Theme: Born to Give
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Greetings: The Lord is good and His love endures forever.
Introduction:
The image of the wise men on the Christmas cards, the visit of the Magi scene in Christmas play are different from what we are told in the Bible. Matthew commences his gospel by showing a contrast between the Gentiles and Jewish secular and religious leaders. The Magi “knelt down and worshipped Him.” (Matthew 2:11). But the King Herod the Great wanted to kill him and the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus and oppressed him.
In this midnight service, I would like to share with you a few spiritual lessons from the VISIT OF THE MAGI and response of the King Herod as the Wicked Herod, the Wise men and the Wisdom of God.
?1. The wicked Herod
Carson comments: ‘Herod was wealthy, politically gifted, intensely loyal, an excellent administrator, a builder including the Temple, and clever enough to remain in the good graces of successive Roman emperors. He loved power, he turned to cruelty and in fits of rage and jealousy killed close associates.”??Matthew sets the context of the birth of Christ into a historical setting. The king Herod was a historical person lived on the earth at the time of God’s incarnation. Herod represents the world of wickedness, a man with political position, which yielded him the political power, decision making, thinking of himself as the universal ruler. He was thinking that he wasabove everything, above God, above the ethics, above the morality, above the fellow human beings.
He is identical and classifiable with most of the presidents, prime ministers and the princes of this world. They think that they are the ULTIMATE of their times. But, Herod was threatened and had an unknown fear of the future through the entry of another child who would rule in the future, will be the leader in the future, he was disturbed, had puzzled, anxieties and disturbances in his heart, there was a confusion in his palace and in his country.
?Herod represents the modern religious people:
“Herod heard a good Bible study about the birthplace of the Messiah, but it did him no good.” (David Guzik).
“Some men may be well instructed in their Bibles and yet be all the worse for what they have discovered.” (Spurgeon).
“A man may be persuaded of many truths, and still hate them because they interfere with his ambition or sinful indulgences. Such a belief will make him uneasy, and the more resolved to oppose the truth and the cause of God.” (Matthew Henry).
His search of the scriptures, his consultations with chief priests and scribes was absolutely for wickedness. He turned his scriptural knowledge into wickedness, no fear of God in his eyes, no fear of the Almighty. His intentions were revealed at the end the chapter that he doesn’t want to worship God but eradicate God. How foolish he was as described in Psalms 14:1 & 53:1.
?Who is he? Who is Herod? He is none other than ‘You and me.’ We are afraid of someone who is better than us is many ways, and in everything. We are afraid of someone who is emerging as a promising leader, a potential person, someoneis more skilful, someone is brainier, and someone more magnanimous in words, and in deeds. We are afraid of someone who is going to challenge out position in work andachievements. We are afraid of such persons as Herod was afraid of the prince of peace. He represents the wicked world.
The world corrupted in every aspect, no fear of God, no fear of consequences, no fear of accountability, and no fear of malign of dignity. Hostility increases, bitterness increases. We are completely independent, and God of our own world and our own lives.
?Herod was a subtle, cunning man. His friendship was not reliable, his words were not trustworthy, and his religious life was full of hypocrisy. “Sinners are often tormented with secret fears, which they keep to themselves. The greatest wickedness often conceals itself under a mask of piety.’(Matthew Henry).
?2. The Wise men of the East
The term µa???, magi, is a designation given to philosophers, or men of learning, particularly those that were curious in examining the works of nature, and observing the motions of the heavenly bodies in the Persian and eastern culture of those days. The Magi could foretell miraculous births by reading the stars. The term Magi is a plural form of MAGOI in Greek.
‘The Magi among the Persians are philosophers and priests. They are magicians and use unlawful arts for their livelihood and popularity. Arabia is called the land of the east (Genesis 25:6), and the Arabians are called men of the east (Judges 6:3)’ (Matthew Henry).
Wycliffe refers them as kings. ‘A priestly caste among the Persians and Medes, which occupied itself principally with the secrets of nature, astrology, and medicine.’ (Wycliffe).
“They were men who were deeply interested in astrology and astronomy and ancient prophecies and, perhaps, dreams and supernatural happenings.”(Bible ref).
These wise men are the seekers of God. They saw an appearance of a star as mentioned in Numbers 24:17. They learned the movement of the solar system, they predicted rightly the things of the universal changes over the centuries. They learned the signs of the times, they are research scholars, and they were trying to prove their theses with their knowledge, with their wisdom, with their understanding.
?They saw the star of the New born messiah. They had the perfect leading of the shining star. Their experience, their bookish knowledge, their preconceived ideas led them to the wrong place, and to wrong person. Their foolish decisions of dependency of their experience led to the killings of the innocent infants in and around Bethlehem. The infants were killed for want of none of their fault, truly they areinnocent victims of the massacre.
Is it not true that the wisdom of men, the desire for power of the evil kills many innocents around the world? Even today, the so called intellectuals, inventors bring disasters to the humanity, to the natural course of the universal system in the name of development.
?However, at the end the wise men offered their best to the Lord Jesus. The wise men brought Gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Gold is a sign of kingship, long associated with the gods, and frankincense represents wisdom and myrrh is a sign of long life and healing.
The gold is always valuable, and it can’t be destroyed even by fire, only the shape changes. The Frankincense is an aromatic gum resin from Boswell trees. It was used for sacred anointing oil (Exodus 30:34). The Myrrh is an extract from a tree, used in multiple ways in human life from birth to death (Exodus 30:23).
?This event of the Magi coming from a different kingdom to worship the Lord Jesus indicates that Jesus is the Most High King to be worshiped by the whole world. The gospel writer Matthew brings connection of their actions as the fulfilment of the prophecies found in the Old Testament (Psalm 68:29, 72:10-11, Isaiah 49:7, 60:6).
?The important observation is that they worshipped Jesus alone. They didn’t worship Mary. Mary never became a deity. How disgraceful to worship Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
?3. The Wisdom of God
God has revealed himself through the creations, he revealed through scriptures, he revealed through his only begotten son.
Hebrews 01:01-03 Varied Revelations: At many times and in many ways, various ways such as, sometimes through parables, sometimes through historical narratives, through prophetic confrontations, sometimes through dramatic presentations, and exhortations through psalms and proverbs. God spoke to Moses by a burning bush (Exodus 3), to Elijah by a still, and small voice (1 Kings 19), to Isaiah by a heavenly vision (Isaiah 6), to Hosea by his family crisis (Hosea 1:2), to Amos by a basket of fruit (Amos 8:1).
Psalm 19:1-6 says that man is astonished on the beauties, graces, glories and divine wisdom of God through celestial beings. To understand the magnitudes and the multitudes of the creation a lots of researches and studies are requiredscientifically. No speech, no language and no words but sound is heard, lessons are learned and eloquence is great.
Romans 1:20 says the creation of the world clearly shows the invisible qualities of God, his eternal power and divine nature. David mentions the heavens declare the Glory of God. All creatures declares the Glory of God. Read Psalm 148:1-10.
The star appeared and led to the place where the supposed to go. This passage begins with the star and ends with the star (Matthew 2:2, 7, 9, 10). God never makes mistakes in our life journey, his plans are mysterious, his ways are mysterious, and his wisdom is amazing. The Lord has kept everything in the reach of the humanity. The unsearchable, unfathomable wisdom of God has come to us through the Baby Jesus.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Christ is the wisdom, Christ is the righteousness, Christ is the sanctification, and Christ is the redemption (1 Corinthians 1:29).
Conclusion:
The meeting of the east and west is always a conflict rather than a conjunction of the two. The west claims the political power, and the east claims the knowledge and wisdom. The western countries and the eastern countries have a great ideological rift, political fight, and geographical divisions and territories.
The VISIT OF THE MAGI and response of the King Herod reminds us that we are the Wicked Herod, but God has extended his arms of grace through his revelations. Let us surrender the best to him which we possess in our lives.
