December 9, 2018am Ne w Hope R oad Joelton, TN 37080

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Matthew 2:1-12 Christmas Kings December 9, 2018am www.newhopefwbc.com 1285 Ne w Hope R oad Joelton, TN 37080 6 1 5. 7 4 6. 6 4 0 3 READ Matthew 2:1-12 KIDS What are two types of atheists?

1 Matthew 2:1-12 Christmas Kings December 9, 2018am Ne w Hope R oad Joelton, TN READ Matthew 2:1-12 KIDS What are two types of atheists? There are stories in Scripture that in many ways I wish that I could hear/read about for the very first time as an adult. I am thankful for Sunday school and being raised in church. I am pro-sunday school, but the problem with little kids Sunday school sometimes is that teachers are given these complex (and often very grungy) stories of Scripture that they somehow have to make age-appropriate for their class. Sometimes in doing that, the story gets watered down a little. What narration is meant to give the story a little flavor and keep a kid s interest often times becomes the Gospel truth and the lens through which they will forever view that story in the Bible. I can remember growing up and loving the book of Judges. In trying to make the book age-appropriate, one of my teachers had taught the lessons as if they were super heroes. Samson, Gideon, Deborah all found their place in the Marvel Universe of Scripture. But then I read through Corey M. Minter Page 1 of 10

2 the book of Judges myself as a young teenager and found out THOSE PEOPLE WERE MESSED UP. Well, we come to a similar problem with the Christmas Story. Often times, we have sat under so much teaching where a pastor/teacher imposes his own take on the story that we are almost incapable of reading Scripture without that background narration going on in our minds. Myths and legends about the Christmas Story often overshadow what we know in Scripture. Probably some of the greatest mystery of the Christmas Story surrounds these wise men that we read about in Matthew 2. We can hardly (definitively) satisfactorily answer any of the pertinent questions that make up any kind of news story. Who? Where? When? How many? Why? Very few of those questions can be answered just from within the text, making those of us who try to read the Christmas Story with new eyes each year ask the question, What? Who? They are called wise men, and some of you may have a note in your Bible beside wise men saying magi or magoi OK so magoi came to see Jesus. That hardly tells us anything. That term is only used twice in the Old Testament, and then, it just references officials or cabinet members of the Persian Empire. But To the Greek world (which the NT is written in) it seemed to denote some foreign system of divination; so the word morphed into some form of magician. THERE WERE MAGICIANS AT JESUS S BIRTH?!? Where? Where are they from? The east. Not very particular is it? Can you imagine asking someone where they are from and them answering Corey M. Minter Page 2 of 10

3 with a direction on the compass without any further explanation? We do that a little don t we. Where are you from? Up north. So I bet you re real rude aren t you? (Actual conversation that I heard) Technically, north could mean Kentucky or Ontario. West could mean Arkansas, California or Japan. East could mean Virginia, Spain or Japan. Literally translated, The East means The Rising. With that (the direction of the compass in mind, and the only other time magoi is referenced in Scripture) I think it is safe to say that these were officials from the kingdom of the Persians. Where did they find Jesus? In a house. But where? Which house? In Bethlehem? In Nazareth? I could give you a guess, but that really is all we know. When? When did they come and see Jesus? After Jesus was born. Yeah but were they there the night he was born like most traditions and nativity scenes portray? Probably not. The word that Matthew uses to describe Jesus at this time (Paidion) is one that can be used for an infant to a mature child, but he does not use the word that Luke does for a newborn (Brephos). How many? How many of these wise men are we talking about? We have NO IDEA. The earliest traditions hold that there were twelve, but have you ever tried to fit twelve wise men on a mantle with the rest of the nativity Corey M. Minter Page 3 of 10

4 set? Somewhere along the way, most held that there were three (probably based off of the three different types of gifts that they brought). Strangely enough, as the number of them shrunk throughout the centuries, the lore of their story increased. Now, we even have their names! Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar. But wait! There s more! Someone miraculously found their skulls and for just a small fee you can look at their gold encrusted tomb! Seriously though, we have absolutely no idea how many there were, what their names were and what happened to them afterwards. I assume that their caravan was large since all of Jerusalem was troubled by their presence (Matthew 2:3), but that could just as easily be chocked up to the news of a possible Messiah spreading. We do not know many of these questions because they are not the point of the story. Why? Now we are getting a little closer to what is really important. Why did these kings of orient come, bearing gifts after traveling so far (Field and fountain, moor and mountain)? Well, they do tell us that quite plainly in Matthew 2:2 For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. Even though we have it right there in the text, there are so many questions that we still have aren t there? Why would Persian wise men (counselors) come into Roman occupied Israel to worship the King of the Jews? What s the connection? I think we could probably trace it back 600 years earlier when a man by the name of Daniel, a Jew who was held captive by the Persians, rose in the ranks of the Persian wise men until he was finally promoted to the chief administrator of the Magoi. (Daniel 2:48) Corey M. Minter Page 4 of 10

5 It is highly likely that Daniel knew his Hebrew prophecy well. He could probably quote Balaam s prophecy from 800 years earlier: Numbers 22:17 I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult. Daniel had probably rehearsed the prophetic words of Isaiah spoken 100 years earlier while yearning for his homeland and his Deliverer: Isaiah 60:3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. (That is why we call these Magoi kings by the way. They were representatives of kings). We know that Daniel set an indelible mark on Persian culture and its kings by his standing for truth, and we can only assume that the truths he told about his God were passed down from one wise man to the next, each searching the sky for some spark of hope that a Deliverer for all mankind would come. Finally, one night, the star charts were off. A star that had not been there the night before was. It was different, though, not flung into the night s sky but somehow hovering towards the west as if it were beckoning for them to follow. So they did. These magoi these trainers and counselors of kings left everything and followed the star until it brought them to Jerusalem to quite a different king: Herod. Hear one author s historical description of Herod: Corey M. Minter Page 5 of 10

6 This was Herod, the Great! He was appointed by his father to rule the prefect of Galilee. His father had been appointed by none other than Julius Caesar to rule Judea. Everyone knew he was king. By the time we meet Herod, in Matthew, chapter 2, he is seventy years old. He has also become insanely jealous concerning his power and his throne. One of Herod s ten wives, Miriamne, had a brother, Aristobulus, who was the Jewish high priest. Herod became so fearful of the popularity of Aristobulus that he had him drowned, after which he financed a huge funeral where he pretended to weep. Then Herod killed Miriamne and her mother. In his final two years of life, Herod s paranoia became so great that he murdered his two oldest sons. Five days before his death, he executed his next eldest son, determined that he would have no rival to his throne. Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, wrote this about Herod and his rule, He did not permit the citizens, either to meet together, or to walk, or to eat together, but watched everything they did, exhorting them to always be at work. He had spies everywhere... he would often put on the clothing of an ordinary citizen and mix among the multitude at night, asking them what they thought about Herod and his government. When they answered with criticism, they were Corey M. Minter Page 6 of 10

7 punished severely, or even brought to the citadel Hyrcania, both openly and secretly and were there put to death. This man was a cold-hearted, vain, corrupt, paranoid killer As an older man, having gained the favor of the Roman emperor, the Roman senate granted his wish and gave him the title, King of the Jews. He was the King of the Jews. That was his title and his throne! 1 Where is he who is born KING OF THE JEWS?!?! 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And 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. 5 So 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. 7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And 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. 1 The Myths, Messengers and Mystery of Christmas. Stephen Davey. Corey M. Minter Page 7 of 10

8 We have the picture here in Matthew 2 of Gentile wise men leaving everything, traveling great distances just to catch a glimpse of the Newborn King, Israelites who cannot be bothered to even travel the 5.8 miles to Bethlehem to check out their suspicion of the long-awaited Messiah and a king Herod who is willing to butcher every boy-child under the age of two to keep his pathetic grasp on power. That is not too far off from where we are today, by the way. An atheist is one who does not believe in God. For whatever reason, science, philosophy, etc. they feel they have grounds to question a Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer s existence in the world. In my many discussions with some of my atheistic friends, I have come to separate them into two distinct camps. On one side, we have what I call the apatheist. He is ruled by apathy. It may have started with agnosticism and this idea that no one will ever be able to know truth, but it quickly devolved into Who cares if I ever know truth. When questioned about morals and absolutes, they have no standard except for what makes them feel less empty and more good about themselves. This is Israel at this point in history. They hold to a form of godliness, even regarding the Scriptures as true, keeping them readily acceptable for study, but they cannot be troubled with changing their life to conform to God. Like I said earlier, they won t even travel the six miles to Bethlehem to check out the slight possibility that The Long-Awaited One had finally come. On the other spectrum of atheists, we have what I call antitheists. They have taken it upon themselves to be prophets of the anti-gospel that Corey M. Minter Page 8 of 10

9 God does not exist. They are quick to insert, If there really was a god, then with all of the suffering in the world then he must not be very powerful or not very loving. They may have suffered from some kind of trauma which distorted their thinking or not, but they are (quite frankly) against God. His existence stands in stark contrast to what they desire and love in this world; so even if they were convinced that He did exist, they still wouldn t worship Him. That is Herod. He does not really even care about the question of God s existence. He just wants Him dead, and based upon his track record of mafia-style hits in the past, he is not above causing a holocaust of Jewish toddlers to accomplish his task. Matthew 2:16 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. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more. It is no coincidence that we call these Magi wise men. They stand in stark contrast to the foolish apatheists and antitheists of their day. Corey M. Minter Page 9 of 10

10 Blinded by their own self-interest or hate, the fool has said in his heart there is no God. But not them. They search high and low for God. They chase His signs across the desert of their soul and down every crooked alleyway of their life until finally JOY! Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. There is purpose, apatheist. There is peace, antitheist. His name is Jesus, and He is worthy of everything that you have to offer. 11 And 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. Corey M. Minter Page 10 of 10

Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"

Then the Jews said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days? 1. Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom. 2. Genesis 36:1 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" 3. John 2:20 We love