Jesus’ best and worst friends

Matthew 2:1-12

Every person can understand the impact of the birth of jesus by getting to know the groups of people in this passage.

Introduction:

I have never been one to watch the reality shows like survivor, but I have seen enough about them to know that a big part of survival in the various challenges is the making of alliances. In many of the reality shows people will develop a strategy of teaming up with the people who appear to be the best competitors. So through the series of the show those teams will work together and they will often times succeed in the various challenges.

Eventually however, these alliances will be broken. There is only one winner. So at some point the teams will become individuals fighting for the same prize. The person who was an ally at one time during the game becomes an opponent. They are really opponents throughout the game, but they play as teams for a time.

It appears that at one time during the game two people might be best friends. Then they can become bitter enemies. The reason I make this comment is because there are a lot of people like this in this passage. People who appear to be allies are really enemies. The people who have no reason for an alliance join forces with Jesus Christ. I want to look at the people close to Jesus in the passage to better understand the Christ.

Group I. The Magi

A. There is a great deal of speculation about who the Magi were. They might have been of oriental decent. They might have come from a country just east of Israel. It does seem pretty clear that they were men who focused on the stars. They were astrologers. It seems pretty certain that when they saw this star this is connected with the birth of Jesus it causes them to move into action. This was an indication that something big was happening in Israel. They ask of Herod, “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.” They were probably able to be considered dignitaries because they were important people from another country.

B. Wherever these men came from they probably had some other religion that was theirs. They were not Jews coming from Israel. These were men who were perhaps coming from Persia and they likely had their own religious beliefs. It might be that they were not making this journey for spiritual reasons. The word worship can simply mean to pay the appropriate respect. So, they could have recognized Jesus birth as significant, but did not attach spiritual significance to it. Yet they traveled to Jerusalem to find the child.

C. Jesus really shook up the way things are done. People in the world grasp that. In most churches there will be a spike in attendance on Christmas, and on Easter. People recognize Jesus as someone who is important, but He is not someone that they have really allowed into their life. In their head they know he is important, but he does not have control of their heart yet.

D. Perhaps you are one of those people. You know Jesus is important, so you come to church on Sunday. You put some money in the offering and you might even pray occasionally. But, you have not allowed Jesus to take hold of your heart yet. Perhaps today is the day to take that step in your life. Do more than just know that he is important.

Group II. Herod

A. There were a series of Roman rulers in Palestine around the time of Jesus. It is most likely that Herod the great was the ruler that the Magi visited. He was fiercely loyal to the Roman emperor and this caused him to be a favorite among the Romans, but not so popular among the Jews. He did much for the Jews, but he also did much to protect himself. He killed his wife and two of his sons because he felt threatened by them. He killed off anyone who might be a threat to his reign. So when the Magi came and asked about the one born king of the Jews, this caused his jealousy to arise. We did not read that far, but in the next section of Matthew, Herod ordered all of the male children in the area who were two or under to be executed. He did this to protect himself.

B. The information he received from the magi and the teachers and priests made him realize this child could rise up. He could take over Herod’s position. This did not happen because Mary and Joseph were warned to leave. So they were protected from the slaughter Herod brought. Herod is a lot like the Magi. He realizes the significance of the birth of Christ. Rather than desiring to go and worship the Christ he feels the need to protect himself. So he goes to pretty ugly measures to have Christ stopped.

C. This is typical of a lot of people in our world also. Many in the world know a lot about Jesus, but they feel threatened by him. So rather than embracing Jesus they feel the need to fight against him.

Group III. Priests and teachers

A. When Herod is confronted with this issue of a king being born in his kingdom that he knows nothing about he calls on the, “chief priests and the teachers of the law.” These were likely a group of people who were experts in Jewish law and the Bible. So these were the most likely people for Herod to call on. The passage they quote comes from Micah 5:2. It is a verse that clearly states that the Christ is to be born in Bethlehem. They were no doubt a group of educated people. They knew the Bible and they might have even had this verse committed to memory. So when Herod calls on them they know immediately what he is talking about.

B. There are a lot of people in our world who are very educated, but they refuse to believe in Jesus. It was an eye opening experience for me in college when I was to write a book report on a book for a Bible class. I made the statement that the author seemed to want to disprove what most Christians accept as fact. The professor put a note on my report that this was to be assumed. This professor was trying to get us to think critically about the things we were reading, so he would have us read some pretty unusual things.

C. Since the religious leaders were the people who seemed to be fighting with Jesus most of the time, I am assuming that these experts were the same. They knew a lot about the Bible, but they had not allowed the Bible to transform their lives as it is capable of. The religious leaders were more interested in making sure that people lived in accordance with the law, many of which were created by men and not by God. These were laws to clarify God’s laws. They knew a lot, but they did not seem to know the Christ when he finally arrived in the world.

D. Knowledge is not a bad thing, but it can be something which keeps us from God. I hope that we are not so smart that we fail to draw near to God. Make sure that knowledge is an instrument, and not a hindrance in our faith.

Group IV. People of Jerusalem

A. I included these people because we are told that they were troubled by the news that the Christ had been born. You might imagine of what we know of Herod that anything that bothers him would bother you as well. Assume that you know he has already had his wife murdered because he felt that she was a threat, and you also know that he has had two of his sons murdered because he is afraid they might threaten him. Knowing all of this information, we would assume that it is not going to take much to set Herod off. He is clearly a man who has a reputation for protecting himself and his position. This would be a very scarey time for the people of Jerusalem. They could certainly be fearful of the repercussions this kind of news would have on them.

B. I would guess that the people of Jerusalem were excited about having the Messiah finally appear. We know from that attitude of many of the people at the time they were hoping that the Christ would overthrow the roman rule. The knowledge that this news disturbed Herod, it would be frightening to everyone else as well. They were happy, but they were also in fear of their own security.

C. What a sad state of affairs. To know that something as magnificent as the birth of the Christ had taken place. To know that you want to celebrate, and you might even secretly celebrate it. Because of fear of some kind of repercussion from Herod you have to keep things quiet. In many areas in our society we must keep our celebrations of the Christ quiet. In many ways we have been asked to keep our faith private. If we do open up about our faith we can be accused of being narrow minded, ignorant and prejudiced. In many ways our society has asked us to keep quiet about our faith.

D. As Christians we need to know where we have the freedom to speak openly about our faith, and we need to be willing to do that. We so easily overlook the freedom that we have as Christians today. We need to make the most of the great freedoms we have been granted in our world.

Conclusion:

Jesus’ arrival in the world was something that had an impact on many people. For some it was a negative impact, and for others it was a positive change. Jesus certainly shook up the world when he showed up.