Who is really King?

All righty.

We're going to have the Bible reading now.

Although the passage that David's going to be taking us through

is only the second half of chapter 2,

we're going to read the whole chapter so that we've got that context.

So please open your Bibles, turn on your devices,

and turn to Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

All right.

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.

Now when they had departed, behold,

an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,

Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,

and remain there until I tell you,

for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night

and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.

This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet,

Out of Egypt I called my son.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,

became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem

and in all that region, who were two years old or under,

according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.

A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation.

Rachel weeping for her children.

She refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

But when Herod died, behold,

an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

saying, Rise, take the child and his mother,

and go to the land of Israel,

for those who sought the child's life are dead.

And he rose and took the child and his mother

and went to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea

in place of his father Herod,

he was afraid to go there.

And being warned in a dream,

he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth,

so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled,

that he would be called a Nazarene.

We're going to be looking at the second half

of Matthew chapter 2 this afternoon

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

in the series that we've been continuing in Matthew's Gospel.

And I just want to introduce by saying this,

that there's no doubt at all

that the story of the birth of Jesus

still has immediate appeal for all kinds of people.

Just as it did when Matthew first wrote down

his biography of the life of Jesus.

Christmas in Australia is a massive annual celebration.

But you'll have noticed as much as I have

that each year, what we celebrate at Christmas

and how we celebrate

seems to just get more and more removed

from that which the Bible says.

more disconnected from the Bible's record of events.

And I think it's because sentimentality

rather than truth

shapes how we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

And most sad of all, I think, in that

is that increasingly it seems to be true of Christians as well.

Sentimentality has now shaped

the Christmas story to that

which is warm and fuzzy

convenient

acceptable

Sentimentality drives marketing and advertising

and that in turn has reformatted Christmas

into just another classic

harmless children's story

children's fairy tale

where Jesus himself

is increasingly written out of the script

and you can see that in front yard displays

where you get all sorts of

fairy tales and lights and stuff like that

but often no reference at all to Jesus.

The problem is, you see,

that as a society at a whole

and even as Christians sometimes

we've stopped reading out

from the scriptures

that which the

authors of scripture intended us to hear

and we've started reading into scripture

that which we want to hear

or that which we think we should hear

that which is convenient to hear

and we just ignore

the bits that are inconvenient to us

and the story of Christmas

is just one of those classic places

where that happens.

But to understand properly

the birth of Jesus

we need to cut through sentiment

because the Bible itself

pushes us

beyond sentiment

especially in this

situation of the birth of Christ

the context of the birth of Christ

the Bible pushes us

beyond sentiment

to supernatural reality.

Now, if you read

or when you read

Matthew's

story of the birth of Christ

in the early years of Jesus

as we're working through here

in these chapters of Matthew

one thing is really clear

it is not sentimental.

It is not sentimental.

But it's the context

of confronting

supernatural interventions

that really hit us

when you read these early chapters.

God's miraculous involvement

in and around

the birth of Jesus

that's what dominates

that's what we either

have to trip over

or come to terms with

because it's just so pervasive.

So we start with

as Bo took us through

a couple of weeks ago

there's this supernatural

conception of Jesus

through the action

of God's Holy Spirit.

Now, how confronting is that?

This girl gets pregnant

without having sex.

We're told

by the action

of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph then

is given a dream

and he's told

to marry Mary

when naturally

he was just going to

quietly move her

to one side

to avoid the scandal.

And not only is he told

to go ahead and marry her

but he's actually told

that this child

will be God

will be the saviour

of the world.

Completely God

and completely human.

It gets harder.

Then there's the appearance

of the mysterious star

that Dave took us through

that section

that Dave took us through

last week

which the Magi

and remember these Magi

for the East

wise men

these guys

were not sentimental.

These were hard-headed

scholars of the day.

They probably came

from the royal court

of Persia

or somewhere over

in the Mesopotamian region

and these hard-headed

intellectual guys

they concluded

that what was happening

before their eyes

was supernatural.

Some sort of

cosmic event.

They couldn't understand

but they couldn't avoid.

And remember

these guys were experts

in science

and mathematics

and history

astronomy.

There were no Dunnies.

and yet

they were convinced

that all the signs

pointed to

an event

of cosmic

significance.

Indeed

the birth

of a great king.

And so accordingly

responding accordingly

they set out

as Dave said last week

a couple of thousand

kilometers or more

a couple of months

worth of travel

they set out

to give their worship

and allegiance

to this

totally unknown

infant.

You want to come

and join?

Yeah.

He might do a better job.

Can he read you it

or not?

You can have my script.

Sorry I shouldn't

embarrass him.

Isn't that lovely?

I always think it's lovely

when that sort of thing

happens.

But I'm usually more

generous to other

people's children

than I was when

my children did it

when they were young.

But anyway

that's a different story.

Yeah so

these guys

came all that way

to give their worship

and allegiance

to this totally

unknown infant king.

Now it was a big problem

for a couple of reasons.

One

in the violent age

of the day

you really didn't

acknowledge a king

until he was

well and truly

in control of his throne.

So many people

didn't even survive

childhood years

because of diseases

let alone

coup d'etat

when they were still young.

But these guys

knowledgeable

intellectual guys

and maybe girls

who knows

most likely guys

came to worship

maybe Jesus.

But there's another

aspect of that

that these guys

were in the employ

of the court

the royal court

of Persia.

So essentially

what they were doing

by coming to worship

a foreign king

could have been seen

as treasonous.

There was a lot

at stake for these guys

and yet

that was their

single point

of reference

from the time

the sign.

Then there's

multiple interventions

of divine guidance

in chapter 2.

Brought the Magi

to Jerusalem

warned them

not to report

back to Herod

as agreed

and in our passage

this morning

three more dreams

three more supernatural

acts of divine guidance

all of which

are just focused

to protect

what is now

the divine toddler.

and all these events

in turn

are linked

back to Old Testament

prophecy

so Matthew

wants us to see

that hey

all this stuff

well hard enough

is to believe

now that all this

was foretold

by prophets

you know

five, six, seven

hundred years ago.

So there's another

incredible link

that people

could have seen

this coming

seven hundred years earlier.

That has to be

a supernatural thing.

Now why

is Matthew

doing all this?

Well

a couple of reasons

I think.

Firstly

Matthew's

primary target

audience

is Jewish

and Matthew

wants

his Jewish readers

to remember

that all

of their

national history

was full

of God's

supernatural activity.

he wants them

to understand

therefore

that they

shouldn't trip

over Jesus

and the context

of his birth

because

this is just

more of the same.

This is God

doing what God

has been doing

for his people

for generations

and more than that

this is God

doing what the

prophets

what the Lord

told the prophets

he would do

at some point

in the future

when he would

send Messiah

to deliver his

people from

their sin.

So Matthew

wants his readers

to realize

that Jesus

can only

be understood

can only

be understood

in the context

of God's

supernatural

intervention

in history

and again

that the only

way to read

the Bible

correctly

is through

Christ-centered

lenses

that is

all the stuff

in the Old Testament

is primarily

about preparing

us for the

arrival of Jesus

and then all the

stuff in the New Testament

is really telling us

about the significance

of what that

arrival means.

So Matthew's

appeal to his

readers 2,000 years

ago and to you

and me today

2,000 years later

is simply

to confront

Jesus.

Not through

the sentiment

of a cute

little baby

in a manger

with a big cow

with big staring

eyes

fawning at him

or a sheep

you know

bleating at him.

Not like that

at all

but to confront

Jesus

by applying

your mind

to wrestle

with supernatural

interventions

in this world.

Fulfillment

of prophecies

long term

promises

coming to reality

real history.

That is

the context

the Bible

pushes us to

well beyond

sentimentality

supernatural reality.

And so

the challenge

for us

today is the same

as we read

these verses.

And the question

then is

will you accept

the challenge?

Will you seek

Jesus by asking

the question

who is this

Jesus?

What sort of

king is he?

What sort of

kingdom

does he intend

to establish?

and perhaps

most important

of all

will I bring

my life

under the

authority

of this

king Jesus

as one

who is

completely

human

and completely

God?

The Bible

also pushes us

beyond sentimentality

to recognize

the desperate

need

for a better

king.

Now we're

moving into

the text here

in chapter 2

first 12 verses

the story seems

to go really

well

it's really

quite exciting

every man

and his dog

wants a piece

of Jesus

they all

want to

apparently

want to

be where

Jesus is

to worship

him

it's

such a

light and

airy

sort of

section

of the

passage

but then

when you

turn to

verse 13

it suddenly

becomes

very dark

and the

question I want

to ask now

to try and

make a passage

that's very

familiar to us

fresh again

reminds

I want to

ask you now

is what

do you think

this literature

is?

Do you think

it's tragedy

or is it

farce

comedy?

Well

at first

reading

the story

seems to be

appears to be

throbbing

with uncertainty

threat

defeat

things are

so bad

that

Egypt

is now

the place

of safety

and you

remember

Egypt

had such

bad

associations

in the

history

of God's

people

it was a

place of

bondage

a place

of death

and destruction

it was a

place that

God told

us people

do not

go back

to Egypt

do not

have any

association

with Egypt

and here

things are

so bad

that God

sends

his

people

Joseph

and Mary

and Jesus

back to

Egypt

wow

that bad

fleeing

by night

hiding

then we

have the

absolute

brutality

of

Herod's

murderous

rage

taken out

on these

innocents

and then

at the end

of the

story

the Lord

tells him

to come

back

but even

then

it seems

like

Herod's

now dead

but his

son

Archelaus

takes over

the throne

and there's

another layer

of uncertainty

another layer

of threat

more secretive

moving around

more uncertainty

more danger

more hiding

but then

at the same

time when you

read these

verses

it soon

becomes clear

that the

story is

running

perfectly

according to

God's plan

and in line

with all the

ancient prophecies

even the

murder of

these innocent

children is

put in the

context of

hope through

the reference

to Jeremiah

in verse

18

so let's

have a look

at that

a voice

was heard

in Ramah

weeping

and loud

lamentation

Rachel's

weeping

for her

children

she refused

to be

consoled

because

there are

no more

children

what's it

all about

well

Rachel

was the

wife

of the

patriarch

Jacob

who

of all

the

patriarchs

was the

one who

was most

closely

associated

with God's

covenant

promise

Jacob's

name was

actually

changed

to Israel

so in a

sense

this is

the defining

point of

Israel's

history

and Rachel

was buried

at Ramah

which just

happens to

be up the

road a bit

from Bethlehem

and in this

prophecy

by Jeremiah

she's pictured

as weeping

because God's

covenant people

were going to

disappear into

exile

and likely

death

and the

backstory

of that

is

that when

the Babylonian

overlords

were mastering

the Israelite

exiles

to take them

away into

captivity

captivity

they did

it here

at this

particular place

this is where

they were

mastered

this is where

they were

shackled

together

and this is

where they're

finally

marched off

into

potential

oblivion

and almost

certain

death

and so

Rachel's

pictured

as crying

for the

loss of

God's

covenant

promise

crying in

the context

of death

how can

anything good

come out

of this

God's

promises

have fallen

over

perhaps even

God's

promises

have been

thwarted

by the evil

of other

people

when you go

back and read

the context

in Jeremiah

the Lord

speaks to

Jeremiah

and says

to him

there is hope

I will

bring my

people back

from exile

this is not

the end of

the story

this is a

story happening

as I planned

it to happen

and so

here

in spite of

the brutality

of Herod

and the very

real tears

of multiple

mothers and

fathers in

this region

I think

we've been

told here

there is

hope

because

Messiah

is safe

from Herod

Herod's

sin is

incredibly

iniquitous

and this

prophecy

doesn't answer

all the

questions we

might like

answered

but it's

cast in

the context

of hope

in the

fulfillment

and the

outworking

of God's

plan

it's

happening

as God

intended it

to happen

in spite

of the

awful

sinfulness

of Herod

Messiah

is safe

from Herod

and ultimately

will fulfill

God's

salvation

promise

now when I

put all that

together

what I want

to suggest

to you

is that

in the

end

this story

that looks

so dark

is actually

farcical

notwithstanding

the awful

brutality

that's built

into it

it's farcical

because here

we have a

picture of

Herod

huffing

and puffing

against God

and his

anointed one

very much

in the line

of Psalm

2

but as

he huffs

and puffs

and the

story develops

he just

looks increasingly

pathetic

for all his

efforts

for all his

resources

being deployed

to get rid

of this child

that's a big

threat to

Herod

the story's

just happening

all about him

it's farcical

and as the

story goes

out of the

blue

Herod ends

up dead

so much

for Herod

and his

son

Archelaus

comes into

the story

but again

he's of no

great consequence

to the way

the story's

going to unfold

and he just

gets a

passing mention

that's all

he's

worth

as it were

but woven

into this

particle story

is a huge

contrast

between the

two kings

which I think

Matthew wants

to highlight

for us

on the one

hand you've

got Herod

the so-called

great

that sort of

diminishes the

title a little bit

when you find out

in history

that he actually

took that title

and made it up

for himself

not too many

other people

thought he was

great

unless he thought

he was a

great idiot

but there he

was

Herod the

Great

now

what do we

know of this

Herod the

Great

from these

verses here

well

first thing

is in sharp

contrast

to the

receiving

accepting

attitude

of the

Magi

Herod

shows himself

to have a

rejecting

rebellious

attitude

towards God's

plan and

purpose

and the

God

child

and when

you think

about that

the contrast

just opens

up

the Magi

had very

little detail

and almost

no understanding

of what was

behind this

side

and no

backstory

to give them

detail

and yet

they set out

from their place

some thousands

of kilometres

away

already in the

frame of mind

to come

as vassals

as subject

people

to bow

down

and worship

this infant

king

as a great

cosmic king

for these

Magi

moving towards

Jesus

to worship

was their

single priority

once they saw

a sign

in great

contrast to

Herod

who in

verses

3, 4, 5

and 6

there

had enough

personal

knowledge

or personal

awareness

of what

Jewish history

was

because Herod

himself

wasn't a Jew

he was a Syrian

but he had

enough personal

knowledge

of the Jewish

tradition

and culture

to be able

to call

this baby

in verse 4

the Christ

the Messiah

then he had

the affirmation

and the

reinforcement

of the scribes

and the Pharisees

these were

the Jewish

religious

professors

these were

the guys

who knew

their history

inside out

and they said

yeah you got it

right

this is

this is

this is

this is

the Messiah

and then

they had

the affirmation

of these

Magi

these intellectual

guys coming

from the Far East

all coming to

the same

conclusion

and what

does Herod do

he goes

a totally

different direction

he sets

himself

to destroy

this child

why

well Dave

talked about

it a bit

last week

I'm just

going to

repeat

what he

said

well

his

political

sovereignty

is threatened

in this

baby

because

Herod's

not even

in the

line of

David

Messiah

would be

so this

the arrival

of this

child

highlights

that in

the end

Herod was

a usurper

of the

throne

of Israel

so his

political

sovereignty

was being

threatened

but his

personal

sovereignty

was being

threatened

as well

Herod

was the

top

of the

pile

and he

had

accumulated

a lavish

lifestyle

by being

number one

and he

was not

about to

hand that

over to

anybody

else

he was

not about

to bow

the knee

to any

other king

and certainly

not an

infant king

he wasn't

going to

give it

all up

his personal

sovereignty

was being

threatened

and so

for Herod

in contrast

to the

Magi

moving away

from

Jesus

and getting

rid of

Jesus

was Herod's

single

priority

once he

saw the

sign

and so

there you

got a

comparison

and a

contrast

everybody

both groups

were seeking

Jesus

but one

was seeking

to worship

the other

was seeking

to destroy

and the

picture gets

worse

when we

consider

that

we

measure

Herod

as a

representative

of God's

special

people

Israel

now

throughout

the history

of Israel

God's

king

the king

of Israel

was to

reflect

God's

character

and lead

God's

people

as God

himself

would

but

Herod

he was

hated

by many

in Israel

why

because

of his

violent

repression

his

ruthlessness

and his

corruption

this man

had blood

all over

him

he had

already

killed

his wife

and all

her known

relatives

he had

already killed

at least

two of his

sons

why

because

he considered

them a threat

to his

position

as king

he exploited

his people

mercilessly

see he was

appointed by

the Romans

and as long

as he kept

peace

in Palestine

the Romans

didn't really

care what

he did

so he could

butcher his

own people

exploit them

to the

nth degree

as long

as he kept

the peace

the Romans

were happy

with him

and Herod

went to town

on that

little window

of opportunity

so

this man

no doubt

murdering

twenty

thirty

forty

infants

Bethlehem

Bethlehem

wasn't a

large town

the region

we don't

know how

big the

region

are

but

possibly

no more

than

fifty

infants

now that

seems a lot

to us

and I don't

want to

minimize that

but for

Herod

who's already

killed his

own family

that's

probably

only the

price of

staying in

business

as the

king

it's a

nasty

business

but

you know

it's worth

the cost

and in

that we

see how

far

Herod

had moved

Herod the

so called

great

had moved

from God's

ideal for

kings

Herod was

the king

of greed

the king

of self

interest

murder

exploitation

the king

of repression

the king

of misery

the king

of death

God's

people

desperately

needed

a better

king

and

enter

King

Jesus

the truly

great

king

who

runs

the whole

world

as the

forever

king

in his

forever

kingdom

Matthew

doesn't

give us

any

details

as to

how

the

magi

came to

their

conclusion

just

that

they were

convinced

that the

birth of

Jesus

was an

event of

cosmic

significance

the birth

of a

king

to whom

they owed

a greater

allegiance

than they did

even to

their Persian

overlord

in whose

employ

they were

and look

at verse

six

it's just

one of

those

countless

countless

prophecies

that speak

of the

nature

of

Jesus

the

great

king

from

you

shall

come

a

ruler

a

king

who

will

shepherd

my

people

Israel

you

can

feel

the

contrast

already

with

Herod

can't

you

a

butcher

and a

shepherd

Messiah

or

King

Jesus

would

fulfill

the

ideal

of

kingship

which

God

had

set

before

David

King

David

in

2

Samuel

7

a

king

who

would

shepherd

God's

people

into

truth

and

righteousness

and

safety

a

king

who

would

care

for

them

as a

shepherd

and

lead

them

into

the

good

life

of

security

a

good

life

lived

under

obedience

to the

Lord

rather than

be a

wolf

that would

attack

and destroy

them

King

Jesus

would be

a king

whose rule

would

never

end

in

contrast

to

Herod

who

huffed

and puffed

and did

his

darndest

and then

was dead

and gone

forever

for all

his efforts

was only a

blip

on the

history

of God's

dealings

with his

people

and

this

new

king

Jesus

the truly

great

king

comes

with God's

total

backing

as already

stated

this story

is running

perfectly

according

to God's

plan

Jesus

has God's

backing

and protection

at every

stage

and again

Jesus

is the

king who

would rule

by right

of character

and by

God's

approval

and he

would rule

for God's

glory

rather than

the usurper

king like

Herod

ruling

by

violent

suppression

and ruling

by the

authority

derived

authority

from other

men

such as

the Roman

authorities

and that

was Herod

he only

ruled

by Roman

authority

by Roman

permission

click the

fingers

and Herod

would be

gone

and Jesus

would be

the great

king

perfectly

suited to

ruling

and subduing

unruly

hearts

this might

be the key

difference

really

because

Herod

you see

wasn't

the least

bit

interested

in the

real

needs

of his

people

he was

filled

with his

own

interests

and as

a result

of that

filled

the hearts

of his

people

with fear

and despair

and grief

as he

chased

his own

desires

contrast

that

with what

we know

to come

for Jesus

not only

focused on

his

people's

needs

the need

for light

and life

joy

and satisfaction

but a

king who

actually has

the authority

to see

their hearts

to see

their needs

and the

power to

deliver on

those needs

Jesus

actually

deserves

the title

great

and friends

we need

a strong

capable

king

because our

hearts are

unruly

we're inclined

to sin

king me

as Steve

Farrar

used the

terminology

king me

makes an

absolute

mess of

our lives

we like to

think as Dave

said last week

we like to

think we're

pretty

good

at running

our lives

pretty good

at being

king

in our

own

little

demand

but I

think most

of us

deep down

would know

that we've

stuffed it up

majorly

when we

tried to

be king

in our

own

lives

we need

a strong

capable

king

who will

deliver us

into the

truly godly

life

who will

shepherd us

into

obedience

and righteousness

and safety

Herod

therefore

was part

of the

problem

he killed

his little

ones

to protect

his own

interests

he destroyed

without exception

or mercy

but Jesus

allowed himself

to be killed

to protect

his little

ones

he gave up

everything

so that he

could treat

his undeserving

little ones

with mercy

and without

distinction

and the

final thing

about this

great king

Jesus

that comes

out of

these

verses

here

is that

initially

he doesn't

even look

like a

king

at all

he's

despised

and rejected

to pick up

the language

from Isaiah

53

here we have

the defenseless

baby on the run

this so called

king

God himself

hidden by his

parents

going from

here to

there

doesn't look