Matthew 2:1-12

Speaker 2: I take your Bibles if you have them and turn to the book of Matthew Matthew. Chapter number two is where we're going to be this morning. Matthew, chapter number two and as you find your place, if you're physically able, would you join me in standing in honor of reading God's word? Matthew, chapter number two, we're going to begin reading in verse number one. Matthew, Chapter two, verse number one. Bible says this says now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, Where is he that is born? King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and our come to worship him, Herod the King, and heard these things, he was troubled, all Jerusalem with him. When he had gathered, all the chief priests and scribes of the people together in demanded of them were Christ should be born. They said under him in Bethlehem of Judea. Thus, it is written by the prophet that now Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah. Four out of these shall come a governor that shall rule my people, Israel. Inherited when he had privately called the wise men acquired of them diligently, what time the star had appear. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go search diligently for the young child when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him. Also. They had heard the king, the departed Lone Star, which they saw in the East, went before them. They came and stood over where the young child was when they saw the star. They rejoiced with exceeding great joy. They were coming to the house. They saw the young child with Mary. His mother fell down, worshiped him. They had open their treasures, they presented him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh being warned of God in a dream. They should not return to Herod. They departed into their own country another way. Let's pray. But I asked you to help us now as we look looking for you. Your word, I pray that you give me the words having to say, you help folks here to listen and apply what you hear to their lives. God, thank you so much for the many blessings that you have bestowed upon our church. Thank you for the wonderful time of singing praises to you that we've enjoyed already. What? I pray now that this message would encourage and challenge the hearts of your people. The Jesus name that I ask these things. Amen. Thank you. May be seated. There is a song that we have sung here quite a bit that I remember singing with our youth group. The song is worthy of worship, worthy of worship, worthy of praise, worthy of honor and glory. If there's one time of year where more people are focused on the worthiness of Jesus, it's probably this time of year. This is the the opportunity that we have as people of God to potentially have the greatest impact in reaching other people with the gospel. People are thinking about Christmas, they're thinking about the meaning of Christmas. And even if they don't know all of the details, they have some idea as to what Christmas is about. They know there's a man named Jesus. They know he came as a baby. There was a manger and shepherds and wise men. They have a vague idea of it. Thinking about the worthiness of our Lord. The the right that he has to our worship. This year, we've talked about the theme of Grace, the unmerited, undeserved favor of God. You know, it's the grace of God that you and I are able here today to gather together to worship Jesus. The grand scale of history, the likelihood that you and I would be here is. Not very likely. I mean, I don't know all of your national backgrounds, but I would assume that probably the majority of us are gentiles. We didn't grow up in the Old Testament time our families didn't come from the twelve tribes of Israel. We're. Italians or Irish were Germans were from all over the place, were from the Middle East. Maybe we're from Asia, maybe we're from Africa, South America. I don't know where we come from all over the place. The fact that you and I know of Jesus. We have the Bible that we are able to come together and recognize his value. It's really a miracle. Though there are some who you look at their life, you think, Oh, yeah, well, it would make sense for you to worship and you grew up in church, your parents were in charge, your dad was a Sunday school teacher, your dad was a preacher. Of course you should worship God. We know that that's no guarantee. Isn't it amazing that a lot of times the people who buy the world standards shouldn't worship God are the ones you do and the ones that you would expect to worship God are the ones that don't. This morning, I believe we see kind of a prolog of Jesus life in ministry. We're going to see two different groups of people. One group. Everyone would assume, would be looking for the Messiah or looking for the the one that they could go to and worship and recognize their importance and value. We're going to see another group who really had no reason to be looking for Jesus, no reason to worship him. And yet we're going to find that that's exactly what they do. I love looking at this, these these three verses that we read this morning. I've preached different messages from here before. Never this one. And so I'm always glad to revisit these these verses. You all are, you know, that Jesus was born into a a country that was ruled by a man named Herod, and Herod is going to be in our kids play. I can't wait to see Herod and see how he he acts. But Herod was was king of Israel. He was king of the Jews. I was his official title. And of course, Herod was overruled by the Roman Empire. But Herod was a friend of Rome about if you knew this or not, Herod was not a Jew. Here, to put it simply, was an inmate. He was a descendant of Esau and but he represented the Jews and and in fact, Herod had done a lot quite a bit to benefit the nation of Israel. Now that doesn't mean he was a good man. He definitely was not a good man. He was a violent, bloody, nasty man. But he was politically ambitious and the Jews had benefited from his reign. Now, at the time of Matthew, Chapter two verse number one Herod is around seventy nine years old. Now I'm just curious, do we have any seventy nine year olds here today? Voted 70? Well above 79. There's a few. It's all right, there we go. Here it is 79 years old. Now, I don't know if you appreciate that or not, but it does add some color to this story because the actions that we see portrayed here seem to be the actions of a young, ambitious man that is trying to secure his future. But that is not the case at all. Here it is an old, grizzled politician that is. Fewer years ahead of him than he does behind him. How about that? Seventy nine is quite a long life for someone in this time period. Isn't this this this realm, this this context that the wise men that we read about in verse number one, enter into Jerusalem, these magi, these men from the East, they're a little bit of a curiosity, and a lot of people have brought up different explanations for who they might have been. Who were these? These men, really? We know that they were wives. We know they were from the East. We know that they made their living, studying the stars in their movements. But what was it that influenced them so much to make the long and dangerous journey to Jerusalem? Is it possible that they were knowledgeable of the prophecies of the Messiah? I mean, the Jews did spend quite a bit of time exiled in the East during the Babylonian captivity. Perhaps some of their writings and some of their impact was still being felt in that region. Maybe, possibly these magi, these wise men that we see. We're just so impressed with the star that they knew it must herald the birth of a king. And so they were motivated to make the trip to Jerusalem. Who were they? Why did they make the trip? How many of them were there? We three kings, we know there were three gifts. Actually, we know that there were three types of gifts. I say there were three gifts. You think three boxes. We just know that there were three types of gifts. It could have been many, many boxes of each one. Free gifts does not mean there were only three men. I would assume that the wise men coming from the East would have been a sizable entourage that showed up in Jerusalem laden down with all kinds of gifts. I mean, they've got donkeys and camels and carts, and these things are just loaded with presence. They were obviously rich. They were obviously foreign and they obviously came bearing gifts. And so Herod receives news of these, these travelers that are making their way into Jerusalem. And I think Herod got a little excited. He thought that these these visitors were for him. The gifts were for him. Imagine his disappointment, and I think disappointment is putting it lightly when verse number two comes along and the wise men say, the Herod, where is he that is born king of the Jews? Remember, that's Herod's title. Here it is an imposter, though, representing the Jewish nation. He is not a Jew. He is going to be sore. He has no connection to the divinity line. He has no right to sit on the throne of Israel. So should a true Jewish king be born, it would mean the end of his reign. Now, at 79 years of age, I would say the Herod had a pretty good run. The average life expectancy for most people during that time was between 35 and 40. He had already doubled the life of an average person. Herod, though, like the Jewish leaders who would come later, was trying to hold on to a position of power without meeting the requirements for that position. Now I want you to think about this for a second. Herod was the political leader of the Jewish nation, but he was not a Jew. Later in Jesus' life, he's going to come across the chief priest scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were the spiritual leaders of the Jewish nation. And yet they were not spiritual. Jesus always threatens imposters, people that are hypocrites that are trying to be what they are. Do one thing and be another. Jesus always comes along to tear down the made up power structures of the day. Chief priests rise Pharisees and Sadducees with all feel what Herod felt in verse number two when the wise men showed up inquiring Where is he at? Is born king of the Jews? Here it is prompted by the Wiseman's arrival. Do some research into where this king was to be born. Verse number four The political power confers with the religious power for answers. Those chief priests and scribes tell Herod that the king is to be born in Bethlehem, according to the prophet Micah. Here it is not investigating the details of Jesus birth for noble reasons any more than the Jewish leaders would question Jesus during his ministry or noble reasons. He is not asking those chief recent scribes so that he can get information to then go in worship this newborn king. He just wants to find out so he can do something that end the newborn king, like when those Pharisees and Sadducees show up during Jesus life and ask him questions and try to trip them up and concoct these theoretical stories like we looked at on Wednesday night dealing with marriage just to see if they can get Jesus to be look like to look like a fool. Jewish leaders acted in a well-defined pattern during Jesus life from the time of his birth to the time of his death. They continually refused to acknowledge the importance of who Jesus was. Herod does not want his special guests know how agitated he is. So the Old King puts on his best politician voice goes to speak with the wise men. Verse number seven. Calls, the Wiseman privately inquired of them diligently what time the star had appeared. He needs to know how old this new king might be. Verse number eight, he sends them to Bethlehem and says, go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him. Also. I'm not doing a very good job of that, but you can think of the most slimy politician you've ever heard and just put their voice in on Herod's voice. Tells them that when they find the young child they are to come and report back to him. In reality, what he's doing is he is deputizing the wise men to identify the precise location for him. They have unwittingly become his spies in determining where this child may be. Now, you and I here, it's true purposes. Verse 16, we didn't read it, but you're familiar with what happens, Herod sends his soldiers to Bethlehem to slay every child was two years old and younger. We see a picture here in Herod's actions of the Jewish response to Jesus. It's a picture that is repeated over and over throughout Jesus life from beginning to end. They wanted him dead. They wanted him to be silenced. John, 111, says this. It says he came into his own and his own received him. Not. The hardness rejection of the Jews, it's contrasted by the actions of the wise, you see, the Jews are the ones who should have been the most ready, the most eager to receive Jesus. They should have been first in line to bow before him in worship in recognition of his worthiness and importance. But instead, we see starting in verse number nine, that the information that these wise men have gained from Herod enables them to set out for Bethlehem. Now, just having the name of the city would not be sufficient for finding the baby. Why do you think Herod wanted them to come back with information? Just knowing that Jesus was in Bethlehem didn't do much. There could have been hundreds of children in Bethlehem that were the same age or around the same age as Jesus. Men may have had the city. But how they would find the exact house remains to be seen. How would they find this one that they were looking for? Bible records for us verse number 10 the joy that these men felt when they saw the star again guiding them to Bethlehem. I don't know how, but the Bible tells us that the star guided them straight to the house where Jesus was living with Joseph and Mary. Says in verse number nine, saw, which they saw in the east, went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. They stood on the streets of Bethlehem. This group of men of an unknown size. They must have looked pretty awkward. They must have stood out. I mean, here it he he caught wind of them being in Jerusalem, which is a much larger city than Bethlehem. You imagine the stir that took place in Bethlehem when they showed up. I was thinking about Bethlehem as it compares to Collinsville and just trying to make some connections in my mind, you know, as far as like how many two year olds are in Collinsville? I don't know. But we had the the pre-K Christmas programs from the FCC here this week was a lot of pre-K kids, you know? And so you can just kind of imagine, all right, so you've got like five hundred four year olds or five year olds, you know, and to say, OK, which one is this newborn king? That'd be nearly impossible to figure out. Imagine this, you know, five thousand. So people here in Collinsville, what if the presidential motorcade like entered Collinsville? You think that would cause a stir? If you don't think it would cause a stir, you ought to get on the Collinsville for one one because it doesn't take much to cause a stir in Collinsville. We got camels and kangaroos running around the water tower can't be found. Let's all go to the Bing Bing. You know, after work. Here's these guys, I know there's no social media, but you know, there was a there was a grapevine going through the city as these wise men pulled up and headed and they're like following this star. It's kind of one of those things that you do with teenagers. We used to do this once. Every once in a while. We do a a video scavenger hunt or a photo scavenger hunt, and you would tell them, go to a busy corner and just all of you look up and see how long it takes to gather a crowd of people who are also looking up trying to see what you're looking at. We were done this. It's so much fun. You stand there and you look up and maybe you have a kid that's pointing, you know, and people are walking by the like. You know, I mean, the Bible says they were led by a star. I don't know these guys are in cables and they're like. You know, they take a wrong turn in, the star says free computing. I don't know. That's that's dumb. It's nice to get a laugh. Before we follow them into the house, we state the obvious about these men. These men are in town and they are unique from probably just about every other person in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is filled with Jews who would all claim to be looking for their messiah, Jesus is here in Bethlehem living next door to his people. And he's basically anonymous. These men gentiles are standing in front of his house, and while the Jews walk by the House of the Messiah without a second thought, almost daily, these gentiles have risked their lives. They've risked their fortunes. They've traveled halfway across the world. To meet this young child. They entered the house. Their reaction to seeing this king is. It's worth noting he's here in these humble accommodations. I mean, Joseph and Mary weren't wealthy this this is probably a rented house, a family member's house, just someplace that they can crash until Jesus is old enough to travel again. They come in and the Bible says verse number 11, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother. And they fell down and worshiped him. Realized anytime you see the word worship in the Bible, it it always refers to a physical response. There is a physical response to mirror what is going on in the heart. I mean, like literally, if we talked about this, if we were to look at it, they fell down and worshiped him. The Bible is telling us they fell down and fell down. Because to worship means to humble yourself with a physical action of humility and recognition of the worthiness of the person that is before you. Why do you think whenever the people fell down in front of the angels, the angels said, get out. The angels aren't worthy of worship. But Jesus is. These gentiles knew enough about who this this child was standing in front of them, that they recognized the worth of this young child and they fell on their faces and worshiped him, they recognized his worthiness. Well, they probably didn't know all of the answers about Jesus, no, they probably did. They didn't know all the prophecies. No, they probably did. You see knowledge of all those things isn't necessary to realize that Jesus is worthy of worship. You don't have to have all of the answers figured out about Christianity or about the Bible in order to know and realize that Jesus is important. They didn't know everything about his life and purpose. They didn't have to. Their estimation of him can be seen in their actions, they bowed before him. But they didn't stop there. They proceeded to open their treasures, presented him gifts. He knows that opened their treasures, a tiny little box is not what I think of when I think of a treasure. We all watch too many cartoons as a kid, but I'm thinking of chests of gold or pirates following behind. We know the gifts, gold, frankincense, myrrh. Meaning that is attached to them. You know, these gifts had been prepared by these men at the start of their trip. They didn't just stop by Walgreens on the way into town and pick something up. It prepared to give Jesus these things, the value of these gifts would be beyond anything that Joseph or Mary had ever seen to the wise men. It was the least they could do for the newborn king. Did you ever give too much to Jesus? Could you? Is it possible? Could we ever begin to like, make a down payment on repaying the debt that we owe him? No. The think that my service is somehow repayment for him, saving me is foolish. You see the difference between the reaction of those who recognize the importance of Jesus and those who should have recognized the importance of Jesus. Here you have the I know he was in need of mine. He wasn't a Jew, but he represented the Jews. He represented the nation. If anybody was to recognize and and and seek out the newborn king of the Jews. It should have been Jewish government. But they didn't. Was surprised. No, it's what we've come to expect. Here's these gentlemen. These men from the East had traveled a long, long, long way over the river through the woods. What are they doing? You're falling down prostrate for Jesus, opening up their treasures and giving him gifts. The gentiles recognized the worthiness of Jesus, and they responded with worship. The Jewish leaders saw only the threat of Jesus to their power, and they sought to silence him. You see why I say this is a little bit of a prolog to Christianity. Because it kind of sums up. The history that we've seen since then. By and large, it's the gentiles that have been say. And by and large, the Jews have rejected their messiah. You know, this Christmas. It is possible that all of us. Could mirror or imitate. The people that we've seen in these two categories. So while I'm here at church, so I think it's obvious which one of those people that I emulate? Well, not necessarily. See, as possible for all of us that are here today, myself included, two at different times be a worshiper of Jesus and the silencer of Jesus. It could be the same day. I could wake up the morning starting off great worshiping God, spending time with him in prayer and reading my Bible and recognizing his value. And then later in the day, I get in the flesh and I seek to silence his influence on my life. You don't do that, I know, but I do. And maybe from day to day. Look, I. I don't know for each of you, whether you are. At this point, seeking to worship him or seeking to silence him. You will have to look at your own life to make that determination. You will have to ask the Holy Spirit. I've had to ask the Holy Spirit to make that clear to you. But, you know, when when these men worshiped Jesus, there was some evidence that it produced. Right. When they recognize the value of Jesus, there was fruit, there were signs of what they were doing. You know, we can't make assumptions. About who sees Jesus as worthy. Based on the position that they hold. You would be wrong to think that just because I'm a preacher, that I always viewed Jesus as worthy of worship because there are times that I don't. You would be wrong to assume based on someone's reputation, that they always seek to be a worshiper of Jesus, so-and-so's a leader in the church so-and-so grew up in the church. So-and-so has gone to Bible college. They graduated from a Christian college. They must be a worshiper of Jesus. All of those metrics are flawed. See, too often the people that we think should be worshiping Jesus are the ones that are actually trying to silence. Pastors, Deacons, Sunday school teachers, kids who grew up in Christian homes, middle class white heterosexual men. Doesn't matter what metric you fall under doesn't mean you're automatically a worshiper of Jesus. None of these things guarantee that a person is worshiping Jesus. That's kind of a bummer. But the good news is. By the grace of God. We also can't make assumptions about people who we assume are silencing him. Don't sit there so pious and judgmental of me. They'll go out in society and community every once in a while. Do you like to stay home a lot? Sometimes Alicia drags me out of the house to engage with the public.

Unidentified: I look around

Speaker 2: and I'm making such assumptions and judgments about the people I see. I mean, I write it down. But in my head, you know, I'm thinking that person doesn't look like a candidate for church membership. That person seems nice. I bet they go to church somewhere. That person looks pretty judgmental. They're definitely a Baptist church member somewhere. Oh, we all make judgments and assumptions about people, and there are people that you see, you know, at work and you think I could never witness that person, they're so hard and cold and just absolutely turned off to anything about Jesus. But you don't know that. Do you? I mean, think about these wise men. Then that probably. Had nose rings. They might have had some. Tattoos. They probably weren't living the southern Christianity lifestyle. OK. You would have looked at them and thought, these are pagans. They might be cannibals, I don't know. They go in there, they see Jesus, they fall down before. People who look clean and royal and war, all of the Jewish garments that meant I'm spiritual. They wanted nothing more than to silence Jesus from their lives. So where do you live in this Christmas? Are you one who should be a worshiper, but instead, you are a silencer? You should be a worshiper. You have every reason to be. You've got your life crafted just the way you want it. All the pieces are in order and you're afraid that if you let Jesus in, he will dethrone you as king of your life. So you limit him and his influence over you. He is a threat you claim to be a worshiper, as Harry did. But in reality, you can't afford to let Jesus really be king. You'd have to give up too much. Perhaps this morning. You were that worshiper that no one saw coming. You know, when you first walked in the church, everybody was like, Oh. Building's going to fall in on us. See, this is can all be us. We are gentiles this can be all of us because we are all inherently sinful and naturally rebellious beings. Maybe you're here this morning, there's more to your story. You didn't grow up in a Christian home. You've been a victim of abuse. You've even been hurt by Christians in the past. No one would expect to see you at church. Your life seems to have been one tragedy and crisis after another. Any reasonable person would look at you and say, You know what? Life's been pretty cruel to you if you don't really believe in this whole God thing you understand. World would say you have as few reasons for worshiping God as these men from the East did. Yet this morning, you look at Jesus. You find a savior, so wonderful, worthy. You can't help but humble yourself before him and worship. You look at Jesus, how valuable he is. You realize that all the goods of this Earth are not sufficient to begin to represent how important it is to your life. Christmas is a special time of year. For all of us, need to stop and consider who Jesus really is in our life. Is he a threat to your lifestyle, to the world that you have built your kingdom? Or is he worthy of worship? Is he worthy of us giving him all that we have? This Christmas. I want to be like these, Wiseman. I want to be a worshiper of Jesus. Let's pray their holy father thinks this. Thank you for the good attention of the folks that are here. Lord, I pray that we would look at the differences between Herod and the Jews response to your coming and that of the wise men who traveled so far to be there to worship you and give you gifts. God, I pray that we would be honest with you and honest with ourselves. Whether or not we see you as worthy of worship. Or worthy of silence? We view you as valuable or do we view you as a threat? God, I pray that you would use your Holy Spirit this morning to speak to our hearts, convict us, Lord of Sin and selfishness and Pride. Lord, help us to humble ourselves before you recognize your worthiness and your value here this morning. Jesus, name that I ask these things. Amen.

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