Lessons from the Magi

Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Theme: True worship does not originate with plans and programs, but starts in a heart that has experienced the saving grace of God. Worship is essentially our response to God's grace.

Today is Epiphany Sunday, and is also known as Three Kings Day and Theophany Sunday. It is technically the end of the Advent season. The word means manifestation, and in Western Christendom, Epiphany is the celebration of the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem. It represents the revelation of the Christ to the Gentile nations. The Old Testament promised this would happen. The Gospel is for both Jew and Gentile.

Epiphany is the starting day of the Epiphany season, and has historically guided the Church’s worship practices through Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Easter season.

Why should this matter to us. What does this passage of Scripture have to teach us?

I. Lesson #1: WORSHIP IS AT THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE

1. the context of the Christmas narrative in the Gospel of Matthew magnifies the importance of worship

a. it's what the Magi have come to do and what Herod feigns to do

1) the text reminds us that worship can be sincere and genuine, or it can be trivial and false

2. as a minister, one of my great concerns is the temptation to make our worship consumer driven instead of biblically driven

a. sadly, for many Americans, "worship" has become just another commodity for which people shop around seeking the best bargain for their buck

1) if worship is not sensational then it is not worthy of our time

a) if the music is not upbeat, and uplifting, if the solo is not of recording artist quality, it’s worship unworthy of our time

b) if the welcome is not warm, if we’re not fawned over, if we don’t get a swag-bag at our first visit, it’s worship unworthy of our time

c) if the lighting is not ‘cool’, if the videos are not entertaining, if the sermon is not all about my ‘felt-needs’, it’s worship unworthy of our time, and we continue shopping around

3. for too many professing believers in our culture, the bottom line question about worship is "How did it make me feel?" as if worship was somehow “all about us”

a. to put it bluntly, for many Christians the worship experience has become an idol

4. the story of the Magi illustrates for us some basic principles of authentic worship

A. AUTHENTIC WORSHIP SEEKS CHRIST’S PRESENCE

1. the Magi’s identity is uncertain

ILLUS. Few biblical stories are as well known, yet so clouded by myth and tradition, as the visit of the Magi. Most of these legends and myths that surround the Magi developed during the Middle Ages. Tradition says that they were Kings, and there were three—one from India, one from Egypt, and the third from Greece. Their names are recorded as Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar. Legend also has it that the disciple Thomas baptized them and that, years after their death, Helena—mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine and a devout Christian— discovered their burial places, exhumed their bones, and that they now reside in the great cathedral of Cologne, Germany.

a. virtually every tradition about the Magi is false

2. the biblical text is, for many, frustratingly brief

“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 in the east and have come to worship him.”” (Matthew 2:1–2, NIV84)

a. they are Magi ... they are from somewhere East of Judah ... a star is somehow involved ... they’ve come to worship the new born kind of the Jews

1) that’s it, that’s all we’re told

b. from that we can make some educated assumptions

1) the weight of historical evidence supports the conclusion that they were a priestly cast of men probably from ancient Persia (modern-day Iran), that they were experts in astronomy and the physical sciences, and that they were acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures

2) that’s it—that’s all we can definitely say about them

3. why does Matthew protect their anonymity?

a. because the focus of the text is on the Son of Man; not the wise men

4. vs. 2 describes the purpose of the Magi’s journey—a star has portended the birth of a new Jewish king in Judah, and they have made an arduous journey to pay him homage

a. one night during their observations of the heavens, they notice a celestial phenomenon that they have never seen before

b. it's different than all other stars in their night sky

1) like nearly all the pagans of their day, they could have chosen to worship this star and assumed it was a “new god” passing through the heavens as did Mars, and Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter

c. but they don't worship the star—they perceive it as an omen that heralds a momentous occasion

1) they begin to pour over the known literature of their day seeking a clue as to the star's meaning

2) they find their answer in the Hebrew Scriptures

“ “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. ... .” (Numbers 24:17, NIV84)

3) when the Magi arrive in Jerusalem, they immediately head to King Herod’s palace assuming this is were the new king has been born

4) this is, of course, news to Herod and his court, and Judah’s religious elite

5) but something interesting is going on here ... even King Herod is perceptive enough to realize that the ‘king’ the Magi are describing is actually Israel’s long-awaited Messiah

a) this will change everything

5. in seeking Christ’s presence our worship braves all obstacles to be in his presence

a. the Magi’s determination to worship the King of the Jews makes our efforts at worship seem small by comparison

1) the Magi Have Come a Thousand Miles to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

a) many church members today won't even travel across town to worship if they don't feel up to it

b) and if the weather is bad, forget it, that's the most convenient excuse not to come—although they would not dare think about missing work on the same pretense

2) the Magi Have Traveled Months to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

a) many church members today work 60 hours a week at their jobs, but whine about the length of the worship if it goes ten minutes past the allotted time?

3) the Magi Have Braved Harsh Conditions and Difficult Circumstances to Find and Worship the New King of the Jews

a) many church members today grouse that the church it too hot or too cold

b) or the music is too loud, or not their preferred style

ILLUS. Sometimes were like the little boy who was invited by his friend to go to church one Sunday. The boy who was invited declined his friend's offer. "/ don't want to go to your church," he said. "It's too violent."

"What do you mean it's too violent?" asked the boy who had invited his friend.

"Well," the friend replied, "the other night when I was over here for dinner, I heard you dad talking about the church. He said that the choir had murdered the anthem, the soloist had butchered her number and that the preacher was stepping on everyone's toes!"

6. authentic worship seeks Christ’s presence

B. AUTHENTIC WORSHIP BOWS BEFORE THE KING

1. the wise men stand in marked contrast to the religious and political elite of Jerusalem

a. the priests and scribes knew where the Messiah would be born, yet none of them joined the Magi in their journey to Bethlehem

b. the wise men, however, put their faith to work and discovered the Savior

3. our worship, for it to be genuine biblical worship, gives heart-felt adoration to the Christ

ILLUS. J.C. Ryle, a 19th-century Christian who was the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, wrote a little commentary on Matthew. On this passage concerning the Magi, he writes, “The Magi saw no miracles to convince them that this baby was the ‘King of the Jews.’ They heard no wise words out of his mouth. They saw nothing but a newborn infant on the lap of a peasant woman, but they worshiped. No greater faith than this can be found in the whole of the Bible.”

a. now think about that ... look at almost everyone else in the New Testament who came to faith in Jesus

1) they believed because they heard Jesus preach or teach

2) they believed because they saw Jesus perform a miracle

3) they believed because they received a miracle in their life

b. but the Magi walk into a home, see an infant on the lap of a poor woman, and they worship him

1) the only thing that accounts for this is their realization that by divine revelation, Jesus turns out to be what they’ve needed all their lives

c. authentic worship starts in a heart that has experienced the saving grace of God, and turns in adoration to a God who emptied Himself of divine glory and became a man who took upon Himself the sins of the world

ILLUS. In his book, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, William Temple wrote this about worship, “ … Worship is the submission of all our nature to God ... It is the quickening of our conscience by his Holiness; the nourishment of our mind with his truth; the purifying of our imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of our will to his purpose — all this gathered up in adoration.”

4. the Psalmist tells us that "the Lord inhabits the praises of his people"

a. is it possible that the reason God seems so distant in worship at times is because we've not given Him any reason for being here?

b. Jesus is the One who paid a debt He did not owe, to free you from a debt you could not pay

c. how can we keep from bursting out in praise, and worship?

1) how can we NOT bow before the Savior in humble adoration?

C. AUTHENTIC WORSHIP GIVES OUR TREASURES

1. there will always be those who see Christmas as little more than a tradition or a holiday

a. but to the redeemed of the Lord it marks the commemoration of the most historic, world-changing, life-changing birth civilization has ever known

2. the wise men gave Christ their worship—which is what God treasures most—but they also gave him those things which they treasured most

a. their gifts were given as evidence of their adoration

b. they were valuable, expensive treasures

3. our treasures must also be offered freely

a. 1st, the Magi's gifts were not offered from compulsion but from the extravagance of devotion

b. 2nd, the Magi show us that those who love Jesus whole-heartedly demonstrate it by offering their treasures

c. 3rd, the Magi reveal that God is worthy of our most valuable possessions, but He desires one gift supremely: the gift of ourselves in worship

d. 4th, giving is an act of adoration

1) our worship can be like the Magi’s—sincere and genuine

2) or it can be like Herod's—trivial and false

Lesson #1: Worship Is at the Heart of the Christian’s Life

II. Lesson #2: THE GOSPEL IS FOR ALL NATIONS

1. each of the four gospels, while they tell the same story, has an intended audience

a. Matthew’s intended audience are the Jews, and his purpose is to show the Jews that Jesus was the promised Messiah and King of the Jews

2. but, interestingly enough, Matthew’s gospel tells us that the first people who come to worship Jesus are not Jews, but are pagan Magi

a. that’s no accident

b. Matthew’s last words in his Gospel are the Great Commission: “Go into all world—all the Gentile nations—and preach the gospel ... “

c. the Psalmist predicted this 1,000 years before the event

”Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)

3. the core of the gospel message is that Jesus has come for the nations

a. Jesus was not merely a Jewish Messiah, or a Western European white man’s Savior, but the Savior of the world who has come to redeem men from every nation, every tribe, and every tongue

b. the Church’s task of missions and evangelism is not complete until people from every nation, tribe, and tongue have heard the Gospel and come to worship him

4. Matthew begins his Gospel by telling Israel “come and see;” and ends it by saying to Jewish believers “go and tell the Gentiles”

III. Lesson #3: GOD COMMANDEERS THE UNIVERSE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES

1. 2,000 years ago God was providentially at work in the geopolitical decisions of Rome, the village life of an out-of-the-way backwater called Nazareth, the observatory of Persian astronomers/astrologers, and also in the vastness of our solar system

a. God raised up the Empire of Rome to rule the Mediterranean world, and placed in the heart of Emperor Augustus that he should degree a census just so that God could move Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem where prophecy said Jesus would be born

b. God decreed that heavenly bodies were to be exactly at the right place at the exactly the right time to be seen by Persian astronomers, that convinced them that a remarkable birth had take place in Israel

1) God, hundreds of years before that, allowed Israel to be taken captive into Babylon so that Persian historians and astronomers might become familiar with Jewish Scriptures telling of a star that would appear signaling the birth of God’s Anointed One

c . God used the thoroughly paranoid King Herod to threaten the life of the baby Jesus that caused Joseph to take Mary and the baby and flee to Egypt—again so that prophecy might be fulfilled

1) what’s the point?

2. nothing associated with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus happened by accident

a. the same God who sovereignly arranged of the stars in the sky, and the affairs of the world to accomplish His will, is the same God who sovereignly arranges every detail of your life

b. nothing in your life takes God by surprise

IV. Lesson #4: THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD IS TURNED ON ITS HEAD IN JESUS

1. have you ever stopped to consider that from a rational, philosophical, scientific, and even a religious point of view, how thoroughly nonsensical the story of Jesus’ life is?

a. think for a moment of the major points of the story

Jesus is presented as the second Person of the Godhead who is incarnated in this world through a virgin who is told by an angel this will happen

this child will be 100% completely human and 100% completely God

because he is human, he can be tempted, because he is God he is incapable of sin

the first thirty years of his life are lived inconspicuously as a carpenter in a backwater village so innocuous that it’s never mentioned in the Old Testament or any other Jewish writing of the day

Jesus begins his ministry at age thirty, rises to super-star status within twenty-four months, because of his miracles and teachings, but when he lays out the cost of following him the masses begin to turn away, and by the time he dies eighteen months later he has only 120 followers

he dies at the age of thirty-three, crucified by the Romans as an insurrectionist at the instigation of the Jewish religious authorities who believe he’s a fake Messiah and a blasphemer, but who then ‘shows them’ by raising from the dead three days later

he teaches his disciple about the kingdom for forty days and then ascends bodily into heaven

and to believe upon him, and follow him, and serve him brings the remission of sin, and eternal life!

2. do you understand how that story sounds to the typical lost person?

a. it sounds like insanity at the worse, and foolishness at the least

b. and yet we believe it’s true

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:18–21, NIV84)

In July 1926 Dr James Allan Francis was preaching to the Baptist Young People’s Union at a Los Angeles Convention. In that sermon he shared his most famous illustration that we know as That One Solitary Life. He ends it with these words, “All the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.” To much of the world, the Gospel is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. It brings us into a relationship with the Christ to whom we own all our adoration; all our praise; all of our worship.