02
  marginalized, perhaps engaging in wise civic action to defend
• 28:05
  the sanctity of life from conception to natural end.
• 28:09
  We know only Christ's return will fully silence Rachel's
• 28:11
  weeping, but we bear witness to His Kingdom's values now.
• 28:14
  Finally, then, the title Nazarene.
• 28:17
  If it was a term of scorn, what does it mean for us to be
• 28:19
  followers of Jesus the Nazarene today?
• 28:21
  It means we shouldn't be surprised or overly dismayed
• 28:25
  when following Christ leads to being misunderstood,
• 28:28
  marginalized, or even despised by the world.
• 28:31
  Bearing the Nazarene's reproach becomes, in a sense, a mark of
• 28:35
  fellowship with him. Like the apostles rejoicing,
• 28:37
  they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
• 28:40
  That's the spirit. If the world hated the Master
• 28:43
  who came from Nazareth, it will likely hate his followers too.
• 28:47
  We shouldn't chase worldly approval or status.
• 28:49
  To do so is to trade the path of the Nazarene for well, for the
• 28:54
  path of Herod, seeking power and acceptance on the world's terms.
• 28:57
  So instead, we should actively cultivate humility.
• 29:00
  Humility, quiet service, integrity, and small things.
• 29:04
  Refusing to measure our success by worldly standards.
• 29:07
  The Nazarene synthesis teaches us something about our mission
• 29:09
  strategy, too. How so?
• 29:11
  Maybe think of it as embracing Galilee geography, being willing
• 29:15
  to work on the margins in places the world considers unimportant,
• 29:19
  expecting growth to come from small, unimpressive beginnings
• 29:22
  like a shoot from a stump. Trusting that God's Kingdom
• 29:24
  often advances quietly from obscurity, not necessarily from
• 29:28
  the centers of power. Because the branch grows from a
• 29:30
  stump, not a palace. Our confidence isn't in worldly
• 29:34
  influence, but in the power of the crucified and risen
• 29:36
  Nazarene, whose chosen path was lowliness.
• 29:40
  OK, let's try to pull these threads together.
• 29:41
  This deep dive into Matthew 2.1623 really strips away any
• 29:46
  superficial reading of the Christmas story it.
• 29:49
  Does it shows Herod's political violence?
• 29:51
  Racial's profound grief? They aren't random tragedies.
• 29:54
  They are caught up in God's sovereign plan.
• 29:57
  Governed by His Providence, fulfilling prophecy and
• 30:00
  establishing the necessary pattern of the Messiah's.
• 30:03
  Summed up in that title, Nazarene.
• 30:05
  And the preservation of Jesus through all this wasn't just
• 30:08
  about saving a baby. It was a critical, preparatory
• 30:11
  step for his entire mission as mediator.
• 30:13
  Him to the cross. To get him to the cross?
• 30:14
  Yes. To seal the new covenant
• 30:16
  promised in Jeremiah 31, pay for sins, and ultimately end the
• 30:20
  spiritual exile that causes all human sorrow.
• 30:24
  The despised Nazarene is a royal branch who conquers sin and
• 30:27
  death. So maybe the final thought to
• 30:29
  leave with everyone listening, is this the child that Herod
• 30:32
  couldn't reach in Bethlehem? He grew up to be the Lord that
• 30:35
  death couldn't hold in the tomb near Jerusalem.
• 30:38
  So the question for you becomes, what does it look like in your
• 30:41
  own life, your own sphere of influence, to embrace the
• 30:44
  despised path of the Nazarene, To trust that the scorn or
• 30:47
  obscurity you might face for his sake is actually the chosen path
• 30:51
  towards sharing in his glory?