A Confrontational Christmas

Title- A Confrontational Christmas

Passage- Matthew 2:1-12

Introduction-

Introduction-

This past October our family went on a two week vacation

There was a lot of preparations for the trip

Food…clothes…bedding....travel routes....places to sleep....finances…and so on

When we go on a trip of any length it is not as easy as just hopping in the car and going

It takes planning and preperation

To take a family of five on a two week vacation it takes the conviction that the trip is necessary and worth it....

Ours was well worth it

There were little conflicts here and there but that is true of any journey…at some level conflict is a part of getting from point A to point B

What is the main driving point (CPS)?

One of the most overlooked aspects of the Christmas message is the conflict within it

The Christmas message is saturated with conflict

All the way from the response of the world to the pregnant virgin Mary

All the way to King Herod’s response to the wise men

Herod’s slaughter of the innocents

And on it goes

Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence?

Often in our lives conflict comes in hopes of moving us from where we are to somewhere better

This is, in it’s essence, the message of Christmas

There is much conflict to move us from where we are to something better.

Transition

In order to be moved to the better because of this conflict we must go through three stages…all three are seen in this passage with the “Wise Men”

The first stage we come to is...

I. The Conviction (verse 1 & 2)

Explain

All this verse tells us about these men is that they were “wise men” and that they travel from “the East”

It does not tell us their occupation…their names…not even their exact location.

It is safe, according to the many sources I looked at, to guess that these men most likely had traveled around 400 miles.

That trip would have taken at least 2-3 weeks with camels or about a month by foot.

Since they were guided by the star they would have most likely traveled at night and that could have made the journey take even longer.

Not only do we know that at the end of the journey do they bring to Mary and Joseph some very expensive gifts, it would have cost them a lot of their resources to make the journey.

Another assumption would be that they underwent the journey of their own accord and their own resources.

They do not come in the name of anyone or by the authority of anyone.

They just go to Herod and ask where the new king is....

Not because they were sent but because they saw the star in the sky.

They were convinced that they needed to embark on this journey to meet this new king

Bridge to today

Every journey cost something

When you go on vacation

To the grocery store

When you drive to church

Even if you walk somewhere....

Every journey has a cost.

Every journey begins with giving up something

Time

Money

Adding milage to your vehicle

And we look at the journey presented to us and we count the cost...

Relevance

The Christmas message presents to the listeners a journey

It confronts you with the message that Jesus was born…to live a sinless life…to die and raise again to give to you the righteousness needed to be reconciled to God the Father

But there is a cost to that journey

You need to count the cost

Why does this matter?

The first cost is to be convinced

The first step in the journey of the Christmas message is the conviction that Jesus is who He claimed to be

CS Lewis presents this conflict in his popular statement that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

If He is Lord then you need to have the conviction to take the first step to declare Him as such

Transition

This leads us into the second conflict....

Not only do we need to be convinced that Jesus is the Son of God we secondly need...

II. The Confession (verse 2)

Explain

They make a simple yet profound statement....

The profoundness comes later…first the simplicity

What do you think they were expecting to find?

The first clue is in where they went

The second clue is found in what they asked

They went to the palace, the place where you expect to find a king

And they ask for the one born the king of the Jews

They are not coming looking for a baby

They are here to meet a man

All they find is an angry king, and not the king they were looking for

Probably an awkward moment

But in verses 10-12

They see the star once again and get excited

They go into the house and who is there?

Jesus..not the grown man but the young Jesus

Here is to me what is profound about their response

The conviction that the King of the Jews was the Child Jesus

Off living in the countryside

Not at all what they expected

But when they see Him what do they do?

They fell down…they worshiped Him…and gave Him gifts

It is interesting the wording

They didn’t give gifts to Mary and Joseph but to HIM!!!

They weren’t turned off by His age

or His location

or His family situation

or His humbleness

They accepted Him and worshipped Him as who they were convinced He was…King of the Jews

Bridge to today

This needs to be our response today as well

The wise men could have had all sorts of reasons to turn their back on Jesus

But they didn’t

They made a confession in verse two that Jesus is the King of the Jews and in verse 11 they displayed their conviction that Jesus, even as a child, is the King of the Jews

Relevance

I am certain that these men had a reputation

What would Herod think...

Or their friends...

Or their family....

Coworkers....

Their conviction that Jesus was the King of Kings ran so deep that they confessed Him openly

Why does this matter?

The question this morning is this…do you confess that Jesus is who He said He was?

Are you here this morning aware of your sin unwilling to step out in faith and confess that Jesus is neither a liar or a lunatic but is the Lord of all

Are you willing to make Him the Lord of your life?

Transition

Admit that Jesus is the Son of God

That question leads us to the third response and that is...

Believe that died and rose again for your sins

Confess your sins and and repent of them

Do those three things and you are freed from your sins and reunited to God the Father

Then it is

III. The Coronation

Explain

The gifts that the wise men bring tell us a lot about their understanding of who they would be meeting.

The gifts were those of great value that would be brought to someone important

Much has been made of the significance of the three gifts

gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming

I would not disagree with this understanding but it is not where we are headed this morning

I want us to understand that these gifts we meant for a king…not a toddler

And when they met Jesus the toddler they still gave Him the gifts

In a sense what they are doing is recognizing this toddler as King

They are performing their own personal coronation ceremony

They were convinced enough to travel 400 miles

Even in spite of not finding who they thought they would they confessed Him to be the King

Then they made it personal…they personally declared Him to be king.

Bridge to today

How does this relate to today? How is this relevant?

When we are confronted with the truth about Jesus we need to commit to Him, confess Him, and personally make Him our King

Why does this matter?

Wherever you are today

Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition

If you are here and you have never heard this before

Challenge to act now (your part)…immanence

You need to make Jesus your King

Visualize Audience Implementation

If you are here and have made Jesus your King…are you still worshipping Him?

It is fascinating the value of the gifts they brought.

And that they laid them down before a toddler

Think about what a gold bar is worth...

Right now it is at just under $1500 per ounce

And to the ancients frankincense and myrrh would have had great value

These were things of great value to them

And they laid them at the feet of Jesus

I don’t know your situation this morning but I want to close with one final question...

Final Statement

What is it this morning that you need to lay at the feet of Jesus?

Closing Hymn

223- Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne