Matthew 2:22,23
‘”But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and settled in a city called Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a Nazarene.”’
God uses the factors of our lives. The kindness and genius of God gave us bible prophecy to give us confidence in His Word. We are resting our lives on it. We need more than blind faith to have confidence in it. Bible prophecy does that. It is so far outside of the realm of possibility that Jesus could fulfill All the ones concerning Him. There is clearly an intelligent powerful being controlling things. Verse 23 is one of those.
Verse 22 is another threat against Jesus. This is Herod’s son. He can’t be expected to be any less ruthless. So, Joseph gives pause. This time God warns Him directly. He goes to Nazareth.
God uses this adversity in their lives. We can expect no less. I Peter 4:12,13 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed.” They are surprised as they don’t think they should be going through difficulties. It’s part of life, especially for a believer. We have three enemies against us, the world, the flesh and the devil.
A test car has the purpose of finding flaws. Not to destroy, but to perfect so, that victory can be had. God allows these tests to make us better. More loving, more patient, less fearful and so on. God puts design in our lives. He is the master builder.
Peter says that to the degree you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. This is the opposite of what the world says. We are to rejoice in the face of our problems. That is unless we caused them by our foolishness.
We normally get sad and stressed by our problems. We now know that there is design behind them. Praise Him. Sure, we try to resolve them, but we are to praise Him. The purpose of Joseph’s concern was to keep Jesus safe and to fulfill prophecy. We may or may not know the reason behind our concerns. Whatever the case may be bring them to God and praise Him through them.
Romans 8:28 frames it this way, “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” That’s quite a promise. We can see those times as God’s brush strokes as He works on the painting of our lives. Praise Him.
There is another reason God brought the holy family to Nazareth. We can see it in Nathanael’s comment in John 1:46, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.’ God wanted Jesus to grow up in a “lesser than” neighborhood. It’s part of the mystery of God shared in the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, (Matthew 5:3).
God wants us to be humble and lowly. Yes, He loves us all, but there is a special attraction to the humble and lowly. The prideful leaders of His day sought to kill Jesus. God’s on a different plane.
Lord, thank You that You use the difficulties of life to perfect us. Help us to praise You through them.