HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
THE LONG WAY HOME
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 2:13
DECEMBER 14, 2008
Herod the Great was the king of Judea and the ruler of Roman Palestine. The Herod family ruled most of Palestine for 150 years and Herod the Great was the greatest of the Herods. The Herods were supported by a group called Herodians, and Herodians stood against Christ and were against the message of Christ and the person of Christ. They supported the Herods in their effort to Hellenize the Jews. Herod the Great was an incredible builder. He was, perhaps, one of the greatest builders in the world of his day. It was Herod the Great that built Caesarea-Maritima, which was and is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and he built it for the manifestation of his own glory. Years later the Apostle Paul would be incarcerated there at Caesarea-Maritima as he awaited his journey to Rome for trial.
Herod the Great also built Masada, the great fortress cathedral high in the mountains looking down over the Dead Sea. It was an architectural marvel. Later, Masada, built by Herod the Great, would be the last offense of the Jewish zealots against the Roman Empire after the Roman Empire, led by Titus and his Roman legions, swept over the city of Jerusalem. In the city of Jerusalem itself, Herod built many incredible structures. He built the Jerusalem fortress, he built the Jerusalem palace, and he even built the Jerusalem Temple. So Herod was renowned in that region of the world.
I have in my hand the most recent issue of National Geographic. Barb and I subscribe to National Geographic, and I like it because it has incredible photography, it has some interesting articles, and it has really cool maps. If I were to unfold this map, it would just be huge. But it is a map, for instance, of the Eastern Mediterranean. The problem with National Geographic in my opinion is it is anti-Bible. It has an anti-Christian agenda. It was National Geographic who popularized the Gospel of Judas and tried to portray the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Thomas, and all the Gnostic gospels as viable alternatives to the biblical Gospels. It was the National Geographic that sought to portray the Gnostic gospels as even more credible than the biblical Gospels. This is bogus.
The Gnostic gospels were written more than a hundred years after the biblical Gospels, and most of them were cultic even in their time. In fact, many professors at Harvard and Princeton and Yale and at universities and colleges all over the world have taken a contrary position to National Geographic. But National Geographic has a bias, an agenda, and certainly part of their agenda is anti-Bible.
Now, of course they have other agendas. One of their agendas is making money. They’d like to have profit, and so they write a lot of different major articles. They cover everything from UFO’s to yetis and all of that is an effort to appeal to their interest of people in order that they might make money.
This most recent issue, the December issue, the Christmas issue, is about King Herod and the cover story is called, “The Real King Herod.” When I saw the cover story I almost laughed because the title implies that there is a phony King Herod. This says, “The Real King Herod,” so the title implies that there is some false portrayal of Herod that is out there. According to National Geographic, the false portrayal of Herod is in the Bible. They say that the portrayal in the Bible of Herod is false for one reason: It portrays Herod as having murdered the male babies in Bethlehem. And they say almost certainly that didn’t happen. I was incredulous when I saw that statement, “Almost certainly that didn’t happen.” On what basis would National Geographic say that Herod did not execute the male babies in Bethlehem in the time of Christ? On what basis would they say that?
Well, it’s an argument based on silence. They say that in the historical record, they had not found any evidence of such a mass slaughter of babies. Therefore, they think it didn’t happen. Now, arguments based on silence tend to be weak, particularly when evidence relating to the life and activity of Herod is very slim historically. Historically we have very piecemeal, very fragmented evidence of what Herod did or didn’t do in his life. Remember, Bethlehem was a very small village. The number of babies that he would have killed that were two years of age or younger was at the most 40. Many historians and scholars believe it would have been more like 20. The truth is most historians have no trouble with the biblical account that Herod did this thing. In fact, it is perfectly in keeping with the character of Herod.
Even National Geographic acknowledges that the biblical count is in keeping with the character of Herod. Herod was a butcher. He was a murderer. He was a man of rage, a man of temper, who could not control violent episodes. He had 10 wives and he murdered many of them, including Mariamne, who was his favorite. He murdered three of his own boys. He wouldn’t have had any problem killing a few babies in Bethlehem. You can trust the Bible. What is said in the Bible is so critical to the story of Jesus because it was the decision of Herod to destroy the Christ, it was the fear and jealousy of Herod, that drove Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to Egypt. That’s what caused the flight into Egypt: The threat of murder by Herod. So, we have in the Bible in Matthew 2 the story of how Herod and his effort to kill the Christ child made sure that all the male babies in the little village of Bethlehem were killed. Then Jesus, Mary, and Joseph make their flight into Egypt.
Today as we look at Home for Christmas, we examine the flight into Egypt, and I have two teachings as we look at this. The first teaching concerns Egypt itself and the understanding that for the Jewish people Egypt was home away from home. This will become analogous to what we want to say in our second teaching, so understand, this is really important—that for the Jewish people, the land of Egypt was actually home away from home.
It all goes back to the time of Joseph. If you want to read all about Joseph, get your Bible out and look at Genesis 37-50. That would be great this week. If you would go through those chapters, Genesis 37-50, read the story of Joseph. He was the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt through the treachery of his brothers. In Egypt Joseph was anointed by God, and “If God be for you, who can be against you?” So, by the hand of God and by the will of God, Joseph rose in power and influence in Egypt and he became Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh himself. The Bible tells us in Genesis 47 it was Joseph who appealed to Pharaoh that Egypt would provide a place for the Jews to live. In the beginning, the Bible tells us in the book of Genesis there were 70 Jews in that initial colony. And Pharaoh gave to Joseph’s people the land of Goshen. Goshen, it is believed, was in the northeast portion of the Nile Delta, the portion of the Nile Delta closest to Palestine, or Israel.
It was lush land, but it was geographically removed from the heart of Egypt’s power and therefore of little interest to the Pharaoh. But it was a wonderful place for the Jews. And the Jews prospered there in Egypt. Jewish communities grew in Egypt and it grew for hundreds of years as God prospered the Jews in Egypt. We understand historically that the Jews weren’t only in the Land of Goshen, although most of them were. Jewish communities began to form in other parts of Egypt by the time Moses came along. Sent by God, Moses went to Pharaoh and he said, “Thus sayeth the Lord: ‘Let my people go.’” By that time, the Jewish community in Egypt was massive and Moses led a mass exodus of the Jews from Egypt—millions of people. Unbelievable. But understand that fortitude. For the rest of biblical history, Egypt would always be seen to some extent as home away from home. And we know that Jewish communities remained in Egypt and most historians believe that the Jews influenced the Egyptians and the Egyptians influenced the Jews. Look at Egyptian influence upon the Jews and you see subtle possibilities.
For instance, one of the Hebrew words common in the Bible was amen. The word amen is used both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, as it was adopted in both the Greek language as well as in the Hebrew language. The word amen literally means “true,” or, “it is true,” or, “verily it is true,” and we see Jesus using the word amen. There are many etymologists and many linguists who believe the Jews borrowed the word from the Egyptians because they were with the Egyptians for so long. The Egyptians, when they would want to seal a deal, they would say “amun.” When something was really true, they would quote the name of Amun Ra, and they would say, “amun, amun, amun,” and it was very possible that the Jews did adopt that word from the Egyptians.
Also, as you travel throughout Egypt, you see in many ancient Egyptian temples, some of them 3,500 years old, regions of the temple that the Egyptians called Holy of the Holies. This was before the building of the tabernacle and the temple, and it’s possible that by the will of God and the plan of God, this whole concept of the Holy of the Holies was given to the people of God through the Egyptians. There were many influences, and the influences could go both ways.
In fact, one of the more fascinating aspects of the Egyptian history concerns the Pharaohs. The whole nature of the religion of the Pharaohs was polytheistic because all of the Pharaohs of Egypt were polytheists with many and countless gods, and yet there came in the course of time, in the 14th century, where there arose an Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep IV. Amenhotep IV renounced polytheism. In the 14th century BC, he renounced polytheism and he embraced monotheism—one god. He called that one god Aten, which means “light or sun” and he took the title Akhenaten, which means “horizon of the light” or “horizon of the sun.” He built the royal city of Akhenaten 175 miles north of Thebes, 175 miles north of Luxor, 175 miles north of the Valley of the Kings. He built Akhenaten dedicated to the one true God. And he ushered in the Armarna Era. They called it the Armarna Era when Akhenaten as Pharaoh ushered in this era of education, culture, arts, and kindness and respect for people. Many historians believe that somehow this move towards monotheism, which was reversed by Tutankhamun, came through the influence of the Jews. We can’t know for sure, but most historians believe there was influence both ways—the Egyptians upon the Jews, the Jews upon the Egyptians. Understand that the heritage of the Jews is tied not only to Israel, but also to some extent to Egypt.
So, you come to the time of Christ and you see that there were Jewish communities already in Egypt. And they believe there were Jewish communities even in the region of Heliopolis and in the regions of Luxor, in the region of Akenaten. They believe there were Jewish communities in these areas. So, as an angel of the Lord said to Mary and Joseph, “Flee to Egypt,” it wasn’t just a horrible thought. There was some sense in which they had heritage there, some sense in which they knew it was home away from home.
When you think of Egypt today, what do you think of? You think of perhaps the Great Pyramids. There are 10 pyramids at Giza. The Great Pyramid, sometimes called Khufu or Cheops. The Great Pyramid is 4,500 years old and the last remaining wonder of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World. The Altar of Zeus is no more, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are no more. The Colossus of Rhodes is no more. The Temple of Diana, the Temple of Artemis is no more. The Lighthouse of Pharos, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, is no more. The Tomb of Mausolus is no more; the remains are in the British Museum. It was once at Halicarnassus, or modern day Bodrum, but it’s no more. Only the Pyramids remain.
And so, when you think of Egypt you might think of the Pyramids at Giza, or you might think of the Valley of the Kings, which is a cemetery for pharaohs who lived long ago, particularly those pharaohs who lived sometime between 1600 BC and 1100 BC. Or you might think of the Temple of Karnak. You might think of that incredibly majestic temple near Luxor that was mostly built by Amenhotep III, who lived prior to Moses. You think of the Nile itself; it flows south to north, more than a thousand miles through Egypt and it’s a belt of life in the midst of vast Sahara desert, which is the size of the continental US. Amazing. You think of these things when you think of Egypt. I know for many of us here in the church, when we think of Egypt, we think of heat.
But understand, for the Jews it’s a little different. Even in the time of Jesus, when the Jews thought of Egypt they thought of home away from home. You might think, well, how could they have afforded to go to Egypt? How did a carpenter have the money to make this great journey? How could they have lived down there? Even if they found Jewish communities, how could they have lived down there for a year or maybe two years? Could he have done carpentry work there? Certainly. But the cost of the trip itself would have been hard.
There are some historians who have suggested that the gifts of the magi, the gifts of the Wise Men, fueled and funded the flight into Egypt. And that might be true. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were valuable gifts and the holy family, Mary and Joseph, used that as they took their child and fled down to Egypt. They may have through those gifts funded the cause of Christ. Understand, throughout history it is always true that the cause of Christ is served by the gifts of his people. I hope as we approach Christmas and the end of the year you will continue to remember that the cause of Christ is served by the gifts of his people. We have Egypt as home away from home for the Jews.
Now, our second and final teaching concerns us as followers of Christ, this baby born in Bethlehem. I want to suggest to you that Earth itself is home away from home. As Egypt for the Jews was home away from home, home away from the Holy Land, so for us as Christians Earth itself is home away from Heaven, home away from Paradise, home away from home. It’s very critical that as followers of Jesus we have this understanding as we come into the season and for the rest of our lives that this Earth is not our home. This world is not our home. We are away from home as long as we are here.
There is a story that I’ve read in a variety of places and it varies from a variety of sources, so I’m not 100% sure of its accuracy. But its illustrative and I think makes a great point. I share the story in our donor dinners. And we’ve had more than 100 donor dinners and over 1,000 of you have come to those dinners. I’ve shared the story and I know it’s known to many of you, but it does serve the point. It concerns a missionary couple in Africa named the Jacobson’s, John and Sarah. Early in the 20th century they were coming home to America. Part of the story concerns Theodore Roosevelt, who at that time had just completed his service as president of the United States of America. Theodore Roosevelt came into the White House and assumed the presidency on September 14, 1901, in tragic conditions. He was vice president and he came into the presidency through the assassination of President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York, on September 14, 1901.
Theodore Roosevelt becomes president and the people of America loved him because it was Roosevelt who was a Spanish-American War hero and had won the Battle of Kettle Hill in the greater Battle of San Juan Hill. It was Roosevelt who had led with great fame the Rough Riders. It was Roosevelt who had been Governor of New York. He was loved by the American people. As president, Roosevelt became the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and he received that because he negotiated peace between Russia and Japan. It was Roosevelt who built the Panama Canal, and he considered that the crowning achievement of his life. Roosevelt established the National Forest Service. He was an amazing guy. Today, you go to Mount Rushmore and you see Lincoln and you see Washington, you see Jefferson, but you also see Roosevelt because he was that loved of the American people.
You come to March 1909; Roosevelt leaves the White House. He served for 7 ½ years as President of the United States. In May of 1909, he decides to take this big game hunt to Africa because he loved to hunt. So, he heads off to Africa. The African interior back in the early 20th century was not an easy trip, not an easy journey. He came back to the United States in June of 1910. So, June 1910, Roosevelt’s coming back to New York City, his ship is coming into the harbor, and tens of thousands of Americans are there to greet Roosevelt as he comes home.
But on that ship is this missionary couple that I’d mentioned, the Jacobson’s, John and Sarah, coming home after 37 years in Africa. They had not come home on leave. They’d not come home on furlough. They had been decades in Africa, loving people with the love of Christ, serving people with the gospel of Christ. They were now older, and they were broken in body and kind of broken in spirit. They didn’t know anybody at home here in America. They were going to live in a retirement center or retirement home, a Baptist retirement home in New York City. So, they are coming into the New York Harbor and tens of thousands of people were there. This husband turns to his wife and says, “I know I shouldn’t feel like this, but I’m really sad.” And his wife Sarah said, “Why?” He said, “I’m just so sad because we’re coming home after 37 years and there is nobody here to greet us. And the President takes a big game hunt and comes home to tens of thousands of people.” And she said, “Dear, you’re really forgetting something.” He said, “What’s that?” She said, “You’re not home yet.”
I’ve always loved the story because I believe it is true for us as Christians. Wherever we go on this Earth, we’re not home yet. Barb and I after the service we’re going to go out in the snow, we’re going to get in our car, we’re going to our house, but it’s home away from home. You’re going to leave this service, you’re going to get in your car, you’re going to go to your house, but it’s home away from home because for us as Christians home is in Heaven. When we arrive there there’s going to be a great reception, a great welcoming. There will be folks who love you and value you when we arrive home in Heaven.
The Bible tells us as followers of Jesus we’re citizens of a higher Kingdom. We’re citizens of Heaven itself. There is a word that Paul uses in Philippians 3, where Paul says, “Our commonwealth is in Heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.” But our commonwealth is in Heaven, Paul said, and the Greek word there is built on the Greek word “polis,” which means city. But the form of the word means citizen. So, our citizenship is in Heaven. Our city is in Heaven. Our city is the Heavenly City. Our city is the New Jerusalem. We’re citizens there. The moment that the One who was born in Bethlehem is born in you, the moment that you invite Christ to be born in you, in that moment you enter his family and his home becomes your home, and his home is Heaven. His city is the New Jerusalem. And so, you become a citizen of Heaven, a citizen of the New Jerusalem, and that’s really your home. The Bible says that in this world, as followers of Jesus there’s a sense in which we are never home. This is at best home away from home.
The Bible uses words to describe our life here. The Bible uses words like stranger, the word “xenos.” As Christians we are strangers on the Earth. You ever feel like a stranger? Last Sunday night Barb made dinner at home, and this time of year we don’t have a lot of dinners at home because there are so many Christmas events, but we had dinner Sunday night at home and I was stunned. I know what I like, and I like it again and again and again. And Barb is creative and she likes variety and she’s an amazing chef, but I was kind of stunned last Sunday night as she gave me this meal. It was fennel and turnip and rutabaga. Now, by the grace and mercy of God there was some chicken in there, but in any event, it was fennel and turnip and rutabaga, and I’d never had fennel and I think it maybe had been 40 years since I’d had turnips, and there was a reason for that. And then rutabaga I’d never had in my life. I felt like a stranger in my own home. I felt like a stranger in my own home.
Now honestly, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, this word xenos describes you because there should be things that you suddenly you see around you that you just can’t relate to. You’re a stranger in this world. Understand, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a different worldview. You have a different moral code. You have a different value system. It’s not about money, sex, and power for you. They’re kind of like fennel, turnips, and rutabaga. For you, it’s about the kingdom of Heaven. It’s all about the kingdom of Heaven. You seek first his kingdom. You have eternal purpose. You’ve entered a family that is eternal, and it is the family of God, the family of Christ. You are a stranger on this Earth. The world you love, but you don’t love in the same way the world loves. You think, but you don’t think in the same way that the world thinks. So, there is a sense in which xenos in the Bible defines you.
The Bible says we’re also sojourners on this Earth. The word sojourner is “paroikeo.” The Bible says that we are aliens on the Earth. The Greek word is “allotrios.” Exiles. The Greek word is “parepidemos.” All these words are used in the Bible again and again and again to describe those of us who have received Christ and allowed him to be born in us. We who are his followers, we are strangers and sojourners and aliens and exiles on the earth if we truly follow him and truly love him.
On ESPN just about a week ago I saw a special on Oaks Christian High School in California. Oaks Christian in California is a wonderful high school, a wonderful faculty, and actually I’ve met a few of the faculty members at Oaks Christian. They love Christ. It’s a great school. At Valor Christian across the street, we have links with Oaks Christian. We’ve even hired a few folks from Oaks. So, Oaks Christian in California and Valley Christian in California are schools that at Valor we have close ties to. I was wondering why ESPN would do a special on Oaks Christian in California? They did a special on Oaks Christian in California because of their football team. They have an amazing football team at Oaks Christian.
In fact, a few weeks ago Barb and I were in Orange County at the John Wayne Airport and I was looking at the LA Times and I had the sports page. I was just sitting there, and a dad comes by with his son. They say, “Sorry to interrupt you. I see you have the sports page there. Could you just give us the result of the Mater Dei game?” Mater Dei is a Christian school in California, a Catholic school, and it’s ranked in the top ten in the state in football. But there’s one Christian school ranked higher in California and that’s Oaks Christian, an amazing football program.
So, the quarterback on the football team at Oaks Christian is Joe Montana’s son. If you know football, even if you don’t know football, you’ve heard of Joe Montana. So, his son is the quarterback at Oaks Christian. He has 2 wide receivers he throws to: one wide receiver is the son of Will Smith, the Hollywood actor. The son of Will Smith is one wide receiver, and the other wide receiver is the son of Wayne Gretzky. So, you can understand why ESPN might do a special on this Christian high school. They interviewed the parents. It was kind of funny. “Is it fun going to the games?” They said, “Well, we never watch the games. We’re looking at Will Smith or Joe Montana or Wayne Gretzky.”
It’s kind of funny, but honestly the folks at Oaks Christian—the faculty, the teachers, the administrators—desire is to lead these kids to Christ. Their desire is to see these kids invite Jesus to be born in them and to enter the family of Jesus and become a citizen of Heaven. Their desire is to see these kids become a citizen of Heaven, and some of these kids already are. Become a citizen of Heaven, and then as a citizen of Heaven, a citizen of the Heavenly City to learn how to live on Earth. At home away from home, to learn what it means to live here as an alien and an exile and a stranger and a sojourner and how to live here faithfully. I mean, that’s what fuels the purpose and the ministry of a school like Oaks Christian. That’s also true of Valor. And that’s also true of our Cherry Hills Christian Schools. That’s true of Colorado Christian University.
Now you might be thinking, “Well, you know private Christian education is good, but we don’t have the money.” And I understand that because we all have varying levels of income. And I do believe private, Christian education is worth every penny, but I also know and understand that there are many folks even in our congregation that really need to use public education because they can’t afford private education.
But understand this: Here at this church, even if your kids are going through public education, we serve your kids. In Grace Place and in Liquid, in our student ministries and in our elementary ministry, all through our Sunday school program, we’re longing to serve your kids that they might invite Jesus to be born in them. I hope you know that. We’re seeking to serve your kids so that they will enter the family of Jesus and become a citizen of Heaven and a citizen of the Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem. Then we seek to teach them and to train them how to live here on Earth, at home away from home and how to live as a stranger with value systems that don’t fit the world systems, and how to live as a sojourner, an alien, an exile, and how to live in faithfulness. That’s our purpose.
We have that same purpose with you. That’s our purpose with you. We love to see you become citizens of Heaven, that Heaven would be your home, and then to help you live on Earth, home away from home. That’s what fuels us. And as we approach Christmas and this season together, we just want to say, “Come home.” We just want to say, “Come home,” and if there is any of you who have never come home and you’ve never become a citizen of Heaven by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can do it today. Some of you may need to come home in a different sense. Maybe you became Christians some years ago, but you’ve been too enraptured by the world. Your home is in Heaven, but you’ve been living like your home is just on Earth. The things of this world have consumed you and it’s time to come home. It’s time to come home. So, as we close, let’s pray together.