Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Title: The true meaning of Christmas
“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.” (v2)
The true meaning of Christmas is the worship of Jesus
Matthew 2: 1-12 contains 3 different attitudes towards the true meaning of Christmas
A. Those who are hostile towards the true meaning of Christmas
1.King Herod
King Herod was the first in a long line of people to become hostile towards the true meaning of Christmas
In what way is King Herod hostile to the true meaning of Christmas?
A.He starts off by being disturbed (v3)
“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
…he was greatly agitated
…he became alarmed
B.Then he moves from being disturbed to being deceitful (v7-8)
“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.”
He pretends to be a big fan of Christmas
Find out what time your Christmas Eve service is so I can come join you
C. Then lastly we see that he becomes destructive (v16)
“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, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”
Why are Herod and many more like him hostile towards the true meaning of Christmas?
Telling people that the true meaning of Christmas is the worship of Jesus is going to disturb a lot of those same people.
Those most likely to be disturbed about the true meaning of Christmas are those who believe
•Christmas is all about giving gifts.
•Christmas is all about giving and going to parties
•Christmas is about singing Christmas songs
These things are all good but they are not the true meaning of Christmas
Nowhere in verse 2 does it say…
We saw his star in the east and have come to …give him gifts
We saw his star in the east and have come to …give him a party
We saw his star in the east and have come to…sing songs to him
Verse 2 says
We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.
Remember that I showed you that Herod went from being disturbed about the true meaning of Christmas to being deceitful
He was disturbed that the true meaning of Christmas was the worship of Jesus so became deceitful- he pretended to be a worshiper of Jesus
“Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him report to me, so that I may go and worship him.” (v8)
It’s no different today
During the Christmas season you find lots of deceitful people pretending to be worshipers of Jesus.
If you were an alien from outer space and you landed on earth during the Christmas season you would think that
•The western world was 100% Christian.
•That Time Square was the Holy land
•That every channel on cable T.V. was a Christian channel
•That every church in the world worshipped Jesus
Are they really worshipping Jesus or are they just being deceitful?
Are they just like Herod and pretending to be worshippers of Jesus?
If we’re not doing what we are doing in order to worship Jesus then we have missed the true meaning of Christmas.
We can’t call it a Christmas event if it is not in some way worshipping Jesus!
“I’m going to a Christmas party.” Before I call it a Christmas party I need to ask myself the question “ In what way am I going to worship Jesus at that party? If the answer is in no way!
Then it is not truly a Christmas event. Don’t call it a Christmas party! Why? The true meaning of Christmas is the worship of Jesus!
Then we find Herod goes from being deceitful to being destructive.
He tries to take the life of Jesus.
Again it’s no different today
I don’t have to tell you that there are those who are hostile to the true meaning of Christmas (the worship of Jesus) who will stop at nothing in order to take Christ out of Christmas.
They want to destroy the true meaning of Christmas
Why? They find the true meaning of Christmas offensive!
The true meaning of Christmas will always be offensive!
Praise God! Herod tried to destroy Christmas and he couldn’t do it!
Before we go on to the second attitude let me summarize what we just heard.
The true meaning of Christmas causes people to be disturbed
…. causes people to be deceitful (pretending to be true worshipers of Jesus)
…. causes people to be destructive (trying to destroy the true meaning of Christmas)
Let’s look now at the second attitude found in our story.
The second group of people represented in this story is those who are indifferent towards the true meaning of Christmas
Those who are indifferent are represented by the Priests and the teachers of the law (v4-6)
“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, “for this is what the prophet has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”
The priests and teachers of the law know the true meaning of Christmas; they know it’s the worship of Jesus; they can even show it to you from the Bible but they are indifferent to it.
In what way are they indifferent toward the true meaning of Christmas?
They are not like those who are hostile to the true meaning of Christmas
•They are not disturbed by the true meaning of Christmas
•They are not deceitful about the true meaning of Christmas
•They are not destructive towards the true meaning of Christmas
But here is how they are indifferent to the true meaning of Christmas;
They dismiss it!
They know the true meaning of Christmas but they dismiss it.
They know where Jesus was born
They know why Jesus was born
Yet they are not one bit excited about the true meaning of Christmas.
So therefore the true meaning of Christmas makes no difference to their lives
These are church people! These are pastors! These are teachers in the church! These are life long church people!
Why are they all indifferent to the true meaning of Christmas?
Why did they dismiss themselves from the worship of Jesus?
The answer is worldliness!
Notice that when Herod ordered the priests and the teachers of the law to come to him did they come or stay away? They came running!
When God through his Word ordered the priests and the teachers of the law to come to Bethlehem did they come or stay away? They stayed away!
They obeyed Herod and disobeyed God!
Are we a Herod lover or are we a God lover!
Are we obeying the world or are we obeying God?
Are we indifferent to the worship of Jesus yet very much a part of the worship of the world?
How can we know which we are? By looking at the third group of people in our story!
This group is not hostile to the true meaning of Christmas. This group is not indifferent to the true meaning of Christmas. This third group is excited about the true meaning of Christmas.
This group is represented in our story by the wise Men.
Of course the Wise Men are not among those who are disturbed, deceitful, destructive or dismissive by the true meaning of Christmas;
Instead the Wise Men are drawn by the true meaning of Christmas!
(v2) We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.
The Wise Men teach us
•When you are drawn by the true meaning of Christmas then no distance is too great an obstacle to overcome
The wise men traveled thousands of miles and it took 2 years in order for them to worship Jesus
Today you might feel you are thousands of miles or even years away from worshiping Jesus.
Jesus is not in Bethlehem today. Today He is beside you. He is here today to draw us to himself
For the believer or nonbeliever who feels indifferent to the true meaning of Christmas
Rev 3:20 tells us "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and him with me."
The Wise Men also teach us
•When you are drawn by the true meaning of Christmas then no sacrifice is ever too great for us to make.
We all know that the wise men brought to Jesus some very expensive gifts.
But they were not the most expensive gifts that was in that house. The far most expensive gift was Jesus himself! Gold, frankincense and myrrh could not take away our sins and reconcile us back to God.Only the blood of Jesus could do that!
The wise men also teach us
•When you are drawn by the true meaning of Christmas then it will change your life for the better.
“And having being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (v12)
When you don’t obey the true meaning of Christmas then after Christmas is over to many people go back to being with Herod; hostile and indifferent to the things of God
When you do obey the true meaning of Christmas you won’t go back to Herod. You will be different!
Conclusion
Which group of people and which attitude represents you?
Are you the Herod type? Hostile to the true meaning of Christmas!
Are you the Priests and the teachers of the law type? Indifferent to the true meaning of Christmas!
Are you the wise men type? Excited about the true meaning of Christmas!
