20241208 Matthew 2 - The Worship of the King
Christmas 2024 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Vertical Church
Acts 2:42 (LSB)
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
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Call to Worship - Philippians 2:5-8
5 Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Scripture Reading - Matthew 2
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Leader Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and carefully determined from them the time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” 9 Now after hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, was going on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And after coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their own country by another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and departed for Egypt. 15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” 16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she was refusing to be comforted, Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
The Worship of the King Matthew 2
It is not just the death of Christ that saves us, it is the life of Christ that saves us.
Matthew presents the Messiah King who is revealed, the King who is rejected, and the King who will return
(1) The Worshipers of the King
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.
The Magi - wise men, sorcerers, astrologers, astronomers, interpreters of dreams
600 BC the monotheistic religion of Zoroastrianism became the official religion of Persia under Darius, with the worship of the god Azura Mazda and which taught that there was a cosmic and eternal fight between good and evil
Referred to as Parthians in Acts 2:9, the aposteles encountered Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:9 .
Most relevant was that the magi were king makers -
Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) (Magi from the East)
Historians tell us that no Persian was ever able to become king without mastering the scientific and religious disciplines of the magi and then being approved and crowned by them, and that this group also largely controlled judicial appointments (cf. Esther 1:13). Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, chief of the Babylonian magi, was with Nebuchadnezzar when he attacked and conquered Judah (Jer. 39:3).
3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
The glory of the Lord
Notice the elements of their worship - they sought the true King. There was a a cost, there was an intentional effort. They obeyed the word of God.
(2) The Enemies of the King
Herod was a ruler established by the Romans . He was not the true King of Israel but a wicked and ruthless dictator
The enemy describes the King
4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born.
The enemy knows about the King
5 And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
The enemy pretends to worship the King
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”
The enemy wants to destroy the King
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
The enemy hates the King
16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi.
The description of pure evil
(3) The Prophecies of the King
The magi recognized Jesus as the promised King
Herod recognized Jesus as the true King
The third evidence of Christ’s kingship given in chapter 2 is presented through four fulfilled messianic prophecies.
Some three hundred thirty Old Testament predictions concern Jesus Christ.
In chapter 2 Matthew points out four of those prophecies that were fulfilled during Jesus’ infancy.
There is no reasonable possibility that even those four—much less all three hundred thirty—could have been fulfilled accidentally in the life of a single individual.
That fact in itself is overwhelming evidence of God’s sovereign control of history and of the utter reliability of His Word.
Matthew uses the four prophecies as a literary framework around which he presents the events recorded in this chapter. Each of the predictions is directly related to a geographical location closely related to Jesus’ birth and early childhood. The four locations are Bethlehem, Egypt, Ramah, and Nazareth.
5 And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from everlasting, From the ancient days.”
42 “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.
17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
15 Thus says Yahweh, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Wailing and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children Because they are no more.”
23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Two implications:
How obscure are these verses?
The reliability of Scripture
The clarity of Scripture
The necessity of the Holy Spirit
There are those today who still refuse to admit that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies
Some are hostile
Some are indifferent
Some worship and adore Him
More than a baby, more than a Savior, Jesus must be King
Benediction
17 Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
