The Star - Immanuel
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Pray
Introduction
Throughout the last number of years, I’ve been thinking about the star of Bethlehem. Because there are things about the story in Matthew that don’t make sense to me as we read it.
And it’s the scientist in me. I’m a bit like doubting Thomas in many ways. Not that I doubt in the classical sense like Thomas did in John 20:25...
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John
I’m more like Thomas when he questions Jesus for more information in ...
4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
4:5
That’s what I’m like. I want to know more. I ask questions to figure out how things can happen or why they happen - that’s what scientists do.
And what has bugged me about this passage in Matthew over the last couple of years is this star.
Now, I never thought of it until recently, but when I noticed it, it has plagued me…because I can’t get my head around how a star can guide a group of wise men right up to the point where it can pinpoint one specific house among other houses in a town.
Let’s look at the text to see what it says...
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.”
Matt 2:
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.
matt 2:9
Now, look at the language used there. We have wise men who have noticed a star and it has led them west to Jerusalem. This star is significant in some way because these wise men think that this star signifies the one who has been born king of the Jews.
And you’d be forgiven in thinking that going to the current king of the Jews would be a good place to start.
But when they realise this child was born in Bethlehem, the star moves and leads them to where the child was.
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.
So a star leads these wise men right to the house where Jesus was.
And how many Christmas cards have you seen where there is a stable and a star above it?
Pause
But what has puzzled me over the last few years is how a star can pinpoint a house in a town, above all other houses. Now in the Greek, it doesn’t mention that the star rested over a house, but that’s inferred in verse 11.
And also, if the star only pinpointed Bethlehem, the wise men wouldn’t have needed it after the visit to Herod because the scribes told them that the child would be born in Bethlehem, and they would have known where Bethlehem was and wouldn’t have needed a star to guide them there.
But regardless, how could a star pinpoint a house?
Because, let’s remember what a star is...
A star is a massive ball of burning gas. Our sun is a star - it’s just closer to us than most other stars so it looks different. And apparently, other stars are like suns to other planets. So if the sun is a star and this star pinpoints one house over all the other houses in a town - how can a star get close enough to the earth to distinguish one house from all the others, and how can it do that without burning up the entire world?
Pause
Now, some people think that it might have been Hayley’s comet, or a two planets that aligned around that time - but even Hayley’s comet is way up in the sky and can’t pinpoint one house over many others. And if it did it would have to be a few feet above the house and stationary - and that’s not how Hayley’s comet flies.
And planets aligning also happens miles and miles away - lightyears away - so they also are not close enough to pinpoint one house among others.
Pause
Now you can possibly see my frustration here. I’m getting nowhere near to a decent explanation of this star was. Anything that has been explained is miles up in the sky and not close enough to distinguish between one house from all the others.
Pause
Now, there may be some of you who are thinking, ‘why are you wasting time on this?’ or ‘does it REALLY matter?’
Well, that’s a good question - but as a scientist, and like Thomas, I want to know how this can be. Not so that I can believe. I DO believe - but what if other people have a similar question. It’s not great that I can’t explain something that is written in the bible.
And here’s where I noticed something during the week, which makes sense to me - and regardless of whether or not this is what happened, this concept is real and relevant and useful for us to know today.
And it’s this...
I read an article that this star - this light in the sky - might have been the Shekinah glory of God.
Now, what is that, you might ask? The Shekinah glory of God is the presence of God among his people. But because nobody could look on God and live, God veiled himself through cloud or fire and that was the Shekinah glory or the Shekinah of God.
So, if you remember in the Exodus, the children of Israel were led in the wilderness by the pillar of could during the day and the pillar of fire at night. That was the Shekinah glory of God - God’s presence with his people.
For example -
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
This was the presence of God among his people, leading them and guiding them in the wilderness. God never left their side…in fact - he dwelt with them - and we see that right at the end of Exodus when the tabernacle is finished and God ‘moves in’...
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.
Ex 40:
The presence of God - the Shekinah glory of God went with his people - God dwelt among them in the tabernacle. He tabernacled with them...
Pause
And this Shekinah as a pillar of cloud or fire meant a few things for the Israelites...
It meant guidance, as we have just seen in - the pillar went ahead of them to guide them on their way.
It was also a sense of protection. And we see this in ...
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
So the pillar of cloud went between the Egyptian army and the Israelites as they fled Egypt and offered protection and guidance as they fled.
Pause
And the pillar of cloud - the Shekinah glory of God also spoke to the Israelites. It provided verbal instruction to them. And we see this in Psalm 99:7.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
So the Shekinah of God - the presence of God with his people was evident in this pillar of cloud and fire - and when the tabernacle was finished, the cloud descended onto the tabernacle.
And after the temple was completed in Solomon’s time, the Shekinah of God moved to the temple...
10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
And that’s where God stayed - tabernacling with his people - dwelling with his people, until after the exile, when God departs from the temple in Ezekiel 10...
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
So in Ezekiel, the Shekinah glory of God left and the Lord no longer dwelt with his people for a few hundred years.
And that was a significant event in the history of Israel. The nation was in exile. They returned to rebuild their city. Their God had left their presence. The Shekinah glory was gone... And the only hope that God’s people have are in this promise of a Messiah...
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
1 Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.
Micah 2:
Mic
Pause
So the Shekinah glory of God has gone. God is no longer dwelling with his people. And with the world waiting for a Messiah to come - a Christ to come - I’m not sure they realised that that Christ would be God himself. But John tells us that he was God himself...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
We have seen his glory…the Shekinah glory.
And get this…the Greek word used for dwelt is the word Skeno-OH and do you know what that word translates as? Tabernacle.
So the Word became flesh and tabernacled with us.
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The Word, who WAS God became flesh and tabernacled with us....God himself, coming down and dwelling with us once again.
And what happened when God himself came down and dwelt in the tabernacle? It was accompanied - every single time - by the Shekinah glory.
And when I looked up Shekinah glory in the bible dictionaries - here’s what it says about it...
The dominant theological motif associated with the pillar of cloud and fire is the “Immanuel concept”
The dominant theological motif associated with the pillar of cloud and fire is the “Immanuel concept”
Did you see that - the Immanuel concept - Immanuel…God WITH US.
The Shekinah glory - the pillar of fire and cloud represents the concept of GOD with us....Immanuel…God dwelling with man.
Now, when do we also hear a lot about Immanuel? At Christmas, when God himself - Jesus Christ - comes down and dwells with man.
Pause
So when God dwelt among his people in the old testament, the Shekinah glory was present. God dwells in the tabernacle - the Shekinah glory is there.
God dwells in the temple - the Shekinah glory is there.
God leaves the temple - the Shekinah glory disappears.
So surely, when God comes back again to dwell with us once more, if the Shekinah glory has always accompanied the Lord dwelling with us, don’t you think the Shekinah glory of God will be present when God comes back to dwell with his people?
Which means that when Jesus Christ comes to earth - God dwelling with man once more - the promised Messiah, Immanuel, God with us - it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think that the Shekinah glory would have been present once again.
- and so the moment God dwells among us once more in Jesus Christ - the promised Messiah - Immanuel, God with us - it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think that the Shekinah glory was present once again.
And if the Shekinah glory provided light at night, could that be the light that the wise men saw. Could that be the light that guided them like the pillar of fire guided the Israelites in the wilderness?
And to satisfy my scientific curiosity - that light IS something that could settle on top of a house and pinpoint that one house among others in a little town of Bethlehem.
But more than that - the theological significance is astounding - God has returned to dwell with his people, but in a tangible way - in a way that we can see him and touch him and hear him speak to us.
And like the shekinah of God led his people in the pillar of could and fire, this Immanuel would lead, and guide his people - think of how Jesus led the disciples.
This Immanuel would protect his people. This Immanuel would speak to his people-Remember ?
The glory of God came down at Christmas - God himself came and dwelt among us - he tabernacled with us.
Pause
So was this the star that the wise men saw? Who knows?
But that’s not important - and I know…you’d think it would pain me to say that - but the important thing is what this signifies - and what it shows is is thatGod himself came back to dwell among us. God couldn’t be confined to a temple - he left and came down to earth to be with us in a real way.
To teach us, to lead and guide us and to protect us from the evil one - because Jesus’ death on the cross secured the victory over Satan for those who believe.
And when Jesus was glorified and left this earth, God came down again - the Holy Spirit came and he tabernacles with us right inside us.
So God isn’t in the temple…You can’t put God in a box…God dwelt WITH us, and now he dwells WITHIN US.
And he continues to lead us and guide us…not through a pillar of cloud or fire, but through his word.
And Jesus
And he continues to speak to us…again, not through a pillar of cloud, but through his word and his Spirit.
And he continues to protect us…through his Spirit.
And what does that mean for us?
It means that God hasn’t left us - in fact he is closer to us than ever before. He’s living within us.
Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians...
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
So no matter how lonely you might feel…or no matter how ALONE you might feel… or no matter how lost you might feel - if you trust in Jesus Christ, then the presence of God himself is right with you and in you. God himself dwells not among us anymore, but within us…Immanuel, God with us.
Forget the star…we’ll never know what it was. Instead, remember the significance of the incarnation - Immanuel, God with us, who teaches us, who leads us, who guides us, who died for us, who gave us his Spirit to continue the work that he did here on earth.
And as we are filled more and more with his Spirit - as the Holy Spirit tabernacles more and more with us, our lives will change and we will bear fruit...
Gal 5:22-
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
My friends, we are so privileged to have Immanuel - God with us. And the one who is with us has promised never to leave us or forsake us.
So be encouraged, because we are not alone in this life if we have put our faith and trust in our Lord, Immanuel.
And so tomorrow, the next day, throughout Christmas, next year, you can face whatever life throws at you because God is WITH US…Not in a surreal etherial way. Not in the walls of this church, but physically and somehow actually WITHIN us...
And as you grow deeper and deeper in your faith, you’ll see more love, more joy, more peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in your life....
MORE love…MORE joy…MORE peace.
And is means that when you go to work - God is with you…Immanuel.
When you take a walk - God is with you.Immanuel.
When your loved-one passes - God is with you…Immanuel.
When you get the news from the doctor and it isn’t good new - God is with you…Immanuel.
And for me, last week when Naomi was paralysed and in pain and we were dealing with her issues - God is with us....Immanuel.
So embrace the Spirit - ask for a filling of God’s Spirit…to experience Immanuel - God with us - in a real and tangible way this Christmas and beyond.
Remember the Dog’s trust stickers that said, a dog is not just for Christmas - it’s for life?
Well, Immanuel is not just for Christmas…Immanuel is for life. God with us - tabernacling with us…living, dwelling within us for life.
Let’s pray.