Have You Seen "His Star?”

HAVE YOU SEEN “HIS STAR?”

Matt. 2:1-12

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: THE UNSELFISH REQUEST

1. The Santa Claus at the shopping mall was very surprised when Emily, a young lady about 20 years old, walked up and sat on his lap.

2. Now, we all know that Santa doesn't usually take requests from adults, but she smiled very nicely at him, so he asked her, 'What do you want for Christmas?'

3. “Something for my mother, please,” replied Emily sweetly. “Something for your mother? Well, that's very loving and unselfish of you,” smiled Santa. “What would you like me to bring her?”

4. Without turning a hair Emily answered quickly, “A son-in-law.”

B. A STAR IS BORN

1. Almighty God is frequently spoken of as connected with the idea of light. “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and He’s the “Father of lights” (James 1:17). Jesus, as the one who brings the true knowledge of God, is called “the light of men” (John 1:4) and the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2).

2. Christ is called “the Star out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17) and is called the “Morning Star” (2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 2:28; 22:16) He introduced the light of Gospel day, revealing more fully the truths of God than the ancient prophets.

3. So it doesn’t seem so surprising that when Jesus was born into this world, that a Star (“His Star”) should appear in the sky above Him to bear witness that He had come!

4. And there were sensitive souls who watched for divine signs and they detected the new star and when they saw it, decided they must see Him whom it represented. Let’s read about their story:

C. TEXT

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the

time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

D. THESIS

1. This passage tells us that not only did shepherds see a light on the night Jesus was born, but that God made a star appear to men far away to signal His Son would be born.

2. These men were the scientists of their day, studying the phenomenon of the universe and nature. They were intelligent, educated, and affluent.

3. One night they were stunned to see a star appear where none had been before. This Star was unique in its location and brilliance. They came to the conclusion that this

was a sign from God.

4. The title of this message is “Have You Seen ‘His Star?’”

I. THE UNIQUENESS OF THE STAR

A. IT WAS SEEN BY THE CHINESE

1. One might think, since no other persons saw the Star, that it was only seen by the Magi. Not so!

2. The German writer, Munter, in his book Stern Der Weisen, Kopenhagen, 1827, stated that "Chinese astronomical tables record the appearance of a new star at a time which coincides with the fourth year before the birth of Christ" (Lange's, Matthew, p. 57)[Christ was actually born about 4 B.C., before Herod died in that year].

3. So there is independent verification that a star did appear!

B. IT WAS SUPERNATURAL

1. Some astronomers, such as Kepler, have tried to say it was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.