I'm spending time in the Gospel of Matthew these days, D.A. Carson accompanying me via Vol 8 of Expositor's Bible Commentary (Zondervan). The other day I was reading chapter 2, the account of the magi, Herod's wrath at being deceived, the flight of the holy family to Egypt and the return to the land of Israel. Matthew, writing to Jews, uses a lot of Old Testament quotes to show fulfillment of prophecy and in our modern Bibles these quotes are set apart in the text with indents and a different font. The very last sentence of the chapter, however, contains a special case that I had never noticed until this week. Describing the return to Israel it says of Joseph "Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.' "
Every time I have read that I have skimmed over it, assuming that somewhere in the OT there is a prophecy about Jesus living in Nazareth, just as it was prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem. It was a revelation to me, then, to have Carson point out that that is not the case - there is no OT reference to the Messiah coming out of Nazareth. What then did Matthew mean by saying it was spoken through the prophets that Messiah would be a Nazarene? Carson's comments (in a nutshell): Nazareth was a despised place, even to other Galileans. Here Jesus grew up, not as "Jesus the Bethlehemite," with its Davidic overtones, but as "Jesus the Nazarene," with all the opprobrium of the sneer. When Christians were referred to in Acts as the "Nazarene sect" (24:5), the expression was meant to hurt. First-century Christian readers of Matthew, who had tasted their share of scorn, would have quickly caught Matthew's point. He is not saying that a particular OT prophet foretold that the Messiah would live in Nazareth; he is saying that the OT prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised. The theme is repeatedly picked up by Matthew. In other words Matthew gives us the substance of several OT passages, not a direct quotation....In accord with prophecy he came as the despised Servant of the Lord.
My fallen human nature and our modern culture both feed my tendency to feel that I have the right to be treated with respect. I may not go strutting around like a little Napoleon but the belief shows itself in subtle ways, like how I respond when someone cuts me off in traffic. My irritation reveals that I (subconsciously at least) think I deserve better and how dare they treat me with such disrespect? Every time I chafe at how others treat me, any time I'm inclined to a show of temper, impatience or irritation, it is a sign of pride, of resistance to being treated as less. Once again I was deeply shamed and brought up short at what I saw through this little phrase in Matthew. The One through whom the world was made, God who condescended to become man, sovereignly ordained that in His humanity He took the lowest place, the place of absolute humility, coming to a stable for His birth and to Nazareth for His life. The application for me is obvious: I dare not demand more than my Savior chose - the slave is not greater than his master. To follow the Nazarene means to become a Nazarene and to live with the consequences. Of course, what isn't immediately obvious is that here lies rest and freedom, as well as persecution. It is Matthew who later records Jesus' words "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (11:28-29).
How could I not love a Savior who left me an example like that? He did it for me - how could I refuse to do it for Him?
