Sermon Tone Analysis

Nativity Scenes

St Francis of Assisi

AD 1223 - Italy

Not all present at one place at one time on the night Jesus was born.

A beautiful tradition and teaching tool, but not accurate.

No record of animals, angels, nor a star....

Few Bible characters are as well know, yet so clouded by myth and tradition as the Wise men mentioned by Matthew.

Number?

Names?

Means of transportation?

Specific country from which they came?

From the East

(Parthian Empire and it’s territory - Once known as Babylon)

In NT times the Parthian Empire rivaled the Roman empire for strength.

Israel was a tiny buffer country between these to great world powers.

3097 μάγος [magos /mag·os/] n m.

Of foreign origin 7248; TDNT 4:356; TDNTA 547; GK 3407; Six occurrences; AV translates as “wise man” four times, and “sorcerer” twice. 1 a magus.

1A the name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc. 1B the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been born, came to Jerusalem to worship him.

1C a false prophet and sorcerer.

A priesthood of magicians....

You already know something about their ancestors

That’s were it started.

Babylon - > Medo persia

Darius said to Daniel:

Daniel was one of the founders of this

Influential government official

He prophesied of the coming Messiah

Gave a very precise timeline of when the Messiah would come, down to the very year.

Due to Daniels influence These wise men, would definitely have had access to the Hebrew scriptures...

Numbers 24:17 (NKJV)

“...

A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, ....”

They are wise men… they exist to accumulate knowledge.

That knowlege would have been passed down through many generations of

Parthian empire of the NT.

The peopl eof that region would definitely have known of the promised Jewish Messiah.

The Wise men fully expected to find one who had been born King of the Jews.

His star in the east.

Supernova, comet, super alignment of the planets.

s

Something provided a very unusual sign....

Seams to have appeared only to the Magi.

Not a typical star

Celestial bodies normally move from East to West due to the earths rotation

This star led the maji’s south from Jerusalem to Bethlehm.

Led them to a specific spot and stood directly over the spot wehre JEsus was.

You can’t tell what normal stars are over.

No natural star can do all of that.

Could it be that that star wasn’t a star at all.

But rather was the shekinah glory of God that had once stood over the tabernacle

Pillar of cloud and fire

Accompanied Jesus all throughout His life.

Baptism, transfiguration, ascension, already appeared to the shepards on the night of His birth.

The glory of the Lord shown round about them.

It shouldn't surprise us that it would have manifest itself as a star and led the Wise Men

On this first Christmas Night.

Just as the Shekinah Glory stood over the tabernacle in the OT,

It now stood over the God tabernacled in the flesh....

It gave light to Israel but darkness to Egypt.

Only the eyes of the Magi were opened to see

When I saw the light I rejoiced with great joy...

Oh holy night, the stars were brightly shining...

The world has to acknowlege the accumulation of knowlege and experience over the centuries.

Thank you God for intervening in human history.

Herod was a puppet king of Israel, installed by the Roman Senate.

Had competition now.

A paranoid tyrant

Done much to taxed heavily

Spent extravagantly

The Roman emperor Augustus said it would be better to be pig than his son”

Josephus records, “Herod the king was so concerned that no one would mourn his passing, that just before he died, in those weeks leading up as he was getting weaker and weaker, he arrested and placed all of the prominent Jewish leaders in custody and left an order for every one of them to be killed when he died so he could be sure there would be an outpouring of grief in the streets of the city”

Little wonder that ghe sprang into action immediately when the wise men showed up with news of a rival king being born.

Names and number is conjecture....

Probably a large contingent of men...

Immediately gathered all the chief priests and scribes and demanded to know whee the prophecy was found.

They went everywhere asking… the city was troubled....

How shocked the Wise men must have been when they discovered that no one really know about this....

Their answer from the prophet Micah:

If they had looked just a little further:

God with us!

Christmas time of year accentuates our emotions....

If it’s dark it’s really dark....

No matter what your walking through, If you have Jesus in your life, you have Emmanuel

King Herod is only interested in preserving he power, securing his crown, and eliminate his competition.

Dismisses the preists and meets privately with the wise men.

He wants to worship.

He really wants to murder.

When did the star appear.....

Murders children from two years and under.

There is no evidence that the star was always there.....

The star reappeared and guided them to the exact place where the young chld lay.

Living in a house

Gold- Diety

Frankincense - Purity as a priest

Myrrh - Anointing as a King

Perfectly Foreshadowed his ministry

Had the right motive, they came to worship Jesus.

Wise men still seek him!

Spiritually perceptive men

God warned them in a dream....

Their obedience....