The Advent Of Joy

It was 1857 when John Hopkins first published the carol that we know as We Three Kings.

It became a classic carol.

Perhaps you sung it at some point.

I don't think we sang it in our congregational singing,

but perhaps you have reflected on it at some point this month.

It walks us through the details of this particular text,

but there are a couple of discrepancies with the hymn that are worth noting.

The first one being that the men, the journeymen in this particular story, were not kings.

It's not who they were.

It's a different word that's used to describe that we translate as wise men.

Really, the word is magi.

They weren't kingly figures per se.

So that's the first discrepancy.

The other is that it's really unlikely that there were only three of them.

There probably were actually much more than just three.

But both of these notes in the carol, it comes from the emphasis on the three gifts

that they open up and give to the baby Jesus or the toddler Jesus,

however old he might have been at the time that they arrived.

There were three of them, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And so John Hopkins associates these men as being kings

because the gifts that were given were very, very valuable.

They were extremely valuable, actually.

So valuable that these are the kind of things that would have really only belonged to or been given to kings.

And so he associates these men, perhaps they're kings.

The reason he says that there might be three of them is because there were three gifts.

And of course, we know that we can think that through and understand that that's not exactly what the text says.

Could have been three.

Probably was a lot more than that, actually, at this particular moment.

So there's some discrepancies in the carol, not to ruin it for you.

But though it may be a bit off, there are at least two kings in this text.

One was obsessed with preserving his power, going so far as to even execute all the male children,

two and under, in Bethlehem, in the region around Bethlehem,

just in his attempt to preserve his own position of authority and power over the people.

The other one couldn't have been more different than that.

The other king in this text is the one that Paul would later say in Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, a thing to hold on to at all costs,

but instead humbled himself, became a servant, was made in the likeness of men.

One murdered innocent people to maintain his place,

while the other one, the truly innocent one, laid down his life for the guilty.

Mark, after church last Sunday, came up and he told me a joke, and I found it funny,

especially coming from Mark.

He had a great joke, and he said,

what's the difference between Santa and Jesus?

I really don't know what's the difference.

And he said, he said,

Santa brings gifts to all the people who are nice.

Jesus brings his gift to all the people who are naughty.

And that's exactly true, isn't it?

That's really what the gospel is.

Herod, on one hand, he murders innocent people in order to preserve his power.

Jesus, one with God the Father and God the Spirit,

leaves the throne of heaven, takes on humanity,

suffers in our place,

not for the nice ones and the ones who did all the good things this year.

He actually did that for sinners,

for the naughty ones.

And as we'll see throughout our study,

one of these kings brought tremendous trouble.

One of them actually brought exceedingly great joy.

Now here's the approach I want to take to the passage.

I think there's three potential responses to the advent of the Christ,

to the birth of the King.

Three potential responses to Jesus that are revealed or exposed in this particular text.

Each one has a distinct outcome,

but only one of them results in true and lasting joy.

And I want us to take a few minutes to consider each of these responses.

And in the process of doing that,

examine our own hearts to see which one of these responses most characterizes our own.

Here's the first one.

We want to look at those who are threatened by the King.

Those who are threatened by the King.

This comes in the first four verses.

I know we've read it twice already,

but it's just my habit to keep reading it.

So let's just read those four verses again.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King,

wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying,

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

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

And when Herod the King heard this,

he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.

So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes,

inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born.

Herod the Great is how we know this man historically.

He ruled over Israel for about 40 years under the authority of Rome.

And he's really known for two things.

He's known for building tremendous buildings.

He had all kinds of fortresses.

He's responsible for even the amazing architectural achievement

that was the temple in Jerusalem for the Jews at that particular time.

And he's known for that.

He's regarded for the things that he built.

The other thing that he's known for is murdering anyone that he saw as a threat to his own power.

He was a murderous man.

In fact, he was personally responsible for the murder of hundreds,

if not thousands, of individuals,

including his wife, his mother-in-law,

which maybe some of you could understand.

Three of his sons,

all because he felt like they were a threat to his own power.

This was his legacy, really, of his own time.

And he knew that.

He knew it so intently that he ordered and arranged

that hundreds of the notable men in Israel and Jerusalem

be gathered in the Hippodrome on the day that his own death was announced

so that in Jerusalem the people would weep

rather than celebrate on the day of his death.

That's what he was known for.

He knew it.

He was a vile man, a wicked man,

ruthlessly taking the lives of others that he perceived as threatening.

Well, it's no surprise then that Herod was troubled

when he heard that this group of magi from the east were in town

and the thing that they were asking for

was the birthplace of this new king of the Jews.

Herod hears that and he says,

Wait a minute.

I'm the king of the Jews.

Who is this that they're looking for that they say is the new king of the Jews?

And it's also no surprise that everyone else in Jerusalem was troubled

by what Herod might have done as a result of this inquiry.

Notice what the text says.

Herod is troubled.

And because Herod is troubled, everyone else in Jerusalem is troubled too

because they know what he's capable of.

And certainly those worries and troubling thoughts were warranted.

And so this section, these first four verses,

they really show us the first of our three responses.

And it's this.

Herod says,

Those who are threatened by the king are full of trouble.

They're troubled by him.

Now Herod's response actually reveals the credibility of Jesus' threat.

If he didn't think that Jesus could indeed be one who would dethrone him,

there would have been no reason for him to do what he did.

He legitimately perceived Jesus as a threat.

And he immediately understood that the one the wise men were searching for was not just any child.

He understood enough about the Jewish scriptures to know they're asking about the child,

the one who would actually be capable of dethroning him.

That's why he gathers all the experts.

It's not the experts that come to Herod and say,

This might be the Christ.

Let's look at the scriptures and see what they say.

It's Herod that goes to the experts.

And he says,

Tell me, where is it that the Christ has been said to be born in the scriptures?

If what the wise men suggested was true,

this baby was a genuine threat to Herod's rule.

And so his response to that threat was to eliminate it at all cost.

That was his goal.

Now, the application of this is not just limited to rulers of nations,

of counties and cities or whatever it may be.

This isn't just about politics here.

Those who are determined to be the supreme ruler of their own lives

will always find Jesus to be a threat.

Always.

And the insistence on Jesus as Messiah will always be troubling.

It will always upset them.

The demand of his lordship and of his kingship over each and every one of us

will be something that they deny and reject vehemently.

Think about this for just a moment.

It's not hard to see it.

Consider the secularist for just a moment.

Have you ever wondered why they carry so much vitriol so often

towards something that they insist isn't actually true?

There are so many more crazy things to believe in this world than the Christian religion.

And yet, talk of Jesus is the thing that they routinely label even as dangerous.

Some going so far as to write that to put your faith as a Christian before your children

is tantamount to child abuse in some occasions.

Why such hatefulness toward this?

If it's not true, why make such a big fuss about it?

And I think the answer for that, at least in some sense,

must be the same that it was for Herod.

Jesus is a threat to our personal kingdom.

And when we have a threat to our own personal autonomy,

a threat to our own personal kingdom,

our reaction is to eliminate that threat at all costs.

But it's not just secularists here.

That's not the only thing that we see.

What about those who attempt to blend somehow the rule of Jesus

with their own personal autonomy and their own rule over their life?

They're just as troubled by the insistence of the Scripture on the things of Christ.

They don't mind coming alongside and being religious to some extent,

but in order to do that, they have to dethrone Jesus to some extent,

primarily by rejecting and denying any of Jesus' teachings

that they feel are intolerable

or go against what it is that they truly want out of their lives.

He becomes a threat.

So they must bring the threat down.

And what do we find by this?

Those who are threatened by the King,

they really have no joy.

There's no real joy in their life

because any time Jesus comes up, it troubles them.

It's painful for them.

It's frustrating for them.

They are utterly troubled in heart.

But that's not the only response we see here.

We see the extreme response of Herod,

those who are threatened by the Christ.

Secondly, we see those who are indifferent to the King.

Those who are indifferent.

Look at verse 5.

The chief priest and the scribes told Herod in Bethlehem of Judea,

for so it's written of the prophet,

by the prophet,

and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

from you shall come a ruler

who will shepherd my people, Israel.

So the religious leaders here,

they reveal the second potential response,

which is indifference.

Think about the men that Herod has gathered.

They knew the scriptures better than anybody else in Israel.

And they immediately knew the right answer

to Herod's question.

As soon as he brings them in and he says,

where is it that the scriptures say

the Christ is to be born?

I would imagine they were all,

perhaps in unison, said,

Bethlehem.

This is what Micah says.

This is, it must be Bethlehem.

But what's fascinating about their response

is not that they knew the answer.

What's fascinating about their response

is that they did nothing about

the possibility

that the Christ might have come.

Think about this.

What was the purpose in them studying the scriptures?

In order to learn who God is,

in order to live a life that was pleasing to God,

they're all looking for this coming Savior

and King and Messiah.

And now these men have come.

They're troubling the whole city now

because they're saying,

we saw this supernatural sign.

We think that the Messiah is here.

Where might we find him?

They know the answer.

And then they did nothing.

Nothing.

We're not even told of a routine inquiry

into the suggestion of the wise men.

These men traveled perhaps hundreds of miles

over many months to visit this child.

And the spiritual leaders in Jerusalem,

they couldn't make a six-mile walk

to Bethlehem just to ask around?

You know, if they had,

I wonder who they might have come across.

Maybe they had come across

that group of shepherds

who on the night of Jesus' birth

just happened to be out in the field

and had this amazing experience

with the heavenly host

who immediately rushed in

and found this baby in a manger

and worshiped him.

Maybe they would have found those men

and those men may have given

a little credibility

to what even the wise men had said.

Maybe they had bumped into a few others

who said, yeah,

we heard about this thing.

It's really quite amazing.

We're not sure what to think about it.

We don't see anything about that.

Douglas Sean O'Donnell says it this way.

What is surprising

is that they did nothing with the answer.

Unlike these foreigners

who traversed afar

over field and mountain,

moor and fountain,

these religious experts

pushed their buzzer,

won their prize,

and went back to bury their heads

in the Word of God.

As Paul put it,

they were always learning

and never able to arrive

at a knowledge of the truth.

They were as indifferent to Jesus

as the priest and Levite

were to the bruised and battered man

in the parable of a good Samaritan.

That's really what's intriguing here,

isn't it?

It's not what the leaders did.

It's what they didn't do.

Which brings to life

something that John says

at the beginning of his gospel.

In John chapter 1 and verse 11,

John 1 · chapter mention

he says,

Jesus came to his own

and his own

did not receive him.

Now, of the three responses

as we're thinking through

potential applications

for our own lives,

of the three responses

we're covering,

this is the one that I think

is the most common.

I think it's probably the one

that most of us

will be familiar with.

Because churches like ours

are absolutely full of people

just like this.

People that can answer

all the trivia

about who Jesus is.

They can tell you

where he was born.

They can maybe even point you

and connect all the dots

that Matthew begins to connect

in his gospel.

But when you really get to know them

and you begin to talk to them,

you find out that

the truth of Christ

and the potential

of this gospel message

has really had no real impact

on their lives.

They know all the things,

but it doesn't really

mean anything to them.

It hasn't done anything

in them.

They're basically

indifferent.

And those who are relatively

indifferent to Jesus,

they're not troubled by him

the way Herod is troubled by him.

They're not troubled by him

in the same way

that people who feel

the immediate threat

that Jesus imposes

to their own personal life.

After all,

they generally do

most of the things

that good Christians

are supposed to do.

But,

they've never truly experienced

the joy

of knowing him either.

Generally,

they're content with that.

They do the things,

they say the prayers,

they attend the services,

they do good works,

they do their best

and they try their hardest,

but there's really not been

any joy to be found

in Christ for them.

Why?

Because basically,

they're indifferent.

They know the things,

but they don't know him.

But what's to come

of these people?

Well,

if you go to chapter 3

and you start to read

a little bit of

John the Baptist,

you'll see John the Baptist

referred to them

as chaff,

an empty shell

that only appears

for a season

to be the real thing.

And John said,

ultimately,

they'll face Jesus' judgment.

Look at Matthew 3,

Matthew 3:12

verse 12.

John says this,

Jesus' winnowing fork

is in his hand.

This is an agriculture

illustration.

His winnowing fork

is in his hand

and he will clear

his threshing floor.

He will gather

his wheat into the barn,

but the chaff

he will burn

with unquenchable fire.

Those who are threatened

by Jesus

and those who are

indifferent to Jesus

have very different

dispositions toward him,

but ultimately,

they face the same fate.

they don't experience

the joy

of eternal salvation.

Rather,

they must

settle

for whatever

fleeting moments

of happiness

they're privileged

to experience now.

But there is something

far better

than this for us,

which brings us

to the final response.

There are those

who are threatened

by the king.

There are those

who are indifferent

to the king

finally there are

those who come

and genuinely

worship the king.

Verse 7,

Herod summoned

the wise men secretly.

He ascertained

from them

what time the star

had appeared

and he sent them

to Bethlehem

saying,

Go and search

for the child

and when you found him

come and let me know

so I can worship him too.

After listening

to the king

they went on their way

and behold the star

that they had seen

when it rose

it went before them again

until it rested

over the place

where the child was.

And when they saw

this star

they rejoiced

exceedingly

with great joy.

Not because of

the star itself

but because of

what the star

was leading them to

at least what they

believed the star

was leading them to.

And going into the house

they saw the child

with Mary his mother

and what did they do?

They fell down

and they worshipped him.

They opened

their treasures.

They offered him gifts

gold and frankincense

and murder.

It's quite a different

reaction from the other two.

Let's talk for just

a moment again

about who these men were.

Wise men translates

a Greek word

that we would say

is magi

which is linguistically

connected to magic

or magician

that kind of gives us

an understanding

of what these men

were like.

The term initially

referred to those

in Persia

who were experts

in Persian

and Babylonian mysteries.

Eventually

it took on

a broader meaning

and really was used

to refer to

people who were

immersed in

magic

or astrology

the interpretation

of dreams

studies of sacred

writings

and so on.

A good biblical

parallel

if you're looking

to see

who would these

people match

at other places

in the Bible

you might go

to the book

of Exodus

and you see

the sorcerers

who Pharaoh

used to mimic

the works

and the powers

of Moses.

This would probably

be somewhat

in line

with the background

of these men

and of course

perhaps coming

from the Babylonian

era

where they were

introduced to the

things of the

Hebrew beliefs.

So the identity

of these men

is unique

in the incarnation

narrative.

They were Gentiles

whose lives

were linked

to things

that are expressly

forbidden

in the scriptures.

Yet they're

the ones

in the story

who ultimately

experienced

the joy

that came

with the advent

of the Christ.

Now many people

believe that

their interest

in the Hebrew

scriptures

is the lasting

result of

Daniel's

influence

in Babylon.

You remember

Daniel ruled

as a Hebrew

over Babylon

and even Persia

with King Darius

for many,

many,

many years

and his influence

was certainly

lasting there

and perhaps

that's how

they became

familiar

with the Hebrew

Bible

and some

of the prophecies

that are in it.

But their reason

for looking

for and following

a star

is not actually

very clear

in the scriptures.

Most people

suggest that

it probably

came from

Balaam's prophecy

in Numbers

Numbers 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24

which says this,

I see him

but not now,

I behold him

but not near,

a star

shall come out

of Jacob

and a scepter

shall rise

out of Israel.

Now there's

no doubt

that Balaam's prophecy

has to do

with the forthcoming

Messiah.

But it's not

entirely clear

if the star

that Balaam

talks about

is meant

to be taken

literally here.

I'm not so sure

that it is.

I guess it's possible.

Many people

have suggested that

but the text

doesn't tell us that.

Now here's my hang up.

Matthew

is very much

concerned

with notating

when something

in the narrative

actually fulfills

an Old Testament

prophecy.

He does it

at least

six different times

in the first

three chapters

alone

of his gospel.

But he doesn't

do it here.

And the reason

I think

is because

they're searching

for a star

and noticing

of a star

I don't think

actually had

anything to do

with prophecy

at all.

These men

were probably

astrologers.

They were

stargazers.

They interpreted

life and events

and future things

on the basis

of the movements

of the stars

and the planets

much like

astrologers might do

today.

But they were

also for some

reason compelled

by the Hebrew

scriptures.

So they've got

this life

in paganism

that they live

out but then

they've also got

somehow this

fascination

with the Hebrew

scripture that

talks about

a coming Messiah

and king

and these two

things start to

collide together.

So God then

supernaturally

I think that's

clear in the text

certainly Matthew

believes this is

a supernatural

event.

He sends a star

that grabs

their attention

they associate

it somehow

with this

coming Messiah

and they pack

up their bags

and they head

toward Jerusalem.

It takes them

however long

it takes to

get there

and eventually

they get there

not having seen

the star again

and then after

this conversation

with Herod

suddenly the star

that they had

noticed before

appears again.

There's something

supernatural

happening in that

and what I think

is happening here

is a demonstration

of God's

sovereign work

to bring even

the most unlikely

of people

to Christ.

I think that's

what's happening

here.

God may even

use elements

of our sin

and confusion

to draw us

to himself

and in the case

of these men

it resulted

in the experience

of exceedingly

great joy.

Now isn't this

a marvelous truth

of how God

works in our lives?

Many of you

may have a

similar testimony.

You didn't come

to Christ

because you were

looking for Christ

you came to Christ

because something

in your life

wasn't right

and the Lord

used that thing

that wasn't right

to put you

in just the right

place where somebody

introduced you

to the gospel

or you came

to a church

service

or something

happened

and the Lord

was actually

using the error

of your life

the confusion

of your life

to get you

to the truth

and I think

that's what he's

doing with these

men.

He's drawing

them even

with their own

deception

so that he

might get them

to the truth

of the person

of Christ.

It's amazing.

Now

the Magi

they weren't

threatened

by Christ.

they were

humbled

by Christ.

They weren't

indifferent

to Christ.

If they were

coming from

the regions

near Babylon

like they

we think

they might

have come

we're looking

at an 800

mile journey

perhaps on foot

many months

to actually

get to Jerusalem

and then

perhaps a few

weeks longer

before they

actually figured

out to go

to Bethlehem

or whatever

the case

may have

been.

Jesus

and his

family

for some

reason

are still

there

and they

come in.

This is

tremendous

effort.

That's not

indifference.

It's effort

to get to

the truth

to get to

this Christ

King

and when

they get

there

there's no

indifference

in their

reaction.

There's

tremendous

sacrifice

in their

reaction.

Gold

frankincense

and myrrh

people have

tried to make

some connections

there.

Some symbolic

connections

perhaps there's

some the text

doesn't tell us

that.

I think these

were gifts

meant for a

king.

This was an

acknowledgement

that they

believed in

that moment.

This child

is the king

who is said

to come

and they

sacrifice

tremendous

wealth

and they

get on their

hands and

knees

and they

worship

the child.

It's tremendous

faith.

They came

to Jesus

based on their

faith in what

the Bible

said.

Sound

familiar?

If you're

going to

come to

Jesus at

some point

you're going

to come

because the

Bible says

so.

They come

because they've

been enamored

at some point

with the

Hebrew

scriptures

with the

Bible.

They

worshipped

at his

feet in

recognition

that he

is the

true king

and Messiah

and through

this encounter

with the

Christ they

experienced a

joy that no

one else in

this text

understood.

Herod never

had this

joy.

At least at

this moment

the Jews in

Jerusalem

didn't

experience this

joy.

No the

Gentile

magic

stargazers

from Babylon

they were the

ones who

experienced the

joy.

So let me ask you

a question.

Are you a

sinner?

Are you a

sinner?

here to

examine your

life and the

truth outs for

you would you

just have to

say maybe

there's people

worthy of

salvation.

I'm not one

of them.

I match

probably a

little more

closely to

these men in

the way that

I've lived my

life.

Maybe you're

the one that in

your family if

people were to

come over at

Christmas and

they were to

say okay this

is the one in

our family who's

probably going to

be most likely to

want to think about

Christ and talk

about Christ and

be impacted by the

gospel and read Luke

Luke 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 before we

open up our

presents or whatever

the thing is that

we do.

You're the last one

that they would say

would do it.

Well I've got good

news for you in

this text because

these men they were

the last ones in all

the Christmas story

that we would have

ever expected would

have come to a

saving knowledge of

Christ and the

gospel and yet

it's them.

This text has

great news for all

of us that the

joy of Jesus is

offered to all who

will come to him

and worship him.

Let me conclude

this way.

All sorts of things

can contribute to

both our troubling

experiences and

even our happy

experiences in life.

Only one thing

though can actually

bring us genuine

joy and that's

Jesus.

He's the only one.

The joy that he

brings though it

doesn't come merely

because of his

birth.

It doesn't come

merely because of

his existence.

It actually

ultimately comes

through his death

on the cross.

That's where the

joy comes from.

The basis of our

joy as Christians

is Christ's

joy in making

an atonement

for our sins.

Consider Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

The writer says

we are to look

to Jesus who

is the founder

and perfecter

of our faith

who for the

joy that was

set before him

endured the

cross

despising the

shame and is

seated at the

right hand of the

throne of God.

In other words

the writer of

Hebrews is saying

the death and

resurrection of

Jesus he pursued

that willingly

as a pursuit of

joy.

joy was going to

come to him

as a result of

him laying down

his life in

this way.

And then the

writer follows it

up in the next

verse and he

says so consider

Jesus who

endured from

sinners such

hostility against

himself so that

he says you may

not grow weary

or faint-hearted.

Well what's the

opposite of weary

and faint-hearted?

I would say joy

is probably a

pretty good

description of

the antonym

there.

What is the

writer saying?

Our joy comes

from the cross

and the

resurrection and

so does Christ's

joy.

His joy comes

from saving us

through his cross

and resurrection.

It's amazing.

He said it all

sounds so great.

How can I

actually have this

joy?

How can I

experience the

joy?

Well the

scriptures tell

us that the

joy of salvation

is not something

you can earn.

You don't hit a

button or go to a

certain amount of

services or do

certain amount of

religious things.

It's a gift that

has to be received

and the Bible says

that we receive

that gift through

faith in Jesus.

By our faith he

transforms our

lives.

He redeems our

souls and he

brings us this

joy.

And I'll show

you.

First Peter

chapter one

verse eight

says this.

Though you have

not seen him

you love him.

Ever thought

about that?

Ever experienced

a true affection

for Jesus who is

someone that you've

never actually even

seen before?

Though you do not

see him you love

him.

Though you do not

now see him you

believe in him.

and you rejoice

with a joy that

is inexpressible

and filled with

glory.

Obtaining the

outcome of your

faith which he

says is the

salvation of your

soul.

This joy of

salvation is not

something you earn

by doing your best

and trying your

hardest.

forgiveness.

It's something you

receive by coming

to the king,

worshiping at his

feet, trusting by

faith in who he is

and what he's done to

save your soul.

Now you can fight

against the truth

and feel miserably

troubled at the

threat that Jesus

poses to your life

and it is a

legitimate threat.

You can also

remain indifferent

searching for

meaning and

happiness and all

sorts of things but

always ending up

empty in the end.

We all know what

that's like.

We've been there.

We've experienced

that.

You can continue

in your indifference

and that experience

will continue the

way that it is.

But if you will

come by faith and

worship the king,

you too will

know this

inexpressible joy

that comes from

knowing Jesus as

Lord and Savior.

And I know if

you're here and

you're not a

believer, you're not

even sure if you're

a believer, you're

trying to sort

things out.

Let me just say,

I'm glad you're

here.

And I want you to

keep coming until

you get it sorted

out.

And when you keep

coming to the word

and seeing it's

good that you're

here, it's good

that you're thinking

and it's good that

you're listening.

But if you're here

and you don't know

him, it's hard for

me to explain

anything other than

what I've just said.

Faith comes by

hearing.

Hearing comes by

the word of God

and joy comes

by the faith.

Now you've

already got part

of that out of

the way.

You've heard the

word of God.

You can come

back to it again

and again to

understand the

gospel message as

clearly as you

possibly can.

You've heard it.

What's left is for

you to believe it.

And when you

believe it, you'll

feel the joy of

it.

And I hope that

you will do

that.

That you won't

waste another

moment of your

life feeling

threatened or

indifferent to

Jesus.

But that you'll

accept the joy

that he desires

to give you.

That was his

joy to provide

for you.

And come to

him in faith.

Well,

that was

goodNINGNINGNING