W Brockmeier
In Matthew's gospel we find the Lord Jesus presented in seven distinct ways before He began His earthly ministry: Son of David, Son of Abraham, Jesus, Emmanuel, Governor, Nazarene, and the Father's "beloved Son." God would give a complete testimony of His Son to His earthly people before He came forth in public service.
As the Son of David:
The Lord Jesus was the legal heir to the throne which was being usurped by the Gentile king Herod. The Jews knew from their Scriptures that Christ, their Messiah, would be a Son of David. (Matt. 22:42.) David was the second king of Israel, replacing Saul who represents the first man-man in the flesh. God has set aside the first man. All blessing for man is connected with the second man, the Lord from heaven. David was not of the house of Saul, but a son of Abraham, the one to whom the promises of blessing were made.
As the Son of Abraham:
The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew is traced, not from Adam, as in Luke's gospel which emphasizes the Lord's perfect humanity, but from Abraham who was sovereignly chosen and separated by God to be the recipient of the promises of God. Those promises looked forward to Christ. "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 22:18. The Jews boasted that Abraham was their father, but John the Baptist reemphasized the truth of God's sovereign election by telling them "that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Matt. 3:9. God could sovereignly call the Gentile just as He had called Abraham. Man's blessing is not determined by human relationship or natural ability, but by the call of God. Man cannot earn, nor is he entitled to the blessing of God. If we are to be eternally blessed, we must first come to God as those that need a Savior.
Jesus:
The angel told Joseph that Mary "shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS [Jehovah the Savior]: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21. Jesus is Jehovah, the eternal God, the eternal Son. He is a Savior God and has come to save. The Lord Jesus saves not only from the penalty of sins, which is eternal hell, but He saves from sins themselves. As we are occupied with Jesus, we are practically kept from actual sins. He came to save "His people," those who were in outward relationship to Himself, as well as the lost. For those who are not only in outward but inward relationships to Him as well, His desire would be nothing less.
Emmanuel:
After a soul comes to know Jesus as Jehovah the Savior, he then should come to know Jesus as Emmanuel, "God with us." In Prov. 30:1 we read of a man named Ithiel, "God with me." This is an individual blessing. Every believer should understand the truth that he is indwell by the Spirit of God who will abide with him forever (John 14:16; 1 Cor. 6:19). The Lord Jesus Himself has also said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Heb. 13:5.
Emmanuel is a collective blessing. We sometimes sing of heaven as being "Emmanuel's land." While it is most happy to think of our being with Him, it is a different thought from His being with us. The Spirit dwells collectively in the assembly as well as individually in the believer (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:22). The Lord Jesus has promised His presence individually to each individual believer and also collectively to those who are gathered together unto His name (Matt. 18:20). When believers are gathered together on the ground of the assembly, even if there be but two or three present, they may take up the thought of Emmanuel's land. God is with them, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the midst.
In a coming day when the Assyrian hordes sweep into the land of Judah, the cry is made, "The stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel." Isa. 8:8. As gathered together in assembly, cannot the assembly take the same ground? It is His land. When the enemy moves in, how comforting to be privileged to realize that God is "with us.”
God's desire has always been to have His people together that He might dwell among them. "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." Ex. 25:8. In the eternal state we read of new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to the earth. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them." Rev. 21:3. His desire is the same for us now; may it be ours as well.
Governor:
If indeed the Lord is with us, He is there to guide and direct us. As Governor or Leader, He rules and feeds His people. Often in Scripture, shepherds and rulers are closely connected. Joseph, Moses and David are some who had seasons tending flocks before taking an administrative place. Peter develops this line of truth in the fifth chapter of his first epistle. These examples are needful to follow in order to have effective oversight. Compare also Acts 20:28, 29.
All are not overseers, but regardless of this, we all have to do with Jesus as our Lord, our Governor, our Leader and our Shepherd. We are not in this world to do according to our own thoughts, or to fend for ourselves, but to know and to do the will of God.
To be in the current of God's thoughts will bring us into collision with the philosophies, wisdom, and objects of this world. If we are true to the Word of God, we will in measure experience reproach and contempt.
Nazarene:
The Lord Jesus knew rejection and derision as none other and this is brought out by the title of a Nazarene, or the "despised One." This was a stumbling block to the Jew. There are many references in the prophets to the Lord Jesus as being despised and rejected.
Additionally, the Hebrew word for Nazareth is Netzer, which means a branch or germ. Another has written, "Nazareth is called a germ from its insignificance, yet it shall through Him fill the earth with importance." All the references in the Old Testament to the Branch refer to the day when Christ will reign on earth. The Nazarene, the despised One, will be glorified.
Paul was labeled a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. A ringleader he was not; a sect they were not, but Nazarenes they were indeed. Many Christians have tasted deeply of the reproach connected with following a rejected Christ. It is the privilege of all who love Him to know the fellowship of His sufferings. To be identified with Jesus in any way is a great privilege when we contemplate who He is.
Son of the Father:
As man, Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Abraham, but He is eternally the Son of God, the-Son of the Father. As Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan identifying Himself with the repentant Jews, the Father announced that Jesus was His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.
Jesus was ever the Son of the Father's love (John 17:24). He had come from God the Father (John 13:3; 16:27, 28). He did not become the Son at some point in a past eternity, nor at Jordan, nor at His incarnation; He is eternally the Son which is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18).
As the Father eternally delighted in His Son, so He would have us to delight in Him as well, and contemplate Him in every way in which He is presented to us in Scripture.