The Gospel is here

Matthew 2:1-23

G’day everyone, it’s great to be here with you this evening, my name is Joe, and I’m a child of God and a Church Planting Resident with the Grace Presbyterian Church that gathers in Ilam. I’m currently being mentored by Josh and Ronaldo, as I Lord willing, hope to plant another Grace Church at some stage in the future.

But that’s enough about me, we are here to learn about Jesus. So before we begin to unpack God’s word, let us ask God to help us in prayer,

Dear God...

Last week, God revealed to us in Matthews Gospel that Jesus is the king who is with us. That Joseph responded to the situation by trusting God, knowing that God is faithful and able to what he promises he will do.

So at this point in the story of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is now born to Mary and Joseph, the king is here, what good news.

The arrival of the king is certainly good news, so good in fact, we see that God even makes an announcement in the stars, to tell the world about his news. The king is here, born in Bethlehem.

So, When God shares this good news, the news of his only son born into the world, we might consider thinking… Well, how did the world respond?

In 2008, when I shared some good news on Facebook. My news, was that I had adopted a 6 year old Samoid Dog, yes, as an 18 year old I went and adopted a big fluffy husky dog. And being 18, I wanted to share this news with the world. So I posted on FB and...

I wasn’t quite prepared for the responses.

I mean, this was great news to share, The dog was called Marshmallow and we were best friends.

And then the responses came flooding into the comment section. Some comments were epic, so many likes, heaps of praise for being such a great guy, the dog is cute, you the man Joe, what a dog!

And then, my family and close friends posted. WHAT ARE YOU DOING JOE??? Joe you have no idea what you’re taking on! Have you got insurance? How much is this going to cost? and so on.

Great news, polarizing responses.

Now, I understand that my exciting news wasn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. However, God’s news certainly is important. Infact so important that God didn’t use FB, but rather he used many prophets over many years and he used the stars in the sky to make his announcement known to all around the world.

What’s on display in this passage of Matthew, however, is not so much the announcement itself, but rather, Matthew highlights the responses.

Because they were very polarizing. Did we notice that as the text was read?

This evening we will see that chapter 2 of Matthew is kind of like reading the Facebook comment section of God’s social media post that Jesus is born.

And just like nearly every comment section, we will see two extreme responses to God’s good news. But more than a comment section on FB, this chapter will set the stage for what to expect in the rest of Matthews Gospel as God invites us to worship Jesus as our king.

We will first see the good response, the right response. The one that we hope all will choose when hearing the good news that God has shared.

Then we will see the bad response, the wrong response, the one that we hope no one will choose when hearing the good news that God has shared.

And lastly we will see that no matter the response that people give to God when hearing his news, God’s invitation to worship Jesus as King cannot be canceled. Revealing to us the true power of God over the power of sin.

1-12 The Wise Men

Looking to the good response, we see in verses 1-12, the responses of the Wise Men.

And we have to pick up some important features of this group to understand their significance.

Notice that they are:

From the East

Saw the star

Came to Worship

The Eastern world in scripture is really to say those who are far off and do not belong to the people group of Israel. The Lands to the East are towards what we would know as modern day China, Mongolia, Russia. But the point being made by Matthew here is that they are not people of Israel. They are people from the nations beyond Israel.

They saw the star, so in other words, they were looking for the star. They evidently had books of the Old Testament, possibly the book of Daniel, and the book of Micah.

They were looking for the sign because they knew to look.

And when the sign came, they knew then to come and worship, because they knew exactly what the sign meant. For in their own words, after traveling for who knows how long, they asked, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”

And we have to marvel at the profound understanding these wise men had. Clearly God’s message to the nations beyond Israel, was clear enough that a group of people would up and leave their homes, travel a dangerous journey, in order to respond with praise for the King of the Jews has arrived.

Which for Matthews book, this moment described in the first few verses of chapter 2, really sets the expectations for what Matthew will highlight throughout Jesus’ ministry. That God’s good news of salvation through Jesus is for the nations as well as the Jews.

And so here we are, noticing that the nations, as represented in these wise men, are responding correctly, through worship of God’s good news.

So what then do we notice about the Jewish response?

Well, Let’s turn our attention to Herod, and the religious leaders.

Notice:

Herod was troubled

All Jerusalem were troubled

They knew the scriptures but they weren’t expecting them to become true

Now, King Herod is a nasty nasty fellow,

He is so paranoid and suspicious that by this stage of his reign, he has already killed his wife and two of his own children, suspecting them to want to over throw his rule.

So when he hears “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews” that is just the most triggering thing to say. Because Herod is not a born Jew, in fact he’s an Idumean who has been appointed his kingship by Ceaser Augustus of Rome. Plus he kills to keep his position.

So when Herod is troubled, of course all of Jerusalem is troubled. The guy is a menace. And he’s a menace with power.

Now, the Religious Leaders, knew the scriptures, but what was their response to hearing this good news of God?

Silence. They clearly feared Herod more than they loved God. And what a tragedy for the Jewish nation, their king has arrived and they do nothing by stand by as those who currently rule over the Jews have turned against God.

And this is such a major theme for Matthews book. The Jewish leaders, the Authorities, the ones who were supposed to teach God’s people about the arrival of Jesus, the arrival of salvation, tradigcally had turned against God. Which given what happens next in Matthews story, is really a foretaste of what to expect throughout the rest of the book.

Because from this point we see the end results of what these two polarizing positions will drive a heart towards.

The two positions being contrasted here, are that of responding to Gods good news with a desire to worship. And the other is to respond to Gods good news with a troubled heart. Troubled because like Herod the news of King Jesus upsets us because it means that we cant be king, maybe not king of a nation like Herod but that we cant be king of our own lives. For that is the heart of what troubles Herod.

Matthew shows us that when we respond to the news of King Jesus with a heart of worship, the end result is that of exceedingly great joy! That regardless of your culture, your language, regardless of skin tone, regardless of how far you've traveled. That when you recieve God’s good news with a heart of worship, the end result is that of exceedingly great joy.

and on the other we see that responding to God’s good news with a troubled heart, the end result is devastation and death. That no matter how powerful you are, no matter that you grew up in a religious home, or that you knew what the bible says. That if our response is that of a troubled heart because we want to rule our own lives, then the end result is devastation and death.

Notice what Matthew records for us,

The wise men, who by the way could be 3, or 30 or 300, we aren’t told, but most assume is only 3 on account of the number of gifts, the wise men after arriving with their hearts of worship, fall down at the sight of Jesus and worship him. They give him the three gifts to honor his kingship and royalty and you can only image how awesome that would have been!

Warned in a dream to avoid Herod they depart and their purpose in Matthews story has achieved it’s result. The Nations are being invited to worship Jesus, and the results are exceedingly joyous.

However, Herod’s part to play is not finished. Matthew’s continuation of Herod’s response goes to show the extremity of what a troubled heart will do to protect it’s own right to rule.

Herod, realizing that his plan to find Jesus had failed, he turned to fury. Where we see the horrendous acts that result from a heart desperate to maintain control. And while we might read verses 16-18 and think far out that’s insane!

We have to see this from the heart’s perspective.

Because this is something that we all experience, there are times when we try to maintain control of a situation and it drives us mad.

Like when a child is not listening to their parents, and it turns into contained rage.

Or when someone lets you down and it produces a strong sense of disappointment or anger towards the other.

Our hearts love to have control of our lives and situations and at it’s extreme, when control is either something you want more of, or you simply can get any, our hearts will drive us to some extreme behaviors.

And this story reminds me of a tragic story that I was a part of a number of years ago. While teaching at an intermediate school, our world was turned upside down when we got called into the office one morning to hear that one of our students had taken her own life. 12 years old, no longer alive.

And throughout the next few weeks and months it became apparent that this girls life was a devastating picture of someone who had been stripped of nearly all control in her life. Her heart was deeply troubled, and she couldn’t find relief.

So like Herod, who was struggling with control of his rule, the people hated him, Ceaser Augusts didn't like him, his children wanted to overthrow him. Herod did to others what many people today are doing to them selves. His heart’s desire for control drove him to murder all those precious babies.

The poor families of Bethlehem and the region, who suffered from the devastating results of one man’s desire to rule, to be in full control.

The point being made here, is that people will go to extreme lengths to stay being the king of their own lives, or the king of their situation. And that extreme length can result in the devastating loss of lives.

This is not to say that everyone with a troubled heart, will go to these lengths, but rather to highlight that

at the extreme end of a heart that desires to be it’s own king, a heart of self kingship will result in devastation and death. And think about it, what happens at the end of our lives? At the extreme end?

well, it really at the end of our lives that we will experience the full reality of what Matthew has recorded here in Chapter 2.

Because at the end of our lives, it is those who reject Jesus as their king, reject him in their hearts, that will face the devastation and final death that is to come after our bodies die.

Truly, the result of living like Herod, living with a heart to rule on his terms, to be suspicious of Jesus and deny Jesus’ rule. The only end to that life is sadly, that of devastation.

Which is why Matthew is contrasting King Herod with the wise men, the men of the Nations. Because everything about their experience is what we are to expect at the extreme end of the life of one who follows Jesus.

the extreme result of a heart of worshiping Jesus as King will result in exceedingly great joy.

not just joy, not even great joy, but exceedingly great joy. Friends, that is heaven, that is the end result of a life lived with Jesus as king.

While life may be difficult for us now, whether you’re suffering pain, or frustrations with work, families, your marriage. While the difficulties of life affect us now. The hope we have in living for Jesus is that of exceedingly great joy.

And that kind of joy may be beyond our understanding, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

See. this passage in Matthew is setting the scene for what is to come in the rest of his book.

Right in the beginning, Matthew has contrasted the extreme ends of a life that lives with Jesus as their king. One life leads down the path of devastation and death and the other path leads to life and exceedingly great joy.

Yes, Matthew is also contrasting the Jewish nation with the gentile nations. That’s because he is showing that God’s good news is not just for the Jews. It’s for all the world.

Which really highlights our third point in todays sermon. God’s good news cannot be stopped.

And so while, the Jewish leaders and kings of Jerusalem, work to crush Jesus and cancel God’s good news, we see in this chapter that God protects it. He has full power over it.

And as we wrap up the message of this chapter, acknowledging that there is much more to dig into, so please do re read this again and again.

We are left with two very important questions. What makes the news of Jesus as king such good news and why did it spur the Wise Men to travel and worship in the first place.

And the answer here is really what causes the exceedingly great joy. Because the Wise Men understood that Jesus’ arrival meant that God had brought his promised salvation for the world. The blessing that was promised to Abraham has now arrived, God’s kingdom will soon be here for all to enjoy the fullness of God.

Because the joyousness of worshiping God, is not that our current lives will be suddenly awesome and that no trouble will ever come our way. But rather, that God’s kingdom is near, That soon we will live with God in heaven free from the burdens of our sins, free from the pain and suffering in this world.

The joy of knowing that Jesus, the king and saviour will welcome us into his kingdom, where he rules justly, and lovingly is good news indeed.

So if you’re sitting here today, wondering how you would respond to the news that the one born king of the Jews has arrived, respond with worship and praise. Respond by acknowledging the Jesus is indeed the king, the king of God’s kingdom who rules with mercy and justice, and loves us deeply.

Which really means that we have to put our inner Herod hearts down. The heart that desires to be in control. The one that schemes and is suspicious of anyone that tries to claim kingship over it.

Friends, let us put that heart down and trust in king Jesus.

Let’s pray