(OUTLINE)
Please Don’t Come For Christmas – Part 1
4 reasons why Jesus shouldn’t have come
Celebration Church - November 29, 2009
Matt 2:1-8 (NIV) “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied … Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
Reason #1 - Why Jesus shouldn’t come – He wasn’t wanted by the ruling authorities
Herod felt threatened by Christ because:
Magi called Jesus King
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?
Magi came to worship Jesus, not him
“We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed…”
Others were disturbed
disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him… where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied…”
Matt 2:16 (NIV) “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under…”
Fear causes us to feel threatened, faith causes us to be at peace
Luke 2:10-12, 14 (NIV) “…the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger… Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
HOW TO WELCOME CHRIST AT CHRISTMAS
Release your fears
"Do not be afraid…”
I John 4:18-19 (NIV) “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.”
See Christ as good news
“I bring you good news of great joy… today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you…”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
Rest in God’s peace now
“…and on earth peace to men…”
Eph 2:17-18 (NIV) “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
TEXT
Please Don’t Come For Christmas – Part 1
4 reasons why Jesus shouldn’t have come
Celebration Church - November 29, 2009
Today we start a brand new Christmas series and I’m pretty excited about it. Now some of you have already seen the title and have said, “what?” In puzzlement you’re wondering why we would tell people not to come for Christmas.
Well the title is little more than shock value, we’re not telling people not to come here for Christmas, the message of don’t come was clearly stated to Jesus when he came to the earth and we’re going to look at four main events that show that He really wasn’t wanted in our world.
Now, let me say up front, I’m so glad He came and I hope everyone in this community will come here for Christmas, but with every church on every corner saying please here for Christmas, I wonder what the psychological effect will be when they hear, “please don’t come for Christmas.”
People often go after what they’re told they can’t have. Anyhow that’s not our message, just how it might be interpreted.
So let’s get into this today. We’re going to look at the ruling authority in the place where Jesus was born and his take on Jesus’ coming his name was Herod.
Matt 2:1-8 (NIV) “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied … Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
So we see the wise men coming to seek the babe and they go to the person who was in authority to ask for directions. Why they went to a man to ask for directions, well that’s a mystery.
Some have said if woman came to the manger instead of men, they would have asked for directions and got there on time, tidied up the place, relieved the new mother so she could get some rest, had dinner going and called for decorations.
These come to Herod for some information…
It’s apparent that Herod was taken by surprise and didn’t know this babe was even coming, but once he knew he surely didn’t want this NEW KING to take his place.
Reason #1 - Why Jesus shouldn’t come – He wasn’t wanted by the ruling authorities
In ancient times a ruling king was a very insecure person. He never knew when one of his own sons or one of his trusted guard members would rise up against him and kill him taking his throne. Kings lived with a certain level of constant fear and felt threatened by so many things.
Herod felt threatened by Christ because:
Magi called Jesus King
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?
The Magi didn’t realize it but they were stoking Herod’s fears. They come and say where is the real King? That’s what Herod heard. Herod was the ruling authority over the Jews, now these guys are coming saying where’s the new leader?
That didn’t set well with Herod – He wasn’t looking for a new king. The last thing he wanted was a new threat to his throne.
Magi came to worship Jesus, not him
“We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed…”
The wise men also came with this reverent worshipful attitude about Christ. They were there to pay homage, to bow before Jesus, to recognize Him for who he is.
Herod called himself “Herod the Great” if any homage or worship was gonna happen, he felt like it should go toward him. Herod was the greatest builder of all time, he was feared and revered by all.
(FYI) Info about Herod – Thanks Danny)
He built relentlessly—cities, palaces and fortresses, some of which still stand:
• the fortresses at Masada, Antonia and Herodium
• the port city of Caesarea
• the huge edifice at the top of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron
• the massive fortifications around Jerusalem as well as three towers at the entrance to the city (the remains of which are today erroneously named the Tower of David) and much more
At Herodium, in an incredible feat of engineering - Herod built an artificial mountain and, on top of it, a huge palace. Unfortunately, this palace was destroyed in 70 CE during the Great Revolt.
He built another fortress, Masada, on top of a mesa, a rock plateau, in the desert. Complete with all the creature comforts in the desert, Masada had an incredible water supply system that fed gardens for growing agricultural staples and three bathhouses (Masada is open to tourists today and a sight to behold.)
The port city of Caesarea deserves special mention. Here Herod created an amazing artificial port (one of the two largest in the Empire), put in a beautiful amphitheater, a hippodrome for chariot races (like in the movie Ben Hur, bath houses, and a huge temple dedicated to the Roman god-emperor, Augustus Caesar. (You can visit today the excavations of Caesarea Maritina and they are most impressive.)
HEROD’S TEMPLE
The most ambitious of Herod’s projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was almost certainly an attempt to gain popularity among his subjects who, he knew, held him in contempt and also to make amends for his cruelty toward the rabbis.
It took 10,000 men ten years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount (on top of which the Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock, stands today). The Western Wall (formerly known as the Wailing Wall) is merely part of that 500-meter-long retaining wall that was designed to hold a huge man-made platform that could accommodate twenty four football fields. When it was completed, it was the world’s largest functioning religious site and until today it remains the largest man-made platform in the world.
Why did he make the Temple Mount so large?
There’s no question that Herod had a huge ego and liked to impress people with grandiose building projects. But there is also another more practical reason. Historians estimate that there were about 6-7 million Jews living in the Roman Empire (plus another 1 million in Persia), many of whom would come to Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. So you had to have a huge space to accommodate such a huge number of people. Hence the size of the platform.
When it came to building the Temple itself on top of this platform, Herod truly outdid himself, and even the Talmud acknowledges that the end-result was spectacular. “He who has not seen Herod’s building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building.” (Talmud-Bava Basra 4a)
The Holy of Holies was covered in gold; the walls and columns of the other buildings were of white marble; the floors were of carrara marble, its blue tinge giving the impression of a moving sea of water; the curtains were tapestries of blue, white, scarlet and purple thread, depicting, according to Josephus, “the whole vista of the heavens.”
Josephus describes how incredible it looked:
Viewed from without, the Sanctuary had everything that could amaze either mind or eyes. Overlaid all round with stout plates of gold, the first rays of the sun it reflected so fierce a blaze of fire that those who endeavored to look at it were forced to turn away as if they had looked straight at the sun. To strangers as they approached it seemed in the distance like a mountain covered with snow; for any part not covered with gold was dazzling white… (The Jewish War, p. 304)
Others were disturbed
“…disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him… (he asked) where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied…”
Herod goes to the Jewish leaders and asks about where the baby would be born. They knew from reading the scrolls, this was new information for Herod.
Now, Herod was known for being extremely brutal. He had 10 wives and killed most of them. He killed several of his own children for various reasons not withstanding his insecurities.
So when the Bible says he was he was disturbed, he was disturbed. Here it means agitated, but there was definitely a troubled man behind the eyes.
We see in the story that the wise men figure out what Herod is all about and trick him so as not to find the baby. Herod then goes into rage and kills the all the male babies 2 years and younger.
Matt 2:16 (NIV) “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under…”
Fear causes us to feel threatened, faith causes us to be at peace
The Christmas story is all about peace; it’s why Christ came - to restore peace. Let’s look at how to actually want Jesus in our lives.
Luke 2:10-12, 14 (NIV) “…the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger… Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
HOW TO WELCOME CHRIST AT CHRISTMAS
Release your fears
"Do not be afraid…”
If you’re afraid, it can mean several things, 1. Your focus is on the situation and you feel helpless. 2. You can see no way out, 3. You have no one to help you.
Jesus comes into the world and He brings peace. The first thing that’s said by the angel is, don’t be afraid. It’s as if God is saying – hey don’t worry, your fears can end right here.
So the solution is to; 1. Don’t focus on the situation; focus on the savior, 2. See that God has already promised a way out and sent Jesus for you, 3. Realize that Jesus came to be with us and that we’re never alone.
THIS ALL FLOWS FROM LOVE – God loves and sends Jesus, Jesus’ love casts out the fears that we have because His love is perfect.
I John 4:18-19 (NIV) “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.”
The more we receive and understand God’s love the less fear we will have.
See Christ as good news
“I bring you good news of great joy… today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you…”
With all the bad news in the world, it’s great news to know that Jesus has come.
Many people are afraid of God. They view him as this mean old man in the sky that’s waiting to pounce on them as soon as they do something wrong.
Well God’s not like that, His love is everlasting. You know it’s probably one of the reasons Jesus came as a baby instead of a military leader or some other way. No one’s afraid of a baby, unless they need a diaper change!
The good news is, there is a savior. You don’t have to carry the load of your sinful past anymore. Jesus has come to free you from sins load, to lift it and give you a new lease on life and a future that’s literally out of this world!
But this salvation has to be received by you.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
Circle - when you believed. When did you believe in Jesus? If you haven’t it’s time.
Rest in God’s peace now
“…and on earth peace to men…”
Jesus came to end the war in your own soul. He came to bring the connection with God that can only bring true peace in your life. It’s your choice, but it’s his gift to you.
Eph 2:17-18 (NIV) “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
Now while the rest of the world was saying to Jesus, please don’t come for Christmas, maybe today you can say, yes Lord Please come into my life this Christmas.
TIME OF COMMITMENT – Dear God, please come to my life today. I accept your loving gift for me. I believe now in Jesus and the reason why he came. I accept his death on the cross as payment for my sins and I want to start to live a new life right now. Thank you for a home in heaven and peace on earth.
