Matthew 2:1-12

Would you turn with me in a Bible to Matthew chapter 2?

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

We are looking at Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 through 12 this morning.

Matthew 2:1–12

It's the story of the wise men, as it's traditionally known.

If you're looking in one of the Pew Bibles, page 807 is where you'll find it, Matthew 2, starting at verse 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, 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.

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 worshipped him.

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.

Many people are preparing to travel long distances this time of year.

Perhaps you are looking forward to finishing the semester

and heading home to visit family.

Or perhaps you're staying here

and looking forward to friends or family visiting you.

Or maybe you're just not going anywhere at all,

and nobody's visiting you, and it's simpler that way.

Now let me ask, what motivates people

to embark on long, difficult, or even dangerous journeys?

Sometimes it's a desire to be reunited

with long-lost friends or family members.

Sometimes it's curiosity to be a world traveler,

bring back memories and photographs and souvenirs

and all kinds of interesting things.

Sometimes it's for the sake of expanding a business,

attending a conference, or for training or networking.

Well, in this morning's passage, we see a group of people,

the wise men, or the Greek word is the magi,

sometimes known as the magi,

they embark on a long, difficult, dangerous journey.

Now we're not certain where they came from.

They might have been from Persia.

There was lots of interest in astrology and stars in Persia,

or from Babylon perhaps, or perhaps from southern Arabia.

But either way, from any one of those three locations,

they would have had to travel a thousand miles or more

to get to Jerusalem.

Now even if they were riding on camels,

going 30 miles a day,

which is about the fastest you could go,

the journey would have taken at least a month each way,

without any of the modern traveling comforts

that we take for granted,

without any reliable police force

to protect them from robbers on the road,

without any call boxes or cell phones in case of emergency.

And the purpose of their journey

is to see a little kid

who is not related to them by blood,

who is not from their ethnic group or their nation,

who is probably too young to speak a word to them.

Now, babies are cute,

but you know what?

Now, they all look about the same.

Okay, parents, right?

Your own child is obviously the cutest in the world, right?

I mean, with that exception,

you know,

I don't know, they're all pretty cool,

but you wouldn't travel a thousand miles

for a whole month just to see an unusual baby.

And then when they arrive,

they bow down before him,

unload their most valuable possessions,

and return home empty-handed.

See, if you read this story,

you might be asking yourself,

why in the world

would they go all the way

in order to do that?

Well, according to the story,

the child whom they seek

is destined to be a king,

the king of the Jews,

as they say in verse 2.

But still, that raises a question.

Why would the elite members

of Persian or Babylonian

or Arabian society

care to visit the future king of Judea?

It would be like

President Obama

sending a delegation

of his cabinet advisors

to go on pilgrimage to Swaziland.

There's a small country

in southern Africa

that still has a hereditary monarchy

to bring lavish gifts

to the heir to the throne

and to declare

their undying loyalty to him.

It just wouldn't make sense.

Judea was a small province.

These were the elite members

of more powerful societies.

Why would they do this?

Well, the point of the whole story

is that this child whom they visit,

Jesus,

is destined to be

not only the king of the Jews,

but the king of all the world.

Now, last week we saw

in the end of Matthew 1

that Jesus is the savior.

That's what his name means.

Jesus, Joshua,

the Lord saves.

That he's come to save

or rescue his people

from their sins.

And we saw that Jesus is Emmanuel.

That he's God

who's come to live with us.

And here in chapter 2,

Matthew wants us to see

that Jesus is

not only the savior,

not only God with us,

but he is the king

of all the nations of the world.

Do you notice how many times

Jesus is referred to

as the king

in this story?

Verse 2,

king of the Jews.

Verse 4,

the Christ.

That word means the Messiah

or the anointed one.

Verse 6,

a ruler,

a shepherd.

Of course,

Jesus is implicitly

contrasted with Herod,

who is the king,

referred to as king

in verse 1,

3,

and 9.

Now in this story,

we see three groups of people

who respond in three different ways

to the news

about this newborn king.

We see Herod,

who is hostile.

Herod is willing

to chase after Jesus

to get rid of him.

We see the chief priests

and scribes

who are complacent.

They don't travel anywhere.

They just stay put.

And then we see the wise men,

who are worshipers.

They travel a long way

in order to seek this child,

in order to devote themselves

completely to him.

Now as we consider

their three responses,

the question for us is,

how do we respond to this news

that Jesus is the king?

So first,

let's look at Herod.

Herod is hostile to Jesus

because he's threatened

by Jesus.

Now at first,

Herod pretends

to be interested.

He says,

go and search for him

so that I too

can come and worship him.

But really,

Herod just wants

to get rid of Jesus.

And if you read later on

in the chapter,

that becomes very clear.

Verse 16,

when he can't find Jesus,

he makes a decree

to kill all the baby boys

in the region

under two years of age.

Now we know

not only from this story,

but from other

historical accounts

that Herod

was paranoid,

jealous,

and ambitious.

He was known

as perhaps

the greatest builder

in Jewish history.

He expanded the temple,

constructed great fortresses,

made a whole new city,

the port city of Caesarea,

built large ships,

but he also murdered

one of his wives

and two of his sons

and many others

who weren't related to him.

According to the Jewish historian

Josephus,

when Herod became ill

and realized

he was about to die,

he was so concerned

that no one would mourn

his death

that he gave an order

that a large group

of distinguished men

should be killed

at the time of his death

so that the displays

of grief that he craved

would take place.

Thankfully,

this order was not

carried out.

Now in one sense,

Herod is the hardest character

in this story

to relate to

because he's so cruel.

And merciless.

But there's one thing

that Herod understood

very clearly

and very accurately.

Herod understood

that you cannot have

two kings

reigning over

the same place

at the same time.

Herod had ruled

for 30 years

over Judea

and Jerusalem.

He was called

king of the Jews

and he loved

to rule his kingdom.

He loved to be in charge

and he knew

that if some child

who wasn't even

related to him

was prophesied

to be the next

king of the Jews

that his days

were numbered

and his authority

was limited.

That's why he was

immediately troubled

by the report

of a new king.

If this Jesus

was the true king

chosen and appointed

by God

then Herod must

bow his knee

to Jesus.

And that's the last

thing that he wanted

to do.

And so Herod

did everything

he could

to get rid

of Jesus.

Now probably

none of us here

express hostility

to Jesus

through physical

violence.

But let me ask

that Jesus' claim

to have universal

and unlimited

authority

trouble you.

In other words

is there some

part of your life

where you do not

want Jesus

to be king?

Is there a territory

where you want

to be in control

and you want

to make the final

decisions and you

do not want

anyone including

Jesus to tell you

otherwise?

Maybe it's your

career ambitions.

You feel threatened

if anything gets

in the way of them.

Or your

sex life.

Jesus' commands

seem unreasonable

and restrictive.

Or your money.

You just

want to ignore

what Jesus

says about money.

You might feel

threatened

in some

part of your

life by Jesus'

commands or even

simply by his

presence.

Jesus said

no one can

serve two

masters.

Either he will

hate the one

and love the

other or he

will be devoted

to the one

and despise the

other.

In other words

Jesus is either

Lord of all

or he is not

Lord at all.

And in all his

madness and

cruelty this was

the one thing

that Herod

rightly perceived.

And he responded

by trying to get

rid of Jesus.

Of course

Herod's attempt

failed.

And the good

news is every

attempt to get

rid of Jesus

will ultimately

fail.

Because Jesus

is Lord.

And one day

every knee will

bow before him.

And every tongue

will confess either

willingly or

unwillingly that

he is Lord.

Herod's life

ended with him

trapped in his

own fear,

paranoia,

and ambition.

he died a

terribly painful

death.

Because he

was never

and he did

not turn

and be

reconciled

to this

Lord.

So Herod's

example is a

warning.

And I pray

that we may

not be like

Herod.

That we may

not be hostile

to Jesus'

authority and

trapped in

our own

self-centered

ambitions.

Christians.

But maybe

we don't

feel like

Herod,

but the

second group

of people

we see in

the story

are the

chief priests

and the

scribes.

Now the

chief priests

and the

scribes are

not actively

hostile to

Jesus.

They don't

try to get

rid of him,

but they

don't show

any interest.

They're

complacent.

They're

apathetic.

Herod comes

to them with

a question.

Where is the

Messiah to be

born?

And they

answer immediately,

quoting chapter

and verse

from the

Bible.

They know

the Bible

well.

In fact,

they quote

from Micah

and they

connect it

with what

God had

said in

2 Samuel 5

to David,

that he

would be

the shepherd

of the

people Israel.

They can

even string

two Bible

passages

together from

two different

parts of

the Old

Testament.

And surely

they had

heard the

report of

the wise

men.

Verse 3

says that

all Jerusalem

was troubled

by the

report,

so surely

they knew

where the

question was

coming from.

There's

this news

that a

new king

has been

born.

Perhaps

he's the

Messiah.

And Bethlehem

is only six

miles away

from Jerusalem.

You could

walk there

in two

hours.

And yet,

they don't

seem to

bother to

go and

check it

out.

They don't

go anywhere.

They answer

the question,

they know

the Bible,

but they

don't seek

after Jesus.

You see,

it's possible

to know

the Bible

very well

and to

be able

to quote

it,

to impress

everyone

else,

and still

have a

heart that

is cold

and indifferent

toward Jesus.

You know,

you can do a

Master's of

Divinity.

You can do a

Ph.D.

in Biblical

Studies.

You can

become a

pastor or a

seminary

professor and

end up

skeptical and

critical and

cynical of

everyone else

in the church

who hasn't

been enlightened.

Now, if

you're a

Div school

student, you

might be

saying, well,

yeah, that's

true.

I feel like

that's true of

some of my

professors.

They know a

lot of Bible

and ancient

texts, but

they don't

love Jesus.

But you

know, I'm

not talking

about your

professors.

Because they're,

for the most

part, probably

not here today.

I want to

speak to you

who are

here.

If you're

in Divinity

School, are

you attending

to your

spiritual life

while you're

studying?

You're growing

in knowledge

about the

Bible and

about theology

and church

history.

Are you

seeking just

as diligently

to grow in

your obedience

to God,

in your

devotion to

Jesus,

in your

dependence on

the Holy

Spirit, in

your service

to God's

people?

love.

The

Apostle Paul

says, mere

knowledge puffs

up.

It can make

you proud.

But love

builds up.

Love seeks to

strengthen the

whole community.

Now, I've been to

seminary myself.

love.

I understand.

It's a

challenging

place.

You see, the

problem for many

people who study

religion in an

academic context is

that their knowledge

increases greatly,

and their Christian

maturity increases

only slightly, if at

all.

And so there's this

increasing gap where

you have all this

growing knowledge that

you're not living out,

life.

And that's a

spiritual danger

whenever that

happens.

And it opens the

door to things like

pride and hypocrisy.

Going to seminary or

divinity school can be

one of the most

spiritually challenging

times of your entire

life.

Almost nobody expects

that or thinks of it

that way.

It's a spiritual

battleground.

So, brothers and

sisters, be aware of

the spiritual battle

that you are involved in

every day.

Don't sacrifice your

devotion to Jesus on

the altar of academic

respectability and

success.

Don't let your life

become so dominated by

the demands of your

classes that you end up

with all A's, but

never get meaningfully

involved in the life of

a local church, God's

people, who Jesus died

for.

You see, God has

brought you here.

Students, God has

brought you here so

that you can learn from

an elderly person who

has walked with Jesus

their whole life.

So that you can come

alongside a new

Christian believer and

be challenged by their

spiritual fervor, even

as you encourage and

train them.

So you can learn to

communicate biblical truth

in a way that four and

five-year-olds can

understand if you serve

in children's ministry.

Christian.

Now, if you're not in

div school, if you're not

in seminary, if you have

no plans to go there, pray

for your brothers and

sisters who are.

And come alongside them

and encourage them in their

love for Jesus.

You know, even if you're not

studying religion, the

culture of many academic

institutions fosters a

mindset of critical

thinking, where you're

expected to write papers

making persuasive arguments

that you don't even

believe.

And it can foster a kind

of complacency, a kind of

smugness, a kind of

distance, as if all

knowledge is a game.

And the goal of gaining

knowledge is to impress

others.

But if that's what

knowledge is all about,

it's empty.

It's meaningless.

The scribes give a

technically correct answer,

but they don't get

anywhere.

In their complacency, they

miss out on Jesus.

Let's not miss out.

So we see Herod, who is

hostile.

We see the chief priests,

who are complacent.

And finally, we see the

wise men, who come to

worship.

Now, most of us, when we

hear the word wise men or

wise people, we generally

have positive ideas.

But in the minds of

faithful Jews or early

Christians, wise men would

have been seen in an almost

entirely negative light.

The most unlikely

candidates to perceive

spiritual truth.

Now, the term wise men is

a translation of the

Greek word magi.

It's where we get the word

magic or magician.

And in other contexts,

magi refers to

astrologers who looked for

meaning and guidance in the

movements of the stars.

or sorcerers or wizards who

dabbled in the occult.

Or pagan priests or

advisors to pagan kings.

In fact, throughout the

Bible, references to magi,

apart from this passage, are

almost overwhelmingly

negative.

So Pharaoh's magicians in

Exodus attempt to duplicate

the plagues.

In Daniel, King

Nebuchadnezzar's magicians try to

interpret his dreams

unsuccessfully.

In the book of Acts, Simon,

the magician in chapter 8,

amazes the people with his

magic and tries to convince

them that he's somebody

great.

In Acts 13, there's a guy

named Alemus who's a magician

and false prophet who seeks to

turn people away from the

gospel of Jesus.

In Acts 19, the Christian

believers in Ephesus who had

practiced magic confessed their

sins and burned their books.

Of all things.

So if you were an early

Christian and you gathered

with other Christians and you

heard this story read for the

first time that a group of

magicians came all the way from

who knows where and worshiped

Jesus, you'd be surprised.

It would never be a story that

you would make up because it

would be so unexpected.

It's sort of like saying the

local horoscope reader came to

church and gave their whole

fortune in the offering.

You sort of think, what's going

on?

That sounds a little weird.

But they were drawn.

Even though they were in some

people's minds the most unlikely

candidates to perceive the truth,

they were drawn to seek Jesus.

They were drawn by this star.

Interestingly enough, God

communicates to them in a way

that they understood.

They spent a lot of time looking

at stars.

They probably had some

superstitious beliefs about

stars, but they see this star,

which is something that they can

understand, and yet it points

them to seek something that they

don't yet understand.

It wasn't an ordinary star.

Not only did it rise, it went

before them and came to rest over

the place where the child lay.

The star behaves a little bit like

the pillar of fire that led the

Israelites through the wilderness

at night, and the pillar of cloud

by day.

In other words, it was a supernatural

guidance of some kind.

It wasn't just an unusual comet.

Now they're led by this star.

And the Magi seek after Jesus

with great eagerness and diligence.

They travel for hundreds of miles

over dangerous roads.

They leave behind the comfort and

security of their home country.

They come to Jerusalem and they ask

for directions.

Now when's the last time you've seen

a group of several grown men

asking for directions, willingly?

I wasn't among them.

Right?

And when the local religious leaders

are complacent, they're not

deterred by that.

They're not discouraged by the

complacency of the religious leaders.

They keep following the star all the

way to Bethlehem.

They find an ordinary house in an

unassuming small town.

But when they reach their destination,

they're not disappointed by

how ordinary it is.

They're overjoyed.

And then they bow before Jesus

and present him with lavish offerings

fit for a king.

You might ask, what motivated them?

What drove them to do this crazy trip?

They saw that this child, Jesus,

is a priceless treasure like nothing

else.

And so when they saw him, it was worth it.

It was worth all the trouble of the

journey.

And when they finally got there, they

rejoiced.

It says they rejoiced exceedingly with

great joy.

That's like more superlatives than you

can possibly grammatically

put in the same sentence.

Rejoice.

It could have just said they

rejoiced.

That would have been enough.

It could have just said rejoice

exceedingly.

Rejoice exceedingly with great joy.

They're jumping up and down.

I don't know how they expressed it.

However they expressed their joy,

they were overjoyed.

And they presented Jesus with their

most precious treasures.

You see, they began the farthest

away.

But they ended up in the presence of

the king himself.

That's the irony.

Jesus is ignored and rejected by the

people who are closest to him.

Who know the most about him.

Who live just around the corner.

And can access him most easily.

And he's sought after and found by

people who are far off.

Who are foreigners and outsiders.

Now maybe you're here.

Maybe you're from a part of the world

where very few people are Christians.

Or maybe you're from a family

where nobody else believes that Jesus

is the Messiah.

Maybe you've come here to New Haven

for a time and for some reason

you're drawn to learn more

about Christianity.

Or maybe you just came to church

because a friend invited you.

And you thought, why not?

I respect my friend.

I'll come along with him.

Well, this story is good news for you.

Because it says that Jesus wants to

include people in his kingdom,

in his family,

from every part of the world.

Christianity is not just a religion

for Western people.

It is not just for people who grew up

with Christian parents.

Christianity is for people from all

nations.

And all backgrounds.

If you don't yet believe in Jesus,

keep on seeking

until you find the truth about him.

God might not send you

a bright light in the sky.

But maybe he has put

a Christian friend

in your path.

Or a book.

Or something

to draw you

to seek after

this Jesus.

This is the most important thing

that you can learn

while you're here in New Haven.

It's about this Jesus.

So let me encourage you

to seek after him

until you find.

Even in the Old Testament,

God had always planned

to shine his glory

to the ends of the earth.

The people of Israel

were called to be a light

to the nations.

And a few times

in the Old Testament

we see this theme.

In 1 Kings 10,

the Queen of Sheba

comes from far away

bringing gold

and spices

to King Solomon.

And she praises him

for his wisdom.

Isaiah 60

says,

Nations shall come

to your light

and kings

to the brightness

of your rising.

They shall bring gold

and frankincense

and they shall bring

good news.

The praises of the Lord.

The Lord.

You see,

the wise men

were fulfilling

that very pattern.

And at the end

of the Bible,

Revelation 21

says that

the same thing

will happen

in even greater number.

The kings of the earth

will bring their glory

into the new Jerusalem.

The nations

will present

their most valuable treasures

to Jesus,

the King of kings

and Lord of lords.

You know,

why do you present

valuable gifts

to someone?

Why do you

buy something

for somebody else

for their birthday

or for Christmas

or for some occasion?

It's because you value them.

It's because you want

to honor them.

It's because they're worth

all the money

you pay for that gift

and a lot more.

And the wise men

brought their most

precious gifts

to Jesus

because he was

worth it

to them.

And Revelation

says that

in the new Jerusalem

there will be no need

of sun or moon

because the glory

of God

gives it light

and its lamp

is Jesus the Lamb

who will reign

forever and ever.

You see,

the picture we see

of the wise men

coming and being

and joyfully

bringing their treasures

to Jesus

is only

a glimpse

of what will happen

one day.

And on that day

the Christmas carol

will have its fullest meaning.

Joy to the world.

The Lord is come.

Let earth receive

her king.

Now until that day

we're on a long

painful

dangerous

journey.

As we walk

through the wilderness

of life on earth

and sometimes

the journey

seems to go on

and on

through strange lands

uninhabited deserts

deserts

chaotic

inns

sometimes the road ahead

might seem very dark

but brothers and sisters

as we walk this road

dark as it may seem

at times

may we look forward

to the day

as the wise men

ardently longed

to see this king

may we look forward

to the day

when we will see

the king

Jesus

in his beauty

when we will see him

face to face

and when

we will dwell

in his light

and his joy

forever.

Let us pray.

Let us pray.

Almighty God

you revealed

your son Jesus

to the nations

of the world

by the leading

of a star.

We pray

that you would

lead us

to long

for your presence

Lord

to do

whatever it takes

to seek

after you

knowing that

you have

promised

that to all

who seek

they will find

because Lord

we don't seek

you on our own

initiative

wise men

sought after you

because they were

drawn by a star

and Lord

we seek

after you

because you

have drawn us

so Lord

we pray

that you

would encourage

us

to

seek after you

with all

of our hearts

knowing that

you have

promised

one day

to return

and to reveal

your glory

in all

its fullness

to everyone

who looks

to you

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen