Wise Men Still Seek Him
Matthew 2:1-12
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
12-17–2023
White Christmas
Let’s start this morning with a trivia question. What’s the number one-selling Christmas song of all time?
You’re right! “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby is not only the best-selling Christmas song of all time but it is the best-selling single of all time, selling over 50 million copies!
What’s the number one most-recorded Christmas carol of all time? 733 artists, including Bing Crosby, have recorded “Silent Night” since 1978! That’s nearly twice as much as the second-place song, “Joy to the World.”
In the last 15 years, what has been the most digitally downloaded song? Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” is number one by a landslide. By the way, this song was voted Illinois’ favorite Christmas song.
Sixty-five years ago, Brenda Lee recorded, “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.” Last week, it dethroned Mariah’s song as the number one song on the Billboard’s top 100!
Travis and Jason Kelce band, the Phili Special’s Christmas album is climbing the charts. That may be due to the Swift effect!
What are the most hated Christmas songs? In a recent poll, these are the top five most hated Christmas songs:
Christmas Shoes by NewSong
Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney
Do They Know It’s Christmas Time? By Bandaid
The Chipmunk Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks
Dominick the Donkey by Lou Monte
They got one of the songs on this list wrong because “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” is pure genius.
We were at a beach in Michigan last year and the family behind us had a teenage girl that sang, “Last Christmas” by Wham over and over again. She only knew the first stanza. Everyone on the beach wanted to strangle her!
By the way, are you playing “Whamageddon?” It started December 1 and when you hear “Last Christmas” you are out of the game.
A DJ in England had to apologize for playing the song during a soccer match, effectively eliminating thousands from the competition.
Many of the Christmas songs we sing now are classics and remind you of Christmases gone by but the words are theologically off.
Silent Night, Holy Night, All is Calm, All is Bright - I’ve been present for the birth of my two children and I can tell you that it was anything but quiet. (I felt her pain)
Away in a manger says, “No crying He makes.” Jesus was a normal baby and I guaranteed that he cried if woke up next to a cow!
I Saw Three Ship”. - Bethlehem is landlocked. This song is nonsense.
Mary, Did you know? Yes, she knew. The angel told her!
* Little Drummer Boy - don’t you think that Mary took that kid’s drumsticks away from him?
We Three Kings of Orient are - that entire line is wrong. I’ll prove it.
If you have a Bible with you, turn with me to Matthew 2.
Prayer
Wise Men Seek Him
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “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.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
We are told that this happened in the time of Herod so we know it was about 6 BC because Herod died in 4 B.C. [By the way, this means that Jesus was born about 5 BC].
Who were these men? Scripture calls them “Magi.” These were a spiritually elite group that surrounded the throne in Babylon, not in the Orient.
They are a very old sect, dating back to Abraham. When the Israelites were deported to Babylon, Daniel and his three friends were taken into the palace. Daniel is listed as the head of the Magi.
They worshipped one god, (but not Yahweh), they had an altar with an eternal flame, and they would make animal sacrifices.
They studied astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and history and they were highly influential.
They are not kings but king-makers. If someone was going to be a ruler in Persia they had to master the knowledge of the Magi and the Magi had to approve them for leadership.
These men traveled between 800 and 1,000 miles and stopped in Jerusalem to ask for directions, another Christmas miracle.
There was a nativity scene in front of a church down south and a northern visitor asked why the wise man had on fire hats.
One of the ladies was indignant and asked if he had ever read this Christmas story. She pulled out her Bible and read from Matthew 2 that the wise men had come from afar (fire),
How many were there? We have no idea. Because of the song, many people believe there were three - even given names - Casper, Melchior, and Balthasar.
They asked a startling question: “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?”
How did they know about this? The Jews had been in Babylon for at least 500 years and you know they shared the prophesies of a Messiah King with these men.
What was the star? Many smart people have speculated on this phenomenon. Some say it was a comet or a supernova.
Or that it is the “Christmas star” [the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn].
But this “star” moved and led them to Bethlehem. How? Again, we don’t know. We do know it was a supernatural phenomenon much like the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night that led the Israelites through the desert.
We do know that they did not visit Jesus when He was a baby like many movies and nativity scenes depict.
Their journey took between one and two years so Jesus would have been a toddler when they finally arrived.
Why is there so much in this story that we don’t know? Why didn’t Matthew give us more details? Because he wants us to focus on what the wise men were focused on.
Why did these Gentile pagans make a 1,000-mile journey through deserts and mountains?
Remember that Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience and tells them that the first people to seek the Messiah were from another nation.
Look at verse two again. Read it with me:
“We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”
They studied the stars, they were the experts. And they knew the ancient prophecies like Numbers 24:17:
“A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter will rise out of Israel.”
The reason we are not given more information about this group in the Christmas story (Luke doesn’t even mention the wise men) is that it’s not about them. It’s about a God that was leading them straight to Jesus.
Let me ask a simple question. Are you willing to seek after Jesus? How far are you willing to go? To these wise men, no distance was too far, no cost was too great.
Jeremiah wrote these encouraging words:
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
The Sociopath Ruler
“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:3)
Remember that there weren’t three wise men. There was probably an entire caravan, that included guards and servants. They probably didn’t ride camels but Arabian horses.
One of the definitions of the word Magi is one who “dresses in a bizarre manner.”
Imagine a huge caravan of men dressed spectacularly with a large group following them.
They are important people and they are asking where they can find the ‘King of the Jews.”
Word must have gotten to Herod and Matthew tells us that he was disturbed. This means to shake violently like water that is being boiled.
Herod was known as the “king of the Jews!” Even though he wasn’t Jewish. He was brilliant, a great builder, loved opulence, a famous orator, crafty, and cruel, and completely insane!
He had his favorite wife killed and murdered two of his sons.
It was said that it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son.
When he was dying, he ordered all the nobles rounded up and when he died they would be killed to ensure there would be weeping at the time of death.
All of Jerusalem was shocked as well. Because they knew that he wouldn’t stand for this. Heads would roll. There is only one King and even though he was sick, he wouldn’t surrender his throne to anyone, especially a baby!
Jesus is threatening to those who want to stay on the thrones of their lives.
A Prophecy Fulfilled
Herod, ever the politician, consults the Jewish priests and teachers of the law and asks where the Messiah would be born.
“When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah 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 by no means least among the rulers of Judah;?for out of you will come a ruler? who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:4-6)
Without hesitation, probably from memory, these Jewish religious leaders quote the prophecy of Micah 5:2 and combine it with the words of 2 Samuel 5. The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and will be a shepherd to the people.
So all the chief priests and religious people packed a picnic lunch and hiked five miles to Bethlehem to check the wise men’s story out?
Nope. They didn’t even send a delegation to see if it was true. They had head knowledge but not faith.
They were completely indifferent. They had paperwork to get done. They had religious duties to attend to. They didn’t have time to go to Bethlehem. They just didn’t care.
Perhaps that’s you this morning. Maybe you know the Christmas story well in your head but your heart hasn’t been changed by the story. Today is your day.
The Sinister Plot
“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 search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” (Matthew 2:7-8)
Herod responds the only way he knows how. He only worships himself. He lies and manipulates the wise men and then plots to kill Jesus. This baby King must be eliminated.
At the end of this section, we are told that the wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and they returned to their country another way.
When we encounter Jesus, we always end up leaving differently.
By this time Joseph had taken Jesus and Mary to Egypt.
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. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,? weeping and great mourning,?Rachel weeping for her children? and refusing to be comforted,? because they are no more.” - (Matthew 2:17-18)
He had all those children murdered to try to hold onto his throne. Can you imagine the extreme pain and sorrow this caused the families in Bethlehem?
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You
“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:9-10)
It seems as if the star had disappeared for a while and now it reappears and “went ahead of them” and stopped over the house where Jesus was.
Apart from the revelation and guidance of God, they could have never found Christ on their own. And that’s true of you and me.
Jesus said,
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
When they saw the star, the text says that they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy! This is quadruple joy! Joy to the 4th power!
They might have sung Joyful, Joyful, we adore you!
The star leads them right to Jesus’ front door.
O Come Let Us Adore Him
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (Matt 1:11)
When they saw the child, they fell on their faces and worshipped. This means to “kiss and intensely adore.”
Notice they did not worship Mary.
One commentator said it this way:
“What Herod craved, Jesus received.”
They are about to give Jesus gifts but first things first - they gave Him their hearts.
I can imagine how overwhelmed they were. They were tired from the long journey and probably a little anxious about Herod’s request.
Everything they had studied led them to this little guy with black curly hair, dark eyes, and a sagging diaper. They must have smiled at the sight.
John Piper says that they ascribed
authority to Him - King of the Jews.
dignity to Him - they fell to the ground in worship
they came with exceedingly great joy
They worshipped sacrificially
Christmas means very little spiritually if you do not follow the wise men’s lead.
The three gifts are what is most familiar to the story.
?Honestly, what strange gifts to give a toddler - a bar of gold, a container of frankincense, and a flask of myrrh?
The gifts meant something. They were symbolic. They were costly. They were personal.
Gold to represent His Royalty. In Babylon, you would never approach a king without gold.
In 1863, John Hopkins, Jr., a book illustrator and stained glass artist was asked to write some songs for a Christmas pageant. All of these songs are lost to history except one. He might not have gotten the first line right, “We Three Kings of Orient Are” but he nailed the other verses.
Born a King on Israel’s plain,
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign
The gold would allow them to survive the trip to Egypt and back.
Frankincense to represent His Divinity. This was used in the temple to worship God.
Frankincense to offer have I;
incense owns a Deity nigh;
prayer and praising, voices raising,
worshiping God on high
Myrrh is the strangest gift of all. It can be used as a beauty treatment, perfume, pain killer, and embalming fluid. It was used to anoint dead bodies.
Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume
breathes a life of gathering gloom;
sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
They got it. They understood, as much as they could at the time, that this baby was born to die.
Christmas is not about trying to find a parking place at the mall, putting up Christmas decorations, or blinding the neighborhood with our light display. It is about the greatest present ever given to mankind: a baby. God wrapped Himself in flesh. The infinite became an infant. Divinity in diapers. Grasp this concept and you will never be the same.
We live in a world that, at times, seems overrun with tragedy. We live in a world permeated by evil. We live in fear and confusion.
In the quiet of our souls, we cry out the endless, eternal question: WHY? We yell and scream and are answered by the deafening silence of heaven. God gives no easy responses.
He already answered our deepest longings for hope and peace two thousand years ago when Joseph and Mary presented a dark-eyed baby to a crying, hurting world. What is the only hope for our pain-pierced world? Isaiah said He would be called Immanuel which means “God with us.” The angel said to name him Jesus which means “God’s Salvation.”
Speaking prophetically, Isaiah wrote this Christmas card to us,
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
A child is born. He will be fully human. A Son is given. He will be a Divine gift that will change the world. He will bring peace by offering Himself in our place as our sin-substitute on the cross. God knows the heart-wrenching pain of losing a child. But He loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
What were the responses to Jesus?
Opposition: Herod didn’t want to hear it. He wanted to kill Jesus. He wanted his throne.
Indifference: The religious leaders were five miles away from the Messiah and didn’t care enough to even go check it out.
Sacrificial worship: But the wise men traveled 1,000 miles and stopped at nothing to worship Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“Those that look for Jesus will see Him, and those who see Him will worship Him.”
The story is told of Queen Victoria, the monarch of the United Kingdom, who sat in church one day, weeping as the preacher spoke of the glorious return of Jesus Christ. After the sermon, he approached her and asked, “Your Majesty, why did you weep as I spoke today?” She replied, “Because I do hope he will come in my day so that I may lay my crown at his feet.”
Which one are you this morning?
To truly appreciate a present you must receive it.
The greatest Christmas present ever is the same way. You must receive the free gift that cost God the life of His Son. The apostle John said it this way:
“Yet to all who receive Him (Jesus), to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12).
Amid all the hustle and bustle, the shopping, and stress choose to unwrap Christmas this year and surrender your life to the Savior.
The next time we read the words, “King of the Jews” in Matthew they are written on a sign nailed to His cross in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek because this present is for everyone!
Let me end today by asking a simple question - Is He your king?
Ending video: The Fourth Wise Man
