The King of Kings

December 29th2024

Series:Christmas Past, Present, and Future

Sermon Title:The King of Kings

Topic:Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in New Testament texts and applied to Now Testament living

Key Passages: Matthew 2: 1-15, Hosea 11:1

Sermon Blurb: In this message, we will examine what we can learn from Jesus's birth story and His Reign over all.

Sermon

Hello Family Church!!!

Family Moment

Thank you so much for tuning in to this special online service!

As we have said for YEARS here at Family church…

We like to give you some margin back in already overloaded times of the year.

And doing one online service around Christmas every year is one way we do that.

PAUSE

I hope you had a VERY merry Christmas and that you have a FUN New Year!!!!

As the Christmas season is coming to an end… I’ll take this final opportunity to share a Christmas joke.

This one is called Christmas Shopping:

One Christmas a judge had to rule in a case but luckily he was in a merry mood.

He asked the prisoner, “What are you charged with?”

“Doing my Christmas shopping early,” replied the defendant.

“That’s no offense,” said the judge.

“How early were you doing this shopping?”

“Before the store opened, he replied.”

LOL

Okay, I won’t quite my day-job!

PAUSE

Today… we are going to wrap up our Christmas series that we’ve called “Christmas: Past, Present, and Future.”

Christmas Past considers what Jesus’ birth meant beforethe moment Jesus came to earth.

Christmas Present looks at what Jesus’ arrival meant to people living duringthat time… during the “present” time that the authors are writing about.

And Christmas Future deals with how it all impacts the future generations, including us today.

PAUSE

We’re learning from the birth story of Jesus… as told by two people in the Bible named Matthew and Luke.

We have focused on specific Old Testament prophecies that these authors reference in their writings.

PAUSE

So…let’s jump in…

Grab your Bible… open to the Book of

Matthew 2

New Person Bible Connection:

If you do not have a Bible, that is ok!

After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Just go to ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE and get one for FREE!!

PAUSE

Matthew 2 begins this way…

Matthew 2: 1-2, 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,

2 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.”

Pause there.

Notice with me what these Wise Men said about Jesus.

They said, “He was born a king.”

Stop and think about that.

In ancient times, the only way to be a king was if your dad was the current king.

OR

If you took over the throne by force.

But…

Jesus’ earthly father was NOT a king... he was a carpenter.

AND…

At this point in his young life, Jesus is not even capable of overthrowing a king.

So, how are these men calling little Jesus a king?

What did they know that others did not?

How did they know Jesus was a king, but other people were completely unaware?

PAUSE

The answer is through prophecy.

Through ancient prophecy given BY God to foretell of this moment.

And that’s what we’ve been studying in this series.

The various prophecies that Matthew and Luke reference in their writings about Jesus’ birth story.

PAUSE

These wise men were scholars… and apparently, they had Jewish literature or Old Testament scrolls.

They knew what the prophets foretold about a Messiah… a future Savior, who would one day come and deliver people from bondage.

You see, this wasn’t hidden information.

It wasn’t encrypted code that only certain smart people could access.

God’s promise for Jesus to come, was visible to anyone who was seeking.

We don’t even know if these Wise Men were believers in what the Jewish prophecies stated…

We just know they were seeking Jesus out.

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading… verse 3

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;

4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

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.’”

Pause there.

Verse 6 is the first reference to an Old Testament prophecy in this part of the passage.

But I want to reiterate that God’s promises were NOT secret or undisclosed.

Anyone who could read could read the prophecies about Jesus.

The issue was not, IF Jesus was going to come.

The issue was HOW people would respond WHEN he came.

And that is still an issue for the human heart today.

The question is not IF Jesus is real or IF Jesus died for our sins…

The question is HOW will I respond to the FACT that HE DID come and die for our sins….

PAUSE

The Wise Men responded with… worship.

They brought Jesus meaningful gifts.

King Herod responded with resistance, jealousy, and rage.

The religious leaders…

The ones who knew more about God’s promises than anyone else on earth.

The people who should have been elated and welcomed Jesus with open arms.

They responded to Jesus with hatred and disdain.

PAUSE

How about you?

How do you respond to Jesus?

How do you respond to this Christmas King?

Is He the Ruler of your life?

Do you worship Him as God?

Do you offer Him your very best gifts… your time, talents, and treasures?

OR…

Do you show contempt for Jesus?

Do you ignore Him?

Do you resist His influence?

Do you think religion is a joke or hoax?

Do you disregard Jesus as “mom and dad’s religion”?

Or maybe you show disdain for God and think He is a threat to your lifestyle?

Do you only call on God when you want something, or when life gets really difficult?

How do you respond to Jesus?

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading… verse 7

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

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.”

Herod was NOT interested in worshiping Jesus…

He wasn’t even curious about Jesus.

Herod only cared about one thing… his throne, his power.

A new king was nothing but a threat.

So, Herod tried to manipulate the wise men to disclose Jesus’ location… so he could take Jesus out and eliminate the threat.

PAUSE

Verse 9…

9 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.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

11 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.

Pause there.

Remember… God’s promise for a Savior was visible to anyone who was seeking.

The Jews had been waiting on the Messiah for hundreds of years!

These Magi… were following ancient scrolls and looking to the skies and the stars to guide them.

These scholars were also astrologers.

They studied the texts, but they also studied the sky…

And tonight’s forecast: God’s Son with a downpour of rejoicing!

It was going to be a Bright and SON-ny Day…

SON-ny.

Get it? “Sonny”…

God’s Son, Jesus…

LOL – another bad joke, I know.

PAUSE

But notice what happens.

They follow God’s star.

The star leads them to Jesus… and they rejoice.

And when they see Jesus… they worship Him.

Grown men fall down to worship Jesus.

Wise, affluent scholars fall flat on their faces to worship Jesus.

PAUSE

And what happens next?

It says they offer Jesus gifts.

And not just any gifts…

3 very-specific, very thought-out gifts.

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

PAUSE

It was not uncommon for visitors to bring gifts to royalty.

In fact, it would have been odd for these dignitaries from the East to not present King Herod with gifts…

…it was customary, normal, expected.

BUT… to offer a no-name, no-throne, no-kingdom, nobody child gifts… and these types of gifts…

…that would have been completely out of the norm.

It’s worth a deeper investigation.

PAUSE

Gold would have been a gift for a King.

…gold was commonly associated with royalty.

Frankincense was an oil that came from that part of the world…and it was used within religious ceremonies.

It would have been a sign of Jesus’ priesthood.

Myrrh was a spice used to embalm dead corpses.

Thus, signifying Jesus’ future death and burial.

PAUSE

Again… these are NOT last-second gift ideas.

These gifts were specific.

…Intentional.

…Defining.

Gifts appropriate for a unique type of king.

PAUSE

So, after they spend time with Jesus… verse 12

12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

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.”

14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt

15 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.”

Stop there.

Did you catch it?

Did you see the prophecy mentioned in verse 15?

Another quoted prophecy within Jesus’ birth story.

“Out of Egypt, I called my son”.

PAUSE

This is a reference to Hosea 11:1, which says,

Hosea 11:1, When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Another direct quote is the biblical prophecy that Jesus fulfilled.

This passage invites us to a deeper dive into biblical prophecy.

PAUSE

Now, hang with me for a moment…

Put your deep thinker hat on…

There is an important nuance of biblical prophecy.

Sometimes, prophecy helps us understand how a historical happening with Israel… can be fulfilled with Jesus.

PAUSE

You see, often, we think of Bible prophecy as the prediction of an event and then that event taking place…

…and that certainly is the case in many instances of Bible prophecy.

BUT there is another aspect of prophecy.

PAUSE

New Testament writers, like Matthew for example… show that an Old Testament prophecy can sometimes be an event that prefigures something similar.

This is a foreshadowing of something similar that will happen.

And… the future event may be even more significant than the historic event.

PAUSE

Are you still with me? smile

SO…. in this case…

Matthew, who is quoting the prophet Hosea is suggesting that the Exodus from Egypt…

When God freed His people from slavery and oppression…

That event is pointing to a later event that would be even MORE significant.

The “Exodus of Jesus” from Egypt was a sign of a more permanent and complete rescue.

Jesus was going to rescue ALL people from their sins…

From their bondage.

From their oppression.

From their proverbial “Egypt.”

PAUSE

And that is precisely what this Christmas King was going to do.

Jesus came to us.

To be the bridge between God’s holiness and perfect standards… and our sin and constant failure.

Matthew and Luke record the events surrounding Jesus’ birth… the Savior of the world who came to rescue us from our bondage to sin.

He came to live a sinless life in order to be acceptable to God as the spotless substitution for our sins.

He came to lead a life that would be our example for living as His followers.

He came die on the cross for the sins of ALL people.

He came… not for an earthly kingdom or a temporary throne…

Jesus came to become the King above all others.

The King of kings!

Eternally.

PAUSE

So, I ask again… who is Jesus to you?

Is He just a name you hear at Christmas and Easter?

Is He a fairy tale story that you think is too good to be true?

Is He simply a historic figure who lived a moral life?

OR

Is He the Savior of the world.

Is He the true Son of God Who is worthy of our lives?

Is Jesus the King of kings…

….Is Jesus the King of your life?

PAUSE

Salvation call….

See you next week for IN Person church as we launch into a series that will cover 8 Habits of a FULLY devoted follower of Jesus…

We are excited for this series and starting our lives out right this coming year!

See you Sunday and not only will we have a GREAT sermon for you…

We will also have a booklet for you to help you launch into this new year right!!!