How Will You Respond To Jesus?
Journey to the manger • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Number 78 in the hymnal in the pew is the well known and loved Christmas Hymn, “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.” It goes like this:
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold Him, born the King of angels!
Then the refrain:
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
Oh come, let us adore Him.
What does it mean to “adore” It’s not about saying someone is adorable - cute. Simply put, to adore someone is to have “very strong love or worship for someone.” (Cambridge Dictionary)
The Hymn calls us to worship the newborn King. Why? The gospel of Matthew has the answer:
Series intro
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.
This account of the wise men demonstrates two and a half wildly different responses to Jesus. The passage shows us that
We are called to worship King Jesus.
How we respond to the King of Kings matters. Matthew’s gospel is directed primarily to a Jewish audience. One that should be aware of their Old Testament and how it strongly pointed to the coming Messiah. Matthew says “hey, this Jesus? Yeah, He’s the One who fulfills all of the prophecy of the OT! He is Messiah.”
Messiah is someone who is appointed by God for special service. The Messiah has been spoken about since the beginning: the one who would crush Satan, reverse the curse of the garden of Eden, and pay the price for our sin so that we might be right with God. Throughout the OT we have prophecy about this coming Messiah. But prophecy in the OT isn’t just about the future, but also about ethical reform (Cornerstone). Matthew shows Jesus as the One to fulfill the prophecy in the OT, bringing justice and righteousness and peace as we saw last week, and also fulfilling direct OT prophecy about the Messiah. It is this One that Matthew demonstrates to be Jesus, and how we respond to this fact has eternal significance.
Today we are going to explore two totally opposite reactions to Jesus: those who believe and worship Him, and those who are filled with unbelief. Matthew presents Jesus as fulfilling OT prophecy: there is One to come - a shepherd of God’s people (imagery typical of the Israelite kingly concept). We are shown in many ways - Scripture, the star, the wise men’s response, Herod and the Jew response, that this is indeed the Messiah - our Salvation and the true King. The call this text presents is to humble ourselves and worship.
Unbelief 1-8
Unbelief 1-8
Matthew starts his gospel by demonstrating Jesus as the One promised to sit on David’s throne forever. This is the throne of Israel. So Matthew starts with a genealogy: Abraham to David, David to the Exile, the Exile to Jesus. Jesus is from the kingly line. Then we get the account - albeit briefer than in Luke - of Jesus’ birth. Specifically, how God intervenes to tell Joseph “This baby is from God! Mary hasn’t done anything wrong, but this is the One to come!” Then Matthew shows us the first OT Messianic prophecy: Isa 7 14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
So we get to chapter 2. Matthew 2:1-12 is perhaps one of the most well known passages in the Bible. But, somewhere along the way we got the timing a bit wrong. Jesus is already born at this point, and sometime later (Matthew doesn’t say specifically when) wise men from the east make their way to Jerusalem seeking the find the newborn king. A quick comparison with verses 7 and 16 shows that probably one-two years had passed.
Again, do you see how right from the start we are set up to understand Jesus as the promised King to come, the Messiah? Not only does God orchestrate Jesus’ birth, but tells about it through creation to wise men, all the while revealing this in prophecy of old.
Let’s stop here: How did the wise men know? Apparently there was a star that rose in the east, prompting these prominent men most likely from Persia (NAC) to realize that a new king had been born. The way the text is worded, we clearly see that this one they are looking for had legitimate claim to Israel’s throne. Unlike another person in this story: King Herod.
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
Why was Herod troubled? Herod was an imposter. Half Jew, half Idumaean (or from the Edomites), Herod schmoozed his way into Rome’s good graces and the kingship. Herod the Great was paranoid especially as he got older of those who might try take over his throne. He was troubled because he saw threat to his own rule (Cornerstone). So when the wise men show up looking for the real king of the Jews, you can imagine Herod wasn’t pleased.
Herod demonstrated his lack of knowledge of Scripture by having to ask the Scribes and Priests where the Christ was to be born. His quick response also shows Herod’s feeling threatened. They answer him:
Matthew 2 5-6 using a combination of two OT passages
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.’ ”
Matthew combines two OT passages in citing this answer:
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.
This is a direct prophecy about the Messiah to come, but with differences. Matthew changes the wording a bit: Bethlehem may be considered small, but God would do something in this tiny city that would be exponentially great. But we also see here the inclusion of Israel’s concept of a king from:
In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’ ”
This was spoken to David when he was asked to be king. Keep in mind that Jesus is the promised one from the line of David - the royal line. And the concept in Israel was that kings in part shepherded their people. This meant guidance, pastoral care and compassion (NAC). So this is the One who was prophesied, the One who the wise men spoke of.
But what is Herod’s response?
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.”
Why would Herod summon them secretly to get this information? He says it is so he too can go worship. In fact, the rest of chapter 2 shows this couldn’t be further from the truth. Herod’s original intent was probably to kill just Jesus - this “threat” to his power. But later, as the wise men evade Herod, he becomes enraged and commits the heinous act of slaughtering all the boys two years and under. I think this hit home for me in a new way when I had my own kids, and realized that both my sons would have been directly in the path of Herod’s hideous wrath.
Did you notice in this passage the response of Herod, and the Jews? Herod is intimidated. His power is challenged. He is warped with a sense of greed for power. Much like the priests and scribes who want to kill Jesus down the road because He was a threat to them, so Herod now responds to the Saviour as a warped, frustrated man filled with pride and hate.
Meanwhile, the Jewish religious leaders aren’t exactly rushing to go worship the promised King either. In Acts 7 53 Stephen calls the religious leaders:
you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
These are the men who have the law, knowing it forwards and backwards, should be jumping up and down going “he’s here, he’s here!!” Or if nothing else, should at least express curiosity and hope. But instead there is an indifference. Moreover, it seems that they were disturbed along with Herod. Why, we don’t know; maybe because of fear of Herod who had appointed many of them (Cornerstone, NAC). Nevertheless, the arrival of the Messiah - the long awaited Christ is met with stark unbelief and indifference.
But we are called to worship King Jesus.
It matters how we respond to Jesus. Herod and the Jews responded to Jesus with unbelief and hardness of heart. Instead of the rejoicing and worship that later characterizes the wise men, we find Christ’s own country-men totally unbelieving.
But before we judge them too harshly, should we not also examine ourselves? What is our response to Jesus? Is it one of unbelief, or belief and worship? Certainly every person who has a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Saviour has responded with belief. Yet even then, do we allow our hearts to become hard, or indifferent?
Belief and Worship 9-12
Belief and Worship 9-12
The second heart posture demonstrated in this passage is one of joyful belief.
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.
Notice the difference between the Magi, and Herod and the Jews: While Herod schemes to undo his perceived threat, and the Jews seem to more scared of Herod than God, the wise men rejoice over having finally found the place where the One born Messiah was. Finally the quest was complete. Finally they had found the One long-awaited by the Jews.
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.
Lest we think their joy is a simple matter of coming to the end of the journey, the wise men demonstrate their fear of God by worshipping the child Jesus.
Their gifts befit a king. Gold is an appropriate gift for a king, then and now. Frankincense and Myrrh - both fragrant and costly perfumes - also befit royalty. These wise men came prepared, ready to honour the True King. Frankincense also denotes His role as our High Priest, because one of the main ingredients of the temple incense is frankincense. Myrrh points to His death, this was a spice used to prepare those who have died. These gifts pointed to 3 pivotal roles of Christ - King, Priest, Sacrifice.
Something significant about this is that these wise men were not Jewish. Most likely they were Persian. So while the Jews couldn’t see fit to see the One who was finally come, a bunch of foreign star-watching wise men figured it out.
This is significant because it shows us God’s plan to reach the whole world. Jesus is for all, not just for one people or group. This also shows us why our response to King Jesus matters. They were given the privilege of being some of the first to see Jesus after he was born. No doubt others saw Christ before them, but it is they who go down in Scripture as examples of proper adoration of Christ. Moreover, they serve in Matthew’s gospel to further show us that Jesus really is who He claimed to be: the Messiah - the One born to die for us, and then rule and reign forever.
At the very end of our passage, we read this:
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
The wise men left Jerusalem unaware of Herod’s scheme to kill the Christ child. Yet once again - as we see a few times in the first two chapters of Matthew - God steps in. He warns them of Herod’s plan, and their need to avoid aiding him.
We are called to worship King Jesus.
Do we respond with this sort of rejoicing and worship to Jesus? We should! Responding in this way is indicative of a heart that wants to receive Jesus as personal Lord and Saviour. In fact, it is choosing to walk in obedience to Jesus by acknowledging His Lordship and worshipping Him.
I read something the other day from another pastor that struck me:
We ARE to worship God with our heart and soul (that’s the emotional side of us) and mind. HOWEVER, it is only measured to be TRUE love if it is linked to obedience!
God measures our love for Him by our obedience
If we choose to respond to Jesus with rejoicing, with worship, our hearts are in the right place to receive Him as our Lord, and find salvation in Him. Yet belief is not simply lip service, but obedience. The wise men were obedient, seeing the star, realizing it’s significance, and coming to pay homage to the King. They were obedient to God’s prompting to return by another route. They obeyed God over King Herod.
Choosing to respond with belief and obedience is key to accepting Jesus. It has eternal significance. Those who do not welcome Christ as Lord will eventually find themselves truly hopeless. But everyone who chooses to respond to Jesus in worship and faith will find themselves rejoicing over the hope of the world, as the wise men did.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We are called to worship King Jesus.
How we respond to Jesus doesn’t change who Jesus is, but it does have eternal significance for us.
We can respond with unbelief. Herod responded that way. The Jews as well seem to respond with an unbelief that results in indifference. Herod’s unbelief and pride lead him down a path of devising mass murder of innocent children. Did His actions change who Jesus is? Not at all, but it certainly afforded Herod an unfavourable place in both history and eternity.
Or we can choose to respond in belief and faith as the wise men did. We can worship and adore the Saviour. The wise men show us hearts that are open. They are ready to receive this One who came to earth for us. They recognized with clarity His Kingship over Israel, and over the world.
This passage lays before us a choice. We can choose to be hard-hearted and intimidated (Herod), indifferent and hard-hearted (Jews), or rejoicing and worshipping (Magi). Our response makes a difference for eternity. If you choose to respond in unbelief, it doesn’t change who Jesus is. He’s still the Messiah - the King who was prophesied to come. He’s still God the Son, and He still died to set free any and all who come to Him in faith. One’s unbelief will not change these facts. But, one’s unbelief leads down a path of disobedience, and to an eternity in hell, separated from God’s goodness and tormented.
Responding in faith and worship puts on us a path of hope and new life. Choosing to trust Jesus doesn’t guarantee a trouble-free life here. Jesus-followers still suffer, sometimes even more for their faith. But in that we have God’s help to overcome. We see God do miraculous things and ultimately, we are reminded that this will not last forever. Our hope becomes secured with the One who bought us back from sin and death. So we have sure hope of eternity with Christ, which will be perfect.
If we choose to respond to Jesus with rejoicing, with worship, our hearts are in the right place to receive Him as our Lord, and find salvation in Him. We become examples to those around us, pointing the way to the Messiah. Our obedience to the king becomes our worship. So, are our hearts obedient to God?
O come all ye faithful calls us to adore Christ, the Lord. That’s our goal.
Will you worship Jesus, the King?
