Matthew 2:1-12
Childhood Christmas Memory
I have a very strong memory of one particular Christmas Eve night – at least, strong as far as my memories go.
I remember being at a candle light service with my parents and how impatient I was to be done with it. I don’t know how late it really was, but it was dark, and as a child excited to open many presents in the morning, it was much too late to be out as far as I was concerned. Christmas Eve was the only night of the year that I wanted to go to bed earlier than my parents and wake up earlier than them too.
When we got home that night, I had trouble sleeping from my excitement about the presents. I laid in my room for some time, unable to sleep. I imagined where Santa might be right now and whether he might be nearing our home to deliver the presents.
Suddenly, I heard some noises down the hall and in the kitchen. With great excitement I decided that this was probably Santa Clause. I snuck out of bed, tiptoed very quietly to my bedroom door, opened it ever so slowly, and peeked down the hall toward the kitchen. Sure enough, I could see a shadow projected onto a wall down the hall. For the briefest of moments I considered sneaking down the hall to see if I might catch a peek of Santa himself, but soon my fear and desire for presents got the better of me. I decided that there was no faster way to get on the naughty list than for Santa to catch me out of bed, and there was no way I was going to forfeit my presents – probably for the rest of my life.
I quietly shut the door once more and went back to bed. I can’t remember how long it took me to go to sleep after that, but I managed.
As a child, Christmas was all about the presents that I would get. But now I have learned that it is better celebrated rejoicing in my Savior and giving gifts to God and to others.
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Verses 1-2
*worship the King of the Jews*
In the majority of manger scenes, you will find the wise men present with the family at Jesus’ birth. Actually, this event occurs after Jesus’ birth, according to the Bible. How long after His birth we can only guess. It looks like when the star appeared in the heavens to guide the shepherds to Jesus on the night of His birth, these wise men from the east also noticed the star and began their journey soon afterwards. It could have been a few months to a year depending on how far these wise men came from.
In the Greek they aren’t really called wise men; they are called “magos” – which means they were astronomers and astrologers. Their profession in life was studying the stars. The fact that they are described as astronomers and that they came from the east means that they were probably from Persia. They might have been from even further east. At any rate, they were not Jews.
And so it’s beautiful and surprising that they have come to find Jesus and to worship Him. They refer to Jesus as the King of the Jews, and indeed He is. He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. Jesus is a descendent of King David. Jesus is a descendent of the tribe of Judah.
And yet, even though Jesus is born the King of the Jews and from a Jewish family line, and the land that He was born in was certainly very far away from where these astronomers were from. Despite the nationality of Jesus and His distant location to them, they recognize that Jesus is their God and king.
They have come to worship Him. They know that Jesus, though He is the King of the Jews, is not King of the Jews only, but is in fact God and worthy of worship and praise. They’ve traveled a long way, months at the least, to come and pay due respects to the new born king.
Application:
Jesus is our King as well. Like the wise men from the east, whatever our nationality, it is beautiful and fitting for us to worship Jesus. Let the worship of Jesus resound in your heart this Christmas season and always.
Whether we recognize it or not, it is true that Jesus is our king. The wise men from the east recognized it, impressively. Even though it’s extremely doubtful that they had a Bible to help guide them, God had given them a special light to help them come to know the truth.
Link: But others, even though they had the Bible, did not recognize Jesus as their king. We will soon see that king Herod and many in Jerusalem did not recognize Jesus as their king, but that didn’t make it any less true.
Verses 3
*troubled by the new King’s birth*
When Herod hears of these things, he reacts badly, but he keeps his evil thoughts and intentions in his heart.
“Troubled” is too light of a translation. “In turmoil” or “greatly agitated” would be better. It’s really surprising that it’s not just Herod who is in turmoil over the revelation that the king of the Jews has just been born. The Bible says that all Jerusalem was with him. “All Jerusalem” does not mean all of the Israelite people, but rather all of the people who were in the city of Jerusalem. We know that Jesus’ parents in Bethlehem certainly weren’t in turmoil over Jesus’ birth. The shepherds weren’t either. Many people were glad and rejoicing. But in the city of Jerusalem, there was turmoil.
Probably this turmoil was stirred up by Herod and his henchmen. Herod was an evil king. Later in Matthew we see Herod move to slaughter innumerable children. In other stories about Herod outside of the Bible, we learn that Herod killed his own family as well. He was a selfish king, bent on maintaining power and rule at any cost, including murdering his family and murdering children.
In light of that, it’s less surprising that all of Jerusalem was in turmoil with Herod. They probably could guess that his reaction would be terrible, and his henchmen were also probably raising a fuss about it. Others, perhaps, were worried that this situation might trigger the Romans to intervene more in Jewish affairs. In Jerusalem, when news started to spread that wise men from the east had come to find and worship the newborn king of the Jews, rather than celebration, there was agitation and turmoil in hearts.
Application:
Not a whole lot has changed in that regard today. Christmas is still a love it or hate it event. For most Christians, unless something tragic has happened in their life to spoil it, Christmas is a delightful time. And even if the season itself might not be for everyone, all Christians would agree that Jesus is wonderful and worthy of worship.
But that’s not the case with everyone. Some hear the name of Jesus and for one reason or another their hearts are in turmoil over him. Perhaps they are like Herod, and they realize that Jesus as King means that they are not king. If Jesus Christ is who He says He is, then that means we can’t live our lives in a sinful way – we have to live our lives in service to Jesus. Some people are like Herod and they would rather be their own king.
And others, like the people in Jerusalem, might be in turmoil for any of a number of reasons. But really, all of these people are missing how wonderful and worthy of worship Jesus is.
Link: These past few weeks we have been celebrating Jesus as our hope, peace, joy, and love. As we’ve done so, we’ve learned over and over again how Jesus is everything positive that we could dream of and more. Jesus as King is so much better than us as king. It’s not contest.
Verses 4-8
*The Ruler and Shepherd of Israel / Deception from Herod*
Herod keeps his intentions to himself and arranges for two separate meetings, one of which secretly from the others. He wants to ask different people different questions at different times so that they can’t easily piece together the evil thing that he is up to. He wants to find out around where the boy was and around what age he is so that he can order a slaughter of the children to try to prevent Jesus from every growing old enough to challenge him.
As if that weren’t sinister enough, Herod isn’t exactly that young himself. Jesus has been born as a baby and is certainly no personal threat to an older man like Herod. In a divine serving of justice, Herod actually dies shortly after these events – certainly as punishment for his evil deeds.
The Bible doesn’t reveal all of that just yet, but most of us probably know the story and at any rate, it is already evident that Herod is up to no good. He definitely did not want to go and worship the new born king. The wise men from the east didn’t know Herod, so they didn’t know that, but fortunately God intervenes before they can make a terrible mistake.
But something that comes out in all of this is a note about a fulfillment of prophecy. It had been prophesied by the prophet Micah that the king of the Jews would be born in the town of Bethlehem, and indeed that was where Jesus was born. Again, here Jesus is called “ruler of Judah” and said that He will “shepherd my people Israel.”
Jesus is the King of the Jews, but everyone ought to worship Him as king.
Verses 9-10
*Joy over the new King*
A miraculous event directs the wise men to the new born king. There has been a lot of speculation about the nature and timing of this star. A lot of people think that it was a shooting star, because it is seen moving here. But that doesn’t quite seem to fit what the Bible is saying. Shooting stars don’t rest and then travel. This star was resting in one location in the sky, and then it rose upwards and moved until it came to rest over where Jesus was. Shooting stars don’t usually do that. It could have been a real, literal star that God picked up and moved at His convenience. Or it could have been some angelic being. It could have been a shooting star that God caused to rest and move.
What it was precisely the Bible doesn’t say, because really that’s beside the point. Whatever it was, this was clearly a miraculous act of God to help guide these wise men to the new born king.
And when they see this miraculous star, evidencing divine guidance, and become aware that their journey is nearing its end, they rejoice with great joy. They are excited and delighted to be near the newborn king.
Verses 11-12
*Gifts appropriate for the new king*
“Gold, then as now, was a precious metal prized for its beauty and value, an appropriate regal gift. Frankincense and myrrh were fragrant spices and perfumes equally appropriate for such adoration and worship.”
“Two of the gifts are specifically mentioned in Psalm 72:15 (gold); Isaiah 60:6 (gold and frankincense). They are gifts fit for a king, as is also myrrh (Ps. 45:8)”
All of these gifts also had some symbolic significance to them as well. Gold in particular was a gift suitable for royalty. The gold, above all the other gifts, points to Jesus as King.
Frankincense was used as a type of incense, for worship and sacrifice and temple services. This points to Jesus’ life of worship, service, and sacrifice.
Myrrh was usually used for times of rejoicing and festivities, actually. But it was also used in Jesus’ burial. Between the two, myrrh is probably symbolizing Jesus’ burial.
These gifts also probably served a functional role – Jesus’ family was poor and Jesus spent three of his years as a traveling prophet and teacher. Gold probably helped his family when they needed to flee to Egypt and live there a few years. And these things might have also helped enable Jesus to minister during his time on earth.
Application 1:
Give gifts to Jesus.
Are financial state is probably much closer to the little drummer boy than these wise men – but that’s OK. God looks at the heart and intention behind the gift.
He’s also given different people totally different abilities and stations in life.
You might:
Give of your musical talents Give of your teaching talents Give of your finances
Give of your construction and repair talents Give love and patience to those in need
Give of your time
Application 2:
Don’t be like Herod
*repent and worship Jesus*
Application 3:
Be like the wise men – worship Jesus. Serve Him with suitable gifts.