Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning!

Turn in your Bibles to Matt 2. The last few weeks we looked at Jesus' genealogy...his earthly lineage and his heavenly lineage...as Mary conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 1 of Matthew emphasizes who Jesus is...He is the Messiah and King, as seen in his lineage, where He fulfills the Davidic and Abrahamic covenants, He was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, and His name is Jesus "Yahweh saves"...all of these realities shout to the Jews that Jesus is the King, He is the Messiah.

In Chapter 2, Matthew will continue this theme citing 4 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, and we will encounter 3 main characters, or groups of characters, and their attitude towards the King.

A key theme in our message today is "Heart attitudes towards Jesus."

LET'S PRAY...

LET'S READ... Matt 2:1-12 and observe the heart attitudes of Herod, the religious leaders, and the wise men toward Jesus.

Matt 2:1-2 "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, 2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?

For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

1. Between Matthew 1-2, Matthew skips over a few accounts listed in Luke...details more important to Luke's audience...Greeks/Gentiles, and less significant for Matthew's Jews.

2. So, prior to Matthew 2, Luke recorded...

3. Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth, but because of a census decree from Caesar Augustus, they had to return to their city of origin...since Joseph was of the house of David, and David was from Bethlehem (1 Sam 16)...so they head from Nazareth to Bethlehem which will fulfill Mic 5:2.

A most inconvenient 90 mile journey for Joseph and especially Mary since she was with child.

4. Luke also records the Shepherds and Angels visited the Baby Jesus in a manger.

On the 8th day Jesus was circumcised, and on the 40th day, Jesus was presented at the temple to God...according to Exo 13, Lev 12.

5. And, that brings us to Matt 2.

6.

In verse 1, we will see the visit of the wise men occurs about 1-2 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea...

7. Bethlehem of Judea is mentioned to differentiate this city from another Bethlehem...Bethlehem in Galilee.

Bethlehem of Judea was the Royal City...again, as mentioned earlier, where David was born.

An important detail to fulfill prophecy.

8. Bethlehem when translated from Hebrew to English means "House of Bread" and Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life."

How fitting that the Bread of Life would be from the House of Bread?

9.

In verse one we are introduced to 2 of our main characters in this account...Herod the king and the wise men,

10.

Let's first get to know Herod the king also known as Herod the Great.

11.

Herod was a very troubled person.

Under 5 foot tall...He had a Napoleon complex before Napoleon even came on the scene.

I know my kids are going to ask me later, "What's a Napoleon complex?"

It's an inferiority complex attributed to people of short stature, and Napoleon was about 5'6".

12. Herod was an Idumean.

Idumea was another name for Edom or the Edomites...the descendants of Esau...as in Jacob and Esau.

Their father was Isaac and Grandfather was Abraham.

So, they had common ancestry with the Jews, but they were not Jewish, and they were known for their idolatry.

The Edomites had come against the Israelites numerous times, and even allied with Nebuchadnezzar when he besieged Jerusalem.

Isaiah and Jeremiah both pronounced judgments upon Edom for their treachery (Isa 34:5-8; Isa 63:1-4; Jer 49:17).

They settled in southern Palestine and prospered for over four centuries.

During the time of the Maccabees the Idumeans were subdued and forced to conform to Jewish laws, and submit to the Jewish government.

So, Herod's lineage was one of discord with the Israelites, but was also influenced by the Israelites and either because of this influence, or for political motives, Herod publically identify as a Jew, though he did not observe Jewish law.

13.

Prior to Herod's rule, The Hasmonean dynasty reigned over Judea for about 80 years (140 to 63 B.C), and controlled about as much land as Solomon.

The Maccabees founded the Hasmonean dynasty and they did a lot of good in Judea.

Herod was the son of Antipater, a high-ranking official in the Hasmonean dynasty.

14.

In 63 B.C. Judea was conquered by the Roman Republic which was the beginning of the end of the Hasmonean dynasty.

15.

In 40 BC Herod the Great was named governor of Galilee.

The Hasmoneans remained in conflict with Rome, and Herod sided Rome.

He was a bit of a sell-out, and made many powerful friends.

The Roman Senate gave Herod the title "king of the Jews" and charged him with conquering Judea.

After about three years of fighting, Herod was victorious in 37 BC. and was effective in maintaining the Pax Romana (the Peace of Rome).

16.

Herod attempted to legitimize his rule in the eyes of the Jews by marrying Mariamne, a Hasmonean princess, and appointed her brother, Aristobulus III, as High Priest.

He also enacted policies fostering economic prosperity, and built a number of magnificent structures...all of these achievement earned his the the title "Herod the Great."

17.

Some of the structures he built:

18.

Most significant: Around 20 B.C., he enlarged and updated the Second Temple in Jerusalem (the Temple built when Ezra and Nehemiah returned from captivity) to a size and magnificence never before seen, not even in the days of Solomon.

After the major updates and upgrades, the temple became known as Herod's Temple, which was ultimately destroyed in 70 A.D. during the Roman siege of Jerusalem.

All that remains today of this temple is the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a most holy site of the Jews today.

19.

He also built many other amazing cities and structures: the artificial port city of Caesarea Maritime, the fortress of Masada, the Herodium; He fortified Jerusalem including building the Antonia Fortress; and he built many other fortresses, aqueducts, theatres, and other public buildings, and beautified many surrounding cities.

20.

For all his achievements, he also had a dark side.

Herod became increasingly suspicious and paranoid that others wanted to overthrow him...including his own family.

21.

He killed 3 of his sons from his 10 wives (2 of those son's from Mariamne).

22.

He had Aristobulus III, the High Priest and Mariamne's brother drowned by his men during a rough game of water polo.

23.

He was known to love Mariamne above all his wives, but besides murdering her sons and her brother, he also executed her grandfather, her mother and Mariamne herself.

24.

He was particularly suspicious of Mariamne's family because he considered them a legitimate rival to the throne because of their Hasmonean lineage.

25.

Caesar Augustus is reported to have said, "It is better to be Herod's pig then his son." because he kept Kosher...he didn't eat pork.

26.

He put to death 46 members of the Sanhedrin- the supreme Jewish Religious Council.

27.

And, he killed many others either to keep the peace, in his paranoia, or because of his, as Josephus put it, "barbarous temper," ...including killing all of the male children of Bethlehem 2 years old and under, as he attempted to kill the Christ who was and is the legitimate King of the Jews.

28.

In 4 B.C., Herod the Great died in Jericho of an excruciatingly painful and foul disease, which became known as "Herod's Evil."

Doctors, through medical investigative work, have come up with the diagnose of "kidney disease complicated by Fournier's gangrene" which they describe as (and I quote) "chronic kidney disease complicated by a very uncomfortable case of maggot-infested gangrene of the genitals."

29.

Gangrene is extremely foul smelling, and it has been said that his guards could only stand a short post before they had to be excused and were sick to their stomachs themselves.

30.

Josephus, in The Antiquities of the Jews, wrote Herod was so despised in his final days and he had become so bitter towards his people that , upon realization that his death was imminent, Herod ordered his sister, Salome, to assemble the most notable men of the entire Jewish nation to the large arena, the Hippodrome in Caesarea Maritime, and placed soldiers round the hippodrome who would shoot them with darts (perhaps Plumbata) upon Herod's death- just to guarantee there would be mourning in the kingdom.

31.

Josephus quotes Herod saying, "I shall die in a little time, so great are my pains... but what principally troubles me is this, that I shall die without being lamented, and without such mourning as men usually expect at a king's death."

32.

Salome ultimately disobeyed the order and released the prisoners when Herod died.

33.

Understanding how foul of a man Herod was helps us to understand his ill motives when he interacts with the wise men, and helps up to understand the wretched political leaders in the days of Jesus and the early church.

34.

After Herod died, Herod's sons, also named Herod, came to rule...and the apple did not fall far from the tree.

Herod was a family name almost synonomous with "ruler."

I like how J. Vernon McGee referred to the Herodian Dynasty...he called them "a bunch of rascals."

35.

1st 3 rulers after Herod died...

36.

Herod Archelaus- appointed ethnarch (ruler of an ethnic group; ruled over 1/2 of the territory Herod the Great oversaw)- over Samaria, Judea, and Idumea.

Very cruel and a poor leader.

This is the same Archelaus we will read about in Matt 2:22.

By 6 A.D. (after only 2 years of rule) Rome replaced him with a number of Roman Prefects or Governors.

At Christ's crucifixion the Roman Prefect was Pontius Pilate.

37. Herod Philip II- appointed tetrarch (ruler of a fourth)- who lost his wife to his half-brother Herod Antipas.

38.

Herod Antipas- appointed a tetrarch- rebuked by John the Baptist for taking Herod Philip's wife (Matt 14; Luke 3).

Antipas was also part of the trials and crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 23).

39.

Herod Agrippa I- reigned from 41-44 A.D. and was given the title "king of the Jews" by Rome.

We read about him in Acts 12...persecuted the church and had the apostle James, Jesus' half-brother put to death.

You may recall the account when he gave a speech to the people of Tyre and Sidon and the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god an not of a man!" And, Herod accepted the praise instead of giving glory to God, so God struck him and he was eaten by worms and died.

40.

Herod Agrippa II- seen in Acts 25-26.

He saved Paul from trial and imprisonment in Jerusalem and said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian."

He ruled outside of Judea

41.

After Agrippa II, the Herodian dynasty fell out of favor with Rome.

There were a total of 8 rulers in the Herodian Dynasty, not all mentioned here or in the Bible.

And, overall they ruled various areas in and around Judea from 40 B.C. to 100 A.D. (140 Years).

42.

I hope you took notes, there will be a test later.

43.

In our lifetimes, our political climate has never been like it was in the early church.

As crazy as our days are, we can be thankful for this.

44.

The second main characters in this account were the wise men...

45.

Wise men...magos in Greek...by definition it's a word of Persian origin...an astrologer...a magi...where we get our English word "magician."

"The name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc.

46.

The Wise Men were very likely involved in some disturbing pagan occult practices back in their homeland.

47.

In verse 1 the wise men were said to come "from the East"...while, we don't know exactly where in the east these wise men came from...here is what we do know...

48.

There is a strong possibility, these wise men came from Babylon...

49.

In 605 B.C., the Babylonians deported a number of Jews to Babylon, including Daniel.