Matthew 2 “Let Earth Receive Her King”

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! Matthew has been telling us in his gospel about the entrance into the world of the Christ, the promised King.

Now, when kings enter, usually they make a grand entrance, right?

You know, atop a horse surrounded by royal servants, sometimes with their own song played as they come in.

But here with these two peasants in a little town of Bethlehem, there's not a lot of the normal pomp and circumstance.

Because Jesus is not a normal king, is he?

He came not to be served, but to serve.

He came not to fight people to death, but to love people to life.

He came not to demand that his subjects give their lives for him, but to give his life for them.

But while he does make a quiet entrance in some ways, Matthew doesn't want us to miss what God's doing.

Who the true king is.

Notice as I read Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

All the different things God is doing.

All the different ways that God is pointing people to Jesus as the king of kings.

The one that you don't want to miss.

Matthew 2.

God's holy word.

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.

And 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.

And 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 fulfill 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 in 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 the 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.

Thus far, God's holy word.

Will you pray with me?

Father, thank you for the gift of your word,

for this account of what happened when the king came.

And I pray that as familiar as the story may be to us,

that we would, in a fresh way this morning,

see our king.

We would receive our king.

We would worship our king.

And that is only gonna happen

if your spirit works in our hearts.

And so we ask for that,

and we trust you for it.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

In chapter one,

if you've been here the last couple of weeks,

Matthew told us that this baby born to Mary and Joseph

was the Christ, the Messiah King.

Was Emmanuel, God with us?

Was Jesus, Savior from sins?

And now in chapter two,

it's as though he takes a bunch of really bright,

flashing arrows to point to the baby and say,

King, King, King.

Look at everything coming together

at this moment in history.

I'm just gonna point out a few.

At first, God shows us several Old Testament prophecies

from hundreds of years past

being fulfilled in this child.

In other words, don't miss this,

the story of Israel's scriptures,

hundreds and hundreds of years of the holy scriptures.

In other words, the story of the history of humankind

is about this baby,

this Jesus.

First, he quotes from the prophet Micah

because the religious advisors to Herod

go there to find where the Messiah should be born.

This is the most direct of the prophecies being fulfilled.

Perhaps not where you would expect a king to be born,

but yes, indeed, they confirm,

if you're looking for the king of the Jews,

go to Bethlehem.

That's a big, bright arrow.

Everyone was clear on that.

Nowhere else to look for the Messiah

to be born except Bethlehem.

Now, the next three prophecies in this passage

are a bit different.

They're less direct,

but they show the significance

of this newborn king.

The angel tells Joseph to leave Bethlehem

and go to Egypt,

which we learn will protect him

from Herod's murderous plans

that threatened the promised king's life

within weeks or months of his birth.

Yes, sadly, if you're calculating

that the wise men are not there

with the shepherds the first Christmas night,

I know it messes with me too.

It's not the way it's supposed to be,

but it is definitely less than two years.

They're there.

They show up.

Regardless of the exact timing,

Matthew says what's really going on

is something bigger.

Matthew wants to connect the dots

to the big story, okay?

This time, it's the prophet Hosea,

another prophet who speaks for God,

saying,

out of Egypt,

I called my son.

In Hosea,

the immediate reference

is to the Israelites

as God's son.

It's a very common way

God referred to his people.

God called them out of Egypt, didn't he?

He delivered them out of bondage.

The greatest redemption

in the history of Israel

recounted generation after generation.

And now, God says,

in this baby,

this new Israel,

the true Israel,

my son,

is coming out of Egypt.

A new redemption, right?

A great deliverance is coming.

But it won't come

without a lot of heartache,

just like the first time.

Herod,

in a megalomaniacal effort

to protect his dynasty.

It's all he cares about.

And this fits with other accounts

of Herod's last years.

He decides to kill Jewish boys

under the age of two

in Bethlehem.

We don't know exactly,

perhaps 20 or 30 young boys.

But even one is terrible, right?

Can you imagine?

Weeping.

Loud lamentation.

Rachel weeping.

Rachel is the wife of Jacob,

whose name was Israel.

So the figurative mother

of the people of Israel,

the whole nation,

weeping.

In this Exodus mindset here,

the scene recalls

the killing of Israelite boys

in Egypt,

from which Moses is delivered

in a basket in the river.

But the prophet quoted here

is actually hundreds of years later.

It's Jeremiah,

a third prophet,

writing of the Israelites.

They're weeping.

Why?

They're weeping

as they're taken into exile,

out of the promised land.

No more.

They're not here.

And yet,

Jeremiah 31,

quoted here,

is a chapter primarily

of promise.

That even in the darkest days

for God's people,

there will be return to God,

covenant relationship,

future hope.

Friends, listen,

never let deep weeping

convince you

that there won't be joy

in the morning.

Even if that morning

is far away,

this God is faithful.

He can be trusted.

Here is the true king

entering in the midst

of the painful desperation

of God's people.

He doesn't just come

when everybody's happy

so they can celebrate together.

He comes to bring hope

when you're hurting.

In fact,

the darker the night,

the brighter his light shines.

I think perhaps Christmas

is most clearly seen

through tears.

don't lose heart.

When the king is here,

the true king is here,

there's hope.

And the final fulfillment

is a bit more obscure.

Look at verse 23.

What was spoken by the prophets

might be fulfilled

that he would be called

a Nazarene.

I say obscure

because see,

there's no prophet

that says that directly.

That Jesus would be

from Nazareth

like Micah tells us

he'll be born in Bethlehem.

Matthew may be making

a play on words.

Here,

that's possible.

That prophecy

that was read earlier

in the service

from Isaiah 11

about the righteous branch

from Jesse's stump

because the Hebrew word

for Nazareth

sounds like the Hebrew word

for branch.

Could be.

But he says here

prophets,

plural.

So I think likely

it means

what the Jews

would have understood

Nazareth

to mean.

Nazareth

was a reference

to what?

Nothing good

comes

from Nazareth.

Nowhere

Nazareth.

And many prophets

discussed the Messiah

being of no reputation,

despised,

rejected,

and so forth.

Jesus is gonna fit

that description.

There are many other prophecies,

hundreds of them,

that Jesus fulfills

in various ways.

But just in this passage,

just in this moment

after his birth,

do you see God

is pointing

the bright flashing arrows

at this unique child?

He's saying

special messages

have been sent,

birth announcements,

for hundreds of years.

You've never sent

birth announcements

a hundred years

in advance,

have you?

No,

you weren't that sure.

They've pointed

to this day,

he says.

Don't miss it.

Notice how God's also

working in international

politics.

The people,

the leaders,

the events

of the day

to bring his king

into the world

in just the right way.

Have you ever thought

about that?

How Mary and Joseph

ended up in Bethlehem

where the Messiah

was gonna have to be born?

Was it just some

magical happenstance?

God providentially orchestrated

the Roman Caesar

who thought

that life was all about him

to issue a decree

for a census,

right,

of the entire Roman world.

Once again,

here in this passage,

the hearts of kings

are in the hand

of the Lord.

He is controlling

all of these events.

In fact,

we'll come back

to the magi themselves,

but he brings

these people,

we don't know

how many of them,

on a long journey

from a foreign country

to get the attention

of King Herod.

Herod the king.

Herod the king.

Twice for emphasis.

See,

this whole story

is about who

the true king is,

isn't it?

Does Herod really

seem like the king?

Does he seem

in control here,

scrambling for advice,

fearing for his power,

raging at any rival

or rumor of one

that comes up?

He's a human leader.

Human leaders

seek to deceive

like Herod's direction

to the magi

about this child.

Human leaders

do wicked things

like ordering

the killing

of other people.

Human leaders

ultimately rise

and fall

like Herod

and his son Archelaus.

They're coming

and going

and yet

the divine leader

is the one

in charge.

God is using

each of these events

and the people there

to take Jesus

to Egypt,

to bring him back

to Israel,

to divert them

to exactly the right place

in Nazareth.

God's up to something.

God is at work

way beyond

any human king

who thinks

he's in charge.

Even in the midst

of grievous tragedy

like the deaths

of little boys

in the little town

of Bethlehem.

Now God's still working

gloriously

to highlight

the identity

of the true king

across national borders

against all odds.

Jesus will reign

on David's throne.

Imposter Herod?

No way.

Prophecies.

Politics.

And that's not all

God is using

to highlight

the arrival

of his promised king.

There are several

extraordinary

communications

here in this passage,

aren't there?

And we see

and watch God

supernaturally

superintending

the whole story

through these

communications.

teachings.

Notice how the passage

is marked by dreams,

isn't it?

If you like dreams

you probably noticed that.

First a dream

to the magi

and then three more times

in addition to the one

in chapter one

to Joseph.

I mean this guy's

not getting to sleep

at all.

I mean every night

repeatedly

the angel

of the Lord

the messenger

of God

brings clear direction

to the point

that Jews

and Gentiles

obey

without hesitation.

God is speaking.

God is directing.

God wants them

to know

where to go

so they don't miss it.

Which brings us

to the most prominent

and famous

divine communication

in the story.

Right?

The star.

God,

the creator king

is also directing

all of his creation,

all of nature

to point

to the promised king.

Now there are

a lot of explanations

you can read out there

for what's going on

in the sky,

this possible phenomenon.

What kind of star

or supernova

or divine light.

I am sure

there are a lot of you

in here

who know more than I do

about what's going on

in the sky.

People talk about

why it moved.

How it showed

the magi

exactly

where Jesus was.

Some of the discussion

is quite interesting

and I would commend it

to you.

some of it honestly

is quite distracting

from the real point.

The passage

is very clearly

saying that the star

brought them

to Jerusalem

and then it directed

them specifically,

however it did it,

to the king

of the Jews

so that they

could worship him.

In fact,

it seems quite clear

for example

from the dream

where God speaks

to them

that God

is the one

directing these

stargazers

from the east.

Right?

This is something

he's organized.

Maybe these guys

coming were

from Babylon

or Persia

and they'd heard

some of Daniel's

prophecies there

about this

coming king

of the Jews.

He wrote

those prophecies

while he lived there.

Maybe they'd been

watching for signs

for a long time

intrigued by this

God who delivered

his people

so powerfully.

We're not sure.

There's a lot of things

we don't know

about the star

but we know

that God

is using anything

and everything

to bring the nations

to worship

the true king.

That's what's going on.

Quite remarkable

in fact

that something

in the sky

would lead them there

because God

has actually

repeatedly

through the Old Testament

told his people

not to read messages

in the stars.

There are warnings

against astrology

but here

God himself

speaks

the language

of the wise men

if you will.

He leads them

straight to the king

they seek.

I just love this

about our God.

Think about

what he's doing.

Yes, there are prophecies

there for the religious scholars

but who gets the messages

about Jesus?

There are also angels

sent to lowly

left out shepherds

to bring them

to the king.

And then there are

dreams

and a star

sent to

reach these misguided

wise men

from pagan nations

to bring them

to the king.

God wants everyone

everywhere

to see this king

doesn't he?

The king

is not coming

primarily

for the royal family

to strengthen

his dynasty.

Not primarily

for the religious

insiders

to polish up

their morality

a bit.

Not primarily

for the powerful

warriors

who will extend

his reign

most effectively.

No,

he seems to be

the king

of those

who don't have

a kingdom.

The king

of those

who don't deserve

a good king.

the king

of all

of everyone

everywhere.

That's who he is.

And by the way

that's exactly

who the prophets

have told us

to expect.

Many of them

tell of the Messiah

for the nations.

In a new way

the Gentiles

are going to hear

the good news.

Let me just show you

a little from the prophet

Isaiah.

Is the king

of the Jews

the king

of the Jews

only?

Isaiah 11

the branch

from Jesse's stump

will bring

the new world

order of peace

and joy

and the peoples

the nations

shall come

to his signal

his banner.

Isaiah 49

the servant Messiah

coming to bring

God's people

back to him.

That's not enough.

That's not big enough

for what God's

up to.

It is important

that he is also

the light

to the nations.

Isaiah 60

nations

shall come

to the promised

king's light

kings

to his rising

and here they are

right?

From the east

wise men

bowing down

just as God

promised

he pulls out

all the stops

prophecies

politics

dreams

stars

bringing the nations

to bow before

the king

of kings

at the very

beginning

of the gospel

written

to show the Jews

their Christ

who their Messiah

is

they're reminded

that their king

is for the nations

how huge

is God's heart

right

for everyone

everywhere

do you share

that heart?

if you follow

the Christmas

story

the Bible's

version

of the Christmas

story

the baby

born in

Bethlehem

will lead you

to the nations

praying

giving

going

whatever it looks

like

to share

tidings

of comfort

and joy

to tell it

on the mountain

we sing

and that

the fact

that that's

who this child

is

is yet

more evidence

that he

is indeed

the promised

king

of kings

see God

wants everyone

everywhere

to see

who the true

king is

and to

respond

appropriately

how do you

respond

to a king

showing up?

interestingly

enough

it's not

always easy

to respond

appropriately

to a king

is it?

I remember

when I was

a boy

going to

play a game

called

king of the hill

we'd play

during the high

school football

games when I

was younger

and you'd

find a good

hill

maybe you've

seen this

before

it would

have worked

really well

as a children's

moment

but Derek

missed the

opportunity

you have

one kid

stand up

here

and he

pushes

all the

other ones

down

right?

whoever

can stay

up on the

hill

it would

have been

great

y'all

would have

loved it

and he

is king

of the hill

as long

as he

can stay

on top

not my

favorite

game

I didn't

like all

the pushing

and shoving

but I

like kind

of sneaking

in the

side

and whenever

one kid

would kind

of get

on top

and right

as he

yelled

I'm

king

of the

hill

I like

to try

to knock

his feet

out

from under

him

and make

him seem

not so

big

and strong

I just

didn't

really

want to

face

him

maybe

Herod

played

that game

as a

boy

what happens

when he

hears about

a potential

king of

the Jews

someone

climbing the

hill toward

him

he's

troubled

angry

worried

we know

from other

historical

sources

that Herod

became

frantic

and paranoid

about protecting

his throne

during his

latter years

he attempts

to exert

control

doesn't

he

through

the

magi

and then

when they

don't

play

along

he

is

furious

the word

ramps

up

he

orders

the

killing

of

young

boys

in an

effort

to

eliminate

a threat

to his

dynasty

and maybe

your first

response

to that

is that

is crazy

and rightly

so

you're not

wrong

but stop

to think

how we

respond

when our

control

is

threatened

when our

sovereign

rule

over our

self

is

challenged

when our

autonomy

the great

unchallenged

assumed

good

of modern

America

our sacred

freedom

to manage

our own

lives

the way

we want

when that's

taken away

how do

we respond

we protect

our hill

our throne

passionately

don't we

have you

ever felt

something like

Jesus

you are

disrupting

my plans

for my

life

your rules

your

priorities

your

providences

in my

life

they're

really

frustrating

sometimes

Jesus

will you

let God

ask you

today

what he

asked

Jonah

after

Nineveh

repented

he said

do you

do right

to be

angry

that's a

hard

question

are you

like me

needing

to repent

of self

protective

control

wanting

to have

things

my way

whether

that's

the way

God

wants

them

or not

I

don't

care

all the

time

I

just

want

them

to be

my

way

I

forget

who

the

true

king

is

and

that

it's

not

me

see

that

kind

of

anger

will

eat

you

alive

from

the

inside

and

it

will

spill

over

to

destroy

others

too

still

happens

just

as it

did

with

Herod

the

more

power

you

have

and

the

more

protective

you

are

of

your

power

the

more

devastation

you'll

tend

to leave

in your

wake

if you

refuse

to bow

the knee

to

king

Jesus

that's

one bad

response

maybe a

little more

familiar

painfully

to us

now

but it's

interesting

that Herod

was not

the only

one

troubled

at the

news

of a

coming

king

was he

it says

all

of

Jerusalem

with

him

everybody

stirred

up

about

this

it's

a

big

deal

in

town

and so

Herod

turns

to these

Jewish

chief

priests

and

scribes

they're

the

religious

and the

social

leaders

of the

day

among

the

Jews

and

they

locate

the

birthplace

immediately

Bethlehem

nailed

it

the

king

awaited

for

generations

is being

born

in

Bethlehem

look

they open

it up

they read

it

your

ruler

is here

your

shepherd

is here

they all

see it

and so

they organize

a search

party

no

so

they call

for a

coronation

and start

planning

the celebration

no

so

they rearrange

their schedules

to join

the magi

on their

journey

to be

among

the first

to see

the promised

Christ

they've

been

waiting

for

no

isn't

that

odd

the

very

people

who

knew

the

most

notice

he

assembled

all

of

them

but

none

of

them

can

make

the

six

mile

journey

to

Bethlehem

on

behalf

of

King

Herod

he

has

to

send

foreigners

to

find

the

baby

and

report

back

meanwhile

we got

lots

to do

in

Jerusalem

they

got

the

right

answer

they

knew

facts

about

the

child

but

they

missed

the

child

they

missed

the

whole

thing

can

you relate

to that

is life

pretty

busy

just a

little

so

so

so

much

so

sometimes

that

it

distracts

you

from

making

a

priority

of

Jesus

I

mean

you

hang

around

the

church

enough

to

know

plenty

of

things

about

him

or

maybe

you

don't

maybe

you

avoid

church

altogether

but

you

went

to

church

as

a

child

or

you

been

on

the

internet

recently

you

know

some

stuff

but

if

you're

honest

you've

got

important

things

going

on

in your

life

I've

got

to

enjoy

college

only

got

a

few

years

I've

got

to

advance

my

career

how

else

am

I

going

to

be

successful

I've

got

to

enjoy

my

grandchildren

good

things

but

is

anything

causing

you to

miss

the

king

your

schedule

your

commitments

your

religious

duty

even

is

there

any

chance

that

your

life

looks

pretty

similar

to

what

it

would

look

like

if

Jesus

had

never

been

born

are

you

like

the

other

good

people

in

Jerusalem

accidentally

perhaps

indifferent

to

the

true

king

y'all

may

that

not

be

true

in

our

lives

accidental

indifference

distracted

indifference

let's

repent

of that

indifference

today

to celebrate

Christmas

afresh

it's not

too late

to turn

from the

busyness

to be honest

and say

Jesus

I've been

missing you

maybe for

days

maybe for

years

but I

don't want

to miss

you anymore

God

wants me

to see

you

as king

see

God

is

highlighting

the

true

king

so that

everyone

everywhere

will

respond

appropriately

that

earth

that's

all of

us

and all

of

creation

let

earth

receive

her

king

which

means

according

to the

song

that I

really

like

that

every

heart

must

prepare

him

room

have you

thought about

that

how do

you

prepare

room

for a

king

there is

one way

you make

it his

you

vacate

the throne

right

you

clear

the hill

he can

have it

repentance

and faith

you focus

all that

place

in this

case

your heart

if you're

preparing

your heart

you focus

all of

it on

him

you want

to know

how worthy

king

Jesus

is

of your

heart's

attention

and affection

just watch

the magi

it's

beautiful

I don't

even know

all they

knew or

understood

about

Jesus

probably

less

than the

scribes

in

Jerusalem

but they

came

likely

on a

journey

of

months

to

worship

him

they

put

their

lives

on

hold

to be

with

him

they

were

the

furthest

thing

from

indifferent

weren't

they

they

worshipped

him

and not

just a

going

through

the

motions

kind

of

worship

because

it

was

Christmas

and there

were some

fun songs

to sing

and they

thought

they'd

show up

no

verse

10

they

rejoiced

exceedingly

!

with great

joy

that's

four times

a lot

of joy

in case

you didn't

notice

then

when they

saw

Jesus

they

fell

down

and

worshipped

him

clearly

he's

the

king

of

more

than

the

Jews

if

these

foreigners

are

already

bowing

before

him

and

then

they

bring

him

gifts

gifts

worthy

of a

king

for

sure

costly

sacrificial

gifts

perhaps

indicating

more than

they

understood

about

the

identity

of

the

king

gold

for

a

king

who

would

be

the

perfect

priest

and

sacrifice

frankincense

who

would

die

and

be

buried

for

our

sins

myrrh

but

for

sure

giving

their

best

to

the

one

who

deserved

it

all

and

then

they

obeyed

what

God

told

them

in

a

dream

see

they're

really

clear

on

who

the

true

king

!

is

aren't

they

and

it's

not

easy

Herod

seems

to

have

the

power

right

I

mean

maybe

these

guys

just

came

to

curry

favor

from

a

nearby

king

butter

him

up

a

little

bit

improve

relationships

no

they

came

to

bow

before

the

true

king

heartfelt

joy

humble

!

worship

sacrificial

giving

willing

obedience

the

response

that God

wants

everyone

everywhere

to have

to his

son

given to

us

worship

Christ

he says

the

newborn

king

won't you

come this

morning

and bow

before him

with all

that you

are

with all

that you

have

listen

if you're

someone who

hears that

invitation

but you

feel far

off

from God

if you're

honest

you're like

I don't

know

I would

have a

lot of

questions

to answer

I would

have a

lot of

things

to figure

out

I would

have a

lot of

stuff that

probably needs

to be

changed in

my life

before I

could even

hear or

consider

that

look the

invitation

of this

king

is come

today

you don't

have to

figure all

the other

stuff out