God Guides The Wise
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Introduction
1. “Holiday time is highway time. Ever since the magi packed their bags for Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus has caused people to hit the road. Our Christmas trips have a lot in common with the one of the wise men. We don’t camp with camels, but we have been known to bump into a knobby-kneed in-law on the way to the bathroom. We don’t keep an eye out for star lights, but flashing lights of the highway patrol? We watch for them at every curve. And we don’t ride in a spice-road caravan, but six hours in a minivan with four kids might have made the wise men thankful for animals.
It’s not always ho ho ho on the high, high highway. Extended time in the car reveals human frailties.
Dads refuse to stop. They hearken back to the examples of their forefathers. Did the pioneers spend the night at a Holiday Inn? Did Lewis and Clark ask for directions? Did Joseph allow Mary to stroll through a souvenir shop on the “road to Bethlehem? By no means. Men drive as if they have a biblical mandate to travel far and fast, stopping only for gasoline.
And children? Road trips do to kids what a full moon does to the wolf man. If one child says, “I like that song,” you might expect the other to say, “That’s nice.” Won’t happen. Instead the other child will reply, “It stinks and so do your feet.”
There is also the issue of JBA—juvenile bladder activity. A child can go weeks without going to the bathroom at home. But once on the road, the kid starts leaking like secrets in Washington. On one drive to Colorado, my daughters visited every toilet in New Mexico.
The best advice for traveling with young children is to be thankful they aren’t teenagers. Teens are embarrassed by what their parents say, think, wear, eat, and sing. So for their sakes (and if you ever want to see your future grandchildren), don’t smile at the wait staff, don’t breathe, and don’t sing with the window down or up.
It’s wiser to postpone traveling with children until they are a more reasonable age—like forty-two.
Christmas and travel. The first has a way of prompting the second and has done so ever since the delegation from the distant land came searching for Jesus” (Excerpt From: Max Lucado. “Because of Bethlehem (with Bonus Content).” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/546E_.l”).
2. Unlike the Magi, we do not have to travel to find Jesus.
A. Jeremiah 29:13-14 (NLT)
13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
14 I will be found by you,” says the LORD...."
B. We don't have to follow a star, all we have to do is look within our own hearts and ask Jesus to come and be our Savior.
C. If we look for him wholeheartedly he promises that we will find him.
3. There are a number of things we can take from the story of the Magi...
A. The Wise Seek Him
B. Fools Try And Oppose Him
C. The Spiritually-Minded Worship Him
4. Let's stand together as we read Matt. 2:1-12.
Proposition: Jesus can be found by simply opening our hearts and minds to the Gospel message.
Transition: The first great truth we can gleam from the story of the Magi is...
I. The Wise Seek Him (1-2).
A. Some Wise Men
1. A funny thing happens when we actually read the Bible for ourselves. One of the most amazing things is we learn how little we really know about the Bible.
A. Most people think the Bible says, "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!" While the Bible does say something like that what it really says is a little more inclusive.
B. What it really says is, John 8:31-32 (NLT) 31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
C. The first requires nothing from us, while the second states we have to do something to know the truth. Big difference.
2. Well the same is true when it comes to the Magi. We always think they were three kings, but that's not what the Bible says. Matthew tells us, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem..."
A. It is significant that Matthew, the Gospel to the Jews and Jewish Christians, draws attention to the fact that among the first to seek the newborn King was a group of Gentile Wise Men from distant lands.
B. These "wise men from the east" were Magi or Magians. Magi in the older Persian and Babylonian languages was used as a name for wise men and priests.
C. Some suppose these Magi were successors of the Chaldean wise men of whom Daniel once was chief.
D. The Bible does not call these Wise Men kings, nor does it say how many of them there were.
E. It is only later tradition that speculated about who they were and how many (Horton, The Complete Biblical Library – Matthew, 34-35).
F. So they weren't Kings and we are not sure how many of them there were.
3. One of the things we assume about the Magi is kind of true, they did come because of a star. In v. 2 Matthew tells us they asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
A. The Wise Men did not ask if a king had been born; they had no doubt about that.
B. They asked where He had been born. This must have shocked Herod, for he himself was not "born king." He was a political appointee.
C. It is not as strange as one might think that these Magi were so interested in the birth of a Jewish king, especially in light of the visions and prophecies of Daniel.
D. This, in fact, lends added credence to their being Chaldean successors to the wise men Daniel once governed (Daniel 2:48).
E. Daniel 2:48 (NLT)
Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.
F. "In the east" may mean "in its rising." Probably the Wise Men did not follow the star to Jerusalem.
G. They saw it, discerned its meaning, and set out for Jerusalem without seeing the star while they were on their journey (Horton, 35).
H. What is important for us to see is that they were wise men that came looking for Jesus. The reason that were so eager to find him was so they could "worship him."
I. Matthew made a significant point in highlighting the worship of these wise men, which stood in contrast to the Jewish religious leaders who knew the Holy Scriptures and did not need to travel far to find their Messiah.
J. The Jewish leaders directed the wise men to Bethlehem, but they did not go themselves (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 13).
B. Searching For Truth
1. Illustration: “Matthew loved the magi. He gave their story more square inches of text than he gave the narrative of the birth of Jesus. He never mentions the shepherds or the manger, but he didn’t want us to miss the star and the seekers. It’s easy to see why. Their story is our story. We’re all travelers, all sojourners” (Excerpt From: Max Lucado. “Because of Bethlehem (with Bonus Content).” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/546E_.l).
2. In order to find Jesus each one of us needs direction, and God gives it!
A. Revelation 3:20 (NLT)
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
B. God's direction is simple, open the door.
C. What door? The door of your heart.
D. When God knocks at the door of your heart religious leaders of Jesus day who wouldn't look for him and when he came to them they refused to listen.
E. Don't push Jesus off into a corner somewhere.
F. Don't say, "I've got more time to deal with Jesus later," because you don't if there will be a later!
G. When Jesus comes knocking at the door of your heart don't be stubborn and hard-headed.
H. When Jesus comes knocking at the door of your heart open it! It will be the best decision you ever make!
Transition: Another thing we learn from the story of the Magi is...
II. Fools Try To Oppose Him (3-8).
A. King Herod Was Deeply Disturbed
1. While the Magi were excited to see Jesus, not everyone in the narrative shared there enthusiasm.
2. Matthew tells us in v. 3, "King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem."
A. Most Jews expected the Messiah to be a great military and political deliverer, like Judas Maccabees or even Alexander the Great.
B. Herod the Great was obviously disturbed for several reasons...
C. Herod was not the rightful heir to the throne of David; he reigned by appointment from Rome.
D. Many Jews hated Herod as a usurper. If this baby really was a rightful heir to the throne, Herod could face trouble from the Jews (Barton, 13).
E. Herod didn’t want the Jews, a religious people, to unite around a religious figure.
F. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were disturbed by the thought that there might be a rival for the throne.
G. A number of revolutionary commotions previously had brought the anger of the Romans upon Palestine. But they were worried even more about Herod's reaction.
H. They could only expect the worst from him. In 7 B.C. he had murdered his own sons, Aristobulus and Alexander.
I. In 4 B.C., shortly before his own death, he executed another son, Antipater.
J. He also executed a large number of other people, including prominent Pharisees whom he suspected of being disloyal (Horton, 35).
3. So Herod, "called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
A. King Herod, though nominally a Jew, did not know much more about the Bible than the Gentile Wise Men did.
B. So he put the Wise Men's question to the Jewish Senate and High Court, the Sanhedrin.
C. It was the Supreme Council and consisted of 71 members. The Sanhedrin had authority in both political and theological matters.
D. Nevertheless, their knowledge of the Scriptures did not bring them to believe in Jesus. They regarded their own traditions as equal in authority to the Scriptures (Horton, 35).
E. The Supreme Council had a clear answer from Scripture: Bethlehem was where the Messiah was to be born.
F. There is a sharp contrast between the attitude of the Jewish Sanhedrin and that of the pagan Wise Men.
G. Despite the obscure message of the star, the Wise Men had made a long and difficult journey, and they showed unwavering zeal in their quest and great joy in their findings (verse 10).
H. On the other hand, the Jewish leaders showed little interest, even though they well knew the words of the prophets (Horton, 35).
4. This was not good news to Herod, so he developed a plan. "Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
A. Herod accepted the birth of the child as fact (verse 16). He learned the place of birth from the Sanhedrin.
B. He did not question their interpretation, nor the accuracy of the prophet Micah's prediction.
C. Neither did he question the reliability of the Wise Men or of the appearance of the star as an evidence of the birth of the child, for he interrogated the Wise Men closely in order to learn the exact time of the star's appearance.
D. Yet the fact he summoned the Magi secretly shows he somehow thought he could hide his plans, not only from Jews who might hinder him, but also from the God who gave the prophecy (Horton, 37).
E. Deceit and murder meant nothing to Herod. Apparently he had already conceived his dastardly plot to eliminate this threat to his throne.
F. If what the Magi had said was true, a new king had come on the scene.
G. If the chief priests and scribes were correct in their interpretation of the Scriptures, something must be done—and quickly.
H. So he decided to use the Wise Men to make the task of his executioners easier.
I. Herod's underhandedness is very obvious. In an attempt to conceal his wicked plot, he told the Magi that he too wanted to pay homage to the royal child.
J. This apparently was his reason for asking that they return with information as to where he could find the infant.
K. Actually, in his heart he was willing to destroy every child of Bethlehem in order to do away with a possible rival (Horton, 37-39).
5. In the 2000 or so years since Jesus birth not much has changed. People still try and oppose Jesus, and the Bible has a name for these kind of people...fools!
B. The Fool
1. Illustration: Fools are defined by Holman’s Bible Dictionary as: FOOL, FOOLISHNESS, AND FOLLY Translations of several uncomplimentary words which appear approximately 360 times throughout the Old and New Testaments to describe unwise and ungodly people. The words are especially predominant in the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Persons who do not possess wisdom are called "fools"; their behavior is described as "folly." The picture which emerges from the biblical material is quite simple: folly is the opposite of wisdom, and a fool is the opposite of a wise person. Both wisdom and folly are depicted as philosophies or perspectives on life. The religious person chooses wisdom, whereas the non-religious person opts for folly. Wisdom leads to victory; folly to defeat. Wisdom belongs to those who fear God, and the "fear" of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Wisdom is the essence of life. The foolish person is the one who is thoughtless, self-centered, and obviously indifferent to God.
2. The wise run to Jesus, but fools walk away in the other direction.
A. Psalm 14:1 (NLT)
Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
B. Why would anyone with even an ounce of sense turn away from Jesus?
C. Why would they try and disprove his existence or the validity of the Scriptures?
D. A couple of popular figures did just that, they set out to prove Christianity and the Bible to be wrong. The result? They both discovered what fools they had been and gave their lives to Jesus! Their names...Josh McDowell and Lee Stroble.
E. If you are here today and you don't know Jesus and you're running in the opposite direction stop being a fool and turn to Jesus!
F. Why? Because he can give you all of the things you've been searching for...life. hope, joy, peace!
G. Come to Jesus and see what you've been missing!
Transition: Still another thing we learn from the story of the Magi is...
III. The Spiritually Minded Worship Him (9-12).
A. They Bowed To The Ground And Worshiped Him
1. After their meeting with Herod, "the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was."
A. When Herod told the Wise Men to "search carefully" for the little boy, he expected them to have to do considerable searching, questioning, and checking in Bethlehem in order to find the child and to be sure it was the right one.
B. But when the Wise Men left Herod, this time with faith in the prophetic Word of God, the star they had seen before they began their journey soon reappeared.
C. God had inspired them to begin the journey. Now He reassured them He would continue to guide them so they could complete it successfully.
D. Both verse 7 ("appeared") and a comparison of verses 2 and 9 ("have seen") show that the Wise Men had seen the star in their own country and that they saw it again as they left Jerusalem.
E. In other words, they did not follow the star from their country to Jerusalem, but they did follow it from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
F. The fact they were able to do so shows it was no ordinary star but a divine revelation of light which now moved ahead of them and guided them to the exact spot where they found the little boy (Horton, 39).
2. Then Matthew tells us, "When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!"
A. The reaction of the Wise Men upon seeing the star shows the intensity of their expectation and their desire to see the newborn King.
B. They were filled with extremely great joy, for now the birth of the child was confirmed, and they knew they were being led by a divine hand.
C. This encouraged them to press on, and they were not disappointed (Horton, 39).
3. When they finally arrived, "They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
A. "The house" was probably not the parents' own house, but an upper guest chamber such as Mary and Joseph had most probably desired when they first came to Bethlehem.
B. Thus the scene is not the stable. Rather, probably nearly 2 years had elapsed since Jesus' birth (verse 16). Perhaps the Magi had seen the star when the child was born, and it had taken them this long to find Him.
C. Joseph may have been elsewhere, for he does not seem to have been present when the Wise Men came.
D. They found only the young mother with her little boy in the simple surroundings of a Palestinian village home.
E. Nothing in the outward circumstances gave any indication of royal splendor, yet the Wise Men accepted the Word of God and His divine guidance by the star without question and fell down at the feet of Jesus. They had reached the end of their quest.
F. Paying homage to a king with gifts was an Eastern custom.
G. Frankincense is a pungent, bitter, yellow, easily pulverized gum resin from trees of the genus Boswellia in South Arabia. When used as incense it has an aromatic fragrance.
H. Myrrh is a pleasant-smelling, brittle, brown gum resin from the tree Balsamodendron myrrhae of Arabia.
I. It also is used for incense as well as for perfume and in embalming. Dissolved in wine it became a bitter but mild anesthetic.
J. In God's providence these, with the gold, were provision for the trip to Egypt (Horton, 39).
4. Then these wise men proved they were truly wise, "When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod."
A. After the Wise Men were warned in a dream to return to their homeland by another route, they disappear from the Biblical records.
B. Legends as to their identity cannot be confirmed. Undoubtedly, God gave the warning, not only to protect the baby Jesus, but also to protect them.
C. From the way King Herod treated others, we can see that after he obtained the information from the Wise Men he would have murdered them for having suggested there might be another king of the Jews.
D. But even though Jesus was the One who was central in God's purpose here, God in His wonderful providence cared for the Wise Men as well.
E. That they were truly wise is shown by the fact they obeyed God's warning without question, and they had sense enough to return by another way (Horton, 41).
B. Worship The King
1. “Behold the first Christian worshippers. The simple dwelling became a cathedral. Seekers of Christ found him and knelt in his presence. They gave him gifts: gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for his burial.
They found the Christ because they heeded the sign and believed the scripture.
Noticeably absent at the manger were the scholars of the Torah. They reported to Herod that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Did they not read the prophecy? Yes, but they did not respond to it. You’d think at a minimum they would have accompanied the magi to Bethlehem. The village was near enough. The risk was small enough. At worst they would be out the effort. At best they would see the fulfillment of prophecy. But the priests showed no interest.
The wise men earned their moniker because they did. Their hearts were open to God’s gift. The men were never the same again. After worshiping the Christ child, “they departed for their own country another way” (v. 12 nkjv)” (Excerpt From: Max Lucado. “Because of Bethlehem (with Bonus Content).” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/546E_.l).
2. The ultimate purpose of all human beings is to worship Jesus!
A. Revelation 5:13 (NLT)
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.
B. We were created to worship!
C. Quite honestly, if were to remove all the references in Scripture to praise and worship there wouldn't be a whole lot left!
D. The Bible tells us, "let everything that has breath praise the Lord!"
E. The Bible tells us, that if we fail to worship the rocks and stones will cry out! And who wants to be outdone by a brick?
F. When we announce at the beginning of the service that it's time to worship there ought to be an air of excitement in the room.
G. We ought to jump to our feet, well those of us that are able to jump to our feet, and get ready to sing, shout, clap, and dance before the Lord.
H. If by the time we're done worshipping if you're not sweeting you're not doing it right!
I. Praise him with your voices, hands and feet. Let everything within you praise him...praise be the Lord!
Conclusion
1. There are a number of things we can take from the story of the Magi...
A. The Wise Seek Him
B. Fools Try And Oppose Him
C. The Spiritually-Minded Worship Him
2. “Christmas celebrates a similar moment for us—God breaking through to our world. In a feeding stall of all places. He will not leave us in the dark. He is the pursuer, the teacher. He won’t sit back while we miss out. So he entered our world. He sends signals and messages: H-o-p-e. L-i-f-e. He cracks the shell of our world and invites us to peek into his. And every so often a seeking soul looks up. “May you be one of them. When God sends signs, be faithful. Let them lead you to Scripture. As Scripture directs, be humble. Let it lead you to worship. And as you worship the Son, be grateful. He will lead you home” (Excerpt From: Max Lucado. “Because of Bethlehem (with Bonus Content).” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/546E_.l).
