Matthew 2:1-12

If you could turn to page 7 in the sheet that you were given, I'm going to speak from Matthew 2 and verses 1-12.

! And there's an abundance of sermon title puns from this chapter.

So, Stars, Schemes and Dreams.

Or you might have heard Wise Men Worship Jesus Still.

Star Trek, to name a few.

But I think there's no story of Jesus' birth that's been more distorted over the years.

Let me try and prove my point with a quiz.

You're not going to shout out. You can whisper your answers to the person next to you.

But let me ask you some questions.

How many wise men were there?

What were their names?

How did they get to Jerusalem? No shouting out.

When did they arrive?

What country were they from?

And if you know the answers to those questions,

you're probably more familiar with sentimental carols and tradition

than with what the Bible says about them.

Let me give you the answers to the quiz.

We don't know how many wise men there were.

There could have been three.

There could have been ten. I'd quite like to think there were 500.

We don't know that Casper, Melchior, Balthazar were their names.

We don't know their names.

We don't know how they got there.

There's no mention of camels.

I think we can safely rule out one on a bus, one on a car, one on a scooter.

The belongings to two.

They didn't arrive at Christmas night.

They went to a house.

And not a stable.

And all we know about them is that they're from the east.

And so Matthew, who wrote this gospel, is very short on Christmas trimmings.

There's no stable.

There's no shepherds.

It's a very plain account.

But he's very, very clear on who and why we're celebrating tonight.

In the last verse of Matthew chapter 1, we're told Jesus was born.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

And in verse 2 of chapter 2, it tells us that we celebrate the birth of God's king.

Jesus, and not the wise men, however many there were, is the hero of the story.

Two points for you tonight.

First of all, the contrast of the kings, and then the contrast of the responses.

So look at verses 1 and 2 on page 7.

Can you do that?

Look down with me.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,

Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?

We saw his star in the east, and we've come to worship him.

When you put them together, you don't have to be very astute, do you,

to realise that there's two kings.

There's King Herod, verse 1, and then there's the king of the Jews.

That's not an editorial coincidence.

It is a deliberate statement.

Herod was the man-made king.

Jesus is the God-born king.

Let's look at that contrast.

Herod, he's half Jew, he's half Edomite.

But Herod, the man-made king, he was appointed king by the Roman Senate about 40 BC.

You can look him up in history.

King Herod was an outsider.

In fact, he was a vicious outsider.

He killed his mother.

He killed his favourite wife.

And so you wonder what happened to the least favourite.

He killed at least three of his sons.

His reign is characterised by paranoia.

He was always vulnerable to a king rising up, to a true Israelite.

King Herod had sleepless nights about a king from the true Davidic dynasty.

That somebody would come from King David's line.

Think of that situation today, where there's a royal line.

But now there's someone else on the throne.

And of course, that someone else would be vulnerable.

Herod hears the news he's been dreading for decades.

There's another king.

A king of the Jews.

Jesus, well, he's got the credentials.

If you go back to right at the start of Matthew's Gospel,

the very first verse says,

Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

It's telling you right from the start,

Jesus is definitely in the royal line.

And so you see Herod, the man appointed king,

is terrified.

Can you see in verse 2,

this baby has been born king.

He's not born to be king.

He's in the royal line.

And he's born in the right place.

He's born in the little town of Bethlehem.

And that quote that we're given there in verse 6,

is from the Old Testament.

It's from the Old Testament prophet Micah.

This king has been born in the right place.

He's geographically authentic.

So what we're being told in Matthew 2,

is in the words of the carol,

the hopes and fears of all the years

are met indeed tonight.

The promised one of the Old Testament,

God's long promised king, has arrived.

And incredibly, Herod gets that.

There's more contrast.

What kind of king will Jesus be?

Will he be like King Herod, the tyrant?

And the contrast is not only in their origin,

but in the nature of their kingship.

I think tragically,

sometimes people can look at Christianity

and think that Jesus is a tyrant

telling you what you can and can't do.

That Jesus makes demands on your time,

your money.

He tells you who you can sleep with

and who you can't sleep with.

But if you look at verse 6,

just over the page, on page 8,

look what it says about this king.

For out of you will come a ruler

who will be a shepherd of my people.

And that idea of a king who's also a shepherd

is throughout the Old Testament.

I think Matthew is drawing here

from when King David was crowned king of Israel.

And we're told in 1 Samuel 5 verse 2,

1 Samuel 5:2

you shall shepherd my people Israel

and you shall become their ruler.

Here is the king in David's line,

but he's the king in fulfillment to David.

He is the king, but he's also a shepherd.

He rules.

But how does he rule?

He rules as a caring shepherd.

What does a good shepherd do?

A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Do you remember Herod?

He is the one who will kill to keep his throne.

But Jesus is the one who will die

because he's on the throne.

You see, Herod was troubled

when he heard the news of the king of the Jews

and all Jews slim with them.

They sensed a threat.

They knew of Herod's paranoia.

He'd killed his mother, his wife,

at least two of his sons.

They had good reason to fear.

But in chapter 2 in verse...

Chapter 2, we're told that he will be a shepherd.

There's a joke at the time

when this was written,

which spoke that it was a rhyme in the original,

that it was safer to be Herod's pig

than Herod's son.

This man killed for his throne.

But the one the wise men wanted to see

will die,

not because he is forced off his throne,

but he will die for his people.

He will give his life

for the sheep.

Matthew tells us that at his birth

and at his death,

he's given a title, isn't he?

The king of the Jews.

And so there's a choice for the wise men.

As there is a choice for each one of us tonight.

There's the pomp and the rank

and the visible power

of the Herods of this world.

Or there's the seeming weakness

and vulnerability

and near invisibility

of God's king.

And the Magi, they chose wisely.

Well, we know, don't we,

from 2,000 years,

Herod is dead and gone, isn't he?

Herod was an important man,

a very important man,

but his kingdom was small.

And even in his time,

Herod was not the most important person

in the world.

As far as I'm aware,

there is nobody

who is worshipping Herod tonight.

As far as I'm aware,

there is nobody

that will celebrate Herod's birthday.

Nobody says,

I follow Herod's rule.

But the king of the Jews

born that night

is a universal

and everlasting king.

There's a clue to that.

Where are the Magi from?

The Magi are from the east,

aren't they?

They are not Jewish.

If you go back to the Old Testament,

you will see that

there's this promise

again and again and again

that God's king

will be a universal king

for all people

and for all time.

Psalm 72 says this,

it was like the national anthem

for the people of Israel.

May he,

that's God's king,

have dominion from sea to sea,

from rivers

to the ends of the earth.

May the kings of Tarshish

and of the coastlands

render him tribute.

May the kings of Sheba

and Sheba bring him gifts.

May all kings

fall down before him

and all nations serve him.

Blessed be his glorious name forever.

May the whole earth

be filled with his glory.

What Matthew is telling you,

that what Israel looked for

and prayed for

is beginning to happen.

We are seeing in miniature

in Matthew chapter 2

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

that the king of the Jews

is actually the king of the nations.

The promise is given

in the Old Testament

that God is going to bless

all the nations

is here being fulfilled.

The nations are coming

to Jesus.

An international mighty king

who will rule over his people

forever.

And so here in Matthew 2

is the beginning of many nations

coming to Jesus.

Millions upon millions

upon millions

have since done that.

People like me

who are not Jewish

who have been cut

into the story.

And Matthew

at the end of his book

says exactly the same thing.

He says,

go into all the world

and tell people

about this universal

and everlasting king.

You see,

Matthew 2

is telling you

that the baby

or the toddler

as he is in Matthew 2

is God's king

and so get on your knees

and worship him.

And if this is the start

of God's plan

what will it be like

when Jesus comes back?

We're told,

do you know what will happen then?

The Bible says

when Jesus comes back

every knee will bow

whether you've bowed

the knee before or not.

Mohammed's knee will bow.

Piers Morgan's knee will bow.

The Dalai Lama will bow his knee.

Rishi Sunak,

Joe Biden,

Donald Trump,

they will bow their knee

before King Jesus.

You

will bow your knee.

And will you bow your knee now

or will you bow your knee then?

And if I was you

I would make sure

I bow my knee now

and worship the universal king.

The contrast of the kings.

But secondly

the contrast of responses.

He's the universal king

but that doesn't mean

that he's universally acclaimed

and welcomed.

There are different responses

aren't there?

I think there are three.

Firstly there's the Magi.

We don't know anything about them

apart from this passage.

What did they know?

But it seems they must have known

some of the Jewish scriptures

to be looking for the king of the Jews.

It's absolutely remarkable isn't it?

They see the star

and they trek.

They trek to Jerusalem

where they expected the child to be born.

That's where you'd expect the child to be born

in the capital city.

And then they go on to Bethlehem

where they're told to.

And they give Jesus gifts.

Some have put special emphasis on the gifts.

Some have said it's gold for a king,

frankincense for a prophet,

myrrh for a priest.

I'm not completely sure about that.

But the gifts that they gave

were of great value.

And you have to wonder

that they went so far

with so little to go on.

They eagerly arrive at Jerusalem.

And they talk with Herod.

And Herod is troubled.

He is so troubled

that he gets the theologians in.

The religious guys.

And they know

where the king of the Jews

is going to be born.

They know that Bethlehem

is the birthplace

of the promised king.

But they can't be bothered

to go there themselves.

The wise men,

they have so little

to go on.

But the chief priests

and the teachers of the law,

they have so much,

but they're not going to stir.

And Matthew again

is deliberately contrasting

for you.

He is showing you

the eagerness of the Magi

to worship Jesus.

Despite their limited knowledge.

And he contrasts it

with the apathy

of the Jewish leaders.

Apathy isn't new.

What does apathy mean?

I don't care, you say.

It means, isn't it?

You can't be bothered.

It's really frightening, isn't it?

That some of us

can know our Bibles

and you can be really familiar

with the story of Christmas

like many of us are.

But that doesn't necessarily

lead to knowing

and loving Jesus.

If the chief priests

and the teachers of the law

were around today,

they'd be church leaders.

Incredibly well read,

incredibly sophisticated.

They'd be the religious

establishment.

But they still

wouldn't know

and love Jesus.

You see, for the Magi,

no trouble is too great

for them.

For the Pharisees

and the religious leaders,

they cannot be bothered.

And their apathy

in the end

led to opposition.

Herod's devious plan

shows he's against Jesus

right from the off, isn't it?

He's threatened by him.

And so even at his birth,

can you see,

Jesus is dividing people

into two camps

just like he's dividing

us into two camps.

Those who are for him

and those who are against him.

What's the result

of these three responses?

Well, verse 10,

for the Magi,

they saw the star

and they're overjoyed.

And they come to the house,

they see the child

with his mother Mary,

they bow down

and they worship him.

They open up their treasures,

they present him

with gifts of gold

and frankincense

and myrrh.

Can you just see

the response?

They came

and they worshipped Jesus.

What did they experience?

They experienced

great joy.

Exceedingly

great

joy.

I wonder

whether you know

anything of that.

That is

real

Christianity.

That is

the reason

we as a church exist.

That is

what we're inviting you

into tonight.

Real

exceeding

joy.

How will you

react

to King Jesus?

Will you

search for him?

Will you

look for him?

Will you

read about him?

Come back

on a Sunday

and find out

more about him.

It's really

why we're so excited

about this course

Hope Explored.

It's going to run

on three Wednesdays

in January.

Wednesday the 10th

and the 17th

and the 24th.

And it's an opportunity

for you to hear

more about Jesus

and hear

more about what

he claims

and to hear more

about that

exceedingly great

joy that he

offers you.

Come with your

questions.

Come with your

concerns.

Come with your

doubts.

You'd be really

really welcome.

Three Wednesdays

in January.

will you

be a fool

and not

bother

ignore him

maybe

think he's

unimportant

maybe

box him up

with the other

Christmas decorations

get him out again

next year.

That is a tragic

mistake.

I beg you

don't do it.

Or will you

recognise

that the baby

born in

Bethlehem

is God's

King

whom God

has sent

into this

world

to bring you

exceedingly

great

joy.

Let's bow

before him

now and let's

pray.

pray.