INTRODUCTION
As we began our study of Matthew last week we saw that, in his Gospel,
Matthew presents Jesus Christ as the King. Writing primarily to Jews, Matthew
presents Jesus as the Lion from the Tribe of Judah. All through this Gospel,
Matthew makes the case that Jesus is the One who has fulfilled the Old
Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah.
In chapter 1 we saw the heritage of the King. The human genealogy of
Jesus is given in vs. 1-16 (Mat.
1:1-16, NKJV) linking Him to the throne of David. His divine genealogy
is given in vs. 18-25 (Mat.
1:18-25, NKJV) which simply declares that He is God become flesh, Emmanuel
- God with us.
Now in chapter 2 we see three responses from people that have a chance
to pay homage to the King. These responses reflect a choice that these
people had to make.
The three responses that we will be looking at this morning are: the
response of Herod the Great, the response
of the Magi (wise men), and the response of the religious leaders of Israel.
As we look at each response we will see what the Lord has for us this morning
as we go through this portion of Scripture.
Mat. 2:1-16 (NKJV)
1 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,
2saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we
have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him. 4And when he had gathered all the chief
priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born.
5So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it
is written by the prophet:
6"But you, Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among
the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come
a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people
Israel."' (Micah
5:2; NKJV, 700 BC)
7Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined
from them what time the star appeared. 8And he sent them to
Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when
you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship
Him also."
9When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the
star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and
stood over where the young Child was. 10When they saw the star,
they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11And when they had
come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and
fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures,
they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should
not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and
His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod
will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
14When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother
by night and departed for Egypt, 15and was there until the death
of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."(Hos.
11:1; NKJV, 715 BC)
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise
men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the
male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two
years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from
the wise men.
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I. KING HEROD WAS HOSTILE TO HIM (verses. 7-8, 16)
Even though he was an Edomite,
Herod was placed as king of Israel by the Roman Emperor (reigning from
37-4 BC). He built big and beautiful structures, like the fortress
of Masada by the Dead Sea, the port city of Caesara, and the expansion
of the Jewish Temple.
But Herod was also very cruel, very merciless, and very paranoid. He
was constantly afraid that someone was going to take his position of king
and his power away from him. If fact, he was so paranoid that he killed
some of his wives; he even killed some of his sons because he thought
they were conspiring against him (sounds like Sadaam Hussein). It was so
bad that Caesar Augustus once said, “It is safer to be Herod’s pig than
his son.”
You can see his cruelty in what he did shortly before he died. Knowing
that no one would mourn his death, he had his men arrest some of the most
distinguished citizens of Jerusalem with the instructions to kill them
at the moment of his death, just so that there would be mourning in Jerusalem.
No one carried out this orders when Herod died; but it reveals what a cruel
man he was.
When the Magi told Herod about their quest, he acted interested to try
to use them to discover any rival to his throne. He had been placed as
king of Israel by Rome. A child whom the people considered the King of
the Jews would cause him problems.
In verse 7 he questions the Magi as to when they saw this star. Though
not stated, clearly his purpose is to determine how old the child would
be. He uses this information when he orders that all baby boys in the Bethlehem
region two years old and younger be killed.
Herod did not want to lose his ranking in society, he wanted to be king,
and so he tried to put to death the King of the Jews. He tried to remove
the King from the picture, but in the end it was Herod that was brought
down and removed from the picture.
 Do you find
yourself hostile toward God this morning?
Does Jesus
threaten your plans and the way you want to live your life?
Does the idea
of being accountable to God make you angry and cause you to be defiant?
Matthew records these words of Jesus later in his gospel (Matt.
21:44, NKJV), “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but
on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” In other words, if
you are broken over your sinful condition and come before Him, bowing before
Him and asking Him to come into your life, that broken condition will allow
the Lord to lift you up. But, if you refuse to be broken over your condition,
you will be crushed by the Lord.
The choice is yours.
II. THE MAGI CAME TO WORSHIP HIM (verses 1-2, 9-12)
The Magi or Wise Men, as they have come to be known, have developed
a legend and life of their own over the years that goes way beyond what
the Scripture has to say. By the Middle Ages the legend developed that
they were kings, that there was only three of them, and we even have their
names: Casper, Balthazar, and Melchoir. These are legends and traditions
which the Scriptures do not support.
What we do know is that these Wise Men were skilled in astronomy, astrology,
and dream interpretations. They also probably came from the area of Babylon,
which should remind us of the Jewish captivity in Babylon and a man by
the name of Daniel who was a Jewish captive and elevated to a position
of overseeing all the wise men of Babylon. (Dan.
2:48, NKJV, 535 BC)
I can’t help but think that Daniel shared his love for God and the coming
of the Messiah. And, either in the archives of Babylon or by word of mouth
from generation to generation, this information was passed on until God
got the attention of these star gazers by placing a supernatural star in
the sky to guide them on a journey that may have taken months to travel
on a caravan route.
Believing that King had been born, these wise men assumed that they
would find him in the capital city, so they went to Jerusalem. It's also
clear that they did not have access or at least did not understand the
Jewish Scriptures, because they began to ask as to where the king of the
Jews was to be born.
When Herod referred this question to the religious leaders it was easy
for them to answer because, at this time, even the Jewish man on the street
was aware that the prophet Micah (Micah 5:2) had prophesied 400 years earlier
that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Aware of this new information
the Wise Men started toward Bethlehem, the guiding star reappeared and
led them to the house where Mary and Joseph were now staying with their
young son, Jesus, who was probably a couple of years old at this time.
What you need to realize is that these are Gentile men. And take note
of the heart of these men - they were not just curious - they had come
to worship the King of the Jews.
That word worship is rich with meaning: It speaks of falling
down before someone, prostrating oneself, and even kissing the feet or
the hem of the garment of the one being honored.
As they draw near their destination the Magi begin to rejoice with exceeding
joy.
All the months
of traveling by faith is about to come to fruition!
They are about
the see the king and they are rejoicing!
Seeing Jesus, these Wise Men fall down before Him and present costly
gifts to Him. Expecting nothing in return they worship this new born King!
Christian, how
can you keep from rejoicing when you see the King!
Bow before
Him with sweet abandon and rejoice with exceeding great joy!
"O Come let
us adore Him!"
III. THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE INDIFFERENT TO HIM (verses
3-6)
This is not only amazing but sad and tragic. When Herod wanted to find
out where the king of Jews was to be born, he went to the Jewish
religious leaders to get the answer. And, as these religious leaders gathered
together, they went to the right source - the Scriptures - and they came
up with the right answer in Micah 5:2.
These religious leaders knew the Word of God; they knew what the prophets
had said; they knew that Messiah had been promised. You would think that
the set of circumstances before them would have, at least, raised their
curiosity and yet it did nothing for them.
The Gentile Wise Men traveled through the desert for months to get to
Bethlehem. The religious leaders only had to travel some six miles to Bethlehem
and it was too much trouble for them. You see, they were indifferent to
the things of God. They knew the Word of God, but it didn’t move them.
How about you this morning? Are you indifferent to the Word of God?
If you have been attending this church - if you have been coming to
Sunday School - if you have been attending worship - you have heard and
you have learned the Word of God. Has knowing the Word moved you to
act upon the Word? If not, then knowing the Word has only increased
your responsibility and your accountability to God. |