WHERE IS THE KING
MATTHEW 2:1-12
THERE ARE ONLY TWO ACCOUNTS OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST GIVEN IN THE BIBLE. LUKE’S ACCOUNT SPEAKS OF THE ACTUAL NIGHT OF JESUS’ BIRTH. MATTHEW’S ACCOUNT TELLS OF SUBSEQUENT DETAILS OF THE CHRISTMAS ACCOUNT, ALL IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE STORY.
THE JOURNEY OF THE MAGI TO BETHLEHEM IS NOT MENTIONED IN LUKE’S ACCOUNT, AND IN READING THE ACCOUNT IN MATTHEW WE FIND THAT IT OCCURRED SEVERAL MONTHS, POSSIBLY AS MUCH AS TWO YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. IT IS NONETHELESS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE AND DESERVES TO BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS.
MATTHEW WRITES HIS BOOK FROM A JEWISH STANDPOINT AND SO ANCESTRY IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONANT FOR HIM. THE GENEOLOGY HE LISTS IN CHAPTER ONE, TRACES THE LINEAGE OF CHRIST ALL THE WAY BACK TO ABRAHAM. MOST JEWS OF JESUS TIME LIKE TO BE ABLE TO TRACE THEIR LINEAGE BACK TO ABRAHAM. TO BE ABLE TO DO SO MEANT THAT YOU WERE A PART OF GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.
MATTHEW DOES SOMETHING UNIQUE FOR HIS TIME IN THAT HE INCLUDED THREE WOMEN IN HIS GENEOLOGY. RAHAB HID THE TWO SPIES THAT WERE SENT TO INVESTIGATE THE PROMISED LAND, AND RUTH WAS THE GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF DAVID. THE OTHER WOMAN TO BE MENTIONED WAS MARY, AS THE MOTHER OF JESUS. MATTHEW IS VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LIST JOSEPH AS THE FATHER OF JESUS, BUT ONLY AS THE HUSBAND OF MARY. THIS IS BECAUSE JOSEPH WAS NOT JESUS’ FATHER.
LUKE 1:34-35:
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
THE MAGI OF CHAPTER TWO HAVE BEEN GIVEN OTHER NAMES THROUGH THE YEARS, BUT THEIR PART IN THE CHRISTMAS STORY IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE. WE BELIEVE THEY CAME FROM PERSIA OR MODERN DAY IRAN. IT IS FROM THEIR NAME THAT WE GET THE WORDS MAGIC AND MAGICIAN.
IT WAS TO THIS AREA THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE WERE LED AS CAPTIVES DURING THE TIME OF DANIEL, SO THE MAGI WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO MUCH JEWISH HISTORY AND WRITING AND THEY WOULD KNOW SOMETHING OF THE PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH.
BUT FOR US TONIGHT THE QUESTION THAT WE MUST LOOK AT IS THE QUESTION THE MAGI ASKED IN VERSE 1
MATTHEW 2:1: “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.”
MAGI WERE ASTROLOGERS AND THEY BELIEVED THAT WHEN A SGINIFIVANT BIRTH TOOK PLACE, SUCH AS THE BIRTH OF A KING, THAT THE STARS WOULD ANNOUNCE THE KING’S BIRTH WITH A BRIGHT STAR. THEY SAW SUCH A STAR WHEN JESUS WAS BORN, AND DECIDED TO FOLLOW IT. THEY BEGAN THEIR SEARCH FOR A KING.
THE JOURNEY WOULD TAKE THEM SEVERAL MONTHS. THEY HAD TO PUT THEIR CARAVAN TOGETHER, GET AS MUCH INFORMATION AS THEY COULD ABOUT THE STAR, AND MAKE A PERSONAL COMMITTMENT TO THEMSELVES NOT TO STOP UNTIL THEY FOUND THE KING THE STAR WAS LEADING THEM TO. AT THIS POINT THEY DID NOT KNOW IT WAS JESUS.
JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM WERE VERY CLOSE TOGETHER, WITH ONLY ABOUT EIGHT MILES SEPARATING THE TWO. THE MAGI LOOKING FOR A KING WENT TO JERUSALEM FOR THAT WAS WHERE HEROD RESIDED. SURELY HE WOULD KNOW WHERE THE NEW KING WAS.
HEROD THOUGH HAD PAID NO ATTENTION TO THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM WHEN HE WAS BORN. HAD HE THOUGHT IT TO BE A THREAT HE WOULD HAVE ORDERED THE DEATHS OF THE CHILDREN IMMEDIATELY. HE HAD NO IDEA OF THE REALITY OF THE THREAT OF A NEW KING UNTIL HE SPOKE TO THE WISE MEN.
HEROD CALLED THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS TOGETHER AND DETERMINED FROM THE MAGI WHEN THE STAR FIRST APPEARED, AND FORMULATED A BACKUP PLAN.
HEROD VIEWED HIMSELF TO BE VERY SMART AND FELT HE COULD OUTSMART THE MAGI. HE TOLD THEM TO GO FIND THE KING AND THEN COME BACK AND TELL HIM WHERE HE WAS SO HE COULD PAY HOMMAGE AS WELL.
THIS IN FACT WAS A LIE. HEROD WANTED THE MAGI TO LOCATE JESUS AND TELL HEROD SO THAT HEROD COULD HAVE JESUS MURDERED. I BELIEVE HE WAS THEN GOING TO MURDER THE MAGI AND TIE UP ANY LOOSE ENDS.
WHAT HEROD DIDN’T UNDERSTAND IS THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE MAGI THE NIGHT THEY FOUND JESUS. THEY CAME SEARCHING FOR A GREAT KING. WHEN THEY FOUND JESUS THEY FOUND THE KING. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT JESUS IS THE “KING OF KINGS”. THEIR LIVES WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AFTER THAT MEETING.
THE KING THAT THEY WERE IN THE PRESENCE OF, JESUS, IN THEIR EYES WAS WORTH THEIR BEST. THEY BROUGHT OUT THEIR EXPENSIVE GIFTS, NOT HOLDING ANY BACK, AND LAID THEM AT THE FEET OF JESUS. THIS IS ACTUALLY A PREVIEW OF WHAT WE WILL DO AS CHRISTIANS WHEN WE RECEIVE OUR CROWNS AS REWARDS IN HEAVEN.
REVELATION 4:9-11:
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
WE ARE NOT TOLD HOW LONG THEY STAYED IN BETHLEHEM, BUT THEY MUST HAVE STAYED DAYS. WE ARE TOLD THAT THEY WERE WARNED IN A DREAM NOT TO GO BACK TO HEROD AND SO THEY RETURNED HOME BY ANOTHER ROUTE.
THE MAGI REPRESENTS FOR US ALL, THE KEY TO FINDING CHRIST. WE MUST WANT HIM WITH ALL OUR HEARTS. WE ALL KNOW WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING MISSING IN OUR LIVES. IF THE DESIRE IS STRONG ENOUGH WE WILL NOT STOP SEARCHING UNTIL WE FIND IT. WE MUST HAVE THAT SAME DESIRE FOR A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. JESUS SAID:
LUKE 11:9-10:
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
THE DESIRE TO FIND THIS KING WAS STRONGER THAN THEIR DESIRE TO STAY IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY, STRONGER THAN TO STAY WITH THEIR FAMILY. IT WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO LEAD THEM TO MAKE A LONG DANGEROUS JOURNEY BOTH TO AND FROM BETHLEHEM, ALL IN SEARCH FOR A KING.
GOD REWARDED THEIR DESIRE AND COMMITMENT BY BRINGING THEM TO JESUS. MY QUESTION TO YOU TONIGHT IS DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE KING IS? HE SHOULD NOT BE IN A MANGER IN BETHLEHEM TONIGHT. TONIGHT THE KING OF THE AGES NEEDS AND WANTS TO RESIDE IN YOUR HEART. TONIGHT, JUST AS THE MAGI DID SO LONG AGO, YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO FINISH YOUR SEARCH AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS KING IN YOUR LIFE.
AT CHRISTMAS WE ONE WAY CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAY OF THE KING WITH ADVENT CANDLES. ONE CANDLE CAN CHANGE A ROOM, A ROOMFUL OF CANDLES CAN CHANGE A WORLD. AS WE SING OUR CLOSING HYMN, I INVITE YOU TO LIGHT YOUR CANDLE, AND HOLD IT HIGH TO INDICATE YOUR DESIRE TO SHOW THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD IN CHRIST.
