Sunday Sermon Matthew 2:1-12 (2)
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Praise God for the wonderful Christmas Eve Service!
Judy has felt that her season of teaching Bible study has come to a close. She needs to be at home with Ernie. Please pray for them.
Next week, Patti Pointer will be stepping into teach Bible study next week along with Brent Knowles, and Micheal Swenson as needed. So please, be praying for this transition for everyone.
Introduction
Introduction
Well Good morning church and merry Christmas! We made it through 2021 and are pressing into 2022.
And although 2021 was full of blessings and struggles, we should set our minds upon Jesus in 2022!
Because He is coming quickly!
Here at FCC we worship God in Spirit and in Truth one verse at a time, one book at a time!
We are currently in between books and will be starting a new book soon.
Today, I would like to pick up, where we left off.
It was the birth of Christ
So let’s open our Bible’s up to Matthew 2.
Read Matthew 2:1-12
Read Matthew 2:1-12
Prayer
Prayer
Lord Heavenly Father, we come before you with grateful hearts and minds that are turned toward heaven and we ask for you to fill us with your Spirit as we open your Word. We thank you for everything that you have given and that you are coming quickly! So please Lord, meet us where we are at and speak to us. Help us not be hearers only, but to be doers of your Word. Minister to those that are not with us and those who have joined us online this day! In Jesus Name we love you!
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, 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.”
Last week we learned that Bethlehem is tow words:
Beth- House
Lehem- Bread
Thus we get Bethlehem that means that house of bread andJesus said this:
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Herod – Herodes – “heroic”. The name of a royal family that flourished among the Jews around the time of Christ. The Herods were Idumean or “Edomites”, who married into the Jewish race. They were not pure Jews.
There are four different members of this family mentioned in the Bible, but this was the patriarch, known as “Herod the Great”.
He was born around 74 BC. He was appointed “king” of Judaea in 39 BC by the Roman Senate at the request of Mark Antony.
He was considered skilled in war, wise, but also very suspicious and cruel.
He married a Jewish wife, but because of his suspicions he eventually had her and her two or three sons killed.
Emperor CaesarAugustus (Gias Octavius) that we spoke of last week reportedly said it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son, for his pig had a better chance of surviving in a Jewish community.
His bloody reign, high taxes, and love of Roman customs alienated him from the Jews, but he tried to make them happy with great building programs at Jericho, and Caesarea, including the remodeling of the Temple (known as “Herod’s Temple).
He died at age 70 in the year 4 BC, which means that the birth of Christ had to have occurred no later than 4 BC.
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,
Wise men- magos- n. — any person well respected in the pagan world for their knowledge in the (occult) arts; especially astrology, medicine, and dream interpretation.
a magus
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.
the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been born, came to Jerusalem to worship him
a false prophet and sorcerer
Scholars are torn over exactly were these magi came from.
There are generally two views.
Persia which is modern day Iran
Or The Orient
Among them was Simon of Samaria (Acts 8:9), whom tradition and history have come to refer to as Simon Magus because of his “practicing magic” (Greek, mageuō, derived from the Babylonian magus, singular of magi).
But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,
He is known as Simon mangus
The Jewish false prophet Bar-Jesus was also a sorcerer, or “magician” (Greek, magos). These magicians were despised by both Romans and Jews. Philo, a first-century b.c. Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, called them vipers and scorpions.
Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
But the construction here in this text the magi from the east (the word literally means “from the rising” of the sun, and refers to the orient) who came to see Jesus were of a completely different sort. Not only were they true magi, but they surely had been strongly influenced by Judaism, quite possibly even by some of the prophetic writings, especially that of Daniel.
They appear to be among the many God-fearing Gentiles who lived at the time of Christ, a number of whom—such as Cornelius and Lydia (Acts 10:1–2; 16:14)—are mentioned in the New Testament.
So, it is important church for us to remember that these wise men were somehow influenced by Judaism and were Gentiles.
Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Chapter 5: We Two Kings (Matthew 2:1–12)
The plural subject of that sentence tells us there were more than one. Were there two? Were there twenty? We don’t know. Well then, where do we get three? This tradition comes from the three gifts mentioned in verse 11, the logic being that if there were three gifts there must have been three men.
These are Gentile men, not Jews.
The tradition that there were three comes from the three types of gifts they brought. The Scriptures don’t tell us how many there were. There were at least two and perhaps as many as a dozen.
Some even say this is where the tradition was started to give gifts on Christmas
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.”
When these magi, however many there were, arrived in Jerusalem, they began asking, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” The Greek construction (saying is a present participle emphasizing continual action) suggests that they went around the city questioning whomever they met
Note, they were Gentiles that came to worship the King of the Jews!
What we see here in this text is a contrast of comparison of two Kings church.
What King do you worship?
Matthew makes our decision rather easy, doesn’t he?
Do you want a madman or the Messiah?
Do you want a man who would order the massacre of innocent children (v. 16)
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
Or a man who would open his arms to children and lay down his life for the less-than-innocent of the world?
Do you want a ruler who rules by force, aggression, and cruelty or a ruler who rules by love, compassion, and the cross of his own sufferings?
Do you want a man who slaughtered the last remnants of the dynasty that ruled before him, put to death half of the Sanhedrin, killed 300 court officers, executed his wife and mother-in-law and two or three sons, and as he lay dying arranged for all the notable men of Jerusalem to be assembled in the Hippodrome and killed as soon as his own death was announced, so the people might weep instead of rejoice on the day of his death?
Do you want him for king? Or do you want the One who when reviled did not revile in return, who when he suffered did not threaten but rather bore our sins in his body on the tree (see 1 Peter 2:21–25)? Whom do you want?
We see the arrival of Jesus and the Wise Men
We see the indifference or the agitation of Herod and his men
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Troubled-tarassō- to agitate, trouble ,to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity, to disquiet, make restless, to stir up, to trouble, to strike one's spirit with fear and dread
I think it is important to see here as the leader goes, so goes his followers church.
All of Jerusalem was troubled and the sad thing is these were Jews
These were the religious folks of the day
And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
It is clear that Herod was not a Bible scholar so he sought out those who were:
Chiefs Priests
Scribes- The scribes or “teachers of the law” especially knew their stuff. They spent all day meticulously copying the Holy Scriptures, word by word, line by line. They were professional Bible scholars and teachers.
Lets face the facts, good leaders always surround themselves with people that know more than they do.
Herod asked them where Jesus was to be born church and notice that there is no delay, the scholars did not need to spend more time in the word, they answered the question rather rapidly:
So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
They didn’t have to open to Micah to know because they knew there Bibles
Do you know your Bible? How much time to you spend in the Word throughout the week?
How mush time do you spend our earthly things versus heavenly things, church?
This is Micah 5:2 church that we talked about last week, this is the prophecy that was fulfilled when Jesus was born!
I would probably think that when Herod would like to be called the King of the Jews, but Jesus was:
It is not surprising that they knew the answer.
It would be “shame on them” if they didn’t. What is surprising is that they did nothing with the answer.
Unlike these foreigners who “traveled far” over “field and fountain, moor and mountain,” these religious experts knew where He was.
The Apostle Paul put it like this:
always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
We must get this text church! These are the religious leaders of the day and they knew that the Messiah was about 5 miles to the south in Bethlehem, but they did not do anything.
The church is full of people like this.
The church, you say? Don’t you mean the world?
No, I mean the church.
Sure, there are people in the world who are indifferent to Jesus. They know he was born in Bethlehem, his mother’s name was Mary, he did miracles, he died on the cross, he rose from the dead. They know all this, and they just don’t care.
There are lots of people like that in the world.
But there are also lots of people like that in the church. If you quizzed them on Bible trivia, they’d do just fine. But if you informed them, “God in the flesh is just five miles down the street. Would you care to join me to meet him?” they would shake their heads and say, “Oh, not this time.
You know the NFL playoffs start today,” or “I’m sorry, it’s the last day of this unbelievable New Year’s sale,” or “I’d hate to miss my Sunday afternoon nap. Maybe next time.”
What indifference! We live in a world—a church world—of indifference.
People pack the pews each Sunday but live as though there is no King upon the throne but them. They are each their own king, and they do whatever is fitting in their own eyes.
But rest assured, King Jesus is not indifferent toward such false, self-appointed royalty.
John the Baptist (in the next chapter) tell us this:
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The religious leaders weren’t alone in their indifference. Matthew gives the impression that the whole city of Jerusalem knew, yet not one person went to the nearby town to see if these wise men were truly wise, to see if indeed the “star … out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17) had come into the world. What gross indifference to Jesus!
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”
We have ran out of time church and we will pick up here next week, but before we leave I have a question to leave you with that I seriously want you to ponder and the answer to this question will let you know why you continue to struggle with for if you always do, what you always did, you always get ! If nothing changes nothing changes!
Religion cannot reform your flesh, nor get you a free ride to heaven.
Who is The King of your life? Who is on the throne?
Prayer
Prayer
Benediction
Benediction
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
The Lord Bless You!
Your Mission Starts Now!