GIFTS FOR A KING (Matthew 2:1-12)

GIFTS FOR A KING (Matthew 2:1-12) INTRODUCTION Our passage this morning concerns the visit of the wise men to baby Jesus. It is a great story! These men came a long distance, over unknown territory, to see baby Jesus. Many sermons have been preached on this event. Someone had to see some irony in this. Some have wondered what would have been different if the wise-men would have been wise-women. How would the story be different? Here are one person s thoughts: 1. They would have asked for directions before they arrived in Jerusalem to ask Herod the evil king. 2. They would have arrived on time and helped deliver the baby 3. They would have cleaned the stable and brought something practical for the family like a casserole, diapers, and baby wipes. Well, it was wise men who came and we ll have to take the situation as it happened. Today is called Epiphany Sunday. What does it mean and how did it come about? The word "Epiphany" comes from the Greek meaning "appearing manifestation. It has two different meanings, as best that I can find out. In the early centuries of the church the Western church January 6 was the day to commemorate the visit by the Magi to the infant Jesus, and the star that led them to him. In the Eastern Church, because they used a different calendar system, January 6 was their Christmas day, and they also believed that Jesus was baptized at 30 years old exactly to the day of his birth, therefore they primarily commemorates the birth and the baptism of Jesus. Epiphany is the celebration of the revelation of the incarnate Christ, who was both fully God and fully man, to the world. There you have the rest of the story! THE DETAILS OF THE STORY January 6, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 1

Now I don t want to emphasize the traditions of Epiphany as interesting as they are. I want to look at this Matthew passage and listen for God s message through it to us today. First let s look at the details of this visit to Jesus by the wise men. There has been a lot of incorrect information about the wise men s visit. The place was Bethlehem. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were not in the stable but were in a house (verse 11). Jesus was probably between one and two years old. I gather this from the fact after Herod heard that Jesus was born, but didn t know exactly how old Jesus was, so Herod had all children 2 years and under killed. So this tells me that Jesus could have been up to 2 years old. Who were these wise men? They were not kings! There is great mystery surrounding them. The Bible calls them magoi, which can refer to magicians, but is also can refer to astrologers; royal astrologers, those who advised a king. They were very learned men from the East who studied the stars; therefore they were called wise men. These types of people were counselors to kings and princes. They were astrologers or astronomers. Where did they come from? From the East verse 1 says. The East could be anywhere from modern day Iran, Iraq or Saudi Arabia. We don t know exactly where they were from. But it was a long distance from Judea. It could have taken them up to two years to make this journey. How many were there? The most common number given is 3. This is based on the fact that three gifts are mentioned in verse 11. Some tradition says that there were 4 and one either got sick or lost. Some say that there may be been up to 14 of them. We don t know the number. How did they know the meaning of the star? How did they know that it was revealing the birth of Jesus, the King of the Jews? God could have directly revealed it to them. But God ordinarily uses means and especially human means to reveal Christ to people. There were pockets of Jews in most of the major cities of that day. Many Jews stayed in Babylon after the Babylonia captivity. The wise men may have been familiar with the prophecy in Numbers 24:17 which speaks about a star. This is the prophecy of Balaam: Numbers 24:17-19 HCSB I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites. (18) Edom will become a possession; Seir will become a possession of its enemies, but Israel will be triumphant. (19) One who comes from Jacob will rule; he will destroy the city's survivors. January 6, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 2

This prophecy also may explain why Herod got so upset when the wise men came looking for the one born King of the Jews. He knew his days were numbered. There was someone who was going to usurp his throne. The star is also a great mystery. Was this a comet? A meteorite? A special creation of God? Again we don t know. It could be either. God can use ordinary means to accomplish his providence or he can work against, above, and without means if he chooses. But this star was special. It was like a candle leading the wise men to Jesus. Certainly the movement and glow of the star was providentially guided by God. There are many people in the past and also in the present who worship the stars. These are idolaters. But God created the stars partly as a witness to His greatness. Some Bible scholars believe that the Gospel is spelled out in the stars through a proper understanding of the message of the Zodiac. I can t go that far, but this star had a message that the wise men understood. They knew that this star was leading them to Jesus. God was working in their hearts to give them a desire to seek out Jesus. THE MAIN POINT OF THE PASSAGE With these details we need to ask, What is the main point of this passage? What is the message that God wants us to get from this passage? I believe that is it is here to tell us that Jesus was born to be King and He was recognized as king from his birth. At his birth, at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, standing before Pilate, and on the sign placed on the Cross, Jesus is proclaimed to be King. The message of this passage is that Jesus came to be King and we need to proclaim it. Also the point of this passage is to show us how to respond to Jesus as King. How did Herod respond to this message? He got very upset. In fact as one preacher put it, he went off his already titled rocker! Herod was not a full Jew, he was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau. He was called Herod the Great. But there was much greatness about him. He was placed on the throne by Augustus Caesar. He had a series of ten wives. He was a cruel and power hunger despot. He was in his 35 th year of his reign when the wise men showed up. He was afraid of Jesus. He feared that his power would be taken away, so he tried to get rid of Jesus. He cruelly put all the children 2 years old and under to death around the area of Bethlehem. Jesus was saved by the providence of God when God warned Joseph in a dream to take Jesus to Egypt. Today there are many mini-herods alive in our culture. There are many today in our world who are still January 6, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 3

trying to remove the name of Jesus from us. Just think of the battles to remove the name of Christ from Christmas and the influence of Christianity from us. But it wasn t only Herod that was afraid and upset. Verse 3 says that all Jerusalem was troubled with him. What a pity that the plain man in the street also has a fear of Jesus coming as King. Our natural hearts do not want Jesus to rule over us. We may not advocate removing the name of Jesus from our life, but we certainly want to remove his absolute control over our life and not yield to the Lordship of Christ. There needs to be a radical heart change in all of us to accept Jesus for who he is. John s gospel explains it this way: (John 1:11-13 NKJV) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. {12} But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: {13} who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Jesus was born King of the Jews. Jesus was born King of the Gentiles also. Jesus was born King of kings and Lord of lords.. And until we bow our hearts to Jesus we will not know the true Jesus nor will we put our trust in Him.. I was reading a few years back in the Evangelism Explosion Magazine, about how the king of Nigeria and the queen met the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. A Nigerian, named Johnson, had immigrated to America years ago and became a Christian. This Nigerian was in a church that had an EE program and he was trained in how to share the Gospel. While growing up in Nigeria he had a very close friend who later married the king s sister. When Johnson went back recently to Nigeria to visit his aiding father, his friend wanted him to give a gift to the king and got him an audience with the king. Johnson not only gave the gift to the king, but he had opportunity to share the message of the Gospel which offers the gift of eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. The King and his queen both received Jesus as the Savior and Lord. The king of Nigeria met the King of the kings. This is the message of this passage. How Jesus came to be king and through his death, resurrection, and ascension can give new life to any who call upon him and how you can meet the King. January 6, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 4

Matthew s gospel begins with the wise men seeking Jesus, who is born King of the Jews. Matthew ends his gospel with the Jesus speaking to us as King. He said Matthew 28:18-20 HCSB Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." We are now called upon by our King to go make disciples of all the nations. CONCLUSION I close this message by reminding us that there are two ways to respond to Jesus as seen in this passage. Herod responded by fear, anger, rejection, unbelief. But the wise men responded by seeking Jesus, by giving Him gifts, and worshipping Him. The gifts they gave are significant gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were precious gifts. They were expensive gifts. They spoke to the wise men s faith. Some see in these gifts a further witness to the person of Christ. Gold is a gift for a king. Jesus is King. Frankincense is incense used in worship by a priest. Jesus is our great High Priest. Myrrh is a spice used in burial. Jesus came to die for our sins as our great High Priest. The most important meaning of the gifts is to point us to how to respond to Jesus. We are to give him our most important, precious, and expensive gift. What might that be? I believe that it is our heart, ourselves. We are to give our hearts to Jesus as an act of worship. We are to give ourselves to Him in submission to his lordship in our lives. So on this is Epiphany Sunday; let s respond to Jesus by giving him our heart and by being God s stars shining the light of Christ into this world in order to guide people to Christ. Amen? Amen! January 6, 2019 Corntassel CP Church Page 5