Matthew 2:1-12
Introduction to Series
A father was sitting in his office on a Saturday morning reading through the newspaper and becoming agitated by the advertisements jumping off the page at him reminding him Christmas was just four days away. All the ads were prompting the same questions. Do you have the perfect gift yet? You’re running out of time, have you finished your shopping? Have you bought your wife that jewelry she’s been hinting at all year?
The gentleman began to ask himself, “When did Christmas become all about the gifts? When was the main point of Christmas lost?” As he was wrestling with his thoughts, a knock at the door interrupted him. It was one of his daughters asking him to come into the family room for a moment. As he entered, he discovered his kids were going to put on a play. There was a flashlight wrapped in a blanket, lying in a shoe box, at the end of the couch. His oldest daughter stood beside the shoe box and she had herself wrapped in a blanket pretending it was a robe. His oldest son entered the room with a mop on his head, pretending he was not dragging the handle behind him. They announced, “We are Mary and Joseph.”
Then the neighbor boy came through carrying a stuffed sheep and stating he was a shepherd. The final act of the play involved his youngest daughter walking through the room with a pillow between her knees. She was wearing a lot of costume jewelry and she made a lap around the family room stopping at the shoe box. She bowed down and said, “I am all three wise men. I bring you gifts of gold, circumstance, and dirt.”
The wise men, or Magi, were from the East, and they held prominent positions in their country. They were the religious leaders of their society, responsible for deciding who was king, and they were highly educated. Their studies included the Jewish scriptures, so they were familiar with the prophecies concerning the Messiah. These men play an important role in the life of Christ yet reading through Matthew’s Gospel they are only on the scene for a short time. In their briefness though, the Magi do provide us with some essential take-aways. They demonstrate how to share with the Lord and how to be sensitive to his leading. They also prompt some questions in their search each of us should ask ourselves.
Part 1: Search with Questions
Matthew 2:1-12 concentrating on 2:1-10
Introduction
The Gospels tell us after Jesus’ birth, he received a visit from shepherds, and on the eighth day, Simeon and Anna were able to see him. They both rejoiced in the moment. Matthew then tells us the wise men came to visit Jesus. The Magi’s journey took them to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem. They truly went on a journey – a search for the newborn king.
The first take-away is the Magi seek the newborn king. They seek him; they search for him; they look for him. Matthew 2:2 says, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him” (NLT). As we look at this point, we must acknowledge the timeline of Christ’s life. The wise men would have visited him as he was a toddler.
They say they saw his star as it rose. The Magi’s journey took some time. They had to seek. It was not an instant find. Scripture tells us, as Christians, we too are to seek the Lord.
We’re all familiar with Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33. “Seek first the kingdom, and all these other things will be given to you.”
The writer of Hebrews says, “God rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6)
David says in Psalm 63, “You, God, are my God. Earnestly I seek you. I thirst for you; my whole being longs for you in a dry a parched land where there is no water.”
Seek the Lord, Scripture says. As we seek, there are some questions we need to ask ourselves.
QUESTION 1: ARE YOU SEEKING HIM?
First, are we seeking him? The Magi put much effort into their search. We know the Magi traveled from the East. That is, modern-day Iraq to Bethlehem. Approximately 900 miles. These wise men traveled a great distance to find the Christ-child. They knew there was something special about Jesus and it was worth the travel. This is quite a contrast from the religious leaders of Israel who wouldn’t even travel 6 miles down the road to see Jesus. The religious leaders were not seeking Christ, so they did not find him, unlike the Magi, who sought Jesus, found Jesus, and were able to worship Jesus.
Are we truly seeking him? Admittedly, this is an obvious question, but we must start looking before we can start finding.
Think of it this way. You go out to lunch today and leave your phone at the restaurant. You do not realize your phone is missing until you get home, and you do not know where you lost your phone. You begin a search at this point until you find your phone. You keep looking even though it may take a few hours. You do not just take a nap when your phone is missing.
The wise men had to search and look for the newborn child. We too have to seek Jesus.
QUESTION 2: ARE YOU ANTICIPATING HIM?
Second, are we anticipating him? Verse 2 tells us the wise men saw a new star in the sky. They studied the stars so they would have noticed something different in the night sky. The Magi did not just log the star in their charts as some phenomenon to be studied, the star prompted them to seek.
The star captured their attention. The star brought to the forefront of the Magi’s memories Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ. Through events, God reached out to the wise men, and since they were anticipating the Messiah’s coming, they responded.
What about you? Are you anticipating the Lord’s work in your life? Like the Magi, we have the Scripture to study. We may not understand all of it, but we know enough to at least understand the story. Even the most scholarly student of scripture must have a faith of anticipation at some point. God has promised he will do work. The Lord has promised he will be with us. There are many stories which can only be explained by the Lord’s involvement. Are you anticipating him? Is your faith allowing you to have an attitude of anticipation?
Scripture suggests we keep watch, keep anticipating, “because we do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42) and “because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:13). This anticipation is what drives our seeking. Anticipate the Lord.
QUESTION 3: WHERE ARE YOU SEEKING HIM?
Third, where are we seeking him? We see a big difference in how the Magi are seeking the Lord and how the religious leaders of the day seek the Lord. The Magi were willing to follow the star, while the religious leaders were not willing to leave Jerusalem. One was open minded, while the other had the Lord in a box.
In his book God Came Near, Max Lucado says, “Perhaps changes are in the air right now. Its disrupting, isn’t it? You like your branch. You’ve been a pretty good branch sitter, then you hear the call. I need you to go out on a limb and…” do the thing the Lord is calling you to do. It might be accepting his grace. It might be to talk with your neighbor or family member about his grace, it might be stepping out to teach a class or lead a Bible study. It might be to sacrificially give, move, or maybe something even more difficult.
He may be calling us to step out on the limb of forgiveness. The other person may have deeply wounded us and hurt us severely, but someone must be the bridge builder to start the healing process.
Walking out on the limb may be scary. Following the star out of Jerusalem may be scary, but we are not alone. There are many in Scripture who were seeking the Lord and found themselves in some new places. Abraham was called into a new territory. Noah was called to begin a new project. Daniel was called into a new leadership role. The first disciples were called into a career change. Paul, formerly Saul, was called into a public life change. We are not alone.
Where are you seeking the Lord? He promises he will be with us as we seek him. Where are you seeking him?
QUESTION 4: HOW ARE YOU SEEKING HIM?
Fourth, how are we seeking him? As we’ve mentioned, it was not an instant find for the wise men. They had to pursue Christ. They had to put effort into seeking him.
Seeking Christ is a life-long pursuit. You see, we are always in need of the Lord’s grace. We’re always in need of his leading. There is never a point in life when we stop needing the Lord. It has been said life is like a cycle. The rough times lead to an easy season only to be disrupted by the rough times again. The Lord with us every step of the way. Are you on a life-long pursuit of the Lord? Don’t give up. Keep seeking him. He doesn’t give up on you. He desires for you to seek him.
Part 1 Conclusion
The wise men were some of the first to seek Christ. Many followed as this good news that would be for all the people spread. The Savior is born, and it is time to seek him.
“The people came. They came out of the cul-de-sacs and office complexes of their day. They brought him the burdens of their existence and he gave, not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest. As a result, they called him Lord. As a result, they called him Savior. Not so much because of what he said, but because of what he did…Jesus was the only one to walk God’s earth and claim to have an answer to man’s burdens, ‘Come to me,’ he invited them.”
Max Lucado, in Six Hours One Friday, goes on, “It is weariness that makes the words of the carpenter so compelling. Listen to them. ‘Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.’ Come to him. The invitation is to come to him. Why him? He offers the invitation as a penniless rabbi in an oppressed nation. He has no political office. He has no connections with the authorities in Rome. He hasn’t written a best-seller or earned a diploma.” Yet, Jesus dares to look into our faces and eyes and make this promise. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
“Come to me,” he invites. “Seek me,” he encourages. Bring the burdens of life. Bring the worries of today and exchange them for the rest Christ offers. Follow the example of the Magi and seek the Lord.
