Advent of Love

INTRODUCTION: Gifts - socks? - give out gufts????? micky tie for your dad.

We love him because he first loved us.

Loving God means pursuing Him. (2:1-2)

God came first. This was all his plan. The wise men were responding to God’s plan. The same for us today.

Matthew 2:1 ESV

1 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,

After- They were not there when he was born.

Wise men - magi - where we get the word Magic from. Sorcerers.

Wise men, magi, kings. We don’t know exactly who they are. Many have said they were a tribe from the Medes. Who were also in babylon with Daniel.

Daniel 2:48 ESV

48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

They were the King makers, not kings. - This is significant.

Here we have gentiles recognizing Him. Why did they care about whether the King of the Jews was born?

(haha how many can tell me the president of Mexico right now?)

586 BC Babylon captivity - Jews told them with Babylon.

God had been orchastrated this. This was God first, the wise men responded to it.

Matthew 2:2 ESV

2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

King of the Jews - This was concerning since there was already a king

This was no reason to think there was only three men. Modern idea of everyone ....

His star - His - interesting.

Rose - seems to indicate that it was part of constellation, not a random blimp in the sky.

Come to worship him. - They obviously had some type of belief that Jesus was special.

Worship - originally meant to stoop down and kiss the feet of a monarch.

The world only cares about itself. (2:3-8)

Matthew 2:3 ESV

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;

Herod the king - he was the king set up by Rome. A puppet king. Less power than a governor today. Edomite - one of Israel's enemies.

When he died, he collected most loved people and killed them so their would be morning.

Was troubled - agitated.

All of Jerusalem with him- Jerusalem was a decent size city. I don’t it was three guys on camels. Wouldn’t have created much of an uproar. But if a large caravan showed up people would notice.

How sad is it that Jerusalem was worried about their king being born.

Maybe they were tired of turmoil.

Matthew 2:4 ESV

4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

assembling - King of Jews should have - he should have known this info.

He called the chief priests, former priests, and scribes to discover where he would be born.

Christ - Notice, Magi did not say Christ, but he knew better! Yet he wanted to kill him.

Satan was trying to eliminate the messiah even at this early stage

Matthew 2:5–6 ESV

5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

SLIDE: Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Few differences, most are just small changes in different translations.

Major differences was the last line “who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Most believe that was a line added by Matthew. No sense for the priests to tell that to Herod.

Matthew was allowed. He was showing that Jesus was Messiah.

Kings were often compared to shepherds in the Bible. Ezekiel and Jeremiah bad shepherds. John 10 Good shepherd.

Matthew 2:7–8 ESV

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

Ironic - Bethlehem was 6 miles away. Easy walk or especially on a horse. But he did not want to get in trouble. Army was away. He determined to do it after they left.

Ascertained - to be exact.

Herod was under the impression that the star showed up when Christ was born.

I too may come and worship him - A perfect example of a fake worshiper. He was a fake worshiper. It was never about worship

Some of us are here for the wrong reason. But its not to late!

Loving God requires giving to Him. (2:9-12)

Matthew 2:9 ESV

9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

It does appear supernatural in nature. It came to rest. It was noticeable to them, but no one else noticed it.

Some point to being Jupiter and Saturn crossing in 7 BC.

Matthew 2:10–11 ESV

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Rejoice exceedingly with great joy. - They were thrilled. The imagery is that they were chasing this star. Lost it. Then found it. Meaning they would find the Messiah.

That is the appropriate response to finding the King.

Some say they let out with a scream

Have you ever been around a star gazer?

Fell down and worshiped him - Notice they worshiped him first, before the gifts before anything. They worshipped him.

Child - Not baby like it states in Luke 2:12 to shepherds. He was a small child at this point.

gold - Gold frequent gift. Especially for Kings

No doubt help pay for the upcoming trip to Egypt

frankincense - It was an incense. Only incense allowed permitted on the altar (Ex. 30:9, 34-38).

It was used in sacrifices.

Myrrh - resin, gum and oil. Used to pack in clothing of a deceased person to stifle the smell of the body decaying.

John 19:39 - Joseph of Arimathea one day use myrrh to on Jesus birthday.

Imagine being Mary.

The Warning from the Lord 2:12 - “12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.”

We will all leave a different way. Jesus will also leave differently

CONCLUSION:

Will you give yourself??