Matthew 2:1-12 BIRTH OF JESUS AND THE STAR 12-15-12
Today and probably next time as well, we'll be talking and thinking on the birth of Jesus.
Let me say first of all that we don't believe that Dec.25th was the month or date that Jesus was born.
December 25th became popular as the date for Christmas, not because Christ was born on that day, but because it was already popular in pagan religious celebrations as the birthday of the sun.
* December 25 couldn't be the date for Christ's birth because of two reasons.
First, we know that shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus' birth:
Luke 2: 7-8 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
>> abiding in the field>> means that the shepherds had tents or some sort of shelter that they ABODE (lodged) in the entire time that they kept their flocks grazing in the field.
>> Shepherds were not in the fields during December.
It was most likely that in late summer or early fall that Jesus was born.
Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have kept their flocks in some kind of shelter at night during that time of year.
>>Also we're told in Luke 2:1-4 that Jesus parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census.
Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating.
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So as for as I can tell no one can say for certain what the month and date was of His birth, but we do know that He was born and why He was born and that is what really matters.
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* Listen as I read part of Matthews account to do with His birth.
Matthew 2:1-12
1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
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Listen; vs.1- Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, ----- "Herod the king" this is Herod the Great, who was born in 74 b.c. and died shortly after the birth of Jesus.
"HEROD" was a family name, --DYNASTY-- there were six Herod's we're told about in the N.T.--there could have been any number of Herod children as some had multiple wives.
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-- behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King **of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Notice these wise men had seen the STAR from the place they started from, (wise men from the east) the Star was not in the EAST, -- we have seen his star in the east --meaning back where they first saw the star.
If it had been an eastern star, the wise men would have ended up in India or China, so the star was in the west as these wise men viewed it. (Wise men from the east) -- These wise men were from the east, not the star.
So to them the star was in the west, and they followed it. They came west, not east.
These wise men were coming from the area of Persia, "IRAN today" or possibly IRAQ.
These Magi from the East were experts in the study of the stars, the wise men naturally came to Jerusalem, the royal capital of Israel, seeking one whom they thought was to be born a king.
His star could not have been a natural phenomenon, meaning it was not there all the time, since it led the wise men to Jerusalem and later to Bethlehem. It was a divine manifestation used by God to indicate the fact and place of the Messiah's birth. This star led these Magi to Jerusalem and later too Bethlehem, indicating that this particular star had to be moving.
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How did they associate a star with a king, and how did they identify it with Israel?
In that section of the East, the people had a prophecy given by Balaam, which is recorded in;
Numbers 24:17 I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: *(not soon) there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel,--
Notice that the prophecy says a Star shall come out of Jacob--that is, the nation Israel. In Gen.32:28-Gen.35:10 God changed Jacobs name to Israel.
--and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel.
Listen-- The star and the scepter go together. These wise men from the East were familiar with this prophecy, they had noticed a new STAR and so they came out of the mysterious East seeking a new born king, they already knew at that time that they were looking for the newborn King of the Jews, but they were not sure of the exact location as yet.
>> In Genesis 3:15 we have the 1st prophecy of this King and Ruler.
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; ** (not mans seed) it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise HIS heel.
>> Listen; This goes beyond David's victories and finds complete fulfillment only in Jesus, the Messiah's triumph, as He will ensue world dominion, at Armageddon.
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* Also this great truth in found again as Jacob is blessing his 12 sons as he is on his death bed;
Genesis 49:8 -10 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: *(Jews) thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. -- Every knee will bow.
9Judah is a lion's whelp: (young lion) from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
The "scepter" was a symbol of kingship, indicating the preeminence of Judah as the theocratic head over later Israel. "From between his feet" is a picture of the head of state or chieftain, seated with his wand of office held before him, and extending down to his feet.
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Shiloh is the ruler: listen, The "seed" of the woman is the One who will do the bruising of the serpent's head. He will be the One to get the victory.
This first prophecy was in Genesis 3:15, then that Seed was confirmed to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Now it is confirmed to Judah, Jacobs fourth son --out of Judah's line He is coming.
>> Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; --
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Not only is Christ Shiloh, but also He is the One who will hold the scepter.
The scepter of this universe will be held in nail-pierced hands at Gods set time.
>> Woe unto the enemies of Christ, woe unto the enemies of Israel, woe unto the enemies of His Blood bought Church.
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* Vs.1- Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea ---
There were two Bethlehem's,*ZEBULON Joshua 19:15-16 & "JUDEA" at one time was called Ephratah. So this is to ensure us of the correct Judah.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
>> God had everything planned even before there was a world.
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Bethlehem of Judea is about five miles south of Jerusalem. Its name in Hebrew means "house of bread." This Judean city was the birthplace of King David. It was the original city of Joseph's ancestors.--Mary's husband, they had to go there to enroll or register, so they went to Joseph's birth place. --- All in the plan of God.
Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Luke 2:1--7 Mary and Joseph traveled there from Nazareth and Jesus was born in a stable after they arrived there.
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There probably were been many Magi, but tradition say's there were three, but we don't find that in the Bible, we are told that they brought three gifts and most likely that is where this assumption comes from.
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* The word quickly spread that there was a hugh caravan of very influential men from afar coming into town and that they were inquiring about a new born King and ever one become very upset.
3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
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* Let's be sure and notice that when Herod asked the scribes this question, they didn't have to search the Scriptures for it; they knew where it was--Micah 5:2.
They didn't need even to turn to it, because they had it in their minds. They could quote it. They knew all about the coming of the Messiah. The problem was that their knowledge was only academic. It was not personally meaningful to them.
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7 Then *** Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
* Notice no one else saw this STAR, Herod knew nothing about the Star, it didn't stay there all the time, it wasn't to be seen at the time this conversation was underway.
Matthew describes the star as moving, as leading the magi to Jesus as we'll see in a moment.
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8And he sent them to Bethlehem, *(Herod) and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. Herod was not interested in worshipping the child; he was planning on killing Him. Let's be sure to understand that it's Satan behind all this, the devil tried several times to kill Jesus.
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After consulting with King Herod and finding out from the chief priests and scribes that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, the magi set out for the 5 mile trip south to Bethlehem.
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9When they had heard the king, they departed; [notice] and, lo,*[behold. there it is again] the star, which they saw [past tense] in the east, [when we first saw it back home in the East] went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. Notice, the star had to move as we're told it (went before them)
It was not always present, it was Gods doing.
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10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
These wise men were not simple happy, -- they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
* We might think of it being enough to cause an Episcopalian to shout!!
Notice; -- it came and stood over where the young child was.
I believe according to this verse that the Star stood exactly over the dwelling He was in.
This was certainly an act of God, it was not some kind of line up of the planets as some of this so called scientist would have people to believe, we believe all this occurred exactly as the record here says it did.
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11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down, and worshipped him: --
Let's be sure and notice that here in Matthews's account of the first mentioning of Jesus that He is a young child, and not a BABE as Luke's record tells us, and also here the Magi find Him in a house and not a Babe in a manger.
So the young child Jesus may have been two or three years old by the time the Magi got there, they had been traveling for a long time. -- if only people today would be this interested in Jesus.
Also let's be sure and notice who they worshipped, {and fell down, and worshipped him :) not Mary.
Luke 1:26-28 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. ** Not above women but among.
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--and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him [not unto her] gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. Men will always go another way after meeting Jesus.
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The virgin birth of Christ is undoubtedly the most essential doctrine underlying His deity.
If Jesus had, had a human father, He Himself would have been a sinner.
For a person to go too heaven he'll have to believe in the Virgin birth.
