A Promise Fulfilled

Matthew 2:1–12 ESV

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.

I want to remind you this morning that we serve a promise keeping God.

Prayer

Introduction

Welcome to the Christmas Season!

This time of year is a beautiful reminder of our savior and the hope that we share because of him.

Christmas reminds us that God gave the world the greatest gift of all

The gift of a savior..

The gift of Jesus..

And over the next three weeks I want us to look a little deeper at the Christmas story and see The hope that we have because of Jesus birth.

and I want us to start right here, in Matthew 2

The Wise men

The passage we find here in Matthew 2:1-12 is most likely pretty familiar

If you’ve ever seen a Christmas play

No doubt, you’ve seen the elements of this passage included..

Those being the wisemen and the star.

Jesus is born..

and When he is born..

A star appears in the sky..

And these men see the star

and they come searching for the king that they believe it to be announcing.

And when they find him..

They worship him..

But how did they know what the star ment?

How did they know they were looking for a king?

A fulfilled promise

The bible calls these men, in the greek, magoi, or wisemen

and though they came to pay homage to Jesus the king and savior..

These were not jewish men..

Nor did they probably understand the supernatural significance of this birth..

Foreign priests

Most theologians believe these guys came from Pearsea or Babylon

This term magio was a term used to refer to Priests or experts in mysteries in the Persia/ Babylon area

Some of them may have been what we would consider researchers or scientists..

They studied many “mysteries” if you will about the world including astrology, dream interpretation, scared writings and more..

They studied the writings of cultures

and they kept track of the movement of the stars..

So when a new star appeared, one they had not seen before they took interest..

In addition

It was common belief in this day of age that the uncommon occurrence of astrological signs such as comets, meteors, planet movement and stars were signs of the gods..

So for these men, Something was happening and the stars were telling the story..

Prophecy

Being experts in ancient writings

Then guys Most likely connected the Messianic prophecies of Jesus from the old testament to the star

They came, looking for the king of the jews..

They knew what the star ment..

And they knew, as they told herod, It was his star… the star of a new born king

So they came with expectation…

YOU SEE GOD WAS FULFILLING A PROMISE..

And the wisemen new this..

Numbers 24

In numbers 24..

We find the promise that the wisemen would have known as well..

Its the story of balaam and the people of israel..

Un - Cursed

In numbers 22 Israel is wondering the wilderness after coming out of Egypt..

and they have fought and defeated the amorites..

and now, the king of the moabites, balak, is scared..

And so he tries to set up a hit, if you will, on isreal..

He attempts to hire a seer named Balaam..

he sends his men to balaam and says hey.. I wanna pay you a lot of money to go out and curse these people..

and so balaam say, ok.. well let me go ask god..

and god tells him no..

so he sends them away..

And this happens a few times..

Before god allows balaam to go.. but tells him.. you say what I tell you to say and nothing else..

So balaam and balak go out on a mountain..

and they make sacrifice offerings..

and balaam opens his mouth to curse the people of israel..

and instead a blessing comes out..

and of course balak is mad..

so he says.. try again..

and they do.. and the same thing happens.. a blessing..

and again.. and the same thing happens a third time.. a blessing..

and finally we get to chapter 24..

Balaams forth attempt to curse the people of god..

and this is what comes out instead..

Numbers 24:15–19 ESV

And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: (17)I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a STAR shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

Did you catch it?

The promise?

Balak wants balaam to curse the people..

instead.. God utters a promise..

A promise that the STAR will come out of jacob..

and a king.. the scepter shale rise our of Isreal..

Go promised that when the king came..

The Messiah came..

The star would announce his birth..

the wisemen knew the scriptures..

They saw the signs in the stars..

AND EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN’T SERVE GOD.. THEY PUT THE TWO TOGETHER AND CAME AND WORSHIPED THE KING..

THEY KNEW THAT THE PROPHECY HAD COME TO PASS..

THE PROMISE OF A KING HAD BEEN KEPT…

Sad

but you know the sad part of the story?

Is that the Jews new the same thing..

look at verse 4 of Matthew 2..

Matthew 2:4–6 ESV

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.’ ”

Herod calls for the temple leaders..

The chief preists..

and the ones who were the experts in scriptural interpretation.. the scribes..

and he says…

WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT THIS..

AND THEY COME BACK AND TELL HIM..

He’s gonna be born in Bethlehem..

THEY KNEW..

AND THEY KNEW IT WAS THE TIME..

THE WISE MEN WERE CONFIRMING IT.

BUT..

they didn’t care to go and find him for themselves..

For whatever reason..

They didn’t go to worship him..

GOD KEPT A HIS PROMISE..

HE SENT HIS MESSIAH..

HIS SON..

OUR SAVIOR..

JESUS..

AND THE VERY PEOPLE GOD DECLARED AS HIS PEOPLE.. REJECTED HIM..

More than birth

We know that this would play out well into Jesus life..

The jewish leaders..

those in power..

though who knew the scripture best..

would reject him..

They would ignore the signs..

even though they knew them..

and would never accept him as messiah..

John 1:11 ESV

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

EVEN TODAY

Even today there are many in the jewish faith still waiting for the messiah..

looking for a savoir that came 2,000 years ago..

ignoring the signs and the fulfilment of Gods promise..

I want to reiterate to you this morning..

GOD HAS FULFILLED HIS PROMISE OF A SAVIOR IN JESUS

AND CHRISTMAS, CHRISTS BIRTH, BECOMES A REGULAR REMINDER THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE PROMISE.. JESUS..

Us

You see, you and I have the privilege to know the story from beginning to end..

Unlike the magi..

Unlike the jews..

Who knew in part..

Even though they saw some of the prophecies and fulfillments..

Unlike them who had to piece it together..

FOR US .. its clearly laid out through scripture..

THAT JESUS WAS THE FULFILLMENT OF PROMISE..

HE WAS THE ONE BORN KING OF THE JEWS..

SAVIOR OF THE WORLD..

GODS OWN SON.

Fulfillment

Theologians estimate that Jesus in his life fulfilled over 300 prophecies..

over 300 promises that God made about the coming messiah…

Prophecies of his birth such as :

Micah 5:2 that said he would be born in Bethlehem..

Jeremiah 23:5-6 that said he would be the branch, the king, or David..

Isaiah 7:13 that said he would come from the line of David

Isaiah 7:14 that said he would be born of a virgin and they would call him Emmanuel.

Jeremiah 31:15 that prophecies the grief of the mothers in Bethlehem who would lose their sons to Herod’s fears..

Hosea 11:1 that said he would have to come out of Egypt..

And of his life and death such as:

Isaiah 9:1-2 that Fortold that he would be a Galilian

Isaiah 25:4-6 that Declared the miracles he would come and do..

Psalms 78:1-2 that Said he would speak in parables..

Isaiah 53 that spoke he would be despised and rejected

he would be acquainted with grief and sorrows

that that he would be pierced, crushed, and wounded

It further said he would not complain about his punishment

he would be among criminals in his death

and ultimately lose his life..

he would be buried with the wicked in the grave of a rich man..

Psalms 22:1-3 that declares he would feel forsaken by god..

and Psalms 16:8-11 declares he would rise again to life and life eternally

THE BIBLE IS FULL OF PROPHECIES FULFILLED BY JESUS

They begin with the promise in the begining..

Genesis 3:15 ESV

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

And they span until the yet to be fulfilled promise of Revelations 22:20.. (the second to last verse in scripture..)

Revelation 22:20 ESV

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

OVER ALL JESUS FULFILLED OVER 300 PROPHECIES..

THAT HE IS THE CHRIST!

A man named Dr stoner calculated the odds of this happening randomly but he calculated only 8/300

and he found the odds to be..

1 in 10 + 27(0)

Let me read you what he said..

“Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far she wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.”

ITS A CERTAINTY.. THAT HE IS WHO HE SAID HE IS..

JESUS IS THE CHRIST!

HE IS THE MESSIAH..

THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD..

Jesus own words.

HE HIMSELF SAID IN:

John 14:6 ESV

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 10:7–9 ESV

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 14:1 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Luke 5:32 ESV

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

HE IS THE CHRIST

Peter

In Acts 2:14-41 on the day of pentecost..

a spirit baptised peter comes out of the upper room

filled with the boldness of the holy spirit

and preaches a sermon to those who are listening

and the crux of the sermon is..

THIS IS THE ONE THAT PROPHETS SPOKE ABOUT..

HES THE ONE THAT DAVID SPOKE ABOUT..

HES THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE..

AND YOU KILLED HIM..

BUT GOD KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING AND RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD…

And the bible said they were cut to the heart by the truth..

and they said.. what shall we do..

and in 2:38 peter responds.. repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of you sins..

and 3,000 were saved that day..

What does that mean for us?

I want you to understand..

That we have been given a choice..

The same choice given to the wisemen and the people of israel..

We can see the signs

and we can review the evidence that Jesus fulfilled the promises of god through his coming..

And then we must choose..

Do we believe them..

and Believe that he is who he said he was..

The savior of the world?

God in the flesh?

Do we believe in his as romans 10 says and confess him as lord?

Do we repent of our sins as peter said on the day of Pentecost

Do we choose to seek him out and worship him like the wise men?

Or do we ignore his coming like the Jewish leaders did..

and continue on our way?

You can I have a choice to make..

The question is..

Given the evidence..

How will you respond?

Will you respond to the promise?

Remember John 1:11?

John 1:11 ESV

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But look what John 1:12-13 says

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

and john goes on to write the words of Jesus himself in JOhn 3:16

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

You see the choice to believe that Jesus is the savior is not a choice void on consequence..

It has eternal impacts..

Leave

one day we will all leave this world..

and the choice you make about Jesus being the fulfillment of gods promise of a savior has eternal consequences..

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

when we leave this world..

We go into an eternity..

and how you respond to Jesus as the savior determine how that eternity is spent..

We can believe that he is the fulfilment of the promise..

The savior who saves us from our sinful nature..

Or we can reject him and continue on with our life..

Its your choice..

But one leads to eternal life in heaven…

One leads to eternal death in hell..

The choice is ours..

The beautiful promise we have though is this..

Romans 10:13 ESV

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Do you believe he is the christ?

Do you believe that he is the promise?

Have you confessed your sins to him and accepted him as savior?

Thas the choice you have today..