The hidden centre of Christmas (Matt 2:19–23)

As Christmas approaches, Santa parades, images of Father Christmas, of reindeers and snow abound (rather incongruous in New Zealand as we head into summer over here). I must admit that I love the trappings of Christmas, the twinkling lights, the Christmas music, the smell of pine needles filling the living room. They bring back memories of wonderful family Christmases and enhance the joy of what we celebrate. It is troubling though how much society around us has made the trappings the real thing and delight in Christmas without Christ. Moreover, some seem to be positively offended by having Christ in it altogether. This is no different from attitudes to Jesus in his own lifetime, though.

As Matthew concludes his reflections on how Jesus fulfilled prophecy through the events of his birth and early years, he hints at just such an attitude. The statement about Jesus being called a Nazarene is perhaps the most obscure of Matthew’s fulfilment sayings. For years, I used to cringe reading this because it seemed the worst kind of handling of Scripture, out of context and forced. Nazareth, in fact, is never mentioned in the OT. This is not surprising given that it was a newish settlement of less than 500 people in Jesus’s time. It was, in other words, negligible, insignificant as a place and, as far as the origins for Messiah, a term of ridicule and contempt. ‘Can any good come out of Nazareth?’ asks Nathanael sceptically (John 1:46) summing up prevalent attitudes. While the prophets do not connect Messiah with a place called Nazareth since it did not exist in their time, several OT passages speak of a despised and suffering figure who is rejected and yet achieves God’s purpose (e.g. Isaiah 53). There are indications in Matthew’s phrasing (see below under ‘For interest’) that ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’ is not meant as a direct quote from the OT, but as a way of highlighting contempt for God’s Chosen One as foreseen by the prophets. Perhaps God deliberately sends His Son in unimpressive form challenging us to look for what really matters.

The Lord Jesus also sets the pattern for us, His followers.  If He was judged by superficial criteria and rejected as negligible and of no account, we should not be surprised when we are likewise judged by shallow standards like social background, wealth or education. Sometimes this is done not only by outsiders but by Christians too. The choice of a pastor in a church I know in Budapest was, as I understand, a compromise solution when he was first invited to his post in the late 20^th century. His style was not flashy or brilliant, he even had a small speech impairment. Yet, through his simple but faithful interpretations of Scripture he became one of the most influential preachers in Hungary in his time. It can encourage us that God’s standards are different, that He is able to work through what looks lowly and of no account. Neither should we despise others based on appearances or be too impressed with surface qualities. God looks at the heart (1 Sam 16:7).

———————————-

For interest: solutions to explain Matthew’s use of ‘Nazarene’.

There are three major interpretations regarding Matthew’s meaning. First, Matthew’s comment may be a word-play on Nazarene (i.e. a man from Nazareth; Greek nazōraios), which sounds almost the same as Nazirite (naziraios). A Nazirite would commit himself to a more dedicated lifestyle either temporarily or for a lifetime (Num 6:1-8; Samson was meant to be a life-long Nazirite ­– Judg 13:3-5), involving, among other things, not drinking wine or coming near a dead person. Jesus did both (Luke 7:33-34; Luke 8:52-54), so if this is Matthew’s meaning then it only works if he is using the term loosely for Jesus’s dedicated lifestyle. This solution is appealing because of the closeness of the sounds in the pun, but least likely given that Jesus was not a Nazirite and neither was Messiah associated with such a lifestyle.

Secondly, it may be a word-play on the Hebrew netser (‘Branch’), which is a messianic title (e.g. Isa 11:1), though it is not discernible in Greek. Rather, it involves connecting words in two different languages: the Greek for Nazarene (nazōraios) with the Hebrew Branch (netser). This may not be an issue, however, given that Matthew’s audience is likely Jewish with knowledge of Hebrew, and bi- or multilinguals are known to move seamlessly between languages. Also in its favour is another pun earlier that only works in Hebrew (Matt 1:21 call Him Jesus [Yeshua‘] because He will save [yoshia‘] from sin), suggesting that Matthew expects his audience to get these even when the word-play is not recognisable in Greek. Although I opt for a third alternative below, the above is also possible.

The third option is that Matthew connects his contemporaries’ use of ‘Nazarene’ with the contemptuous attitude that will be the lot of God’s Servant, as foretold by the prophets. In other words, he is not claiming that the prophets refer to Nazareth. This may be indicated by his wording. Greek does not have quotation marks; rather, the word ‘saying’ usually marks the beginning of a citation. Thus, Matthew uses a formula with some variations which reads something like this ‘this was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet, saying: [OT quotation]’ (Matt 1:22; Matt 2:15, 17). The word ‘saying’ is missing in the reference to Jesus being a Nazarene (Matt 2:23) and instead of ‘the prophet’, we have ‘prophets’ in the plural. Both these differences may indicate that Matthew does not have a specific prophet or saying in mind but is connecting the attitude of contempt for Jesus with a similar stance described by the prophets. While OT passages referring to a suffering and despised figure (e.g. Isa 53:1-5; 49:7; Zech 11:12-13; Ps 22:6; Ps 69:7-9; Ps 118:22) were not seen as Messianic in Jesus’s time, His followers recognised them as such in hindsight.