Not everyone enjoys Christmas nor finds it a time of celebration or joy. Herod was certainly in that number. When the wise men rocked up with news about the birth of the Messiah in Matthew 2:1-23, they really rocked Herod’s world in more ways than one! In fact, Herod’s response to the news was quite an exterme one. Harsh too. And yet, even more tragic than the deaths of the innocents was the fact that Herod himself missed out on the salvation this baby came to bring. When people repeat Herod’s mistakes, that tragedy is simply repeated over and over.

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• The last in this series!
• Christmas: not always accompanied by happiness!
• Not a happy time for King Herod…
• See how we are shown Herod’s mistakes and errors…

1. The dangers of self-centredness (v.1-15)
2. The fruits of hard-heartedness (v.16-18)
3. The limits to earthly greatness (v.19-23)

‘We don’t want to live under the rule of this king’
The tragedy of the ‘neglected’ Jesus

Joseph is one of the key characters in the story of the birth of Jesus, especially so in the text of Matthew 1:18-25, but he can easily be overlooked in the preaching of the Christmas narratives – probably because he doesn’t get to say anything at all. Even the shepherds and wise men get some lines in the gospels, but Jospeh gets none! Even though that is the case, we can ‘read between the lines’ and see what was going on in Joseph’s mind and heart, and how in a crisis situation, the angel who spoke to him in his dream put everything into perspective for him – even if he didn’t fully understand the implications of it all!

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• The fourth in this series!
• Does Joseph get left out of the story?
• Not much told us about how he felt…
• See how we are told of how the angel…

1. Appeared to him in a crisis (v.18-20)
2. Averted him from his intentions (v.20)
3. Assured him of God’s purposes (v.21-25)

Joseph is not alone in needing rescue!
The great exchange!

On returning to the area of Capernaum after his ministry throughout the regios of Israel and beywond, the ‘Israeli Tax Department’ caught up with Jesus and his disciples, asking Peter if his master had paid the ‘temple tax’. Peter assured them that Jesus had, only to enter the house where Jesus was and take part in a conversation with Jesus that ended up with Peter going fishing and catching a fish with a shekel in it’s mouth to pay the tax, for Jesus and for Peter!!

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• All over the place with Jesus
• Now back to Capernaum and a challenge…
• A story found in Matthew only… Why?
• See how the text tells us of …

1. Jesus, as a Jew, was subject to this tax (v.24)
2. Jesus, as the Son, had grounds to ignore this tax (v.25-26)
3. Jesus, as God, miraculously paid the tax (v.27)

Using our freedoms…
Trusting the Lord to provide!

The reader of Matthew’s gospel goes to many places with Jesus, as we have noted in these last few chapters…by the sea, on the water, in the region of Tyre and Sidon and even at Caesarea Philippi. But the next place that jesus would go, according to Matthew 17:1-13, was the mountain top, where he was transfigured before three of His disciples. This would be a moment they would never forget, as evidenced by the later of two of them, Peter and John, whose testimony about Jesus is clear. They saw His glory.

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• Our travels with Jesus
• Next event in a long
  line of them…
• Sleepy disciples …now and later
• See how this transfiguration confirmed…

1. An unwelcome message (v.1-3, 12)
2. An unfinished story (v.4-6)
3. An unmatched Saviour (v.7-8)

What was Jesus’ purpose here?
From the mountain of glory to the cross of shame!

After Peter twigged who Jesus was in Matthew 16:16, Jesus took the time to explain to his disciples just what kind of Messiah he was. He was one that would suffer and die at the hands of the Jews. While this fact may have been lost on the twelve, they would also have been overwhelmed at what Jesus went on to say next; that they were also destined for suffering and would need to bear their own crosses. What did Jesus mean by all this? These disciples were about to find out…

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• That major turning point!
• Yes he was the Messiah, but what kind?
• Get His identity right, but get his purpose right too!
• See how in this text we find that …

1. As Messiah, He would give up His life (v.21-23)
2. As disciples, they should give up their lives (v.24-25)
3. As witnesses, they would see His glory (v.26-28)

The kind of life He calls us to…
Three reasons why he calls us to this kind of life!

There’s no doubt that Matthew 16:13-20 is one of the key texts of the New Testament for so many reasons. In it, we find that Jesus challenged his disciples with two urgent questions and then three follow up statements all of which were designed to bring the 12 to a point where they were put ‘on the spot’ in relation to Jesus’ identity and then also about their own task in the world as the foundation of the church Jesus came to build.

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There are many who presume or assume that Jesus never stood for much, and that he endorsed social developments or changes that we think of! However in Matthew 16:1-12, this is proved to be false. Here, Jesus spoke out strongly both to his disciples about the influence of the Jewish religious leaders, and he also spoke strongly to them! We would do well to hear what he had to say, so that we are well warned and carefully and rightly directed!

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• The Jesus who stands for many causes…
• This Jesus who ‘never criticized anyone’
• After the feeding of the 4,000, Jesus spoke out!
• See in this text that Jesus had to …

1. Confront the demands of naked unbelief (v.1-4)
2. Warn the disciples about false teachers (v.5-7)
3. Reprimand the disciples about lacking faith (v.8-12)

Unbelief – not due to a lack of evidence!
He gets us! Make sure you get Him!

It’s somewhat of an oddity that Matthew records the feeding of the 4,000 in Matthew 15.29-39 so soon after the feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21. But the two incidents are not the same. Matthew wasn’t confused and wrote down the same incident twice. Each of the ‘feeding miracles’ have their own contexts and particulars, so they were certainly different in his mind and in the mind of Jesus! Even so, it sowrth noting that the two miracles – though essentially the same – have their own purpose in Jesus’ ministry.

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• Didn’t we just cover this text??
• This miracle follows the Canaanite woman’s faith
• Where this miracle takes place…Gentile territory
• See in this text how we are told about …

1. The wideness of His compassion (v.29-31)
2. The sureness of His actions (v.32-36)
3. The satisfaction in His provision (v.37-39)

The physical needs are most felt…
The spiritual needs are more urgent!

It’s interesting to note how matthew has recorded the meeting between Jesus and the woman from Canaan directly after his comments relating to who is ‘clean or unclean’ and who is ‘defiled or undefiled’…because this woman was most certianly ‘unclean’ as well as ‘defiled’ in the eyes of the Pharisees and even in the eyes of the disciples who just wanted to shoo her away. But not Jesus. Even though it appeared that he wasn’t listening to her, he was, and he gave her what she asked for…and more!

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• Jesus in an unusual place meeting an unusual person
• A turning point in Matthew’s gospel
• This woman – a real ‘outsider’
• See how we are told about their conversation …

1. A discouraging beginning (v.21-24)
2. A challenging middle (v.25-26)
3. A satisfying end (v.27-28)

Saving faith in surprising places…
Outsiders are more than welcome…!