The Came, They Saw, They Worshipped Series

They Came, They Saw,They Worshipped

Matthew 2:1-12

OKAY MGCC – welcome to church!

Welcome to week 3 of our study of Matthew’s Gospel.

It has been awhile so I want to do a very brief review.

IN WEEK ONE…

As we looked at Matthew’s Genealogy we saw the main point is driving home is that Jesus is King and the true heir to the Davidic Throne. And Jesus as King Has…

• The authority to speak

• The power to rule

• The desire to include

• The right to reward

IN WEEK TWO…

We saw that Joseph (Jesus’ earthly dad) woke up to who Jesus was… the King, the Christ, the Savior, Immanuel (God with us)… When Joseph woke up to who Jesus is, He did what the angel commanded.

And Joseph taught us that obedience..

• Can At Times Be Embarassing

• Obedience Is Often Inconvenient

• Obedience Doesn’t Always Make Sense

• Obedience Usually Comes With A Price

• Obedience Will Always Be Rewarded

OKAY – let’s do this… The Gospel of Matthew week three

“They Came, They Saw, They Worshipped…”

AND MGCC – here is how I want us to unpack today’s conversation, BY…

FIRST – by telling the story of the wisemen using Matthew 2:1-12 as our guide…

AND THEN – by pulling out a few of truths that they teach us about worship. SO – are you ready?

Prayer

Their Story

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,

Bethlehem = Beth (house) and Lehem (bread)

House of Bread

SO - the Bread of Life (John 6:48) was born in the House of Bread, pretty cool.

QUESTION – and Bethlehem was the hometown of what great Old Testament guy? David.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. – Matthew 2:1

WHO WAS - a very cruel, crafty, cunning, paranoid, evil and sadistic leader.

About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?

NOW – these guys seem to be very confident, like they have no doubt that there is a newborn king, and that he is nearby.

We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem… - Matthew 2:1-3

OKAY… so the Wise Men show up in Jerusalem after the birth of Jesus. WHICH - runs contrary to most of our nativity scenes that show the shepherds and the Wise Men arriving in Bethlehem at the same time.

NOW - the shepherds were there on the night Jesus was born… BUT - the Wise Men arrive sometime later, ¬maybe, even up to two years after the birth of Jesus.

(My daughter Chelsea always sets up here nativity scene during Christmas with the wisemen off in the distance)

QUESTION…. SO JUST WHO - were these Wise Men?

WELL THEY - were basically, the professors and philosophers of their day, originating (most likely) from the country we now call Iraq. THEY – were highly educated men who were trained in medicine, history, religion, prophecy, astronomy and astrology. AND UNDERSTAND - back then, astrology was connected with people’s search for God.

YOU SEE - the ancients studied the skies in order to find answers to the great questions of life--Questions like:

Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?

AND ANOTHER - important fact for us to keep in mind about these wise guys is that they were highly influential men who served as advisors to kings. While they were not kings themselves, it would not be far from the truth to say that these men were often kingmakers.

QUESTION - what was it that motivated these educated, wealthy and influential men to make the treacherous 1,000+ mile journey across the desert?

THEY – came to see a baby who was born King.

NOW - they knew a baby had been born in Judea, but they didn’t know where.

And they knew he was a King, but didn’t know His name.

SO THEY - come to Jerusalem--the capital city--seeking help.

WHICH - makes perfect sense, because they wanted to welcome the “King of the Jews.”

NOW - verse 2 adds a detail that has baffled and intrigued Biblical scholars and astronomers for 2,000 years:

We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him… - Matthew 2:2

QUESTION – what was this star that rose in the east…?

NOW – many theories have been purposed over the years.

ONE OF – the earliest was from Origen of Alexandria, one of the early church Fathers, who in the second century said that the star that guided the wisemen was a comet.

Johannes Kepler, the father of modern astronomy, explained the star as the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation, Pisces in 7 BC. Which is probably the most popular view of astronomers today.