The King is born
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Today in honor of Mother’s day we are going to only go through the first 12 verses of . We are also going to go through this fairly quick today. So hold on to your hats and lets get moving.
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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.
Who were these Wise men from the East?
Who were these Wise men from the East?
The Wise men were Maggi from Persia or what used to be called Babylon.
The were astrologers and dream interpreters.
Why would Gentiles from Persia even care about a Jewish king?
Why would Gentiles from Persia even care about a Jewish king?
How would they have even know to look into the stars for a sign of the King of Judea’s birth?
How would they have even know to look into the stars for a sign of the King of Judea’s birth?
Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel was made the head Maggi when he was in captivity in Babylon.
He would have shared with them all the dreams and prophecies he had concerning the birth of the Messiah. like
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
Dan
And Balam’s prophecy in
Num 24:
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!”
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It is this prophecy that would have caused Herod so much fear.
It is this prophecy that would have caused Herod so much fear.
Herod was an Edomite - And this prophecy he would have known points to Edom being dispossessed.
Herod the great was cruel and paranoid of losing power.
He killed sons, wives, uncles and anyone he worried may try to take his throne.
Cesar Augustus once said “I would rather be Herod’s pig than one of his sons.”
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The prophecy tells the Priests and Scribes where the child will be born.
The prophecy tells the Priests and Scribes where the child will be born.
Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
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What is Matthew doing in His Gospel?
What is Matthew doing in His Gospel?
Gentile Maggi from Persia/Babylon seeking the child born King of the Jews.
Herod is in rage and worried about his seat of power being over thrown.
Priests and Scribes are 5 miles away from Bethlehem and never make an attempt to go find the Messiah for themselves.
And then Matthew ends verse 12 with the Gentile Maggi falling and worshipping the child Yeshua who is the rightful king of the Jews.
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First we must understand that Matthew was written to the Hebrews and originally in Hebrew around the year 60.
This Gospel’s intent seems two fold.
To encourage the early church that was still in Jerusalem.
To be used as a tool in the synagogues to Evangelize the Jews who did not believe Yeshua was the Messiah.
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Matthew is using Rabbinic hints (Remez) to show us that this Yeshua was opening the rule of God to all the world not just the Hebrew people.
He was also pointing out that like Herod (who many hated) and like the priests (who they all hated) they had missed the coming of the Messiah.
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What can we take away from all this?
What can we take away from all this?
First,
First,
Often times we can get caught up trying to build our own empire or appearing religious that we become passive in being with Jesus.
To busy building my family to be with Jesus
To busy working to be with Jesus
To busy making money to be with Jesus
To busy serving the church to be with Jesus
To busy being lazy and watching tv to be with Jesus
To busy at school to be with Jesus
To busy building friendships to be with Jesus
To busy building a sermon to be with Jesus
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Second,
Second,
Jesus has a way about Him that seems to be most attractive to those you would never expect. ( – blessed are the… )
Example - Chris and Amy
Those people we ignore as not being good enough are the very ones whom Jesus attracts to himself. While we act all self-righteous and focus on building our own empires Jesus continues to build His Kingdom with the sinners and rejects of this world.
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We need to pay close attention to the Example of Herod and ask our selves -
Are so worried about building a life, that we forget to be with Yeshua?
We need to also pay close attention to the Wise men -
And ask ourselves if we are building walls to keep people out or are we tearing walls down so all can come and worship Yeshua.