Matthew 2:13-23 “A Fulfilling Childhood”

Message Details

Passage: Matthew 2:13-23

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Kills the Children
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Intro:
God’s plans and purposes reach into and work through our hardest times.

Outro:
I hope you see that God is sovereign. He is in control. He has chosen to use our hard times to bring about His big purposes. His character and power shine brightest in darkness. And the question in the moment isn’t “Do I know exactly what God is doing here?” The question is “Do I trust Him?” Like Joseph, do we continue to obey and do what’s right? Do I entrust what’s happening THIS day to the One who numbers all my days?
Ps. 139

Because every one of these three fulfillments didn’t fix life at the moment for anyone. But they all show us God’s direct control in the lives of His people, and they all point us to eternity, where we place our hope.

When we glimpse God’s bigger purposes, our small, temporary problems somehow get even smaller and will one day vanish entirely when we are home with our Savior.

Church, in your life, today, amidst the trials, the suffering, the hard times…do you trust Him? Do you trust that He has orchestrated history and though we don’t understand it all now one day we will see Him and our problems will dissolve? No one in glory will say to God, “I think you missed something.”

Trust God with your suffering and trials. Thank Him that he doesn’t react. He orchestrates. Long for the day you see Him.