People and Their Responses
Notes
Transcript
Do you ever walk through the grocery store and just look at people. Not in a creepy way. But, people-watch. It’s fascinating. Until you realize that only about 25% of the people you see in the grocery store have placed there faith in Jesus Christ. And that people-watching becomes really sad.
There are many people who might say that they know God. But, even the demons know there is a God, and they tremble.
There is many people who might say that they follow Jesus, but their faith is in their works and not in him. And Jesus will say to the: depart from me, I never knew you.
Jesus. His life. His ministry. His sacrifice demands a response. Matthew writes about the responses to Jesus right after his birth.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
The King is born. But how will people respond to him? We see three responses to this young child, the Messiah not yet grown. We see the Magi who worshiped him, Herod who tried to kill him, and Joseph who cherished him.
Before we dive in, will you pray with me?
1. Worship Him
1. Worship Him
There are three responses to Jesus. The first is to worship him.
Matthew tells us about the Magi.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Who were the Magi?
There were a class of priests and court advisors among the Medes and Persians known as the Magoi. These are well documented in Greek histories.
These men’s basically sole job was to study ancient and sacred texts, and watch for the movements of planets and stars, which might point to divine messages.
It is guessed, especially among some Jewish authors, that they collected prophecies from around the world, including the prophecies of Balaam.
“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of all the people of Sheth.
Possibly, when Daniel was a wise man in the Persian empire, he was part of this group. And, it can be inferred that they learned Messianic prophecies from him.
Since the fall of the Persian empire, the Magi were scattered throughout the east, but they were not under the control of Rome. Their land that they lived in had no king at this time. They were watching the stars and saw a star which signified royal birth. The Messianic prophecies, mixed with their astrology, pointed to one thing: a star and a scepter rising out of Israel.
The time had come.
So what do they do?
Remember, these men were not Jews. They were not followers of the one true God. They were pagans. They worshiped other gods. But, this star was unique and what this star symbolized made them pack up their bags, leave their family, leave their homes, leave their riches, and travel months to find this king who was born in Israel.
They first go to Jerusalem, because that would be where a king would be born. However, it wasn’t actually. The chief priest told Herod and Herod told the Magi that it was prophesied in Scripture that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
That’s a quote of Micah 5.
So, they go to Bethlehem. And what do they do in Bethlehem?
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
They worship Jesus and give him gifts fitting for a king. These are men who raised up kings in other countries. They caused the fall of other kings. They were powerful men and they didn’t make decisions lightly.
But, they gather around the cradle of Jesus and worship him, because they knew the truth.
What do we do with Jesus?
We cannot just say: Oh, that’s nice. I’m glad to hear about him, but I’ll just keep doing my thing over here.
We have to give a response to him. Are we going to worship him, or not. There’s only two options. We worship him or we don’t.
These pagan magi left everything so that they could worship Jesus. That term worship is used for God. They were not just acknowledging him as king but declaring that he was divine.
What are we going to do with him? Are we going to join the Magi and make the Jesus to worship Jesus for who he is?
That means leaving our other faiths or beliefs behind. It means acknowledging that we are sinners needing a savior. It means leaning only on Jesus to save us.
Have you done this? Have you cried out to Jesus as King, as God, as Savior, and said I am a sinner. Save me!
The first response is to worship him.
2. Murder Him
2. Murder Him
The second response is to murder him.
King Herod had told the Magi:
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
But, we know that he was lying. It’s a surprise for those who first hear the story of Jesus, but it isn’t a surprise for those of us who have grown up with the story.
Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus. He wanted to kill him.
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
This isn’t something new for him.
Herod’s young brother-in-law became too popular and so he had a drowning accident in a rather shallow pool. Later, Herod had falsely suspected officials cudgeled to death. He thought that two of his sons were plotting against him, so he had them strangled. When Herod was on his deathbed, he ordered another son of his executed.
He had his favorite wife strangled. Religious leaders he had burned alive. When he was dying, he ordered nobles across the land executed so that people would be in mourning on the day of his death.
It is said, “Better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”
So, it makes sense that he would send a group of soldiers to kill no more than 20 kids two years and younger. Logical for him. Still a tragedy. I can’t imagine what the mothers went through.
Just because he didn’t want Jesus to be king.
It’s amazing what we will do to not have Jesus be king in our life. To not worship him.
There are some people who hear about Jesus and they do not want him to be king. Because they know, in order to follow Jesus, they have to stop being in control. They have to step off of the throne and allow Jesus to sit down.
And that is hard. And they don’t want to give it up.
They hear about Jesus and he sounds so good. Free salvation. Free peace. Free joy. A Relationship with our creator that we were made to have. Complete fulfillment.
But, that means admitting that I was wrong about what I believed. And I have to much pride to admit that I was wrong.
They hear about Jesus and the blessings that come to those who follow him. And there is a yearning to turn to him. But, that means turning from the sins that we so enjoy and we are not willing to leave those behind.
And so, instead of bowing down to worship Jesus, we bow down to stab him. And in the process of making sure that Jesus will never be king in our life, we hurt people around us.
Jesus is the prince of peace, so if we remove ourselves from that peace, we get chaos.
Jesus is the comforter, God with us, so if we remove ourselves from that comfort, we get turmoil.
Jesus is the giver of joy, so if we remove ourselves from that joy, we get depression, heartache.
And we spread it to those around us.
Just as Herod murdered those little baby boys.
Some people turn to Jesus in faith.
Some people refuse to turn to him.
3. Cherish Him
3. Cherish Him
The third response is to cherish him.
The magi worshiped Jesus and then they went back home. We have no idea if their lives were changed. I like to think that they were. It’s interesting that the Apostle Thomas took the message of Jesus east, all the way to India. Perhaps the fields were already ready because of the teaching of the Magi. Speculation.
We don’t know anything about the Magi after this story.
But, the story isn’t just about the Magi and King Herod. The story is about Joseph.
After the Magi worship Jesus and before Herod sends his murdering minions,
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
And then later,
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Joseph cherished his son. He knew that Jesus was the Messiah and he was going to follow the call of God to protect this baby.
Now, I will be the first to say that we are not to have child-centered homes. We are not to make the needs of our child central and completely go through upheavals for the sake of our kids. We are to teach them humility, obedience, and sacrifice. Along with good priorities, etc. All the things that a child-centered home doesn’t teach.
That is not what is happening here. What is happening, as Joseph is charged with protecting and raising the king of kings and lord of lords, he allows his entire life to be changed by Jesus, to be defined by following him. Even to the point of moving to a place that was looked down by everyone who was a good Jew. Nazareth. Can you imagine what people around him were saying?
Jesus came to earth for the purpose of dying for those who are sinners, to take their punishment on himself, offering forgiveness free of charge, offering a personal relationship with him that is beyond imagination. It is so good.
Having received this gift, shouldn’t we cherish it? Shouldn’t we cherish him?
But, too often, those who put their faith in Jesus don’t want to change their life. They want Jesus and the gods of the world.
When it comes to kids in sports or worshiping Jesus with his family, too often people choose sports. When it comes to worshiping Jesus or making someone happy or getting a project done, too often people choose the friend, the family member, the project over Jesus.
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
What does it mean to cherish Jesus?
There has been an effort to light up the nativity at the courthouse. Someone from the community actually hooked their own generator up to it so that it would light up. Which is great. The nativity needs to shine.
How many of us don’t allow the nativity to light up in our lives? People drive by our house and we are mowing on a Sunday morning. A fundraiser or benefit occurs and we go to it rather worship Jesus.
We are in a conversation with a friend and we have the opportunity to tell of our joy in Jesus and we don’t because we are afraid of what it will do for our relationship.
We use certain language, we tell certain jokes. I’m not talking about legalism. I’m talking about cherishing.
We love all these other things more than him.
He gave up everything for us, to the point of leaving the riches and perfection of heaven to come and live amongst of sin and our filth, to ultimately die for us.
Are we willing to give up everything for him?
How are we willing to have our lives radically changed, to the point of making those around us grumble because our faith is too much for them, as we cherish our savior?
How are you going to respond to Jesus?
