The Child Arrives

And let me add my welcome to the other welcomes here this morning.

My name's Steve. I've never met you before.

I've seen you past here at St Paul's.

And what a great day to be gathering on this Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Christmas is huge. It's big.

It is incredible that something that is started so small would grow into something as magnificent as it is today.

So small that a poor, unwed teenage girl would give birth to a baby.

And this day, 2,000 years later, around half of the world's population, 3.5 billion people celebrate Christmas.

160 countries in our world declare it to be a holiday season.

That's over 80% of our countries in this world declare it to be a holiday season.

To go from something so small to something so big points to something clearly very significant that's happening here on this very first Christmas Day.

It's celebrated differently around the world.

But one of the interesting things about Christmas, which we don't get in any other celebrations throughout our calendar year in the year,

is the fact that the giving and receiving as gifts is so widely spread.

You know, like birthdays or retirement, that sort of stuff.

It's normally one person getting all the gifts.

Whereas Christmas is about everyone involving and sharing the gifts.

And it's pointing to the symbolic nature of the magnificence of the gift of Jesus Christ.

Who he is and what he has come to do for our sake.

That's what makes Christmas so, so big.

And that's where we want to head today as we look at Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

It'd be great if you got your Bibles open.

We want to see three personal gifts, three personal reactions, and one personal response to the person of Jesus.

So three personal gifts.

We read there in verse 11.

Jesus, as a baby, received a bunch of gifts, three gifts from some strangers.

Odd sort of thing.

He gets gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.

As a poor peasant girl, Mary would have been fairly pleased, I'd imagine, with this.

You know, like these are expensive gifts.

And so this newborn baby comes with this extensive trust fund that would have been deeply encouraging for her.

But these gifts are deeply personal and confusing at the same time.

They reveal, in the end, three significant things.

Who Jesus is, what he came to do, and how he did it.

The gold that he receives points to the kingship of Jesus.

Gold was a gift that was brought to an audience of a king in the ancient Near East in the first century.

You didn't turn up to a king without a gift of gold.

So the Magi, when they turned up, were expecting to see a king.

Once upon a time when Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia, the nation, the grateful nation of Australia, gave her the 50th edition of Who's Who in Australia.

That's the gift she received.

Obviously, we really appreciate her.

So they turn up to say, where is the one born who's to be born king of the Jews?

And what alerted them to the arrival of a new king is in the second half of verse 2.

We saw his star in the east and we have come to worship him.

Now, the Magi were astrologers.

They were magicians and interpreters of dreams.

And in the ancient world, people believed in astrology.

And so the Magi, in their culture, were considered the elite.

They were the academics.

They were the wise men, the professors.

And when these guys saw the star, they really recognised in this moment that something significant was happening.

Why is that?

Well, in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, when he died, one of the most astonishing flukes in history, if you like, took place.

A nova appeared in the sky above his funeral.

And so from that moment on in the ancient Near East, stars were associated with great men and particularly rulers.

And so these Magi are putting two and two together here.

And so what would have particularly encouraged them to dust off their passports and head off

was the strong rumour in the first century that there would be a change in world dominion.

Rule would start to come out of centralised in Judea.

Famous and diverse first century historians like Tacitus, Josephus and Suetonius all recorded this incident.

It would have been not really much of a leap at all for the Magi to conclude that political changes were underway when they saw the star.

And they set out on this long and difficult journey to find the ruler of the world and to offer him gold.

But frankincense or incense was an unexpected gift.

Because this gift was used by priests in the temple as they mediated between God and people.

That is, frankincense was symbolic of relationship with God.

And so the Magi were recognising Jesus at this point, not just as a king, but as a priest.

The one who would mediate between God and humanity, the divine and a rebellious people.

But the third gift would have really been something that would have thrown any brand new mother, the gift of myrrh.

That's because in the first century ancient Near East, myrrh was the main ingredient for the embalming of a dead body.

It's a symbol of death.

And so the gift of myrrh is prophetic.

The baby born a king and priest was a baby born to die.

And that, in the end, is what was needed to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity.

Jesus would die for the sins of humanity.

The title, King of the Jews, is only used twice in Matthew's Gospel.

Here at the birth of Jesus, again at the crucifixion of Jesus.

Born a king who exercises his rule by sacrificing himself to bring us back into relationship with God.

That's the three gifts.

Who Jesus is, what he came to do, and how he would do it.

And then, in this text, we see three reactions to the person of Jesus.

One thing you notice in all the historical biographies of Jesus is that whenever Jesus turns up, he divides people's opinion rapidly.

It's like he's this bowling ball.

It just sort of smashes people's views.

And see, here at the start of his life, we see three immediate reactions.

And really, if you like, two groups, two camps forming already.

One is full of praise and welcome.

The other is full of hatred, opposition, and indifference.

So first of all, we have hostile Herod.

Herod lies through his teeth.

Verse 8.

Go and make a careful search for the child.

As soon as you find him, report to me so that I too may go and worship him.

Now, Herod has as much interest in worshipping Jesus as I have to take up knitting lessons.

Which, you don't know me, no interest at all.

Later in the chapter, we read Herod didn't fool the Magi.

They sneak off a different way, telling, you know, without telling Herod where Jesus is.

And he is furious.

He is furious, Herod.

So furious.

He orders all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and all of its surrounds to be put to death.

And Mel was right.

I heard Mel there when she's reading the emotion associated with that.

This guy is a brutal tyrant.

A brutal tyrant.

He was known to be brutal.

Anyone who challenged his authority at all was murdered.

He killed one of his wives and two of his sons.

He's the Roman appointed king of the Jews.

And he does not like the news that a king has been born.

He is immediately threatened.

And his response is hatred and fear.

A hatred of anything or anyone that threatened his self-centeredness and autonomy.

This account of deception and fear, bloodshed, injustice and homelessness are all too familiar.

There is an awful lot wrong in our world today.

One under the spectrum says that the reason there's so much problem in our world today is because of the rich and powerful.

We need to blame the rich and powerful people.

This world tends to make the poor, the minority groups in our world the heroes, the victims and the heroes at the same time.

The other end of the spectrum are those who insist that it's the immoral, irresponsible people who are the main problem in our world.

And this view of the world tends to make hardworking, decent, middle class people, the heroes of the world.

And yet what we have here, and in fact the full teaching of the Bible,

is that the source of evil in the world and the source of our problems in life,

the underlying issue of everything,

is in fact the human heart.

Herod's reaction to Jesus here is just a glimpse of all of us.

If you want to be king,

you want to rule your life,

autonomous over your life,

and someone else comes along and says that they're king,

then only one person has to give way.

Only one person can sit on the absolute throne.

And Jesus came into this world and in from his birth,

his claim to be king,

to be God,

to be the ultimate ruler of all things.

And throughout his life,

he calls for an allegiance so supreme

that it makes all other commitments in life look weak in comparison.

It is a claim to absolute authority,

a summons to unconditional loyalty,

and it inevitably triggers deep resistance from every human heart.

Who has the right to rule my life?

That is the most disturbing question possible for any human heart.

We want to remain on the throne of our lives at all costs.

It's interesting how we do it.

Some of us use religion to hold God at arm's length.

We try to put God into a position where he owes us

in some kind of way

because, you know, we've been obedient

or we do things for him.

And so we want to,

ultimately, we want to stay on control of our thrones.

We want to be in,

and we want to keep even God in our back pockets of controlling.

So some of us use religion.

Some of us flee from religion altogether,

become atheists maybe,

and they only proclaim that there is no God.

Either way, we're expressing our natural hostility

to anyone controlling, ruling our life,

and particularly God.

What is interesting here,

if you read to the verse 19,

Herod could not get rid of Jesus,

even with an entire army at his disposal.

In fact, verse 19 says,

just very simply,

Herod died.

He died.

That's Herod, hostile Herod.

And then we have the passive priests.

Their reaction is not as hostile as Herod,

but it's just as negative.

They're the ones who simply do nothing.

He is a non-entity in their life.

And this group is represented

by the chief priests and the scribes.

Verse 4,

gathering together all the chief priests

and scribes of the people,

Herod inquired of them

where the Messiah was to be born.

They told him,

well, this is what history tells us.

This is what we know

about where the Messiah,

the king of the Jews,

is to be born.

He's going to be born in Bethlehem.

They told him,

these are the elite,

these are the scholars,

these are the Bible guys,

and they said,

here it is.

He's going to be born there.

And then it was back to normal for them.

They didn't even so much as raise a sandal.

Why not go with the Magi?

This is your job after all

to know where the Messiah is

and when he's coming.

Why not go with them?

They knew it all,

and yet they knew nothing.

They knew their Bibles.

They were the scholars.

They had no problem in answering Herod,

and yet they entirely missed God.

Their apathy eventually handed

into outright opposition to Jesus.

In the end,

their knowledge of Jesus

and who he is

made as no substitute

for obedience to him.

But the final reaction we see,

and the only positive one,

is the malleable Magi.

It's the best word I could find

to represent their response

that starts with an M.

I'm trying to get it all working out here.

Their response is remarkable.

Impressed by what they saw

in the sky that night,

they journeyed west to Judea

to find out what it all meant.

It is astonishing

that these men

with so little to go on

should venture so far

to endure such hardship in travel

and face such uncertainty

of finding the one

to whom the star pointed.

And what is more,

they gave him costly gifts

and the worship

and the honour of their hearts.

It is astonishing

where the religious leaders

expend no time,

no energy,

no expense

or inconvenience,

where Herod expended

a great deal of time

and energy

and expense

and inconvenience

to try and find Jesus

in order to kill him.

The Magi expend

a great deal of time

and energy

and expense

and inconvenience

to try and find Jesus

so that they could worship

and honour him.

The Magi

are the worshippers,

the ones who joyfully

ascribe dignity,

authority

and honour to King Jesus

and whose lives

are satisfied in him.

Even if they did not know fully

what they were getting into

at this point,

they went on the journey

expecting to see a king,

which is why they turned up

to the palace

in Jerusalem.

Instead,

they were directed

to a king,

not like Herod,

a king,

not a tyrannical ruler,

not in a palace,

not in a throne,

but to a king

in a manger,

a baby,

helpless,

weak

and humble.

The kingship of Jesus

is fundamentally

different

than the kingship

of Herod.

when Queen Victoria

ruled as the British monarch

in the 1800s,

she controlled

a third of the world

at that point

and one day

she said

that she couldn't wait

to meet Jesus

and she was asked

why

and her response

was profound,

so that I can cast

my crown

before him.

Even Queen Victoria

recognised

that even as the,

in fact,

at that time,

the most powerful person

in the world,

she too had a ruler,

one who deserved

her everything,

even her crown.

So there's the,

there's the two,

the three broad responses,

indifference,

hostility

and worship

and really

they're,

they're,

they're divided

into two camps,

the positive

and the negative.

So I want to speak

to two broad groups

here today

about what your

personal response

might be.

Firstly,

the Christians.

Let me just say

those who

accept

Jesus

and Christmas

and Christianity.

If that is you,

I think it's important

for you to remember

that

every Christian

still has

a heart

of residual

anger

and hostility

towards God.

Every one of us.

and it will always

be there to the end.

And that is why

it is so hard

to pray,

to give,

to obey,

to grow.

There is still

that Herod

in each of us.

There is still

something in us

that fights God.

We cannot glide

through

the Christian life.

We've got to be

far more intentional

about

Christian growth

to overcome

all of those

bad habits.

which is why

we keep talking

about taking

your next step

here at St Paul's.

But taking

your next step

knowing

that the God

who you are

obeying

is not

Herod,

a tyrannical ruler.

He is a God

of grace

and mercy.

A God

who laid aside

his glory

as we have

already sung

this morning

and descended

humbly

to serve us.

That kind

of king

is calling

you to follow

him.

Now,

if however

you're here

today

and you're

unsure

about

Christmas

and

Christianity

or perhaps

even the

existence of

God,

if there's

one thing

you want

to hear

from me,

you need

to hear

this.

you are

not

objective

in your

view.

You are

not

objective

in your

view of

Jesus

and God

and Christmas

and Christianity.

It is an

absolute

fallacy

that anyone

would say

that they're

objective.

You're not.

The

philosopher

Thomas

Nagel,

he's an

American

philosopher,

he's an

atheist,

who's very

candid about

this point.

He wrote,

I'm talking

about the

fear of

religion

itself.

I'm speaking

from experience,

being strongly

subject to

this fear

myself.

I want

atheism to

be true

and are

made uneasy

by the fact

that some

of the most

intelligent

and well

informed

people I

know are

religious

believers.

It isn't

just that I

don't believe

in God

and naturally

I hope

that my

belief is

right.

I hope

there is

no God.

I don't

want there

to be a

God.

I don't

want the

universe to

be like

that.

My guess

is that

cosmic

authority

problem

is not

rare.

His point

is,

and which

is why I

respect him

at this

point,

is that

he's entirely

honest.

He's entirely

honest.

honest.

Nobody is

neutral about

whether Christmas

is true.

Thomas Hagel

is entirely

honest.

I don't

want there

to be a

God who

rules my

life.

I want

to be

Herod in

my life.

none of

us are

neutral

about

whether

Christmas

is true.

If the

Son of

God was

really born

in a

manger,

then every

single person

has lost the

rights to

oversee their

lives,

if it's

true.

You cannot

be objective

about a

claim like

that.

So just

keep that

in mind

for the

rest of

Christmas

Day,

if that's

where you

sit at

the moment.

In other

words,

what I'm

encouraging you

to do is

question your

doubts.

Doubt your

doubts,

if you like.

Now I

figure you've

got a bunch

of stuff on

your plate

in the next

24 hours,

the next few

days,

but maybe

soon you

might want to

look at that

issue,

come back to

it again.

Who is

Jesus?

What did

he come

to do

and what

did it

cost him

to do

it?

The

Magi

were the

knowledgeable

men of

the East.

They were

the wise

men,

the sages,

the elites,

the academic

elite,

but their

knowledge about

the events

of the

first Christmas

only took

them so

far.

It only

took them

to the

palace

in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem.

Their

observation

of the

star took

them to

Jerusalem,

but that's

it.

The only

way they

got to

Bethlehem

was because

of the

scholars

saying,

the Bible

says he's

over there.

They had

to consult

the Bible

to find

Jesus,

and in

finding

Jesus,

they found

what they

had been

looking for

all of

their life.

These wise

men found

the wisdom

that they

had been

looking for

all of

their life.

So I

just want

to say

it without

explaining

it.

I haven't

got time

to explain

it,

unpack it,

and you'd

be grateful

for that

right now.

Jesus

is the

answer to

everything

that you've

been searching

for your

entire life.

There you

go.

I'm not

going to

unpack that

any further

than that.

I just

hope that

sits.

He is

your goal.

He is

your destination

in life.

I'm hoping

that encourages

you to

pursue that.

Why would

I make

such an

outrageous

claim?

I want to

encourage you

to be like

these wise

men and

search for

Jesus.

But go to

the source.

The evidence

is overwhelming

and it is

compelling.

As Ash

told us this

morning,

there are

New Testaments,

there are

Bibles floating

around everywhere

in this

place,

out there

in the

free.

If you

haven't got

one,

take it

and go.

Take it

and read

it.

Or there's

a few

copies of

this,

Is Christmas

Unbelievable?

Or there's

other ones

like Word

Wonder.

We here at

St. Paul's

would be

delighted at

any point to

sit with you

and to

engage with

those questions

you have

and to

help you

see why

Jesus is

the wisdom

you've been

searching for

all of your

life.

And even if

that means if

you're online

and you're at

another part of

this world,

such as my

mate Matt,

who's currently

in Utah,

checking in

for the

service.

You two

guys in

Utah,

check in

if you like.

We'd be

delighted to

help you see

why Jesus

is the

answer.

So consider

Jesus.

That's the

call for this

Christmas.

Ponder who

he is,

what he came

to do,

and what it

cost him to

do it,

and what it

means now

to bow down

and worship

him 2,000

years later.

Merry Christmas.