The Worship of Our King

Well, Merry Christmas, everyone.

I thought I would start with controversy.

Let's talk politics.

Now, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum,

you've got to admit that the field of Republican presidential candidates

consists of some very unique personalities.

You've got to admit it.

And so I'm not about to advocate one candidate over the other here,

but let me, I mean, there is a significant contrast

between one Donald Trump and one Jeb Bush.

I mean, one is very brash.

The other is quite reserved.

Sharp contrast between the two.

And when we get into the actual debates

between the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee,

we'll have some more contrasts.

All vying for the top position in the land.

This morning, as we prepare our hearts for this week,

celebrating Christmas,

we're going to look at this passage in Matthew 2, 1-12,

a passage that brings out contrasts

to help us see who is the one true king.

Matthew makes some contrasts between Herod and Jesus,

and we're left asking,

well, which one is the true king of the Jews?

The Magi, who were Gentiles,

point us to the real king.

And he's not just the king of the Jews,

he's the king of all.

And all are to bow down and worship him.

And so this morning,

here's how I'd like to move us forward.

We're going to walk through the story,

verses 1-12,

and I want you to see five contrasts.

And those contrasts are going to help us to see

who is the one true king.

I'll walk through the story,

we'll make the point,

and we'll ask the question,

so what?

What difference does this make for us now?

So let's look at this story.

Five contrasts.

And the first contrast begins in the very first verse.

Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea

in the days of Herod the king,

we already have our two candidates, so to speak.

Jesus and Herod for king of the Jews.

Which one?

And where the gospel writer points us to

is he's talking about birthplace.

There's a contrast

in where each of these people were born.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

We know that.

And Bethlehem was outside of Jerusalem

in southern Israel.

But what you may not remember

is that Jesus was also,

he grew up in Nazareth,

which is in northern Israel,

around the Sea of Galilee.

And so one of the things Matthew's doing here

is helping people understand

why this Jesus of Nazareth

was actually born in Bethlehem.

And what we all know about Bethlehem is

it's the hometown of David.

That's where King David was born.

That's where he grew up.

And so what Matthew is doing here

is helping us link Jesus

to the kingship of David.

And he spent a lot of time

in chapter 1 doing the very same thing.

Today, Jesus is from the line of David.

He has a birthright to the throne.

Now Herod, on the other hand,

he's not from Bethlehem.

He's an Edomite.

He was born outside of Israel.

Edom was south of Israel.

In a little background on Herod,

in 40 A.D.,

he was declared to be the king of Judea

by the Roman Senate.

He was declared to be the king of the Jews

by the Roman Senate.

So he was not Jewish.

And the Jews held that against him.

And so the throne was not his birthright.

And he actually married into

a very powerful Jewish family of the time.

And so what we have here

at the very outset

is a contrast of birthplaces.

And we have to ask the question,

well, which one points to the one true king?

Jesus was born in Bethlehem,

but not Herod.

So that's contrast number one.

Contrast number two,

who the Magi sought.

We see that at the second half of verse one

and into verse two.

Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

Now, you've got to remember,

these wise men from the east,

east is most likely Babylon.

And the perspective here is east of Israel,

east of Jerusalem.

So Babylon would have been to the right.

Hundreds of miles away.

And what is important to note is

at that time in Babylon,

there was a significant Jewish settlement.

And so these Magi's could very well,

likely have been influenced

by the Jews living in Babylon at the time.

Now, Magi were Gentiles, non-Jews.

And these Magi were astrologers

and dream interpreters.

And so they studied the stars.

They tried to make sense of dreams.

And so isn't it interesting

that God leads them by a star.

He leads them by a dream

at the end of this section.

What you need to see about these Magi

is that they're Magi on a mission.

They've come to Jerusalem for something.

They're looking.

And we see that in verse two.

They come to Jerusalem.

And they're saying,

where is he who's been born King of the Jews?

Where is the one born King of the Jews?

They're not saying,

hey, where's the one who was voted in

as King of Judea?

They're not asking that.

They're saying,

where's the one who is by birthright

King of the Jews right now?

That's what they're looking for.

And they go on to say

that we've been following His star.

His star.

Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?

Where we saw His star when it arose.

His star.

At that time,

when there was a star that would appear

that corresponded to someone's birth,

it was a huge deal.

And so somehow,

these Magi,

seeing this star appear,

and somehow being influenced

by Jewish thinking at the time,

most likely in Babylon,

they were putting two and two together.

And they were saying,

okay, we're going to Jerusalem.

We're going to find this one born King of the Jews.

It kind of begs the question,

did they know that this King of the Jews

would be God with us?

God in the flesh?

Well, we don't know that.

But we know what Matthew says now.

That this baby that they're searching for

is in fact God in the flesh.

So here we have these Magi on a mission.

And at the end of verse 2,

they say,

for we saw His star

and have come to worship Him.

Come to pay Him homage.

Come to bring tribute.

Come to recognize this one greater than us.

We have Gentiles coming to worship a Jewish king.

It's amazing.

This word worship shows up three times

in this passage alone.

It's a significant theme.

Worship.

Worship.

Worship this king.

So here we have foreign diplomats

paying homage to someone greater than they are,

this baby born a king,

king of the Jews.

We know Him as Emmanuel.

We know Him as Emmanuel.

Here's the contrast.

It's not explicitly stated,

but it's there.

These Magi come to Jerusalem

where Herod would have been reigning.

And they're asking around the city,

hey, where is this one born king of the Jews?

Where is he?

Do you know who they're not asking for?

They're not asking for Herod.

They're looking for a child.

They're looking for a child.

A child marked by this star.

And so there's a contrast in who the Magi sought.

Which one is the true king of kings?

The king of the Jews?

The third contrast I want to help you see

is the contrast of plans.

If you look at verse 3, we read this.

When Herod the king heard this,

he heard the mumbling.

He heard that there were Magi in town.

He heard that they were looking

for the one born king of the Jews.

When Herod the king heard this,

he was troubled.

What was he troubled about?

Was he troubled about a baby

born under his reign?

Was that what he was troubled about?

Here's what he was troubled about.

He was troubled that there was now

a rival claim to his throne.

That's what troubled him.

There's someone else in the kingdom

who is being said is the king of the Jews

by birthright.

Born king of the Jews.

It represented a threat.

Herod dealt with threats

in a most disturbing way.

By this point in his reign,

Herod the great

was greatly paranoid.

And he was a killer.

I read something this week

that I want to read with you.

This is one of the people

who help kind of like

the four Tauruses like me

see things that I normally don't see.

And so one of the commentators

wrote this,

speaking of Herod.

He was wealthy

and politically gifted,

intensely loyal,

an excellent administrator,

and clever enough

to remain in the good graces

of successive Roman emperors.

His famine relief was superb

and his building projects,

including the temple,

admired even by his foes,

but he loved power,

inflicted incredible,

incredible heavy taxes

on the people,

and resented the fact

that many Jews

considered him a usurper.

In his last years,

which would be

at the point of this story,

in his last years,

suffering an illness

that compounded his paranoia

turned to cruelty

and in fits of rage

and jealousy

killed close associates,

his wife Miriam,

and at least two of his sons.

This man,

this Herod the Great,

is troubled

and his troubledness

runs deep.

He sees this announcement,

this potential king

as a threat to him.

We notice too

that all Jerusalem

was troubled with him.

The best way

to understand that

is this.

If Herod ain't happy,

nobody else

in Jerusalem is happy.

I mean,

think about it.

You're someone

living in Jerusalem

and these foreign dignitaries

come into the city

and they're asking,

where is this king

of the Jews,

this one born king

of the Jews?

And you're thinking,

oh, this isn't going

to be good.

This isn't going

to be good

because freak show,

Herod,

in the throne

right now,

is not going

to like this.

And so,

in verse 4,

we see what

Herod does.

This guy,

this guy's a rascal.

And assembling

all the chief priests

and scribes

of the people,

he inquired of them

where the Christ

was to be born.

So, he gets word,

he's troubled,

and then he goes

into political

Simonizing.

Do you know

what Simonizing is?

My father-in-law

uses Simonize.

It's you start planning.

You get the political

kind of wheels turning.

You're like,

okay,

we've got a potential

threat here.

How are we going

to handle this?

We've got to figure out

kind of the scope

of this

in order

how to handle it.

And so,

being very politically

savvy,

Herod calls in

kind of the religious

elite

in Jerusalem

at the time.

And he asks them

the question,

where is the Christ

to be born?

He's setting a plan

in motion.

We don't know it

quite yet.

He'll come out

in a second.

But he does not

have something

good in mind.

So,

he brings these

kind of religious

elite together

and he asks them,

where is the Christ

to be born?

Now,

there is a really

subtle point

to be made.

The Magi come in

asking,

where is this one

born king

of the Jews?

And now,

we see Herod

asking these

religious elite,

where is the Christ

to be born?

And so,

we see this

connection between

king of the Jews

and the Christ.

They're one and the same.

The long-awaited one.

The promised one

of God.

Where is he

to be born?

And so,

these religious elite

answer Herod

very quickly.

They know right

off the top of their head

where he's going

to be born.

They say in verse 5,

they told him,

in Bethlehem of Judea.

The second time

that phrase is used.

For so it is written

by the prophet.

Written through the prophet.

God spoke through the prophet.

God has a plan.

And this baby

fulfilled that plan.

It's not a Simonizing plan

of a tyrant king.

It's God's plan

for the salvation

of the world.

And so,

what they do is

they quote

Micah 5.2.

But it's a combined quote.

It's more than Micah 5.2.

It's Micah 5.2

and 2 Samuel 5.2.

So they're kind of

squished together.

And what it functions as

is a prophetic stamp

saying,

this is legit.

This is God's plan.

We've already seen

Matthew do this

in the section before

where he quotes

Isaiah 7.14.

This baby

born of a virgin

is Emmanuel.

It's Jesus.

And next week

we're going to see him

do this three more times

where he says

that this baby

and his life

fulfill what God

had said beforehand

in the Old Testament.

It's all about

God's plan.

And so this quote,

the Micah 5.2 part

is the first part.

And you, O Bethlehem

and the land of Judah

and by no means

least among the rulers.

What he's doing there

is yes,

it was God's plan

for the Christ

to be born in Bethlehem.

That location is legit.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

And then he goes on

to talk about

in the second half,

for from you,

this is the 2 Samuel 5.2 part,

for from you shall come

a ruler who shall shepherd

my people Israel.

The significance is

ruler and shepherd.

What's being talked about

is kingship.

And when you hear

the words shepherd king,

who comes to your mind

but David?

And so this quote

has David-ness

all about it.

Kingship.

But why it's being quoted

is to help us to see

that this is God's plan.

And might I add,

God's loving plan.

For God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son.

This is His plan

for our good,

for the salvation of all.

It fulfills God's forever plan.

And so what we see going on

in this section

is a contrast.

Herod's political Simonizing.

The wheels are turning.

Jesus,

the fulfillment of God's plan.

See the contrast?

The next contrast I want you to see

is a contrast

in character.

We see this come out

in verse 7 and 8.

Then Herod summoned

the wise men secretly

and ascertained from them

what time the star

had appeared.

Okay, so this is the first time

we see Herod talking

to the Magi

and it's a hush-hush meeting.

He calls the men in secret.

He wants to get some information

from them.

He's still Simonizing.

He's still enacting a plan.

But what you need to understand

is that it's a murderous plan.

Do you see Him ascertaining

when the time the star had appeared?

Do you know why He's asking that question?

Here's why.

He knows it corresponds

to the birth of the Christ.

And so do you know what He's doing?

He's narrowing the field

of possible threats.

He's trying to find an age range

of how old this boy is.

Later on in this passage,

God appears to a dream

to the wise men.

They don't go back to Herod.

And then in the next verse,

if you want to look ahead

to verse 16,

Herod flips out.

He's furious.

And look what he does.

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 all that region

who were two years old or under

according to the time

he had ascertained

from the wise men.

Do you see why He's asking

this question?

He's trying to remove

His threat.

This is not a good man.

verse 8.

Verse 8.

He continues the con job.

He sends them to Bethlehem

saying,

Go and search diligently

for the child

and when you found him,

bring me word

that I too may worship him.

This is the second time

that word worship is used

in this passage.

The word worship is used

13 times in Matthew.

Nine of the 13 times

are about worshiping Jesus.

One of them is this time.

But it is tongue-in-cheek

at best.

He has no intention

of worshiping Jesus.

The reason why he wants

to know where Jesus is

is not to worship him.

It's to kill him.

He's a threat.

So he cons the magi.

He sends them to Bethlehem

with the expert information

he's learned

from the religious elite.

Yeah, I learned that

they're in Bethlehem.

Go.

Go find him.

Let me know the house address

and I'll come worship him.

That's not what's going on.

He's conning them.

He's deceiving them.

So the contrast going on here

is this self-serving tyrant,

this con man killer

with the shepherd king

who's a baby.

And what we know

about the shepherd king

is that he's going to give

his life as a ransom for many.

Herod is self-serving.

Jesus is self-sacrificial.

One is a killer.

The other is the Savior.

This contrast points to

who is the real king of the Jews.

The last contrast I want you to see

is a contrast of worship.

In verses 9 through 12,

Jesus is worshipped.

In verse 9,

the magi listen to the king

and they go.

They go on their way

five or six miles

to Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

The star reappears.

Remember, it's his star.

Verse 2.

The star of the Christ child, Jesus.

It's God leading them.

God wants these Gentile magi

to find the king of the Jews

so that they can worship Him.

And He's not just king of the Jews.

He's king of all.

This is the Savior of the world

that's been born.

God is salvation.

Jesus.

Emmanuel.

God with us.

That's who this is.

Jesus came not just for Jews,

but for all people.

And just as a side note,

you know what?

Here are the religious elite.

They know exactly where

the Christ is to be born,

but they don't go.

These Gentiles are the ones

that are sent.

Well, the star went before them.

It literally led them.

And then the star came to rest.

It literally stopped moving

over the place

where Jesus was residing in Bethlehem.

It had an address.

We don't know the address,

but it was a specific place.

And there are all sorts of theories

that want to explain,

try to explain the star.

And so maybe it was

the alignment of planets.

Maybe it was a comet.

Maybe it was a huge explosion,

a supernova,

just at the right time.

They're all means.

God could have used any of those.

But what you can't miss

is that this was supernatural.

God was making it clear.

God was using these kind of natural means

for His supernatural purposes.

God was leading the Magi

to the King of Jews.

His birth

was that important.

Now in verses 10 and 11,

you see these Magi,

they are thrilled.

When they saw the star,

they rejoiced exceedingly

with great joy.

One commentator said

they were delirious with joy.

I mean, they get to the house.

They've journeyed from Babylon.

It's been a long time.

They've wanted to see this baby.

And so now they're at the house.

Can you believe it?

I'm reminded of,

Jenny and I adopted our youngest

from China.

And it was a four and a half year process

capped by a huge trip.

And we were counting down the days.

We were counting down the days

to gotcha day

when we gotcha'd Mary.

It was awesome.

And I'll never forget.

We have video of this

being in our hotel room

in Nanchung.

And we are literally

counting down the minutes.

We're so thrilled.

We can't believe it.

The time has come.

And I'll never forget

being down in this hotel

and being on the other side

of the door

of our baby.

It's palpable.

We are so excited.

We're surrounded by people

who are just as excited.

Exceeding joy

at the prospect

of seeing

a baby.

A child.

And this is no ordinary child.

This is Emmanuel.

Well,

God with us.

The offspring

of Abraham

who would bring salvation

to all the peoples

of the world.

So you can see

why they're a little

geeked about this.

So the star

leads them

to the house

and they walk in

and they find

this baby Jesus

chilling

with his mama.

And going into the house

they saw the child

with Mary,

his mother.

And they fell down

and worshipped him.

Joy to the world.

The Lord has come.

Let earth receive

her king.

They fell down

and worshipped him.

This is the third time

that word worship

is used.

This passage

is all about worship.

It's all about

the worship of the one

true king.

And Jesus

is the one

true king.

Notice,

they gave him gifts.

They gave him gifts.

Gold, frankincense,

and myrrh.

There's no need

to kind of

overly complicate

these gifts.

There's no need

to super spiritualize them,

to go deep

into symbolism of them.

Here's what you can know.

There's no other resident

in the town of Bethlehem

that would have received

gifts like these.

Because these are gifts

fit for a king.

These are for a king.

Turns out,

Isaiah chapter 60,

Isaiah 60:6

verse 6,

a messianic passage,

points to people,

Gentiles,

coming to the Messiah

and offering him

golden frankincense.

These Gentiles

were worshiping

the king of the Jews.

And if there had been

any other question

up to this point,

Matthew's making it clear

that salvation

is for all people.

The focus

of these magi's worship

is Jesus,

and Jesus

is the focus

of God's plan

of salvation.

He's a Jewish king

for all people.

Bow down

and worship him.

Bow down

and worship him.

Verse 12,

we're not told how.

We don't know

how long the magi stayed,

but it must have been

at least one night

because they had a dream,

and in that dream

they were told,

by God,

inferred,

but told,

don't go back to Herod.

So they go another way.

Don't go back

to that con man.

Go home another way.

So here's the contrast.

It's a contrast

of who is worshiped.

The magi worship

King Jesus,

Emmanuel,

the long-anticipated one.

But the magi

avoid King Herod.

They keep away from him.

They draw near to Jesus,

but steer clear of Herod.

So what is this passage

all about?

Well, these contrasts

point to the one true king.

Jesus.

He's the king of the Jews.

He's the king of all.

And so this Christmas,

we worship him.

We bow down

and worship him.

We give him

the most valuable gift

we can,

our lives.

We live for him.

He's worthy.

He's the real king.

He's Emmanuel.

You know,

it's not in this text,

this passage,

but there is one

other contrast.

Herod died

and stayed dead.

It's said

that the day

that Herod died,

he had prisoners

executed

to ensure

there was mourning

in Jerusalem

on the day he died.

He was a tyrant.

But King Jesus,

he died.

He gave his life

as a ransom for many,

right?

Amen.

But he didn't stay dead.

He was raised

on the third day.

Amen.

And he's reigning

right now

at the right hand

of the Father.

Amen.

And he's going to come back

and when he comes back

as a warrior,

every knee shall bow

and every tongue confess

that Jesus the Christ

is Lord.

He's King of all.

Amen.

Amen.

Two so what's.

So what number one.

If you're not a follower

of King Jesus,

bow your knee by faith.

Become a follower

of the King.

Come under His glorious reign.

Don't rebel against it.

Come under it.

And find life

and joy inexpressible.

The Gospels,

Matthew as well,

are designed to introduce

King Jesus

to people

who don't know Him.

Do you know

King Emmanuel?

Have you come

under His reign?

Have you bowed

your knee by faith?

Have you recognized

that you are

a sinner

who has been

a rebellion

against Him

and that you need

to turn from that

and come under

His glorious reign?

Have you seen that?

Do you know that?

Bow your knee today.

Become a Christian today.

Here's what you need to do.

You just need to admit it.

King Jesus,

I've been rebelling

against you

and trying to reign

over my own life.

But I see that.

I'll praise to you.

And I bow my knee

under your reign

and I will follow you

all the days of my life

because you're that awesome.

If you're not a Christian,

become a Christian today.

It's by faith alone.

Bow your knee to King Jesus.

The second so what

is this.

Now,

Christmas is much more

than one day of the year.

We all get that, right?

We live every day

in light of our King Jesus.

We get that.

But this week

provides a unique opportunity

for us as Christians

to reflect upon

and bow down

and worship our King.

So I have a couple suggestions

for you this week.

In light of

it being Christmas,

in light of

our Emmanuel,

first is this.

Pray.

Pray that God would use

the Christmas Eve outreach

to introduce people

to King Jesus,

that people would bow to me.

Second,

come to the Christmas Eve service.

come,

let's worship Him together.

Come,

let's sing Christmas carols

to our one true King.

Let's do that together.

What it's going to be

on Christmas Eve

is a bunch of Gentiles

coming together

to worship

our Jewish King

who's King of all.

Oh, come,

let us adore Him.

And then,

this Friday,

before you exchange gifts,

maybe it's one gift,

maybe it's five gifts,

but before

the wrapping paper

starts flying,

take a moment,

pull out your Bible,

read Matthew 2,

1-12,

read Luke 2,

1-21,

read Isaiah 7,

14,

Isaiah 9,

2-7,

Micah 5,

take your pick,

and call to mind

why we are exchanging gifts.

Call to mind

our great King Jesus,

our Emmanuel.

The Magi gave gifts

out of reverence for Jesus.

Let's give gifts

to one another

out of reverence for Jesus.

This is about Him.

It's about Him.

This passage

provided some contrasts

so that we can see

that Jesus

is the Christ,

our one

great King.

Come all you faithful.

Let's adore Him.

God in Heaven,

we of all people

know the significance

of this season,

and we choose

to rejoice

and bow down

and worship our King.

God, we won't be

distracted from that.

And so God,

would You make our hearts

ring all week long

praises

to Emmanuel.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.