Preparing For Christmas - Spend Time with Jesus in Worship

Matthew 2:1–12 KJV (WS)

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Introduction

The wise men saw a sign announcing the birth of the King of the Jews.

Remember who these people are.

Star-gazers

They sought to understand the times based on the movement and appearance/disappearance of stars.

This was a very common profession for intellectual types during this time.

There is historical records of Magi travelling to Rome because they believed the stars had told them to.

There was also a general expectation in the world at that time that a historically significant figure would arise from Judah during this period.

When the wise men saw the rising of His star, they took it to mean that this “king of the Jews had been born.

This is the only time that this title is given to Jesus in the gospels apart from the crucifixion.

They traveled a great distance for the purpose of worshipping the new king.

They probably assumed that many of the other magi in their field of study would do the same.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they caused quite a stir.

They were not one group among many looking for this king.

They were the only ones looking for him.

They inquired about his whereabouts in Jerusalem.

Nobody seemed to know what they were talking about.

They caught the people in Jerusalem off guard.

It made them all nervous because of the legendary violence of the current king, Herod.

We are familiar with how Herod handled this situation though.

He invites the wise men to his palace.

He feigns to share in their desire to worship the new born baby.

He does not recognize the possibility of a new born king.

Herod hopes to leverage the piety of these men to accomplish his own nefarious plans.

They are directed to Bethlehem.

They followed the star to Bethlehem.

It leads them to the exact house where Joseph and Mary were living with baby Jesus.

Somehow it went before them.

Somehow it stood over where the child was.

Somehow they knew that this was the exact house that they had been travelling towards.

As they enter the house, they must have looked around.

Mary and Joseph were extremely poor to begin with.

Joseph’s work was not in Bethlehem it was in Nazareth.

There was no welfare for them to apply for.

They couldn’t have brought much money.

They were probably living off of whatever small jobs Joseph could find for carpentry work.

I say all that to say, this was either the smallest, most humble house in town, or they were sharing it with someone else.

The humility of their dwelling place did not point to the presence of someone worthy of worship.

They were a far cry from Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.

The family contained in this modest house was no more impressive than the house itself.

Joseph, I believe, was probably an older man, at least compared to Mary.

Mary was not much more than a teenager.

Even if it wasn’t for the baby, you would think this is an odd couple.

But then, there was the baby.

Let’s pause for a minute and think about this baby.

The wise men saw him with his mother.

Mary is holding him; rocking him.

It’s a typical image of a mother with her child.

But this is not your typical image, and the miracle of what we are reading about was not lost on the wise men.

This baby was Jesus, the Son of God.

Jesus is God.

As this baby, God had become a human.

He wasn’t in the human.

He wasn’t putting on an illusion of being in human form.

He was an actual human.

This baby was older than anyone on earth.

He was older than the earth.

By His words, the world was formed.

For 4,000 years He had held the world together; kept it spinning so to speak.

Now his pudgy little hand grips the finger of Mary.

This baby knew all that there was to know.

He had created humans and had given them the ability to reason and communicate.

He had taught humanity about morality and who God was.

Now he sits there uttering incoherent babblings of any other baby.

This baby may not look like much in the moment.

His past was full of miracle power, awesomeness, and glory.

His future would be characterized by miracles, sacrifice, and glory.

These wise men, may not have known all of this, but they understood the greatness of this baby.

It caused them to fall at his feet in worship.

You cannot separate worship from a physical response.

The response that the men offered was threefold.

They bowed before him.

They worshipped him (ascribed greatness to him verbally).

They gave him gifts.

All of this was done to recognize his worthiness.

The bowing was a sign of humility.

These men were used to others bowing to them.

They may not have been kings but they were important individuals.

It didn’t matter how important they were, Jesus was more important.

They recognized that.

The worship that was verbally offered was a sign of understanding.

They offered him praise.

If they didn’t know all that this baby meant, how could they praise him?

Simply, they could ascribe unto him the title that no one else would bother to use for him until they used it to mock him at his death.

Hail, king of the Jews!

Finally, the gifts.

Some see significance in the types of gifts offered.

Maybe they were given in recognition of his role as king, priest, and sacrifice.

They were definitely costly gifts.

These men had sacrificed to make the trip.

Now they offer gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The wise men show us what it looks like to worship Jesus.

Throughout the Bible we are commanded to worship God.

Psalm 96:9 “9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.”

Application

We should make time during this Christmas season to worship our God.

Worship Him by...

Humbling ourselves before Him.

Verbally praising Him for who He is and what He has done.

Offering Him a gift.

Finish this sentence.

Jesus is worthy of my worship because He is...

Jesus is worthy of my worship because He has...

This Christmas, I will worship Jesus by...