In our text for today, there are several things that ought to jump out at us immediately. The first is that Jesus is born. Matthew doesn’t tell us the details like Luke does, in a text that we will look at on Christmas Eve. No, Matthew simply says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but he also tells us that it was during Herod’s reign as king of Judea. This is important because it sets the stage for what comes next in the life of Jesus. You see, Herod was an evil and vile ruler. He was so insecure and threatened by anyone who might try and claim his throne that he even had numerous members of his own family executed just so there would be no debate. He also had been given the title of “King of the Jews” by the Senate in Rome and had gone by this name for close to 40 years. So, these magi arrive from the east because they have heard that the Messiah has been born. They hear people refer to Herod as king of the Jews and they just assume that it is him. At first, we may miss out on what happened here. You see, the title Messiah means long-awaited God-anointed Ruler, who would overcome all other rule, and bring in the end of history, and establish the kingdom of God and never die or lose his reign. Obviously, Herod has never been referred to as Messiah, nor should he have been. However, this doesn’t stop his feeling threatened at the news that the Messiah has now been born. What if the people catch wind of this and try and do away with Herod as king in lieu of this Messiah?
Trying to figure out how he is going to deal with this news that he has just received, Herod calls together all his top religious officials and asks them where the Messiah, the Christ, is to be born. He can ask them this because the answer was given more than 400 years prior to Jesus’ actual birth. Much the same way that you saw last Sunday that the prophet Isaiah foretold of Jesus’ being born of a virgin, the location of his birth was prophesied as well. The prophet Malachi had said, “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.” You see, God, through Malachi, has specifically told the people of Bethlehem that the king of kings, the ruler of all nations, would be born in their town. So, Herod’s scribes and religious officials knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, they just didn’t know exactly when. The presence of these magi from the east has given them the final piece of the puzzle. They now know that the Messiah is here, and he is in Bethlehem.
Now that Herod knows that the Messiah is here and where he is, he thinks up a plan to take care of the situation and to squash any claim that this man or any of his followers may have to Herod’s throne. He summons these magi from another land to him and quite honestly lies to them about his intentions. He says to them, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” You see, Herod has now given the magi their missing piece of the puzzle. He has told them where they may find the Messiah. He is simply pointing them in the direction that they need to go. His thought is that if these magi go and there is nothing there then he hasn’t wasted his time or even alerted anyone that he is looking for the Messiah. However, if they find the Messiah and then they come back and tell him about it, then Herod can use any of the people or forces at his discretion to take care of the situation. He is basically sending these magi off to unknowingly be his reconnaissance or scout team.
We are then told that as the magi went on their way to Bethlehem, that a star began to shine the way for them to Jesus. The magi were delighted by this, probably because after their first attempt to find Jesus ended with them in Herod’s presence, there was no way that they could mess up this attempt. They were finally going to find the true Messiah. They got to the place where Jesus was staying with his mother, Mary, and his father, Joseph. It’s at this point that I think many of us miss the most amazing statement in this entire story. Look at the reaction of the magi after they saw the child, “they fell down and worshipped him.” Yes, these are simple words and it doesn’t take a lot to understand what they mean, but think about what they are saying. Think about these three men, who have just come into the presence of Jesus as a newborn baby, and their immediate reaction is one of worship and adoration. There is no questioning or doubting amongst the magi. Isn’t it striking that we have Gentiles from the east (the magi) coming to worship the king, but in Israel, neither the king, nor the religious leaders, nor the people have the slightest idea that the Messiah of God has come into the world. Don’t get me wrong, some people know that there are those who are calling this child the Messiah, but they don’t really think that it is him. If they did they would not seek to kill this child, but they would seek him, much like these magi, only for the purposes of worshipping him accordingly. He is known by Gentiles, but concealed in Israel and that truth surely, my friends, teaches us that God must reveal Christ to us if we are to see Him, if we are to embrace Him.
Amy and I, along with the kids, spent last weekend back where we used to live, in Jackson, MS. We had a wonderful time catching up with friends who we hadn’t seen in quite a while. We got filled in on all the latest news as to who has changed jobs, gotten pregnant, bought a house, or had some other significant change. I am very thankful to Dr. Dick Gates for filling this pulpit last Sunday in my absence. Since he was here with y’all, we were given the chance to worship with our old church family at Grace Chapel EPC in Madison. As soon as I sat down in “our seats” (which oddly enough no one has claimed the third row from the front on the left side yet), it occurred to me: today marks only the third Sunday in the year of 2012 that I have not preached in a worship service. The act of attending a worship service and not leading or assisting in some way has somewhat become foreign to me. One of the stranger parts of the whole thing is that as I stand here before you today, I have absolutely no clue what you heard from this very pulpit last Sunday. I can tell you what the text and the title of the sermon were, but that’s about it. Sure I can guess as to a general theme, but nothing specific. As luck would have it, I heard a sermon preached from the same text although the focus of that message was on Joseph and how a Christian husband and father should act. The fact that two sermons could be preached by two highly gifted preachers on the same text and yet share hardly any similarities is astonishing to me. However, when we take into account that one pastor was at “his” church and another was doing pulpit supply, and that one pastor is in his late 40s and the other in his early 70s, and that one pastor is in a church that is finally starting to hit its stride so-to-speak after years of struggling along and the other is in what many of us would call a mega-church that has a long history of vital and active ministry, and that…well you get the point. These two men are coming to the pulpit but from different places in their lives and their ministries. The magi, Herod, the Jewish scribes and religious leader, and everyone else are all hearing the same things and they are for the most part all seeing the same things in the sky, but only some of them believe. The same way that two pastors can come to a text in different ways, these different groups of people are interpreting what is taking place differently from each other. The greatest difference is found in the fact that while both pastors are preaching the same gospel, the people of this day are not unified in their vision of the Messiah. Those who truly want to see him and are seeking him will find him, while those who seek only for themselves will not.
So, what’s the difference between these magi and those in Jerusalem? Well, I mentioned it just a bit ago, God has led them to Christ. He has given them the assurance of the truth that the one that they are seeking is indeed the promised Messiah. Their eyes are not blinded by their own selfish ambitions and their own desire to keep what they already have or possibly gain more. In fact, we even see them give away things that belong to them because of the mere presence of Christ. Now, the importance of these gifts (gold, frankincense, and myrrh) and what they mean has been debated and we’re not going to take up that issue today, but the fact remains that they are presenting these gifts to a child. They know, because God has revealed to them, that this baby boy resting before their very eyes is the Christ, the promised Messiah. I don’t know if you have ever looked at a newborn baby, but it’s pretty hard to tell exactly who he is and what he is going to do with his life simply by looking at the child.
After seeing the child and having confirmed what they already knew to be true, the magi are once again spoken to by God, this time through a dream. God tells each of them that they are not to report back to Herod for his intentions are to harm the child and that they should return to their homeland. God has led them to Jesus and is now leading them away from Herod. As a side note here; yes, God could have led them away from Herod to begin with, but that was not the plan. Herod being alerted allowed for the prophecies of the Old Testament about the exile and the killing of children to take place. We may not understand it or like, but that’s the way it is. We may want to know why so many children were allowed to be murdered by Herod and his men and we are fine to wonder, but it was part of the will of God. There are bad things that happen in this life and God allows them to happen. The blessing, however, is that God can and does use those painful and emotional moments in life to work out His own will and to unfold His plan.
Friends, as we continue celebrating this Advent season, the birth of Jesus Christ, I want us to remember the reaction of the magi when they came into the presence of Christ. They didn’t run tests, ask questions, or use any other method to prove at they were right. They simply fell down and worshipped Christ Jesus. When we are faced with those moments of doubt, those moments where we question, those moments where all we want to know is why this is happening, shouldn’t our reaction be to simply fall down and worship. There is never a time in our lives, when prayers and shouts of adoration for Christ are not appropriate. The King has come, let us fall down and worship him. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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