"The Wise Men"_Matthew 2_Apr 14 2024
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· 2 viewsLearn the lesson from the wise men: Seek Jesus & seek his presence Listen to the Lord - and stop at nothing to seek him Offer your gifts of service in order to serve the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Communion
Communion
(Pray…)
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Background
Background
(Pray…)
Matthew 2 “The Wise Men” [Main message: The world responds with drama around Jesus]
We're continuing our series: God With Us, as we study the Gospel of Matthew
We’re in Matthew 2 - the story of the wise men
I want us to learn from the wisdom of these wise men
Last week we looked at how Jesus is real - and that he must become real to every one of us
Hebrews: in order to be our merciful High Priest, Jesus had to be a man, like us - a Kinsmen Redeemer
He had to be a perfect one of us to die for us
He was fully God, but also fully man when he came to Earth
Every Gospel is different - Matt, Mark, Luke, John
Each one comes from its own perspective
Each of them tell the truth from a different POV
Imagine four witnesses of the same event -
Each witness has their own version of what happened
But they’re all true
One of the things about Matthew - it comes from a Jewish perspective
We immediately see that in verse 1:
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
As you could imagine -
“Son of David” is repeated several times in Matthew - I count 10 times in my Bible
The phrase is mostly found in Matthew, but also in Mark and Luke
We find “Son of David” in the OT - like when Solomon was referred to as that
But in the NT - it’s always talking about Jesus with one exception -
When the angel of the Lord referred to Joseph as the “Son of David” in Matt 1:20
“Son of Abraham” - surprisingly found only once in Matthew - twice in Luke
Genealogy
Genealogy
If you remember, last week we looked at the genealogy of Jesus –
We found out: There are five women in the list
There are gentiles, including Ruth the Moabite. And a woman who pretended to be a prostitute – and a woman who was a prostitute
All four Gospels show large portions to the last week of Jesus' life before he died on the cross and rose from the grave The last eight chapters of Matthew do this
Very little is written about Jesus as a young child - but today we’re going to look at the world’s reaction to King Baby Jesus
The birth of Jesus -
The birth of the Son of God -
Brought tremendous drama to the region
Apparently, the devil was not happy that God sent his Son to save the world from their sins
Let's go back to Chapter One of Matthew If you remember: verse 23 is the theme of chapter one: and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)
This is a major theme of the Bible – that Jesus came to Earth.
Matt 1:21 is the purpose of chapter one – you might say the overall theme of the entire Bible and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from...What? from their sins
God loves us - he loved us from the beginning
God dwelt among us – he walked the Earth and now dwells in our hearts
And Jesus saves people from their sins This is what we know from reading Matthew This is what we will learn as we study this book:
That Jesus is the supreme teacher For whose teachings, his disciples made more disciples
Jesus is the rightful ruler of Israel, God's Son, the Messiah Who will return to judge the world
Jesus calls us to radical discipleship He demands us to be obedient
Jesus is ultimately shown to be:
King, Messiah, Son of Man, Son of God, Rightful Lord of Israel, The final Judge, the true Revelation of the Father
He was meek, lowly, and compassionate He taught us how to love because he is love
He walked among his disciples, healed the sick, and died for the people
He became sin when he was lifted up in the air
And finally, he summed up his entire ministry by telling us: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Main Message
Main Message
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.”
Herod was an agent of the devil - the devil thought he could kill baby Jesus through him
Continuing on with verse 3...
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.
Herod The Great probably died in 4 B.C. That means that Jesus may have been born around 5 B.C.
The wise men, or Magi were priests, or court advisers And other than what's written in the book of Matthew – and some other historical books, we don't know very much about them
We generally think of Christmas when we think of the wise men
But it’s more likely that Jesus was not a newborn baby - the wise men did not visit the baby Jesus in the manger
For one, verse 11 says they went into the “house”
We just don’t know how old Jesus was - only that he was a small child
We don’t even know if there were three wise men - the Bible doesn’t say three - it just says “wise men from the east”
It is thought that they were experts in astronomy and astrology
They were not Jews. In Matthew, they are the first ones to come seek Jesus and to worship him
Notice in verse 2, they refer to the star as “his star” That means it would have had special meaning to them, as they were experts in the stars
My only explanation is that the Holy Spirit opened their hearts to that star – and to them, that star became “his star”
It could have been a star, or a planet, or supernova – or something
But it pointed them to Christ
What pointed you to Christ?
When did you first hear the Gospel preached?
And let me ask you this – Are you pointing others to Christ? Are you a shining star to others?
Does your life point to Jesus? Does your life lead others to him?
Do you live a life that points others to Jesus?
Are you “his star” that shines on this Earth?
The Holy Spirit guided the Magi, but he specifically used the star to direct them to Jesus
The Lord wants to specifically use you to illuminate the way to Jesus
I hope you pray that the Lord will use you to direct others to Christ -
that we may be bright, shining stars in this dark world!
Herod had actually been appointed as the so-called “King of Jews” by Julius Caesar
That's how he got the job –
It was a political assignment
he was corrupt
Rome normally would not allow its people to worship another God and ignore Caesar as god
But Rome put up with the Jews because there were so many of them
Caesar felt he could keep a close eye on the Jews through corrupt Herod
Notice it says in verse 3, that Herod was troubled – he was troubled because of his paranoia and his jealousy
He felt threatened because he thought Jesus was going to be a political king and take over the territory
No, Jesus came to be king of your heart – and take over the territory of your soul
And when he returns, he will establish his perfect kingdom here on Earth
But today, he wants to be king of your heart - and make you shine and lead others to him
Notice in verse three it says, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him...”
Why would all Jerusalem also be troubled?
The Greek language is very strong suggesting they were “troubled” - some Bibles say “disturbed”
It means to be greatly distressed - greatly troubled, or worried - greatly stressed-out
Word had apparently got out that Jesus was born
You need to remember that in First Century Judea, Rome was ultimately in charge - but Rome also wanted to keep the peace with the Jews
The Jews were allowed to go around and say that Yahweh was Lord, and not Caesar -
as long as they kept their peace under the Roman-appointed “king of the Jews,” Herod
They were allowed to keep Judaism as their religion -
as there was mostly tolerance between Rome and the Jews
So, if the people thought there was a new king coming -
on one level, there might a threat that he could take over and mess things up -
because they generally had a good thing going
Here is what I’d ask the unbeliever:
Do you react to Jesus like Jerusalem did back then?
Do you have a “good thing” going in your life? Do you see Jesus as a “threat” in one sense?
Do you think that Jesus is going to mess things up for you? That if you acknowledge who Jesus is - that he’s real - that he’ll ruin a good thing going?
Do you not want to repent of the very lifestyle you enjoy? Because maybe you think Jesus came to take away the fun things in your life?
Jesus said he came to give you life - and give it more abundantly
What Jesus offers you is far greater than anything you’ll give up
In verse 4 Herod calls a meeting of the chief priests & scribes - and says, “Where in the Bible does it say Jesus will be born?”
And they respond, “Bethlehem of Judea”
The wise men and Herod essentially asked the same thing - “Where was Jesus born?”
The wise men were asking that - Herod was asking that
But Herod was scheming to kill Jesus - the wise men wanted to be in his presence and worship him
I do think it’s a little strange that the supposed “king of the Jews” did not know the words of Micah - quoted in verse 6:
“ ‘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.’ ”
Herod didn’t know this for some reason - he had to ask the chief priests and the scribes. Like saying, “Hey Siri, where was Jesus born?”
Verse 8
Matt 2:8
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.”
Anyone happen to know the distance between Jerusalem & Bethlehem?
About 6 miles
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.
Let me say this – you need to bring your gifts to Jesus
You need to bring him the spiritual gifts you have
In other words, you need to serve the Lord with the gifts and talents he’s given you.
What are your talents? What is your passion? Those special talents and skills you have – you're made to serve the Lord with them
As soon as the wise men left where Jesus was - look what comes next in verse 13:
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
If Jesus wasn’t the true Son of God, then why all the drama?
Why would Herod take such drastic steps to kill a baby?
He killed lots of babies in an effort to kill the Baby Jesus
Herod knew just enough Scripture to expect the coming Messiah
So basically, Herod wants to kill Jesus - and the Lord speaks to Joseph in a dream
Notice what the Lord tells him to do - to get his family out of there - to pack their bags and go on a long trip to Egypt
I point this out because I’ve encountered other Christians who try to convince other believers that in order to overcome a challenge - we need to just have faith and the Lord will protect you
In other words, if you do something practical, like escape to Egypt -
it’s probably because you lack faith
If you’re sick and go to the doctor, it’s because you don’t have enough faith
The idea is that if you have enough faith, the solution is the same for everybody
Just pray about it,
and with enough faith, the Lord will deliver you
while you do nothing
If you have enough faith, a miracle will happen and you don’t need to do anything
Look what the angel told Joseph!
Pack your bags, and get out of there!
The angel didn’t say, “Just stay where you are, and God will miraculously protect you”
He could have - but he didn’t
There is no single way to face your problems, in the name of having enough faith
To have faith means we’re obedient to the Lord - not that we adhere to some formula
Sometimes the Lord will clearly tell you to avoid the potholes of your life - sometimes he’ll tell you to stay in your lane
Sometimes you just need to go to the doctor - sometimes, he’ll heal you right off
Sometimes you need to go to the doctor - and then the Lord will heal you completely - so you can testify to the doctor!
Don’t let anyone dictate to you what the Lord is telling you - the Bible is full of practical solutions, as well as miracle solutions
Pray hard - and be clear what the Lord is really telling you
We read in the rest of Chapter Two:
Herod becomes furious when he realizes he was tricked by the wise men
So he kills all the children in the Bethlehem area who are under two years of age
And this becomes a sad fulfillment of prophecy from Jeremiah
Then, Herod dies - and again, an angel comes to Joseph and tells him to return to Israel, because there’s no more threat to kill Jesus
But then, Joseph learns that Herod’s son is reigning in Judea and he was rightly afraid to go there
Again, this was not lacking faith - the Lord warned him in a dream to not enter Judea
So, he settled in the district of Galilee - where they found their permanent home in Nazareth
Joseph had plenty of faith - everything he did was directed by the Lord - and everything he did fulfilled prophesy
Have you ever met someone who was all about drama…?
Everything about them is drama and turmoil. They can walk into a room – and the room itself would suddenly be full of turmoil...
What is it about them that makes them like that?
It's because they make everything about themselves – based on their insecurities
Notice all the drama surrounding the birth of Jesus just in chapter 2 of Matthew
Herod becomes troubled when he hears about Jesus -
because he was thinking about himself
And the entire city of Jerusalem becomes troubled -
because they thought of themselves
Then Herod tries to trick the wise men
And when he realizes that he was tricked, he killed all male children under the age of two
And then, all of the moving Joseph needed to do with his family
By now, you know about Jesus - I pray that you know he’s real
How do you respond to drama and turmoil in your life?
There is great wisdom in the wise men - there are three things we can learn from them:
Seek Jesus & seek his presence
Listen to the Lord - and stop at nothing to seek him
Worship Jesus and serve him
People can choose to ignore Jesus - but they can never forget him
One of my favorite verses in the Bible - at the beginning of Joshua
God tells Joshua, “Moses, my servant is dead”
Same thing in Job:
“Have you considered my servant, Job”
My life’s goal is for God to call me his servant
My greatest identity
How do you want God to remember you?
(Pray…)