A King Worthy of Worship (Matthew 2:1-12)

Introduction

Two questions to ask this morning as we get started. Who is the most famous person that you have had the opportunity to meet in person? And what was your reaction when you met that person?

It’s interesting to think about that isn’t it? It’s even more interesting to have two different people meet the same person and two very different responses to that person.

For example, in my time working in college athletics, I’ve had the opportunity to work with legends like Phillip Fulmer, Al Wilson, Eric Berry, the newly named Head Coach of the New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo. I’ve even gotten to meet Tennessee legend, Peyton Manning. But what is interesting is that while I loved being around and meeting these legends, on the outside I was calm in my interactions with them, for one I was being paid to do a job.

However, there was one co-worker of mine who we gave the nickname Johnny Vol Fan. He was star gazed all the time with who we were working with, so much so that he was overwhelmed early on and hindered in his job. Again, we worked together, met the same people, and yet different responses.

We all do this. We all meet people and respond, but often in very different ways. And the same is true of people when they encounter Jesus, the one who is the Savior of the world and who has been born king of the Jews. And it is our response to this that we want to labor on this morning as we pick up where we left off on Christmas Eve morning with our study of the gospel according to Matthew, turning our attention this morning to Matthew 2:1-12. I invite you take your copy of God’s word and turn there now. If you are using one of the Red Pew Bibles found in the pew in front of you, you can find our passage this morning on page #960.

While you are turning there, I want to take a moment and help give us a running start as we jump back into Matthew.

In the first four weeks of December, we took time looking through Matthew chapter 1. We saw how the early fathers of belief looked forward to God’s promise to Abraham to bring blessing to the nations and how Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise.

We too saw how the Kings looked forward to the one God promised who was to come and sit on David’s throne and rule forever, and how again Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise as the Son of David.

We then saw how those both through and after exile continued to await with hope of God’s promise. And how God was faithful to preserve a people for himself to bring about that promise through the coming of Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Son of Mary whose husband was Jospeh. A baby who fulfilled God’s promise through Isaiah of a child who was to be born of a virgin.

It is this Jesus who has entered the world. It is this Jesus who we learned as Joseph was informed who has come to take away the sins of his people.

And it is this Jesus who we continue to be pointed to in order to know him more this morning. To know and understand who he is and how we are to respond to him.

Therefore let us hear the word of the LORD from Matthew 2:1-12 this morning.

Main Idea:

We will either reject Jesus as the True King with hostility or indifference, or we will seek him with joyful worship.

Points:

A response of hostility

A response of indifference

A response of worship

Point #1: A response of hostility

Verses 1-2……

The stage is set for us to see three different responses to this news that there has been one born king of the Jews. We see here in verses 1-2 that technically the first response is that of the wise men, the magi as some translations put it. They respond in seeking to find and worship this king.

There is some modern debate to whether these were wise men or kings. By there very name, magi, it is implied that they are wise men who had an unusual capacity to understand astrology from both a secular and religious standpoint. Therefore, while they come with expensive gifts, we should not presume they are kings, even if that crushes a favorite Christmas hymn, we three kings.

These unnumbered magi are the ones that come to Jerusalem, travelling from the east to seek the one born the king of the Jews. They seek him in order to worship him. Again while this is technically the first response, it is not completed until the end of our passage, therefore we delay diving into it until then.

However, it is mentioned of this group of magi seeking this king of the Jews to worship him that brings the response of others upon hearing this news.

Verse 3……

Herod who was king in Jerusalem became troubled in hearing that one had been born king of the Jews. He and all of Jerusalem with him.

Herod was troubled at the news of a king being born for the Jews, because he considers this king to be a threat to him as king. Herod had no birthright to the throne of Israel. He was a politician made King. Yet he was not of David’s royal line.

Therefore in this news, Herod in the unease of his heart assembles two distinct groups. He assembles the chief priests and scribes of the people together.

One Commentator writes:

Doriani, Daniel. Matthew, Volumes 1 & 2 (Response #3: The Apathy of Priests and Teachers of Law)

These two groups stood at the opposite ends of Jewish social leadership. The scribes were conservative teachers of Scripture, bent on preserving traditional Jewish culture. The chief priests (as opposed to ordinary priests) were Sadducees; the Sadducees were willing to accommodate Roman power and Greek culture to retain their wealth and power.

And yet, Herod pulls the two different groups together, knowing that if they agreed in their differences he could learn where his threat lay and remove him before it was too late.

For this is exactly what we see in Herod throughout Matthew 2. We see in verse 3 that he was troubled. Then he inquires here in verse 4. Then down in verse 7, Herod summons the wise men secretly and then instructs them there in verse 8 to go and find the child born king of the Jews, and then come report back to him.

Now, in verse 8, Herod states that it is so that he may go and worship this king too. However, we know from context, that of verse 12 in the LORD warning the magi to return home in a different way and not back to Herod, along with what we will study next week of Herod going to kill all the male children, that this was nothing more than deceptive words.

Herod did not seek to worship the child, but to put an end to him. Herod feared a rightful king of Israel so much that he would stop at nothing to remove the threat and hold onto his power.

Spurgeon, Charles. The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew (Chapter 2: The King Appearing and the King Assailed)

Artful wretch! Murder was in his heart, but pious pretences were on his tongue. May none of us be Herodians in hypocrisy! To promise to worship and to intend to destroy, is a piece of trickery very usual in our own days.

Herod used hypocrisy and trickery out of hostile hatred for this new king who was a threat to his rule and reign in Jerusalem. He feared that Jesus was going to press against him and take his power.

And the reality is friends, this is the same root problem for hostility against King Jesus and his people to this day. A fear of the loss of power and prominence in the world.

Show me a hostile person to King Jesus, and I guarantee down at the core of their hostility is tied to power. For even those who would argue they have no power, is not the power they hostly hold onto is the power to define themselves what is right and wrong? Is not the root issue for them that they do not want a King over them for they want to be their own king?

Those who stand hostile to King Jesus are the very ones who would seek to try and redefine what is good and wrong, because they themselves want to be king. They stand opposed to Jesus and his people in resisting Jesus’ rule.

This was the response of Herod in his day, and it was the response of others with him.

Again there in verse 3, Herod was not the only one troubled. All of Jerusalem was troubled with him. And though we see not the actions of their troubled hearts here in Matthew 2:1-12, Matthew is setting us up that their troubled hearts will act. They will act in hostility towards King Jesus by resisting and rejecting him and ultimately all of Jerusalem as a whole condemning Jesus to death. A death to be carried out on a bloody cross so that one man might die so that the whole nation wouldn’t.

All of Jersualem, the Jews were okay with a King coming onto the scene, but only if it was a King who would overthrow the other kingdoms and set them up to thrive as they desired. And therefore in the midst of their troubled hearts about this king of the Jews, this King Jesus, they rejected him in the hostility of offering him up to die so they could keep their status quo.

Christians, we must not therefore think that hostility to King Jesus and his people is something new. It is a response as old as the fall of people resisting God and his rule over them in hostile ways. Therefore we should not be surprised when people respond in this way. We should expect it, for King Jesus told us that if the world hated him, it would hate us too as his people.

And while this reminder of this common response is a big part of the application for us as Christians, there might be a bigger part that we need to apply carefully to our hearts as people respond with hostility to the news of King Jesus.

The part we need to hear is that as people respond with hostility to the news of King Jesus, we need to look to the king of the Jews and remember how he responded to such hostility, not by taking up arms to fight, but by praying for them, by taking up the Sword of God, the word of God and proclaiming the gospel further so that others may hear.

Christian, our job is not to respond to the world’s hostility against our King with hostility, but with the words of grace and truth found in the power of the gospel.

A response of hostility is to be expected. It will come in the form of Herod’s hostility that flowed from his troubled heart in seeking to wipe out this king of the Jews. It will also come in the hostility of all of Jerusalem who was troubled with Herod at this news.

This is the first response we see in response to the news that there is one who has been born king of the Jews.

Point #2: A response of indifference

Verse 4……

The two different groups have been assembled by Herod, the chief priests and the scribes. They are inquired of by Herod of where is the Christ to be born. They are given a Bible Trivia question. And their answer, verses 5 and 6……

They recall and quote Micah 5:2

Micah 5:2 ESV

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

In Bible Trivia, the chief priests and the scribes get an A! They knew the word of God, they were able to quote it, and they were able to aide Herod in his inquiry, along with the Magi. But their knowledge of God was not sufficient to save their souls. For while they knew the details of the coming Christ and where he would be born, that knowledge did not move them to seek the one declared to have been born to fulfill God’s promises.

The chief priests and the scribes in declaring that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem did not arise and go to Bethlehem with the Magi. They stayed put.

Listen to what various commentators write regarding these two groups:

Doriani, Daniel. Matthew, Volumes 1 & 2 (Response #3: The Apathy of Priests and Teachers of Law)

They expect their deliverer and here are reports that fit the prophecy. Yet, Matthew implies, they do nothing. They do not rejoice; they do not join the Magi. They do not go to Bethlehem to worship this shepherd and ruler or even to investigate the report. They answer the king and go home.

Charles, Spurgeon. The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew (Chapter 2: The King Appearing and the King Assailed)

These scribes knew where to find the text about the Saviour’s birth, and they could put their finger upon the spot in the map where he should be born; and yet they knew not the King, neither cared to seek him out.

Ryle, J.C. Matthew (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by Crossway) 8.

We are told that they gave him a quick answer, and showed an accurate acquaintance with the letter of Scripture. But they never went to Bethlehem to seek the coming Savior. They would not believe in him when he ministered among them. Their heads were better than their hearts.

Friends, it is of no benefit to us if we are like these chief priests and scribes and our heads are better than our hearts. Where we know much about the Bible, about God, about King Jesus himself and yet our hearts are left cold and numb and unchanged.

The Knowledge of God is only enough to condemn us to hell if it does not change our affections and desires.

Beloved, it matters not how much of the Bible we have read or memorized if it is only to fill our minds without transforming our minds and hearts.

Let these words from J.C. Ryle stir our hearts (Matthew; Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by Crossway. 8.):

Let us beware of resting satisfied with head knowledge. It is an excellent thing when rightly used. But a person may have much of it, and still perish everlastingly. What is the state of our hearts? This is the great question. A little grace is better than many gifts. Gifts alone save no one; but grace leads on to glory.

Beloved, let our hearts be moved by the knowledge of God. Let us not just know where to find the Christ, King Jesus, let us diligently search for him and run after him, following him and obeying his commands.

Kids, teenagers, I want to speak mainly to you, though some older may greatly benefit from this too. There is a danger for you growing up in the church, of becoming all too familiar with these stories of Jesus and the teachings about him. Familiarity of simply knowing without feeling. Without being moved by these things. There is a danger to thinking yourself a Christian because your parents are. Yet I want you to hear this warning from J.C. Ryle:

Ryle, J.C. (Matthew, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by Crossway. 8.):

“How often the very people who live nearest to the means of grace are those who neglect them most! There is only too much truth in the old proverb, ‘The nearer the church the farther from God.’ Familiarity with sacred things has an awful tendency to make men despise them.”

Young people, don’t despise the sacred teachings, don’t despise and be indifferent to the beauty of who this King Jesus is and what he has done! Let the power of the gospel, the good news of Jesus move you! Let it move you not to just know the things of Jesus, but to worship Jesus like the magi did.

Point #3: A response of worship

As we turn our attention now back to the Magi, it is they who come from the east and seek the king of the Jews. Again, look back to verses 1-2……

The Magi were not from Jerusalem or Israel for that matter. They were foreigners from the east. And yet, in seeing the star in its rising, they leave home and follow the star in search of the child in order to worship him.

It is not those who are near who come to worship the newborn king, it is those who are far off. Herod, the king in Jerusalem did not rightly seek this newborn king, nor did Jerusalem, not even the chief priests and the scribes responded rightly to seek the king of the Jews.

Yet foreigners from the east came. They travelled, they sought, they drew near to find the king of the Jews and when they found him, they rejoiced and worshiped him. They gave him expensive gifts to honor him. Verses 9-11……

This king of the Jews was worthy of pursuing, worshiping, and laying down their treasures too.

Friends, this is the heart of worship. To see that one is worthy of such worth being given to. For that is the very definition of the word worship. It comes from the word worthiscope, to give worth to.

The magi, though not Jewish, though foreigners, they responded to the little that had been revealed to them and sought the king of the Jews and realized his worth. In fact, of the gifts, the expense of the myrrh alone is estimated to be the equivalent of around $10,000 in today’s dollar. And they rejoiced in their coming to the king and were eager to count the cost in giving these gifts.

But what about us friends? What defines our worship of the King? Is our worship simply showing up here on Sundays? To worship King Jesus is certainly not less than this, it should be much more.

Worship of Jesus is to be the great overflow of our rejoicing hearts in declaring the great worth of the Savior of the World! Jesus has bled and died in order to carry the burden of our sin for us and bring us to new life in him through his defeat of death in his rising from the grave on the third day. Worship is not an obligation, but a joyous thing. It is joyous as we remember the good news, that at the right time Christ died for us that we might live. It is a joyous remembrance that this is how God the Father has loved us in the sending and giving of his beloved Son! Worship is the joyous remembrance that we have been bought by the blood of Jesus, a great cost, and therefore the one who has purchased us will most certainly keep us!

This is worship! But it is more than just a joyous remembrance. Worship as we see by the response of the magi was a rejoicing in finding the king, but it was also the counting of the cost, to count the cost to lay great treasures before the King.

Christian, part of our worship to King Jesus then is to imitate the magi in giving gifts to King Jesus. In part, this is financial gifts. To not belabor this point, but part of our Christian discipleship is to regularly give financially to the work of the church, to the advance of the kingdom. Not out of obligation, but out of devotion, out of love for the King.

But part of counting the cost in the giving of financial gifts is to count the cost that to follow Jesus may cost us more. To follow King Jesus, to be devoted to him may cost us friendships, it may cost us status, it may cost us even that of our own lives. Matthew will continue to show the cost of being a disciple, especially as we get into chapter 10 and beyond. But let us not miss that worship is the counting the cost that following Jesus is worth it, no matter what may come.

This is what a life of worship looks like! But there is one more. Verse 12….…

A life of worship means listening and obeying the LORD as he instructs us. The Magi received instruction to return home in another way, to not go back to Herod because of his evil plan. And they obey this instruction.

A life of worship is a life of obedience. It does not pick and choose what we choose to obey, it honors the LORD in all through the power of the Spirit. Friends, we can talk about loving to worship the King of Glory all we want, but it is our joyful obedience and devotion to the King that will show the world that we are true worshipers of him!

Dearly beloved, may we seek this Jesus with the same diligence of the Magi and give him the same devotion.

Let’s pray….…