All right, turn with me, if you
would, to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew chapter 2. Because of the last word in this
chapter, the very last word in this chapter, I have titled this,
Come and See. And in a moment, you'll see why
I titled it that. But let's read the last half
of this chapter and see what's being said here. As you know,
these wise men came to the Lord to worship Him. And verse 11
says, when they were come into the house, they saw the young
child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense
and myrrh. And being warned of God in a
dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into
their own country another way. And when they were departed,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream
saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee
into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word, for
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose,
he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed
into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying,
out of Egypt have I called my son. And if you would like to
see that prophecy, you can turn with me to Hosea chapter 11.
I'd like to show you this. It's a difficult book to find,
but it's just after Daniel. It goes Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea. And if your Bible's like mine,
it's page 1133. Hosea 11 verse 1 says, When Israel was a child, then
I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. For God so loved his people in
the world, he sent his son. He gave his only begotten son. Verse one says, when Israel was
a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt."
Now, this is why I had you turn over there for that. Every word
in this book points to the Lord Jesus Christ. We would not have
necessarily seen that had he not told us, that's what he was
saying. in Matthew chapter two. And I
think about the fact that we love this word and we know this
word, but oh, how generous it is that the queen of Sheba said
the half wasn't told that that's, we're not scratching the surface. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to open this word to us one day. And we may spend a couple of
billion years on in the beginning, God. just learning about what
he was saying in that. And that's what he was saying
right there. Because God so loved his people, he sent his only
begotten son. I've called my son because I
loved Israel. I sent my son, I called my son
out of Egypt. Verses to the natural flesh that
just seem to be nothing more than a passing comment. It just
seems to be a, Every word is speaking of Him. Every word is
pointing us to Him, all right? So go with me to Matthew 2. Matthew 2, verse 15. He was there. Joseph took the
Lord and Mary. into Egypt, verse 15, he was
there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled, which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, out of Egypt
have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that
he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath, and sent
forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in
all the coast thereof, from two years old and under, according
to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." Can
you imagine that? This man, just because he saw
he was mocked, he got so mad when he realized that he was
mocked and they left and went out, those wise men went home
another way, they didn't come back to Herod. You think about
the sin, you think about the wickedness that that man got
so mad he killed all the children in Bethlehem from two years old
and under. What wickedness. Verse 17 says,
then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet,
saying, in Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation, that just
means absolute sorrow, and weeping in great mourning. Rachel weeping
for her children and would not be comforted because they are
not. Rachel was the wife of Jacob,
the one that he loved, the one that he worked 14 years for. It was Abraham and Sarah, Isaac
and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel. So Rachel's children were Jacob's
children. Jacob, whose name was changed
to Israel. And speaking of the children
of Israel. And if you'd like to see that
prophecy, turn with me to Jeremiah 31. This is such a wonderful, wonderful
chapter. Jeremiah 31 verse one, it says,
at the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the
families of Israel? They shall be my people. Thus
saith the Lord, the people which were left of the sword found
grace in the wilderness. Even Israel, when I went to cause
him to rest, he said, I went to cause him to rest. The Lord
hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And then he goes on down with
just wonderful comforts. If you look at verse 10, he says,
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the
isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather
him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord
hath redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that
was stronger than he. Therefore, they shall come and
sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together to the goodness
of the Lord for wheat and for wine and for oil and for the
young of the flock and of the herd. And their soul shall be
as a watered garden and they shall not sorrow any more at
all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men
and old together, for I will turn their mourning into joy."
That's what I'm gonna do for them. and will comfort them and
make them rejoice from their sorrow, and I will satiate, I'll
satisfy the soul of the priest with fatness, and my people shall
be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord." Now, here's
the prophecy from Matthew 2, verse 15. Thus saith the Lord,
a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentations and bitter weeping, Rahel, which
is Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her
children because they were not. Thus saith the Lord, refrain
thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for thy work
shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again
from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end,
saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own
border. He said, you're gonna see him
again. There's hope, be comforted. That's what he's saying, be comforted.
God said, when Herod slew all those children, that scripture
was fulfilled. All right, now go with me back
to Matthew 2. Matthew 2, verse 17, it says, Then was fulfilled that which
was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Ramah was there a
voice heard, lamentation and weeping in great mourning, Rachel
weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because
they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream, to Joseph in Egypt,
saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and go into
the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young
child's life. And he arose and took the young
child and his mother and came into the land of Israel, But
when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room
of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding,
being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts
of Galilee, and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, he shall
be called a Nazarene. He shall be called a Nazarene. I want to look at that for just
a second. I believe we can learn something and see something very
glorious in this. If you'll turn with me to Luke
chapter one. All right, Luke chapter one. We'll see here that the whole
thing started in Nazareth. Everything concerning our Lord
physically coming to this earth, it all started in Nazareth. If you look at Luke 1 verse 26,
it says, And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth. to a virgin espoused to a man
whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's
name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
and said, hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with
thee, blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him,
she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner
of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. And chapter 2 verse 1 says, It came to pass in those days
that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria and all went to be taxed,
everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage
of David. to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great
with child. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for
them in the end." So the earthly conception of our Lord, earthly
speaking, It was sent by the Holy Ghost to Mary in Nazareth. And then they left Nazareth so
that he could be born in Bethlehem. And then they left Bethlehem
so that he could live for a while and be called out of Egypt. And then they came back to the
place that our Lord was originally sent from God to. which was Nazareth. So he truly was a Nazarene in
that regard. Earthly speaking, he was from
Nazareth. That's where he was from. All
right. Saying that he is Jesus of Nazareth,
though, when we say we talk about Jesus of Nazareth, that name,
that's an important name. When we speak of Jesus of Nazareth,
it is true that He was from Nazareth. That's not all that's saying. That is where He came from. That
was, if you want to call it His hometown, but that's not all
that it's saying. To say Jesus of Nazareth means
something of much greater value, something of much greater importance. The fact that He chose to come
to Nazareth, is there any doubt in our minds that the Lord orchestrated
this whole thing? He chose the city of Nazareth. And the fact that He chose that
city, that says something to all the world. And the definition
of that name says something to all of his people. All right,
the fact that he chose that city says something to the whole world.
The definition of that name says something to his people. First,
this is what him being of Nazareth, from Nazareth says to the whole
world. Turn with me to John chapter
one. John 1 verse 43, it says, the day following Jesus would
go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip and saith unto him, follow
me. Now, Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael and
saith unto him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,
Moses, he said. And Nathanael said unto him,
verse 46, this is Nathanael's reply. He said, can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth? Nathanael, of whom the Lord said
in verse 47, he said, that man had no guile in him. That means
no trickery, no sarcasm. He didn't say things to get a
rise out of people. He just wasn't like that. Nathanael
said, whenever they said, we found him, Jesus of Nazareth,
he said, Nazareth, did I hear you right? The Messiah
has come out of Nazareth. Nazareth didn't have a good reputation
at all. I tried to think of cities, you
know, that don't have good reputations. And I think, well, that's going
to offend all the people from those cities. But there's a place called
Skid Row. You ever heard of Skid Row? Well,
that was Nazareth, the gutter. It was the gutter. It was just. It was awful. Every time somebody
asked the Lord, you think about it, 33 years on this earth, people
say, where are you from? Where do you live? Every time
somebody said, where do you live? He said, Nazareth. I'm sorry? Every time. Nazareth? That's the only response
somebody could have, even if it didn't come out. That's the
only response they could have in the heart. That was a bad place.
Nathaniel said, In Nathanael, what that means is he was not
somebody who would try to hurt anybody. He didn't mean anything
hurtful by it, but he couldn't help it. He said, can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? There's nothing good in Nazareth. Everybody's a transgressor in
Nazareth. All right, the fact that our
Lord hand selected the city of Nazareth to come to, That tells
the whole world he numbered himself with the transgressors. He took upon himself the likeness
of sinful flesh. That's who he associated himself
with. He came to sinners. Specifically, He came and identified
Himself with sinners. He came to save sinners. He did not come to be glorified
of men. He laid His glory by. When they
said, where are you from? He didn't say heaven itself. He said Nazareth. He laid His glory by and He came
straight down into the heart of sin itself. That's where his people were.
That's where his people were. And he came there in order to
save them from what they were. So to say this is Jesus of Nazareth,
number one, that's to say, this is the savior of sinners. This
man came to save sinners. He made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Romans 8 says, he came to condemn
sin in his flesh. And he did that by coming into
the very heart of sin itself. That's the first thing that his
name, Jesus of Nazareth means. With that, the name Nazarene,
is the same name as Nazarite. And I'm not a real deep and technical
kind of guy, and I don't mean to get deep and technical, but
this is the glory of the one who came. This right here is
the glory of the one who came. This is why Peter said in Acts
chapter four, there is no other name given among men whereby
we must be saved than the name Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, I hope
this gives us a greater admiration and respect for that name. I
hope it does. That word Nazareth and the word,
the name Nazarene, it's the same name as Nazarite. Same word. And this is what that means to
God's people. It means he was holy and harmless. undefiled and separate from sinners. He came down into the heart of
them. He immersed himself. You think about baptism. He baptized
himself down into the heart of sinners and sin itself. but he
himself was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. It
means he was so spotless and so perfect. He was the only one
who had the ability to save his people from their sins. To say
that this is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Nazarene, is to say
this is the one who was both willing and able to save his
people from their sins. Nathanael said, can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? And this is what Philip said,
come and see. Come and see. Come and see the one good thing. Come and see the one holy thing. The one spotless thing. Now we have had before studies
on what a Nazirite is and the law of a Nazirite, and we don't
have time to go into all that. But briefly, one of these days
we may look at it again, but briefly a Nazirite was one who
had to be separated unto God. Different men throughout the
Old Testament and New Testament, Samson was one, John the Baptist
was one. They were supposed to be separated
unto God. They were supposed to be separated
unto purity. It was one who had taken a vow,
taken an oath of perfection and purity before God. And I'll tell
you that no man on this earth ever fulfilled it. They all pointed
to the Nazarite, all of them. Christ came to be that perfection. and that purity for his people,
he came to be separated from the world. I'm not separated
from this world. I'm of the world in my flesh,
but he's of God. Separated and he came to be separated
from the world and separated from sin in order to separate
his people in himself. In John 17, he said, for their
sakes, I sanctify myself. I set myself apart. That they
also might be sanctified through the truth separated in me. He
came to bear an oath for us. He bore an oath of purity, an
oath of faithfulness, an oath of cleansing. And it's his oath,
his covenant, and his blood that support us in the whelming blood. When all around our soul gives
way, He then is all our hope and stay. On Christ the solid
rock we stand. All of the ground is sinking
sand. He came and swore to God that
He would accomplish something for His people. A Nazarite, during
his oath, he couldn't drink wine. Our Lord took an oath in that
garden. They tried to give him some vinegar
and he would not drink it. After it was finished, the Nazarite
could drink wine again. And after he cried, it's finished,
he said, I thirst. It's done. My oath is done. My
accomplishment is done. But he came and accomplished
for his people everything that they could not do. And I love
how Hebrews 6 says, because he could swear by no greater, he
swore by himself. That's my, I love, I just, it's
so holy. I don't ever wanna hear anybody
say, I swear to God. But to think of Jesus Christ
saying, I swear to God I'll do this. That is just, makes me
wanna hit the dust. Holy, holy, he swore by himself. He came to fulfill an oath, a
promise, and that's what he did. That's what he did. No other
man ever did it. But this one man, he took a vow
of absolute righteousness and holiness, and he fulfilled his
vow to God. He did it on behalf of himself
and on behalf of all of his people, all who were in him. And all
of heaven, earth, and hell has to acknowledge it. We quoted
Wednesday night, how the devils themselves said to him, we know
who you are. The Holy one of God. Pilate posted a sign above
his cross. This right here is Jesus of Nazareth. That's what those devils said.
Jesus of Nazareth. We know who you are. Pilate said,
Jesus of Nazareth, this is God's Nazarite. And after his resurrection,
the ladies came to that empty tomb. And the angel said to them,
I know that you're seeking Jesus of Nazareth. I know that's who
you're seeking. The one who is both willing and
able to save the spotless, Holy consecrated, innocent, pure lamb
of God. That angel said, he's not here.
He's not here. Your Nazarite finished his vow,
and now he's risen, as he said. So that's what it means that
he shall be called our Nazarene. That's what it means. And the
next time we hear that name, we're about to sing a song in
a moment. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.
From here on out, when we hear that name, let's remember That
represents the fact that he was willing to come to Nazareth. Any of us could have been born
in Nazareth. He was willing to save sinners. And that name means
that all of heaven and earth has to declare that he is the
only one able. to save sinners, the one who
is willing and the one who is able, Jesus of Nazareth. There's
no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. And
I'm so grateful. I'm so thankful the Lord would
reveal that to us. May that be on our minds, in
our hearts, every time we see that name.