Matthew (Part 4)(BST 10-14-07)

Matthew (Part 4)
Bible Study Time 10-14-07

Jesus Christ came to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. This was done so that Jesus could be formally anointed as the Prophet, Priest and King of Israel. This doesn’t mean that He was crowned as the King of Israel at that time. Much had to be accomplished before His ultimately coronation.

This is similar to the circumstances of David, the son of Jesse, in the Old Testament. David was taking care of his sheep out in the pasture when Samuel came looking for the next king of Israel. Samuel didn’t know who the next king would be, but he knew it would be one of the sons of Jesse.

When Samuel saw the oldest son, he thought to himself that surely this was the one, but God said no. God said:

1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
7 . . . "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees;* for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Eventually they brought in David, and to everyone’s surprise, God said, he’s the one. So Samuel anointed David as the next king of Israel.

When God anointed Jesus as the Prophet, Priest and King of Israel, very few people knew what was really going on from the divine perspective, but if they had known, they would have been shocked. The people were looking for someone who might be able to lead an army against the Romans. They certainly were not looking for a poor carpenter from Galilee. Isaiah predicted this whole scenario in Isaiah, Chapter 53, where he said:

Isaiah 53:1-3 NKJV
1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

To the people, the Lord Jesus seemed like a withering plant growing in dry ground. They would never have picked Him to be the very Son of God. How could this poor son of a carpenter be the promised Messiah? But God does not look on the outward appearance; He looks on the heart.

So God looked down upon Jesus, and He saw a tender plant that was growing according to His perfect plan and purpose. In Hebrews, Chapter 1, we see what God saw in Jesus. In verse one, we read:

Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

No one knew at the time that Jesus was baptized that Jesus was the One who had made the worlds, but God knew. God also knew that He had appointed Jesus to be not only the heir to the throne of David, but the heir of all things.

Jesus was like a tender plant growing under the careful eye of God. He was not growing in the sense that He had to develop in order to perform His duties, but He was growing in the sense that He was moving along the course that God had prescribed for Him. Hebrews 1:3 continues speaking of Jesus, saying:

Hebrews 1:3-6 NKJV
3 who being the brightness of (God’s) glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself* purged our* sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"?* And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?*
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."*

Jesus holds a position that is far above the angels for He is after all the firstborn. Colossians 1:15 says:

Colossians 1:15 NKJV
15 (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Hebrews says that when Jesus was born, the angels of God were commanded to worship Jesus because of who He was and because of the mission that He had been sent to accomplish. Even at His birth, the angels of God worshiped Him.

Do you remember how the angels appeared to the shepherds as they were watching their sheep the night that Jesus was born? Luke said:

Luke 2:8-14 KJV
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Then, as we continue in Hebrews, we read:

Hebrews 1:7-8 NKJV
7 And of the angels (God) says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire."*
8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

When Jacob was about to die, he called his sons together to bless them, and when he came to Judah, he said:

Genesis 49:8,10 NKJV
8 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; (in other words Judah will be exalted) Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; (Judah will be triumphant over his enemies) Your father's children shall bow down before you. (Even all of the other tribes of Israel will bow down before Judah)
10 (And) The scepter shall not depart from Judah . . .

Of course, Jacob was speaking of the time when Jesus will come forth as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to rule the world. All earthly kingdoms eventually come to an end, but Jacob said that the scepter shall not depart from Judah. This king from the tribe of Judah will establish an everlasting kingdom. Well, Hebrews 1:8 says:

Hebrews 1:8-9 NKJV
8 But to the Son (God) says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."*

The Lord Jesus was not only anointed with water, but He was anointed with the oil of gladness more than anyone else. Have you ever thought about that? Jesus was happier that anybody else who has ever lived. Jesus was filled with more joy than anyone else.

Hebrews 1:10 NKJV
10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Indeed:

John 1:1-3 NKJV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Colossians 1:15-17 NKJV
15 (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

So Hebrews says:

Hebrews 1:10-12 NKJV
10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain; (what he is saying here is that the earth and the heavens will someday be destroyed, but Jesus Christ will remain) And they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."*

People have been talking about the end of the world probably since the beginning, but we’re still here aren’t we. Don’t let that fool you. The word of God is still the word of God, and it plainly declares that someday the heavens and the earth will grow old like a garment. They will be folded up like an old coat, but Jesus Christ will remain the same. He will continue to be the Son of God, and He will continue to be the firstborn who is the heir of all things.

People didn’t know all about all of this when Jesus was baptized, but God knew, and He spoke from heaven saying:

Matthew 3:17 NKJV
17 . . . "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

But Peter reminds us of the fact that the present heaven and earth will pass away. 2 Peter 3:10 says:

2 Peter 3:10-13 NKJV
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.*
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Jesus Christ will remain, but the heavens and the earth will be destroyed by fire. When John the Baptist was preaching, he warned the people, saying:

Matthew 3:11-12 NKJV
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.*
12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

So we see that no one will be baptized both with the Holy Spirit and with fire. What John was saying was that all people will either be saved through faith and baptized by the Holy Spirit, or they will be destroyed by fire when the heavens and the earth are destroyed by fire. Everyone will ultimately have to go through one baptism or the other. When Jesus was baptized, people had no idea who Jesus really was, or that the future of the universe was resting upon what He would accomplish as He lived, as He died and as He rose again.

Then the writer of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 1:13 NKJV
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?*

Jesus had come to rule and reign over the earth, but Jesus is today seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is waiting until the time is right for Him to return to the earth and conquer His enemies. This is something that God has promised He will do.

When God told Samuel to anoint the young man named David as the next King of Israel, no doubt everyone was surprised. But really this should have given them a clue as to the fact that it was going to be a while before David would be crowned as the king. David still had to kill Goliath and then go to play his music before King Saul. He still had to go through a period of time in which King Saul would run him completely out of the country in his efforts to kill David. But even after King Saul was dead, it was some time before the nation of Israel called upon David to serve as their king. He served seven years as the King of Judah before the northern tribes came to ask him to be their King over all of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Well, this is very similar to what happened to the Lord Jesus. He was anointed to be the Prophet, Priest and King of Israel at the time of His water baptism, but then He had much to go through before He could be crowned as the King of Israel. He had to accomplish great feats of glory as He did many miracles in the sight of people. He had to preach His message of peace and joy and righteousness. He had to suffer great persecution and even death at the hands of the Jews. But even after He was raised from the dead and everything was set for the kingdom, He still had to wait for the nation of Israel to accept Him as their king.

In fact, He is still waiting today. When Peter spoke to the nation of Israel in Acts, Chapter 2, he said:

Acts 2:34-36 NKJV
34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'*
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Peter didn’t say that God had made Jesus both Lord and King. Peter said that Jesus had been made Lord and Christ. Christ means “Anointed One,” and certainly Jesus had been anointed, but He was and is still waiting in heaven for the Jews to call upon Him and accept Him as their King. When they do, He will return to the earth to make His enemies His footstool.

Well, I see our time is gone for this morning. I’ve enjoyed studying with you, and I’ll look forward to studying with you again next week at this same time.

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/