The King Declared By Star and Stranger
Notes
Transcript
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
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Intro
I’ve run into a humbling conversation multiple times since I moved South from Minnesota. Many of you know, I’m from Duluth, Minnesota. It’s a little port city up on Lake Superior just a couple hours from Canada AND just a couple hours from The Boundary Waters. For those who don’t know, The Boundary Waters is a large forested area with over 1000 lakes in Northern Minnesota that has some of the best canoeing, camping, and fishing you’ll ever experience. It’s over a million acres of wilderness. The thing is I’ve never been!
Multiple times I’ve met people here in Dayton, down in Louisville, who’ve travelled over 12 hours to drive through my home town to go to the Boundary Waters. They tell me about how great the trip was, the fish they caught, how much they want to go back so on and so forth and then I have to admit, “Yeah, I’ve never actually been.”
At that point I have a coupe options. I can try to defend myself and explain why I haven’t seen this beautiful park that was in my own back yard, or I can swallow my pride and look for an opportunity to join in on the next trip.
You may have recognized the similar scene play out in our text this morning. A couple strangers come to town and ask for the Messiah they know is there, and what response do they get? Herod and all Jerusalem are troubled. They are totally unaware and have no knowledge of this Messiah. Herod makes a mad scramble to figure out what these strangers are talking about, but rather than join them in the journey to see the Messiah, he devises his own plan fueled by pride and jealousy - a plan that allows him to stay on his throne and remain in the comfort of his palace.
In the end God uses a star to guide these searching wisemen to the Messiah as Herod, the king of Israel sits back and waits devising his own plan.
In the end I hope we can learn from the evil of Herod and ultimately arrive at how God intends His people to respond to the searching.
God intends His people to be ready to see more of Christ and to point the searching to Christ.
God intends His people to be ready to see more of Christ and to point the searching to Christ.
The declaration of strangers
The pride of local elite
The direction of a star
The worship of disciples
Let’s begin there with those first two verses and look at the declaration of these strangers coming to town.
The Declaration of Strangers
The Declaration of Strangers
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
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Let’s just paint the scene for a moment, so we can see just how shocking this simple declaration is. A group of wise men or magi come from hundreds of miles away, potentially Babylon, to Jerusalem. These are men who ordinarily wouldn’t be familiar with Jewish traditions, Jewish promises, or Jewish Messiahs yet here they are asking for the King of Jews, notably not the one sitting on the throne.
Maybe some of you remember that time you had your parents over for the first time to see your newborn baby. You haven’t seen them in a while, they’ve come from out of town, and you kind of expect some of kind of acknowledgement from them when they come in the door, but in that moment they don’t really care about you. They’re looking for the baby! It makes sense in retrospect, but in the moment it’s a little humbling.…
In a much greater sense, the wisemen have come to town looking for the newborn king. They don’t really care about King Herod. They show up in Jerusalem and just start asking around, “Where’s the newborn King?”
That question in and of itself is striking. A king isn’t called king until he comes to take the crown. These men don’t come asking for a prince, “The future king of the Jews as if to give credence to Herod’s throne.” But no, the assumption here is that in his birth he is king.
The inference there is plain. The king who currently sits on the throne cannot maintain his position. There cannot be two kings of the Jews.
As much as they come asking questions, they’re making a declaration. They know a Messiah has been born! All of Jerusalem is hearing of the arrival of their Messiah from strangers. The only thing they don’t know is where.
The follow up question here is, “How did they know?”
This isn’t the first time God has used strangers to make declarations to His people of the coming Messiah.
We can go all the way back to Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers. Balaam came from the East as well much like these Magi.
16 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, yet having his eyes uncovered. 17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.
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A king with his scepter shall come with a star. Spoken by the most unexpected of people, and yet used of God all the same.
In addition to Numbers, many point to Daniel’s prophecies as a possible resource for these Magi. A book written while God’s people were in the East.
All this to say, these Magi had access to the Scriptures. They were likely familiar with the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel. Familiar to the degree they believed that this coming Messiah was worthy of worship! There’s real faith here. They believe this king is worthy of their finest gifts, worthy of travelling hundreds of miles to see for themselves, worthy of their worship.
“… we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Already in Matthew chapter 2, the narrative has barely begun and we can begin to see the fulfillment of that promise to Abraham. The Lord’s blessing will go to the nations through the coming descendant of Abraham, and here we see God prompting the hearts of the most far off people to look for Him.
Their search assumes that glorious truth: This Messiah isn’t just for the Jews. He is not merely the King of the Jews because he deserves my worship and my allegiance.
In our day and age you don’t see Americans travelling to England to pay our respects as loyal subjects to the new king. That would be absurd. This scene here is absurd in any ordinary persons eyes. Unless the coming king is more than just the King of the Jews.
The magi have concluded long ago: it’s good and right we invest every means necessary to make the journey, offer gifts, bow in worship because this King in truth is King of Kings and Lord of Lords deserving of the worship of all.
As the church in America today we have access to so many resources and means we implement in the advancement of the kingdom. Israel had numerous means given to them as well: they had the temple, the sacrifices, all the law and the prophets all things which pointed to the coming of Christ, and yet it was faith in a simple promise which brought worshippers from far off.
Friends our hope for the nations coming to worship Christ as Lord is not rooted in all the means and resources we have as wonderful as those things are.
I’m thankful for seminaries...
I’m thankful for the abundance of literature we have...
I’m thankful for the scholarship we have access to...
I’m thankful for the singers and song writers that help lead us in worship. ..
All these things are extraordinary gifts, gifts to be thankful for, but Israel had all these in a certain kind of way and yet what was it that drew these men from afar?
The work of God through His gospel and the Spirit bringing people to faith. At the end of the day, that’s the foundation of the church! If you get the chance to go overseas and worship with our brothers and sisters in some places, it only becomes all the more clear. They don’t have access to a fraction of the resources we have and yet there’s real worship going on there! There’s real sacrifice every Sunday just to get to church in many places. There’s real sacrifice in many places for simply admitting what these wisemen admitted. “We are worshippers of the Messiah.” Does that mean we don’t seek to partner with those churches to see pastors trained or pastors supported financially, no, but we can’t say, “The church over there is lacking because they don’t have what we have.” If they have the Scriptures like these wisemen did, God can and will build his church and gather worshippers.
Let’s not underestimate what God can do through the proclamation of a simple gospel. Men will give of their absolute best, they will give their entire lives to the glory of God in response to the proclamation of the simple gospel of Jesus Christ coming in the flesh to die and rise from the dead.
As we’ll see the work of God through His Word in these Magi comes to humble the King and the people of Jerusalem, and Herod himself doesn’t respond well.
The Pride of the Local Elite
The Pride of the Local Elite
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
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So as these Magi are asking around for where the newborn King is, (They assume everyone should know. “This is your king. Your Messiah.” Surely the people of Jerusalem would know) , but then Herod hears of it, and what is his response? He was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him. Just for clarity this word troubled isn’t like the troubled there’s bad weather coming. This is Zechariah seeing an angel before him troubled. Frightened - troubled. This is Jesus about to go to the cross troubled. Herod and all of Israel are shaken.
The plain thing here that might be easy to miss: They Didn’t Know!
There were shepherds in the fields who knew about the Messiah, but all of Jerusalem is disturbed by the news.
It begs the question, the prophecies and signs which were available to the Magi hundreds of miles away, weren’t the same prophecies and signs available to those in Jerusalem? Why is there no one to guide these Magi? Were there so few looking for the Messiah’s coming?
We can only guess how many of those who heard Anna’s proclamation were passing the word along. Was Anna still there in Jerusalem? We’ll never know, but one thing we do know is that Herod and much of Jerusalem were not ready for this announcement.
...
There comes a time when we are all confronted with our own ignorance. No matter our upbringing or the decades we’ve been walking with the Lord we’re going to be humbled by it: the reality that we don’t know it all yet. There are some of us here with a wonderful Christian heritage. Our parents, grandparents, and even those long before grandma and grandpa have been walking with the Lord. Maybe there are a few like me who grew up as a pastor’s kid. Sometimes that heritage and that reputation of being the pastor’s kid comes with the expectation you’ve got it all figured out. There might be a little pressure to preserve that image when confronted with all that we don’t know yet.
Maybe you’ve been walking with the Lord for longer than I’ve been alive. No doubt your faith and wisdom are a gift to all of us here, myself included. Even with decades of walking with the Lord we don’t stop being disciples. We don’t ever stop being followers and students with things to learn from the Scriptures. There comes a time when we have a lot more to teach, but that doesn’t mean we stop learning.
The question here is, “What will we do with our ignorance?” What will we do when we’re humbled with the reality that we have more to learn?” Very simply put there’s a humble response and a prideful response. As we follow Herod’s prideful response let’s recognize the wrong path so we know how to avoid it and pick the humble path.
At first it looks like Herod takes the posture of a learner, a disciple but to what end?
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
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Herod looks to the priests and the scribes for answers. They look to the prophet Micah and present to the King the answer he’s been looking for. The Messiah will come from Bethlehem! A humble little town in the land of Judah.
If you were Herod what would you do? You’ve been humbled by the coming of these Magi from a foreign land declaring the coming of your Messiah, but you’ve determined where the Messiah can be found. I don’t know about you, but I would make a point to go see Him for myself. Become like these wisemen, men of means and prominence who themselves have humbled themselves to travel hundreds of miles to see the Messiah in a foreign land and among a foreign people. Yet how does Herod respond?
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”
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His words speak of worship, but it’s all just a facade. Lies and posturing so that he might ultimately preserve his station as king. We’ll see in a couple weeks the scheming that’s going on behind these pious words, the evil he plans in order to make sure his position and throne are not threatened.
For the moment however we can recognize a simple truth. The prideful are unwilling to leave their station, surrender their position and join the searching.
When confronted with the humbling truth that they don’t have it all, there’s a greater kingdom they haven’t found yet, there’s a greater king that they don’t know yet, the prideful cling to what they already have and defend it with everything they have. They’re unwilling to admit, “You know I am missing something.”
At first glance we might distance ourselves from men like Herod because we would never command soldiers to slaughter babies. Certainly true, but again, “What do we do with our ignorance?”
Even as the church:
We know the king.
We know the kingdom.
We know the Scriptures!
And yet inevitably some day we’ll be confronted with a simple question that we don’t have an answer to.
Let’s be diligent to avoid that prideful heart that tries to save face and preserve that status we have in everyone’s eyes as the one who has it all figured out. That’s arguably most important for me! It’s tempting as a pastor to try to look like you have it all figured out. Spoiler: I don’t! I’m still learning. I’m still a disciple.
When confronted with that simple question of the searching, the best thing we can do is join them. No facades... Let’s go together! Let’s search together because this is something worth seeing with my own eyes.
Herod’s pride kept him from a treasure, seeing and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s not let our pride keep us from discovering those little treasures of getting to know our Lord that much better. Those little treasures that come from a humble search of the Scriptures that deliver a closer walk with our Lord.
Let’s humbly join the searching when confronted with our ignorance.
...
As we continue in the narrative it’s apparent this is but the first fault of Herod. He recognizes that he doesn’t know the Messiah, he hasn’t seen him and doesn’t want to join the Magi in the search, but he does know where Bethlehem is.
Herod fails to provide any assistance at all! Does that mean the Magi are hung out to dry? No, God is determined to lead these strangers to the Messiah their Savior.
The Direction of a Star
The Direction of a Star
9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
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There are some people who believe that the star was actually some natural but rare astronomical event. A comet of some kind or the alignment of planets. That could perhaps be the case, but I believe we’re looking at a miraculous work of God here.
God in His miraculous power is moving this star as if it’s a shepherd going before his flock. The sheep realize the shepherd is moving so they follow, and when the shepherd stops, “it came and stood over the place where the Child was” that’s where they’ll find what they’re looking for.
These magi from far off haven’t even seen the Child yet and they’re rejoicing at the sight of God’s guidance and provision of a light to follow.
This may be a mental picture we’ve grown familiar with, but I hope we might see God’s determination to see these searching strangers find the newborn King.
God isn’t content to just bring them most of the way and leave the rest up to them. The star got them all the way to Jerusalem from the far East. That’s pretty close. It’s not even a full days walk to Bethlehem. Maybe they can figure out the rest. No. God is determined to see the sojourners and strangers find their blessing in the Son of Abraham, the Messiah King.
God literally puts the star over the place where the Child was. I can’t explain what that looked like. Did a spotlight come out of the sky? Did the star literally hover over the house where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were staying. I don’t know, but we do know: It wasn’t ambiguous! God was determined to bring them to the door.
In view of God’s sovereign power and his determination to save even the far off strangers we too have reason to rejoice! We might now be able to look back on a star which led us to Christ, but whether we realize it or not there was a time when God was leading us. There was a time when God in His sovereign power was stirring our hearts to search, providing means of leading us to see and believe in the person and work of Christ. Might we continue to rejoice in gratitude for God’s power and sovereign grace in leading us to Christ from places far off and distant from God.
In just these couple verses there’s a call to rejoice because we too have experienced in some way what these wisemen did, but I hope there would be a call to action as well.
God can use miraculous means to draw people to Himself, He can leverage all of creation to His ends and yet he has called us to be His witnesses. Jesus says that even the rocks will cry out if the people of God don’t bring their worship. If God can use stars and rocks to be His witnesses and worshippers how much more should we who have been redeemed and made holy for such a glorious task?
God was determined to see these men to their destination. How appropriate it would have been for one of God’s people to show them the way. Shouldn’t it be God’s people who share His holy ambition?
Wasn’t it Israel who was explicitly instructed to treat sojourners and strangers with love because they were once slaves in a foreign land?
34 ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
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God’s desire for the well-being and blessing of the stranger is supposed to be the desire of God’s people!
Might that desire and determination of God for the stranger to see Jesus to experience the love God in Christ - might that desire be ours! Let’s be the ones who meet the Magi in Jerusalem and say, “Follow me” because we do know where the Messiah can be found. By God’s grace we have already been led to Christ.
Let’s be ready to lead others.
Let’s be praying for the heart of God for the far off strangers who are searching, but don’t know where to look.
We are His witnesses. We are His ambassadors. We are the light of the world.
Now let’s just be honest, you’re probably not going to get someone knocking on your door asking, “Do you know where I can find Jesus?” Rarely does the searching of the world look as bold as these Magi, but the searching is nevertheless evident.
Very often it’s a searching in the wrong places.
Those in search of love look for it in every worldly understanding of love.
Those in search of security look for it in wealth thinking that will secure their future.
Those in search of a clear conscience try to work their way into a clear conscience.
Those in search of rest are simply trying to escape from all the burdens of the world.
Our readiness to lead others to Christ, Our heart for the searching stranger often begins with recognizing the search, and realizing we have what they’re looking for! I mean believing that with all that we are. “I have what you’re looking for!” “I have something truly satisfying!” “I know someone who will satisfy every longing you can’t seem to satisfy with the things of this world.”
The Magi are rejoicing at just the hope of finding what they’re looking for. The sight of the star is reason for their rejoicing. Surely the King Himself will satisfy all the more.
To summarize where we’ve come so far.
God does extraordinary things with a simple gospel. We shouldn’t be surprised to find people searching. Some with a taste of that gospel come looking for the fullness of Christ and His kingdom, some have yet to taste the good news at all and are searching in the world for what will satisfy.
We need to be ready to lead them having found the Savior for ourselves and the satisfaction that comes from faith and salvation in Christ.
We also need to be ready to join them in the search knowing we don’t have it all figured out.
There’s that saying that goes, “I’ve you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em”
I would say, “If you can’t lead ‘em join ‘em”.
Whatever the case it’s one or the other. Let’s not be found like Herod who would do neither.
so, what does all this lead to?
Whether we’re leading them to what we already know of Christ or joining them seeking to know Christ all the more, as disciples we’re seeking to worship our Lord and Savior.
The Worship of Disciples
The Worship of Disciples
11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
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Right here, in the humble little town of Bethlehem, we get this wonderful picture of what this new kingdom is going to look like.
Here we have men who are no doubt citizens of an entirely different kingdom coming before this newborn King and giving Him every honor in worship as if they were his loyal servants. This isn’t some diplomatic mission where ambassadors are sent to pay their respects. This is submission in willing servitude and worship!
They fell to the ground and worshiped Him. There’s no facade here. There’s no formality to it. These men of high office and substantial means have not completed their mission until they’re on their knees in worship. That is the goal after all of all who believe in that simple gospel: The worship and glory of God is the heart’s desire of all Christ’s disciples.
As much as Jesus wouldn’t come to call his disciples until much later I can’t but think of how many of Jesus’ descriptions of discipleship point back to these Magi.
One little seed was cast in the far East and boy did it bear fruit. These not only believed, they gave up extraordinary time, energy, and wealth to come before their king in worship.
These who heard of that pearl of great price, that treasure hidden in a field went to great lengths and the expenditure of great wealth to come and see it for themselves and worship Him!
True disciples are those who are ready for the Lord’s coming. Consider how ready these men were for His first coming. They believed He would come! They were watchful.
Perhaps above all these men are humble before God as they bow before the Child, Jesus. It takes humility for a man of means and stature to bow before a child, and these men didn’t hesitate. They knew who this Child was!
Their understanding is clear in their gifts: Gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They gave God their best in great humility! In so many ways that’s what discipleship looks like.
Some may simply look at the costs, but consider again how these Magi approached the house where Jesus was. They weren’t regretting the trip. They weren’t complaining about how costly it was. They rejoiced at the sight of the star knowing they were going to see the newborn king.
Our worship may very well look humble. Our discipleship may very well look costly. But it is full of reason for joy when we understand who Jesus is and that we are His! In that understanding and faith we will gladly and without hesitation give of our best to the glory of God.
So what does that look like for us? Let’s remember Jesus’ own words:
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
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When God stirs in us a heart of worship and service in response to that simple gospel; When we humbly join those who are searching and come ourselves to see more of Christ, what is our response? We serve the least in worship to God. Yes, let’s direct our songs and prayers to God on Sunday, but our worship goes beyond Sunday. We honor and glorify God by bringing our gifts to the least among us.
The gifts of the magi could have certainly bought themselves some respect from king Herod, but it wasn’t he who was worthy of their gifts. They brought their gifts to the humble town of Bethlehem, to an ordinary house, to be given to Jesus. Sometimes the Lord leads us to the humblest of places to meet the humblest of people, so we can worship God in service of His humble children.
They may not be like you in any respect. These Magi certainly had nothing in common with anyone in that little town of Bethlehem, but in worship of Christ they came bringing gifts. And for that reason they did belong! Even more than Herod in his own kingdom.
The least of these may be hard to get to. It may be costly on our part to go and meet with them and serve them, and yet we can go joyfully because we go in worship to God.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians says, “be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”
It’s this humble worship to Christ and service of His own that sets us apart as true disciples.
The contrast becomes all the more clear as the passage ends.
12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
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These strangers from a far off land proved to be of the people of God- true disciples, and the King of Israel proved to be an enemy of God.
These faithful worshippers will be counted among many after who needed to avoid persecutors because of who they worshipped.
As Christ would say later:
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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In the end, the kingdom of heaven will be comprised of people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. When we look at the gathering of the saints there will be very little from an earthly perspective that they share in common. What does Mary in Bethlehem have in common with Magi from the East? And yet we will all be united because we are one in Christ. We will all have life because of the proclamation of that simple gospel. We will all be a forgiven people because of the blood of Christ. We will all worship together for all eternity because we’ve been changed from the heart to love our God and His glory.
God saw fit to give us a little glimpse of heaven in this scene as Jesus was no more than little boy.
Might we give the world we live in a little glimpse of heaven?
When people come in to see our gathering what do they see that unites us? I pray it would be that simple gospel and a corporate ambition to worship and see God glorified. We don’t need to have a lot in common, but those two things are essential! Those two things are heavenly and will last for an eternity.
As we close let’s not forget the main point. The main point is the bridge between that simple gospel and the united worship of the saints.
Let’s be ready to see more of Christ as we join our brothers and sisters in their searching.
Let’s also be ready to lead the searching to Christ. Should we know that road already, let’s look for who we might be able to lead down that road to Bethlehem.
And if you can’t lead ‘em join ‘em. Go search the Scriptures together, go see more of Jesus together that we may all be more equipped to worship and glorify our God.
Let’s live together like we’re on our way to that heavenly kingdom.
Let’s Pray
Mike and Susan Mills
To Every Tribe: Training Missionaries...
