The Voice of the Lord: Yesterday

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:1–12 NIV

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 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. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “ ‘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.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

1/4/2026

Order of Service:

Announcements

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Kid’s Time

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Communion

Closing Song

Benediction

Special Notes:

Week 1: Communion

Opening Prayer:

The Voice of God: Yesterday

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why it seems like there are times when God shows up and certain people people see Him visibly, whether as a cloud made of fire or a burning bush on top of a mountain. He sends an angelic messenger to come knocking on someone's door with good news of great joy. Some of those people hear God speaking to them, plain as day.

Then there are others who go their entire lives wishing they could catch a glimpse of God, straining to hear in the silence, and coming up empty.

If you read your Bible cover to cover, it's easy to come away with the idea that God plays favorites. He has a handful of chosen people whom He communicates with directly, and they're supposed to go share what He tells them with the slightly larger group of His chosen people who are supposed to follow Him from that second-hand communication. As for the rest of the world? They can read about it in a book or figure it out on their own.

I suspect most of us, most of the time, feel like we're falling into that last category. I often wonder why it seems to be that way. At the same time, it seems like that's not the way God wants it to be. Today's Scripture suggests He's been working to change that all along.

This month, we're going to learn about how God speaks to us. We begin by looking at how God speaks to us from the past, in a way that is persistent, pervasive, and lasting.

Matthew’s Gospel

Today we are celebrating Epiphany, the Sunday we remember the Magi, or wise men, who came from the East to visit the newborn King Jesus and bring him gifts. This story only appears in the Gospel of Matthew. We'll be in Matthew's Gospel a lot this year, so let me encourage you to include it in your reading plans.

As you read Matthew, look for two things. First, Matthew often repeats a phrase about fulfilling Scripture. When Matthew says Scripture is fulfilled, it means more than "Jesus checked another box." For Matthew, those Scriptures suddenly came alive when he saw Jesus. Second, pay attention to geography: where people are, where they come from, and where they're going. Matthew isn't just telling a story. He's drawing a map. Keep both of these in mind as we begin today.

The Geography of the Magi

Speaking of geography, where do these wise men come from? They come from the east. Matthew doesn't give us much background on these Magi, but it's most likely that they came from the remnants of the Persian Empire: places like present-day Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and maybe as far away as India.

We've developed many traditions about these Magi: calling them kings, deciding there were only three, even giving them names. But that lack of information shows us what Matthew does think is important about them.

The most important thing Matthew wants us to know is that they are not Jewish. They are respected and wealthy, and they traveled a long way to see the newborn king. Matthew's telling us, "Pull out your old Jewish map. Go to the very eastern edge." Somewhere just over that border, that's where these people came from, to see Jesus and worship him as the king of kings.

The Star

How did they know where to find him? It's the star that leads them. These wise men were crossing a continent, carrying treasures, which put them at risk of robbery all along the way. Yet they made it safely there, all because they saw a star.

I wonder what that star looked like. Something about it made them believe they were going to meet someone truly important. Most days, I'm more like Jonah. I would hesitate. But God reached out to these men and convinced them to follow Him, to meet His Son, and to worship Him. They had no idea who He was. They were foreigners who demonstrated the faith of Abraham, even though they weren't given promises like he was.

In fact, this is one of those ways Matthew shows us that Scripture was fulfilled. God promised Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through him. These Magi are an example of that promise beginning to be fulfilled the day they brought their world to Jesus.

That star communicated what God wanted them to do and where He wanted them to go. God's message was pervasive: it cut through language and cultural barriers, reached across thousands of miles, and spoke to them in a way they could understand. That star was also persistent. It led them day and night until they finally got to Israel.

The Detour

God can reach anyone, anywhere, across any barrier. But we still have challenges understanding Him, don't we? Often communication breaks down, not because God is unclear, but because we lean on our own understanding rather than trusting Him.

The Wise Men were no different. When they crossed the border into Judea, they did what their common sense told them. "If there's a king born in Israel, then surely he must be in the palace. Let's go to Jerusalem."

They stopped following the star and started following their heads. This particular King Herod was known for being paranoid. So when confused foreigners showed up asking about a newborn king, Herod was surprised, and not in a good way. But he hid it long enough to play along.

He called in the scribes, those experts in Scripture who knew the prophecies about the Messiah. The scribes didn't have a star to follow. But God had communicated to them over centuries through the prophets, and those words had been written down, copied, and preserved in the temple.

Just like that star led the wise men, the words of the prophets continued to lead and guide God's people. God's communication was lasting. Where would this king be born? In Bethlehem. The scribes knew the place. They just didn't know the time. The wise men knew the time. They just didn't follow faithfully enough to get to the place.

As the scribes directed them to Bethlehem, the Magi saw that star again and were back on track.

The Mission Completed

Herod tried to deceive them, telling them to come back with all the details about little Jesus. They went to Bethlehem, found Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and presented their gifts. God wasn't done with them yet. He spoke to them in a dream and warned them not to go back to Herod, because Herod wanted to get rid of Jesus, not worship him.

He spoke to Mary and Joseph in a dream as well and told them to head to Egypt. Here, Matthew tells us he saw another Scripture fulfilled: that God would call His son out of Egypt. So everybody left, starting off on a new adventure.

For us, this is the end of the traditional Christmas story. But for these people, it's the beginning of the rest of their lives. They followed the voice of God that spoke to them through angels, dreams, the prophets, and a bright star shining in the night sky.

All of those pieces God set in motion long before Jesus was born. Those words, those signs, those ways God communicated lasted over the years, passed down from person to person, faithfully carried to reach them at just the right time.

God's people need to know that His word didn't fail. Just as God promised Abraham, He was calling people near and far to come and worship Him. Perhaps this is why Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy starting with Abraham. As he traced the line from Abraham to Jesus, Matthew saw God's ancient covenant promise being fulfilled: through Abraham's descendants, all the nations of the earth were finally being blessed.

God's Custom Communication

Mary got an angel because she was ready to accept that kind of communication. Joseph got a dream because that was the best way for him to receive God's word. The wise men came from a culture obsessed with watching the heavens. They got an impossible star. God has ways of reaching us as well, custom-made to fit each one of us.

But there's a warning that comes along with this. You and I communicate in ways that may be true today but not tomorrow. We change our minds. But our God is not like that.

The bigger point Matthew shows us is that what God says doesn't change. When God speaks, reality is formed around those words. So if you were sure God told you one thing, and later you were sure He told you something that didn't line up, one or both of those experiences was probably not God. Or it was something you heard a small part of and then ran with your own understanding, as the wise men did.

Being able to hear and understand the voice of God is not something we're going to learn in one sermon. There's more for us in the weeks ahead. But for today, I want to give you one critical piece from Matthew: when we sense we might be off track, we have somewhere to turn. What God has spoken over thousands of years remains permanent and true forever.

So when we are unsure about what we are hearing, we need to return to His Word in Scripture. Our Bibles are the compass that will get us back on track and lead us to Jesus. The more you know about what God said yesterday in those Scriptures, the more you see it come alive in your experiences with Jesus today.

The Fulfillment at the Table

As I shared on Christmas Eve, when Jesus gathered with His disciples for the Last Supper, He took the Passover story and made it His own. After a thousand years of the same routine, I'm sure there were many parts of that ritual the Jewish people knew by heart, without really knowing what it felt like for those people in Egypt, waiting to be set free.

But for Mary and Joseph, the Passover came alive when they found themselves in Egypt, waiting to return home so their son could set their people free from bondage to sin. They began to see how Jesus was fulfilling Scripture in their own lives.

Decades later, when Jesus gathered with His disciples, He did what Matthew shows us again and again: He took that ancient story and brought it to life. The Passover had always been pointing to Him. He was the Lamb whose blood would be shed so that death would pass over God's people. When He said, "This is my body. This is my blood. I am giving this for you," Jesus revealed that He was the fulfillment of what this meal had always been about.

Invitation

Brothers and sisters, we've seen today that God's communication is persistent: He doesn't give up on reaching us. It is pervasive: it crosses every barrier of distance, language, and culture. And it is lasting: what He spoke thousands of years ago remains true today. What is God trying to say to you? What has He been trying to say to you all of your life? He is telling you, He is showing you, He is speaking to you even now. He has given everything because He wants to be with you. Will you come and receive Him today?

Closing Prayer

Lord, we long to hear Your voice, calling out to us across the ages, reaching us near and far, and drawing us closer to You. Help us to hear You clearly and follow You faithfully as You lead us with the light of Christ to the place where our stories become Yours and we find new life seeing Your Word come to life in us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.