Worship the King

I was thinking about the American history

with kings and realizing it's not very good.

The thing that first came to mind was the flag during the American Revolution,

don't tread on me.

We don't like kings here in the United States.

I know a few of you are from countries and worlds where kings are much more accepted

than even celebrated.

But here in America, we have a pretty bad history with it.

And how we respond to kings is something pretty deep in the American psyche.

But you know, it's interesting because when you think about the great stories of history,

there are an awful lot of kings that come up in different ways.

For example, for those of you who are Disney fans,

if you've ever seen the Robin Hood version of Disney, it's great, right?

Robin Hood leads this band of merry men.

And what they're doing is trying to help the poor while the real king is off on a crusade.

And in his stead, his brother, Prince John, too late to be known as John I,

he's sure to be known as John the Worst, a pox on the phony king of England.

If you've ever seen it, if you haven't, go pick it up, order Disney+,

get your free seven-day trial and do it.

So, it's one of their best.

It really is.

It's great fun in this story to hear the humor and to think about how it's based on the courage of these men

to fight against a false king while they wait for a true king to return.

Or maybe you think about the Lord of the Rings and the story of Aragorn,

the king who is hidden, who slowly...

Sorry, spoiler alert.

You can't get out of here.

So, here it's going to go.

He's the king.

He's the king who's coming.

And he's going to sit on the throne.

And one of the great plot lines of the Lord of the Rings,

particularly in the later parts of the Two Towers and the return of the king,

is how will people respond?

Will they doubt him?

Will they resist him?

Or will they embrace him and follow him?

And, of course, as Tolkien writes that story,

he draws on the richness of Christian theology and the biblical storyline.

Because, of course, Christmas is a story as well about a king who's coming.

It's about a king, Jesus, coming to earth.

And it puts before us the question, how will we respond to him?

Who will we recognize?

The true king.

And so, we turn to Matthew, chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

We're going through the birth narratives in Matthew, this Advent season.

And we're turning to Matthew, chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

That's in page 757 in your Pew Bible.

And as you're turning there for us to read it,

I'm just going to read...

The first line is now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

And then it goes on to tell this story.

And one of the things we need to do is we talk about these wise men or kings coming.

And we're saying is that I was actually at my kids' Christian school.

And they have a crash scene out in front.

And there's baby Jesus.

And there's Mary and Joseph.

And there's the animals in the stable.

And there's the sheep and the shepherds and the wise men.

And they're all there at the same time.

It probably didn't work that way.

Pretty sure that this episode is quite a while after the birth of Jesus.

There are a couple of clues where it says Jesus is no longer referred to as a baby,

but as a child in this passage.

It is not in the stable that they come,

but they come to the home or the house where Mary is with the baby.

And also you recognize later that as you see King Herod respond,

his time frame is not, did this happen in the last two weeks?

His time frame is, did this happen in the last two years?

So we'll unpack that as we go along.

But just so you know, our normal crash scene is a little misguided.

It's a mashup of biblical stories.

And it doesn't quite get the timeline right.

So having said that, let's read this passage together.

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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

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

And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him in Bethlehem of Judea,

for so it is written by the prophet,

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.

And then Herod summoned the wise men secretly

and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

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.

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.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly

with great joy.

And going into the house,

they saw the child with Mary, his mother.

And they fell down and worshiped him.

And then, opening their treasures,

they offered him gifts,

gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

they departed to their own country

by another way.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you this morning

that you have come to be our king.

And Lord, we ask this morning that as we look into this passage,

Lord, that we would understand your kingship more

and that we would understand our own hearts more.

Lord, that as we think about this Advent season,

there is a new opportunity and an invitation from you

to respond,

to bow down and worship you.

Lord, I pray that your spirit would be with us this morning

as we look into your word.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Who will recognize the true king?

We're going to examine the story

through the lens of the characters.

There are three main characters in this story.

There's Jesus,

there's the wise men,

and there's Herod the king.

There are a few other ancillary people,

but those are the key people in this story.

So we're going to look at it through the main characters,

and as we look through each one,

we're going to hopefully fill out our own understanding

of the Christmas story

and think for ourselves about how we respond to the true king.

So first, we want to think about Jesus, the true king.

So part of what we've seen in the last two weeks,

if you've been here,

from Matthew chapter 1,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

one of the points that Matthew is trying to convince us of

is that Jesus is the heir of David.

You see this in the genealogy,

which begins with Abraham,

but then David is the next major break,

and that this one who's coming,

this baby,

is in the line of David

to whom God has given a promise

that he would have a throne

and he would reign as king forever.

His descendants would reign forever.

And so there's this Davidic claim that comes in,

and even Joseph,

when the angel comes to him,

he says,

you are the Joseph in the line of David.

We see that clearly.

And so that's one of our major clues

that as we're coming in,

Jesus is being presented as a king in the line of David.

Of course, the Magi also come and they say,

where is he the king of the Jews?

Interestingly, this is a term that Jews never use

for the people who rule over them,

only for people outside.

And so, and it's interesting to play that out

throughout the whole gospel,

but they're looking for a king as well.

And interestingly,

God himself is doing something special

to point the world to this child, right?

And this is the part that we wrestle with

because God put a star in the sky.

He literally moved the heavens

to announce the coming of Jesus to the world.

And he was doing it particularly to speak to

these kinds of men

who probably practiced astrology,

who were looking at the stars

as portents of what's going on in the world.

And God spoke to them and said,

something amazing has happened.

And they knew it enough to say,

there's a king who's come

and we want to find him.

Now, those of us in our 21st century age

with our astronomy and our physics

are wondering, really?

And so the commentary spend lots of time

talking about the Halley's Comet

coming by earth around 10 BC or 6 BC

or something like that.

Or maybe there was a convergence of planets

that happened

or maybe there was a supernova.

Maybe God used these natural events

as a sign,

but he was using these natural means.

It's certainly possible.

God does that all the time.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

God is not limiting his power

by using natural means to do his revelation.

But when you look at verse 9,

it seems to suggest that the star that rose

that first brought them to Jerusalem

then moved and then came to rest

in a unique way over the place where Jesus was.

Suggesting to me at least

that there was a supernatural element

to what God was doing here.

And if that's hard for us to swallow, friends,

just go back to the end of chapter 1

where a virgin gave birth to a baby.

And let's go,

in light of that,

the star isn't that hard to believe, is it?

If we can deal with the virgin birth,

we think the star can be maybe

a little bit easier to handle.

What we really want to see

is that the God of the Bible

is a God who works within

the reality of our natural world,

but is also able to work beyond it

in supernatural ways.

And we can worship him as both.

And in this story,

so clearly God is moving

the heavens to say,

I am coming,

I am bringing someone to earth

who is worthy of your attention,

those who are far off.

And it's fascinating to think about

who these people are too, right?

He spoke in the language

not of religious Judaism,

although he did all those things, right?

But he spoke here

in the language of astrology

and astronomy.

He spoke to people

who weren't looking in the temple

for the fulfillment of the Messiah's prophecy.

He went to people

who were looking at the stars.

And he said,

you who are looking,

I'm here.

And I want to point you

in this direction.

I want to point you

to something greater

than you even know

what you're looking for.

It reminds me of what Paul does

in Athens in chapter 17 of Acts

when he goes in and he says,

you preach to this unknown God,

but what you worship,

I'm sorry,

you worship an unknown God,

what you worship in ignorance.

Now I'm going to tell you

what it really is

that you're longing for

because God has made you

to know the creator

of heavens and earth.

And the way that he made you

to know this is through Jesus.

And at the end of that sermon,

he says,

and now he commands

all people everywhere

to repent.

And this is what God is doing

as he puts a star in the sky.

Jesus didn't just come

to Israel,

but God made it clear

from the very beginning

that God came

for all people everywhere.

And this has always been God's plan.

Think with me just for a moment.

We just preached through Genesis.

Do you remember Nick's sermon

on Genesis 12?

That God would bless Abraham

and he'd make him

the father of great nations

and that he would bless him

and he would make him a blessing

so that through you

all the families

of the earth would be blessed.

Or listen to the words

of the psalmist

in Psalm 22, 27.

All the ends of the earth

shall remember

and turn to the Lord

and all the families

of the nations

shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs

to the Lord

and he rules over the nations.

Or Psalm 67, 1.

May God be gracious to us

and bless us

and make his face

to shine upon us

that your way

may be known on the earth,

your saving power

among all the nations.

Even in the Old Testament

as God was working

with a particular people,

his goal was always

to shine a light

to all people.

And Matthew himself knows this

because this story

at the beginning

with the birth of Jesus

then gets tied up

at the very end

when the early church

worshiping a resurrected Christ

is told this by Jesus.

All authority in heaven

and on earth

has been given to me.

Go therefore

and make disciples

of all nations

baptizing them

in the name of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit

and teaching them

to observe all

that I have commanded you

and behold

I am with you always

to the end of the age.

The beginning story

in Advent

and the end of the story

the post-resurrection Jesus

Matthew sees

tying them together

in this grand purpose of God

that Jesus isn't coming

just as a tribal God

for a little people

but that he has come

for all people everywhere.

And friends

we need to stop

and recognize

that this is hard

in our world today.

There is a strong desire

in our culture

and our world

because of the conflicts

and because of the evil

that's been perpetrated

in the name of religion

to minimize distinctions

or to give people

safe places.

You stay there

I'll stay here.

We can worship God

as long as we don't

make global claims

as long as we don't

say this is for everybody

everywhere.

But if we do that

we domesticate

the God of the Bible

and we minimize

his glory.

Because when God

put that star

in the sky

to point

wise men

from other countries

to come

and to lay their gifts

and to honor him

God was reminding us

that he lays claim

to the whole world

and that as this king comes

he does command

all people everywhere

to repent.

He calls all people

to respond

not just in Christendom

not just in the west

not just

in the places

where that's acceptable

but in all places

Jesus says

I have come

to be your king.

And we know the promise

Philippians 2

that one day

every knee will bow

and every tongue

will confess

that Jesus is Lord.

Some will do it

by compulsion

as God reveals himself

fully

and it will be terrifying

and some

they will do it gladly

because they have

already worshipped him.

And so the question

before us

as the true king

is revealed

in this story

is how do we

respond

to him?

Let's look at these

two other characters

in the story

to think about

what the responses are

in his original advent

and his coming.

First of all

let's look at Herod

who is a false king

and a false worshipper.

Commentator Archie France

says this about Herod

Herod's concern

was understandable

as an Edomite

that is a non-Israelite

but outside of Israel

as an Edomite

and a Roman appointee

he was vulnerable

to the claims

of a king

of the true

Davidic dynasty.

He said

his later years

were plagued

by fears

of rivals.

when the story

that a king

of the Jews

has been born

as the Magi

come and bring

this account

to him

in Jerusalem

he is troubled

and not troubled

in the sense of

oh

I haven't heard

about that

I wonder what

that's all about

I should find out

more

he is unsettled

his insecurity

is exposed

he feels vulnerable

and as he responds

you see the depth

of his unwillingness

to receive

a true king

his insecurity

leads him

to insincerity

with the men

he had hoped

not to honestly

find this

new king

and worship him

as he said

but he hoped

to destroy him

as we see

further on

we didn't read this

but if you just go on

to verses 13

and following

in chapter 2

what we see

is that Herod

finds out

that the wise men

never let them know

where he was

where the baby was

and so

in rage

and in fear

Herod

commits infanticide

throughout the land

killing the babies

under the age of 2

in order to remove

this kind of rival

he showed his worst

in his insecurity

he did not want

this king to come

and rule

over him

now the story

lets us know

that at the end

of the day

Herod dies

that's verse 19

and Jesus lives

and the story

goes on

but what we see

is

in Herod

someone who

desperately clings

to his kingdom

at the cost

of innumerable

of unbelievable

evil

and suffering

that he perpetrated

and it's easy

to denounce Herod

as an evildoer

and to scorn him

as a fool

how could he do that

how could he be

so selfish

and so

so evil

towards other people

in order to protect

his own little kingdom

but I wonder

how easily

we decry Herod

while doing

the same thing

in our own lives

and the kingdom

of our own hearts

every day

Jesus

comes

to lay claim

to our life

Jesus comes

to be king

to have the right

to rule

over us

to determine

what is right

and wrong

to determine

truth and error

to give us

commands

for us to obey

and to follow

to assert

his authority

for our good

and for our blessing

but to claim

authority

over our lives

as king

and I wonder

how well

we actually do

when he does that

when he puts

his finger

on our life

and says

I'd like to reorder

this part

today

when God says

I'd like you

to give up

that

how do we

respond

so often

like Herod

we cling

more tightly

our fist

becomes

stiff

in light

of his command

to release

and to let go

when he asks

us to

give up

our desire

to control

a loved one

when he asks

us

to give up

our good health

and walk

in illness

disease

when he takes

away a job

or a career

a position

in our community

or family

when he threatens

the security

of our present

worldly

well-being

financial

personal

physical

when he

starts meddling

with our

entertainment

how we eat

food

and what we

do with our

sex

and what we

watch on our

screens

he steps in

and he says

I'm the king

and I want

to order

all of these

things

according to

my kingdom

and of course

he comes

as a good

king

he comes

as one

who wants

to bless

us

and to love

us

and he

comes

as one

who wants

to lead

us

in paths

of righteousness

where we

will flourish

and live

and yet

so often

we like

Herod

resist him

we only

want a

king

if he

will leave

well enough

alone

with the

things we

don't want

him to

mess with

we only

want a

king

when we

get to

choose

him

not

when he

asserts

his

authority

over us

we only

want a

king

when he

meets

our

standards

and our

requirements

and so

often

we

in our

independent

21st

century

individualism

say

Jesus

don't

tread

on

me

so

before we

throw

Herod

into the

eternal

lake of

fire

let us

be careful

to

recognize

how often

we are

very much

like him

but thankfully

the story

is not

just about

Herod

and there

is another

way to

respond to

the king

there is

another

character

here that

we see

in this

story

and ironically

it is not

the respectable

religious

person

in the

story

it is not

the one

that we

expect

to be

ready

to receive

the king

of Israel

but instead

it is these

men from

far away

these outsiders

who show us

the way

to respond

to the true

king

and so

our third

point

the third

character

is the

magi

the true

worshippers

now

we use

these words

magi

that is

just a

transliteration

often

we talk

about

kings

we

three

kings

of

orient

are

right

bearing

gifts

we

traverse

afar

and so

on

so

forth

why

who

are

they

exactly

what

what's

their

story

well

the reality

is

this is

all we

know

of

them

right

this

story

tells us

everything

we know

which

isn't

very

much

they

probably

came

from

the

east

maybe

Babylon

maybe

Persia

maybe

they

were

from

another

Arabian

tribe

we

don't

know

likely

magi

is

often

related

to

astrologers

the

reason

why

we

call

them

kings

is

actually

from

the

old

testament

psalm

Psalms 72:10

72

verse

10

says

may

the

kings

of

tarshish

and

the

coastlands

render

him

tribute

may

the

kings

of

sheba

and

seba

bring

gifts

may

all

kings

fall

down

before

him

and

all

nations

serve

him

and

then

the

passage

we

read

earlier

in

this

service

that

Kelly

read

reminded

us

of

this

prophecy

where

he

talked

about

the

nations

shall

come

to

the

light

and

kings

to

the

brightness

of

your

rising

they

will

gather

together

and

the

wealth

of

nations

shall

come

to

you

and

those

from

sheba

will

come

they

shall

bring

gold

and

frankincense

and

they

shall

bring

good

news

the

praises

of

the

Lord

and

so

in

the

tradition

of

the

church

as

we've

read

these

stories

and

these

old

testament

passages

that

seem

to

allude

to

the

coming

of

Jesus

and

this

light

dawning

on

the

darkness

and

this

light

announcing

the

coming

of

the

king

and

the

nations

coming

to

worship

him

they

thought

oh

well

these

are

kings

so

there

are

three

kings

yeah

maybe

it's

hard

to

know

it's

hard

to

know

what

role

astrologers

would

have

had

in

some

of

these

other

kingdoms

they

might

have

had

some

measure

of

prominence

they

certainly

had

wealth

it's

likely

they

were

representative

of

the

peoples

that

they

came

from

given

the

way

that

they

came

but

it's

really

not

clear

what

is

clear

is

this

they

were

men

who

were

watching

the

stars

and

they

were

men

who

responded

by

coming

from

far

to

find

this

one

this

king

and

interestingly

the

Bible

has

a

lot

to

say

about

astrology

none

of

it's

good

it's

not

a

positive

thing

in

the

Bible

for

us

to

be

looking

at

the

stars

we

shouldn't

be

looking

at

our

horoscopes

to

think

this

is

what

God

has

to

say

to

us

today

these

are

not

places

where

we

normally

look

but

interesting

this

story

never

has

a

word

or

hint

of

condemnation

all of

that

is

reserved

for

Herod

the

king

of

the

Jews

the

king

of

Judea

right

here

what we

have

is

men

who

seem

to

be

honestly

seeking

and

as

they

were

seeking

they

go

of

course

to

Jerusalem

because

that's

the

center

in

the

capital

where

else

would

a

king

be

born

and

they

show

up

and

they

ask

this

innocent

question

where

is

he

and

through

all

the

mechanisms

of

Herod

they

find

out

that

there's

through

a

prophecy

in

Micah

Bethlehem

is

the

place

and

it's

ironic

because

if

you

go

back

and

you

read

in

Micah

5

about

this

passage

comes

in

an

oracle

of

judgment

against

Israel

because

of

their

disobedience

and

yet

with

this

thread

of

a

promise

through

it

that

a

shepherd

king

will

come

and

will

restore

God's

people

and

yet

Herod

and

the

scribes

and

the

elders

couldn't

receive

this

news

read

this

passage

in

Micah

and

say

maybe

this

is

the

one

maybe

this

is

how

God

is

actually

going

to

fulfill

this

prophecy

instead

they

feel

threatened

but

the

magi

receive

this

news

well

and

they

turn

and

they

go

and

they

head

towards

Jerusalem

and

the

star

that

they

had

seen

at

first

now

led

them

more

specifically

they

were

being

led

by

the

maker

of

the

universe

to

a

baby

to

a

child

and

when

they

found

him

oh

before

they

found

him

look

with me

again

I love

this

verse

verse

10

when

they

saw

the

star

they

rejoiced

exceedingly

with

great

joy

joy

when

we

read

that

the

carol

service

Eli

looked

over

me

and

said

that's

really

redundant

dad

why

did

he

write

it

that

way

and

I

said

that's

the

point

it

is

redundant

rejoiced

exceedingly

with

great

joy

is

redundant

but

he's

doing

that

to

say

when

they

saw

that

the

God

of

the

universe

was

continuing

to

lead

them

to

the

very

place

to

the

very

one

whom

they

had

to

come

to

they

were

filled

with

a

joy

and

what

does

it

look

like

to

rejoice

exceedingly

with

great

joy

it's

like

when

your

team

wins

the

Super

Bowl

and

the

last

second

and

you

rejoice

and

you

jump

up

and

down

and

you

throw

your

popcorn

all

over

your

living

room

because

you're

so

happy

that

your

team

won

or

it's

what

happens

when

you

get

down

on

one

knee

and

she

says

yes

joy

overflowing

overwhelming

it

captured

and

filled

their

hearts

because

the

star

was

leading

them

to

the

one

that

they

were

looking

for

and

when

they

found

him

they

went

in

and

they

worshipped

they

bowed

their

knees

not

resisting

that

this

one

would

come

with

a

claim

of

kingship

they

bowed

their

knees

honoring

him

and

lavishing

upon

him

expensive

gifts

gifts

that

honored

his

particular

place

as a

coming

king

now

is it

clear

that

these

magi

understood

that

this

was

the

incarnate

son

of

God

the

word

become

flesh

now

come

to be

the

savior

by

dying

on

the

cross

for

their

sins

and

rise

from

the

dead

probably

not

it's

not

clear

that

they

knew

all

that

they

were

worshiping

as

they

bowed

down

but

Matthew

knows

exactly

who

he's

talking

about

and

he's

saying

these

men

are

an

example

for

us

of

what

it

looks

like

to

receive

and

honor

the

true

king

to

bow

down

and to

bring

our

riches

of

our

life

and

our

love

and lay

them

at

Jesus

feet

as

the

true

king

of

our

lives

so

friends

this is

the story

of the

magi

for us

how

will you

respond

to the

coming

of the

king

how

will

you

respond

today

two

thoughts

on how

we might

apply this

to us

today

first

of all

do you

really

believe

that it

is

God's

purpose

for

all

people

everywhere

to

hear

of

this

king

and

to

bow

their

knee

do

you

believe

that

that

is

actually

his

purpose

in

the

world

don't

let

this

gift

be

only

about

you

and

your

personal

happiness

don't

let

this

gift

be

just

about

your

family

but

consider

that

what

we

celebrate

when

we

celebrate

Christmas

is the

coming

of

one

who

lays

a

claim

to

the

whole

world

and

the

call

for

us

to

go

and

make

disciples

of

all

nations

is

real

and

embedded

in

the

Christmas

story

itself

and

may

we

take

that

to

heart

when

we

think

about

how

are

we

investing

our

lives

so

that

Jesus

might

be

known

everywhere

so

that

he

might

be

worshipped