The Promise to All People: Invitation to Worship
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 42:32
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· 9 viewsJesus is the true King; therefore, worship Him. True worship will be joy filled and will cost you everything.
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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Prayer
Last week we saw Jesus prior to his birth around the time of his conception.
But now we fast forward to after His birth.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
Arrival
Arrival
“Announcing the True King” (Matt 2:1-2)
After the Birth of a King
There would be a processional that would come and declare to everyone that a king had been born.
But at Jesus’ birth, there wasn’t any of that.
The arrival of a caravan of pagan’s who are following a star doesn’t quite make sense to us.
So what?
Why does their arrival mean so much?
Stream I
Stream I
Gentiles Recognize the Kings
Who were the Magi?
The Magi would have likely been members of a priestly cast from Persia or Babylonia.
They were expert astrologers and would have been skilled in their interpretation of dreams.
They were not just people who were wise in general knowledge type things but would have been referred to as “students of the stars.”
Why was it important that they were coming?
These wise men would have traveled in a caravan of sorts, a large group of people, large enough that Jerusalem took notice!
It is important to remember that these men were Gentiles who did not have non-Jewish descent.
The Jews despised Gentiles
Which brings us to our second stream…
Stream II
Stream II
Scripture Fulfilled
But the gentiles, though they were despised and considered foreigners.
It was prophesied that the gentiles will recognize the Messiah.
May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
For these pagans to travel all the way to Jerusalem, we need to ask.
Why would they travel all this way?
What prompted them?
I want you to remember a key figure in the life of the people of Israel.
Daniel.
He would have been taken off to exile in Babylon.
Likely where these wisemen came from.
So these wisemen would have been Daniel’s great, great, great, great descendants.
They had the Jewish Scriptures.
They had the prophecies.
Numbers 24:15–17 (ESV)
And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered:
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
Stream III
Stream III
Herod the False King
He ruled over Israel from 37–4 BC.
His reign was tyrannical and extremely oppressive for the Jewish people.
Marked by heavy taxation and massive building projects.
In Jerusalem, there was mixed feelings of support, fear and hatred toward Herod.
He dealt roughly with the people, and was despised by many.
He was the kind of leaders that one historian said,
“He would rather be Herod’s pig (which a Jew would not kill) than his son (whom Herod would kill).”
With all of these streams combined, we have an OVERWHELMING arrival.
An OVERWHELMING arrival that recognizes the TRUE KING.
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”
“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”
Notice the text does not say, “he who will become king of the Jews”
It says, “He who has been BORN King of the Jews”
Don’t miss the wonder, and the scandal of what is happening here.
Let that sink in for a minute: a group of gentiles have come and asked where a baby born king of the Jews is.
These Gentiles are saying they have found their way to Jerusalem because of a star that rose.
Matthew is trying to show that God has supernaturally and cosmically brought these gentiles to worship Jesus.
What we need to see is that God is orchestrating even the cosmos to bring people to worship Jesus.
Concerns
Concerns
“The False Kings Concern” (Matt 2:3-6)
In this section, we ironically get to see a picture of the heart of every human.
Worship is our response to Who God is and what He has done.
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
Ruled by Desire
Ruled by Desire
“Hating the King”
The news from these foreigners sounds like an emergence of a new leader from the Jewish people.
Herod has murdered his sons, and wife to keep his throne secured, so you can imagine how this news comes across.
Herod is “troubled” by the news he has received.
What does he do?
He goes and he talks to the experts!
and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They tell him that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.
This is not what Herod wants.
He has to make a plan, he has to do something to thwart this new king arising in Bethlehem.
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
His plan is to have these wise men bring him news of where the baby is himself, and he will take care of it.
He is so confident in his plan to have the wise men tell him where the baby is, that he doesn’t even send others to confirm the matter.
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
Herod is a monster.
Herod sees his position of king threatened, and he kills.
His jealousy and envy push him to kill off infants in an attempt to protect his throne.
Herod will destroy any possible threats to his throne, and there will be nothing that gets in his way!
We are no different than Herod in smaller ways
You may say, “No way, how am I like, Herod!”
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Anger is the “seedbed” of murder....
Herod’s problem was specific to Jesus directly coming against his throne.
Jesus is still King over all!
With that in mind, Jesus is still radically demanding today.
Anger shows us what we value.
We get angry because our desires begin to rule our hearts by ascending the throne and removing the place of Jesus as being center.
We are willing to trample anyone who gets in our way.
What about the second response....
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
Its that phrase, “and all Jerusalem with him...”
This caravan from the Magi would have been large enough that the entire city would have been aware of their coming.
Fearfully Indifferent
Fearfully Indifferent
“Scared but Still”
It could have been fear of an uprising
We can become so focused on our lives and keeping things “the way they have always been” that we actually miss the King of Kings.
Matthew makes a point that we know that “all of Jerusalem” was upset with Herod.
One commentator said this about the people’s fear...
“ [it was] not because most of the people would have been sorry to see Herod replaced or because they were reluctant to see the coming of King Messiah, but because they well knew that any question like the Magi’s would result in more cruelty from the ailing Herod, whose paranoia had led him to murder his favorite wife and two sons.”
Essentially, the fear was that if they found out that the King really had been born, it would have meant that their life was going to get harder.
This is a reality that followers of Jesus have to face today, although we have freedom in our country, there is a fear of being socially outcast.
Apathetic
Apathetic
“Knowledge without Love”
Simply it is the lack of concern.
When Herod felt a threat to his throne, he included the “chief priests and scribes” to determine where the Messiah was to be born.
The chief priests (the people who attended to the temple) and the scribes (the scholars of the Law) did not get along.
They answer that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem.
These scholars got it right!
These sages from a foreign land have brought the news of the Messiah, our redeemer.
We should go and search for Him!
Or NOT!
How could these “wise men” be the ones announcing the entrance of the Messiah?
Can you picture these men high-fiving and rejoicing because they got the right answer, but yet doing nothing about it?
Why is this?
“Formal knowledge of the Scriptures, does not in itself lead to knowing who Jesus is; just as God sovereignly worked through Caesar’s decree that a census be taken to ensure Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, so God sovereignly used the Magi’s calculations to bring about this situation.”
We can be so focused on getting the right answer, that we completely miss bringing it into practice.
Matthew, Volumes 1 & 2 The Response to Christ in Four Parts
People with knowledge and education are always tempted to rest content in knowledge. But it is never enough to know the truth. If we truly know, we act. If we know who Jesus is, we worship him.
A lack of concern is a possible response.
Upon hearing who Jesus is and that He is Lord over all, it is possible to respond with no change of attitude or action.
A lack of response is a response!
What unifies these three things?
All three of these false responses of worship could be summarized as an ignorance to beauty.
Ruling desires -
Fearfully indifferent -
Apathetic -
The Plan
The Plan
“Destroy the True King” (Matt 2:7-8)
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
The false king’s plan
The false king’s plan
“Destroy Life”
Herod’s plan was to destroy anyone who tried to take his throne.
He is willing to lie, cheat, steal, and kill to keep what he thinks he controls.
But what is the true King’s plan?
The True King’s Plan
The True King’s Plan
“Life for All People”
Matthew is trying to show us that salvation is not just for the Jewish people but through Christ, Salvation has been opened for all people!
Matthew is trying to show us that salvation is not just for the Jewish people but through Christ, Salvation has been opened for all people!
The wise men knew hardly anything about Jesus (respectively),
but they KNEW God had placed a sign in the sky for them to follow.
The wise men probably weren’t sure about what Jesus had come to do,
but they BELIEVED what was written.
Now how silly would it have been if these men traveled all that way, and just sat outside?
Response
Response
“Worship: The Right Response” (Matt 2:9-12)
After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
How does a proper response look?
True Worship is Joy-Filled
True Worship is Joy-Filled
This same word for “worship” could also be translated as “paid homage” which was a form of honor given to a King.
These men saw the signs that the heaven’s declared and they responded.
They heard the Scriptures and they responded.
Worship is simply our response to who God is and what He has done.
These men had a final stretch of 5 miles to walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem!
These men did not have a full-orbed theology complete,
but they responded to what God revealed to them.
Despite their limited knowledge, the wise men came.
With the apathy of the Jewish leaders and the hostility of Herod’s court—all of whom had the Scriptures to inform them, looming in the background.
“The Magi were pagans serving a pagan king. Yet God spoke to them, for that is what he does. Christianity is not a religion for “good people,” it is for sinners who listen when God calls.”
Jesus is the true King; therefore, worship Him. True worship will be joy filled and will cost you everything.
And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Their gifts were costly.
And in God’s providence has come and provided for this couple what they will need to go down to Egypt.
True Worship is Costly
True Worship is Costly
The worship of these Magi reveal to us that true worship is costly.
It costs us something.
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Don’t think that what the wise men gave was more costly than what Christ is calling you to give up.
Christ calls us to love Him more than family.
Wife, children, brothers and sisters.
Even our own lives.
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Jesus is the true King; therefore, worship Him. True worship will be joy filled and will cost you everything.
Example of the Grand Canyon