Untitled Sermon (2)

I. Their Search

A. Different

Tacitus and Suetonius, those Roman Historians would write that about the same time it was fated that men coming from the east would rule the world (Ruler)

B. De

The jews believed that during this time one from their country should become governor of the Habitable earth (Governor)

Magi in Athens were sacrificing to the memory of Plato

Augustus the Roman Emperor was being hailed as the savior of the World

Even the Shepherds of Luke Chapter two had a different search

B. Directed

A Star

The Scriptures

“ But you, oh Bethlehem of Ephratah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel , whose origin is from old, from ancient days

, “Then he said, Hear now, Oh house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you also weary GOD? Therefore the Lord will give you a sign: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His Name shall be called Immanuel

C. Destination (Bethlehem-The House of Bread; The Bread of Life was coming to and through the House of Bread)

C. Deception

Six miles to the South of Jerusalem

Looked like an amphitheatre of hills

Where Jacob buried Rachel

Where Ruth married Boaz

Known as the city of David

D. Deception

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 The Crafty King (Matthew 2:3–9)

He had been appointed governor in 47 BC; in 40 BC he had received the title of king; and he was to reign until 4 BC. He had wielded power for a long time. He was called Herod the Great, and in many ways he deserved the title. He was the only ruler of Palestine who ever succeeded in keeping the peace and in bringing order to a situation of disorder. He was a great builder; he was indeed the builder of the Temple in Jerusalem. He could be generous. In times of difficulty he cancelled the taxes to make things easier for the people; and in the famine of 25 BC he had actually melted down his own gold plate to buy corn for the starving people.

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 The Crafty King (Matthew 2:3–9)

But Herod had one terrible flaw in his character. He was almost insanely suspicious. He had always been suspicious, and the older he became the more suspicious he grew, until, in his old age, he was, as someone said, ‘a murderous old man’. If he suspected anyone as a rival to his power, that person was promptly eliminated. He murdered his wife Mariamne and her mother Alexandra. His eldest son, Antipater, and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, were all assassinated by him. Augustus, the Roman emperor, had said, bitterly, that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son. (The saying is even more epigrammatic in Greek, for in Greek hus is the word for a pig, and huios is the word for a son.)

II. They were Satisfied

A. They Submitted

B. They Shared

C. THey Shut down their Search