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Introduction: Gift Tags
This week as Cindy and I — and all of you, I imagine — wrapped Christmas gifts, we taped a gift tag on every one of them.
To: “so-and-so”
From: Mom & Dad (or whatever name was appropriate)
These gift tags are used so as to maintain order around the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.
We want to make sure everyone knows to whom each gift is given, and who gave it.
If there’s a really great gift for me under the tree, I sure don’t want someone else to get it mistakenly.
And, if there’s a great gift I want to give to someone, I want to make sure he or she gets it.
Can you imagine a pile of gifts under the tree with no gift tags?
(especially if there are young children involved)
Christ’s birth was a huge gift from God.
Now, Jesus wasn’t born with a gift tag taped to him.
But he was given from God, to someone.
Who?
The Jews thought the Messiah would be just for them.
If you were a Jew, a child of Abraham, your name was on the gift tag.
If not, so sorry; the gift was not for you.
Is that true?
Writing to an audience of Jewish heritage, Matthew clarified that Jesus is the promised Messiah, born not only to Israel, but for all people.
Sometime after Jesus' birth, magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, searching for a newborn King of the Jews.
And boy, did it cause a stir!
Their search, and their response when they found him, reveals not only the global impact of Jesus' birth, but the personal impact he makes in the lives of those who receive and worship him with all their heart.
Jesus was born for all people.
Sadly, not all people want the gift; as the story reveals.
Those were the days (1b)
As Matthew’s story begins, we are reminded of the times in which Christ was born.
It was not a real good time to be a Jew living in Israel.
Historians remark that Christ’s birth happened during what has been called the Pax Romana, (the peace of Rome).
The term describes a time when Rome was not at war; which meant that everywhere else was pretty peaceful.
But locally, his birth was during troubled times.
Herod was becoming more and more unstable and paranoid about losing the kingdom to a rival.
He was so paranoid that he was even suspicious of his family.
In all, Herod had 14 children (9 of them sons) and 10 wives.
He had three sons, a wife, and many others close to him put to death because he feared plots to overthrow him.
Caesar Augustus, the emperor, uttered his famous pun that he would rather be Herod’s pig (hys) than his son (huios).
Herod and Augustus had frequent disputes and there were disruptions in the region.
As well, it’s possible that Matthew wrote his gospel in a time of great religious tension in Palestine.
The Gospel was likely written sometime following the Jewish wars, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
It appeared to have been a time of hostility between Christian and non-Christian Jews.
The former believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but the latter, represented by the priests and scribes in the story, were indifferent.
This conflict is not only represented in this story, but throughout the Gospel by Matthew’s emphasis on Jesus’ fulfillment of Jewish Scripture.
The Gospel contains more than 60 quotations from the Old Testament, more than the other three Gospels.
As I reflect on the historical context of Matthew’s story, the first line of Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities comes to mind: “It was the best of times and the worst of times.”
In a very real sense, 1st-Century Palestine was the best time for Christ to be born.
In fact, Paul wrote in Romans that Christ came just “at the right time” (Romans 5:6).
On the other hand, these were some of the worst times in Jewish history.
450 years had passed since God last spoke.
God’s people were losing hope.
And the leaders of God’s people — the priests, scribes and teachers — were poor shepherds.
But with Christ’s, God broke the silence.
He spoke through His Son, Jesus Christ.
But was anyone listening.
Those were the days.
A rising star (1b-2)
In the middle of all this context — despair, disturbance, descent and division — a mysterious caravan of strangers rode into Jerusalem.
Our text calls them “wise men”; but let me clarify.
They were more than wise.
From now on, I’ll call them “magi”; that’s a better name for them.
Don’t let modern Christmas carols confuse you.
In spite of the song we’ve all sung all of our lives, there weren’t three magi; and they weren’t kings.
We don’t know how many there were in the caravan.
And I say caravan, because that’s how they would have had to travel for such a long distance.
They came from the East; more than likely they came from Persia.
That’s a long trip.
It probably took them months to travel to Jerusalem.
And there were no Holiday Inns or Cracker Barrels along the way.
All they needed for the journey had to be carried with them.
And men of their stature had servants to carry and manage all the food and supplies they would need for such a journey.
Since “all Jerusalem” knew about them, this wasn’t a little caravan; this was likely a pretty large entourage of people.
There’s a lot we don’t know about them, but we do know some things.
We know they came from the East.
And we know their prominence from ancient literature: they were high-ranking officials with power and influence.
Their position is evident in the wealth they brought with them.
They were on a quest, and needed directions to complete it: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”
The Magi’s question to Herod emphasizes the word born.
The grammatical construction makes it clear that they asked about a child who has legitimate claim to Israel’s throne by virtue of his birth.
This places Herod as a usurper to the throne.
(More about that later.)
As mysterious as these magi are, their next piece of information is more so: “For we saw his star at its rising.”
In the ancient Near East, stars were often worshiped as divine.
Stars were one tool that ancients used (or so they believed) to predict future events.
Many believed that stars were linked to special events, such as the birth of a king.
Star worship and fortune telling is condemned in the Bible.
However, Matthew interpreted the star as a sign from God.
This reference to a “star” has an Old Testament background in the story of Balak and Balaam in Numbers 22. Balaam was a Mesapotamian prophet sent by God to bless Israel.
The climax of his blessing appears in Numbers 24:17.
Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 24)
I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near.
A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel.
He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.
Did you catch that?
“A star will come … and a scepter will rise”.
It’s no coincidence, therefore, that we read of the following fulfillment in Matthew: Magi from the east following a star to the King of the Jews.
That which God had foretold is now coming to pass in the birth of Jesus Christ.
That’s not all.
We have the promise in Isaiah 60:1-6.
Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 60)
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you.
For look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the LORD will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to your shining brightness.
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