Psalm 100:1-5, Isaiah 60:1-9, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12.
A). MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE.
Psalm 100:1-5.
PSALM 100:1a. This “Psalm of praise” is known in some liturgical circles as ‘Jubilate’, after the first word of the Latin version. The English translation of the original Hebrew is “Make a joyful noise.”
(Similarly, Psalm 95:1-2 twice calls upon us to “make a joyful noise”: ‘to the Rock of our salvation’ [God/Jesus], and ‘unto Him with psalms.’)
PSALM 100:1b. This is an imperative, calling us to exuberant worship of the LORD. It is addressed to “all the earth.”
(Psalm 98:4 addresses the same call, to ‘Make a joyful noise unto the LORD’ to “all the earth”: ‘make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.’)
(Psalm 92:1 encourages us that, ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD’, and to sing praises to His name.)
(By Psalm 150:3-6, the whole orchestra is engaged in this service. There is nothing dull about the worship of God!)
PSALM 100:2. The type of service enjoined here clearly includes what we call ‘worship’. As we “come before His presence”, it includes singing. All of our service should be “with gladness”, but perhaps especially our ‘worship.’
PSALM 100:3. Worship is based in knowledge. Hence the word “Know” at the beginning of this verse. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, ‘You (all) worship what you (all) do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews’ (John 4:22).
So why do we worship? It is because “the LORD, He is God.” “He made us” - both in Creation, but also in Covenant: “we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”
(Psalm 95:7 states that ‘He is our God; and we the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.’)
PSALM 100:4. “Enter into His gates” suggests a processional: perhaps pilgrims going up to the Jerusalem Temple. But it also a metaphor of our whole approach to God.
We “enter His gates” with “thanksgiving,” acknowledging God’s goodness. We “enter His courts” (another way of saying the same thing) with “praise” (e.g. with Psalms upon our lips). We are “thankful unto Him,” and “bless (speak well of) His name.”
When we bless or praise God, we add nothing to Him: but there is healing power when we take stock of our blessings and honour Him. It does wonders for us and, like the Old Testament priest, we magnify Him before the people. True worship, after all, is God-centred.
PSALM 100:5. Again we are given reasons for this exuberance:
1. “For the LORD is good.” It is the LORD who puts gladness in our hearts (cf. Psalm 4:7).
2. “His mercy (covenant love) is everlasting” (endures forever, never fails).
3. “His truth” (faithfulness) will continue “to all generations.”
‘God commends His love towards us, in that, while we yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). There is nothing, but nothing that will ever separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus (cf. Romans 8:38-39).
Read Romans 11:33-36.
B). THE DAWN OF ZION’S GLORY.
Isaiah 60:1-9.
The motif of darkness is at last vanquished by the coming of the light (ISAIAH 60:1). Just as in Creation, God spoke, and there was light (cf. Genesis 1:2-3). The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overwhelm it (cf. John 1:5).
Like the dying cadences of a musical theme from the first movement of a concerto, the sound of darkness is banished into the background in the second (ISAIAH 60:2). The darkness has been universalised, but that which once dominated the piece is now in its death throes, nothing but a dying echo. Zion is commanded to arise from her despondency, and to shine with the reflected glory of the LORD (ISAIAH 60:1).
As the Gospel day began to dawn over the world with the birth of Jesus, some wise men arrived at the house of King Herod, seeking the One who was ‘born king’ (cf. Matthew 2:2). There in Jerusalem they were met by a revelation from Scripture. When we seek the Lord, the gospel first meets us where we are - then leads us to the feet of Jesus.
Isaiah envisages the flocking of many people to worship the LORD in Zion (cf. Isaiah 2:3). People from all nations, represented in the first instance by the wise men, would come to the gospel light. As history has shown, even kings would embrace the brightness of this new dawn (ISAIAH 60:3).
The sunlight makes its first appearance, its first ‘epiphany’ to the east of Jerusalem, over the Mount of Olives. Inauspiciously at first, but with growing momentum, the light moves over the walls and gates of the city, and begins to permeate every nook and cranny. At last the glory of this light fills the city, and it can be seen from far away, reflecting on the domes and towers (ISAIAH 60:2).
So lift up your eyes and see, says the prophet (ISAIAH 60:4). These words are as applicable to the second coming of Jesus as to the first (cf. Matthew 16:2-3). Jesus said, ‘What I say unto you I say unto all. Watch’ (Mark 13:37).
Those who had not been taken away captive to Babylon could apply this prophecy to their own situation: watch, and you will see your exiled brethren, your sons and your daughters, returning to you in the greatest homecoming of history (cf. Isaiah 35:10). Yet this also anticipates the reception of believing Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel (ISAIAH 60:5). They are adopted as sons of Abraham (cf. Galatians 3:7), and grafted into Israel - and in time this precipitates the conversion of Israel to her own Messiah (cf. Romans 11:25-26).
Jerusalem has witnessed the trampling of many nations, passing through the land of Judah and Israel. The Assyrians were followed by the Babylonians, the Greeks were followed by the Romans - and so it continued right up into the 20th century. Yet in this vision, where warhorses once prevailed, he sees the camels and dromedaries of peaceful trade (ISAIAH 60:6).
Finally, the wealth of nations flocks to Zion - gold and incense, as carried by the wise men (myrrh is not mentioned here), to acknowledge the new-born king. There are echoes of the visit of the Queen of Sheba, and her lavish entourage: she too sought wisdom, and found it at the feet of Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 10:1-10). And these representatives of the nations sought Jesus, ‘that they might worship Him’ (cf. Matthew 2:2).
The lands in which the nomadic tribes of Ishmael wandered would provide more than ample flocks of sheep and goats for the altar of the rebuilt Temple (ISAIAH 60:7). The returning exiles themselves are seen as a cloud of doves flying home to their dovecots (ISAIAH 60:8; cf. Hosea 11:11).
“The isles” represent the far-off seafaring regions to the west of Israel. “Tarshish” represents Spain (ISAIAH 60:9). King Solomon once had at sea ‘a navy of Tarshish’ bringing “gold and silver” from afar (cf. 1 Kings 10:22). Now Zion’s “sons” were coming from afar, bringing “their silver and gold with them.” To whom? “To the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee.”
The light is, ultimately, Jesus (cf. Matthew 4:15-16). He proclaimed Himself to be ‘the Light of the world’ (cf. John 8:12), yet He also calls His followers ‘the light of the world:’ - a city on a hill which cannot be hid (cf. Matthew 5:14). Our job is to reflect His light (ISAIAH 60:1).
C). THE UNVEILING OF THE MYSTERY.
Ephesians 3:1-12.
The “For this cause” of Ephesians 3:1 follows Paul’s contemplation of the reconciliation accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22). Jesus, by His own blood, had resolved the estrangement between God and man, and had broken down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. Paul was about to explain how the very thought of this drove him to his knees in prayer (Ephesians 3:14): but one of his characteristic parentheses (Ephesians 3:1-13) put the thought on hold while he allowed himself the luxury of sharing his personal testimony.
Paul was a prisoner (Ephesians 3:1), awaiting the opportunity to give an account of his Christian faith to the Roman Emperor (Acts 25:11-12). We must always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within us, to every man, and in every circumstance (1 Peter 3:15). Paul was a prisoner “for the Gentiles” - because it was for the promotion of his ministry as the Apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13) that he had been apprehended in Jerusalem (Acts 22:21-22).
“The grace of God” had been given to Paul (Ephesians 3:2; Ephesians 3:7; Ephesians 3:8). This took the form of a personal revelation (Ephesians 3:3; Galatians 1:12). There are words for “revelation” and “making known” throughout this passage (Ephesians 3:3; Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 3:10).
1. This grace of God was given to Paul in order to unveil a “mystery” (Ephesians 3:3). “Mystery” is the key word in this passage, occurring in Ephesians 3:3; Ephesians 3:4; and Ephesians 3:9, and is the implied subject of Ephesians 3:5. Something new was being revealed, a part of the divine plan hitherto not known in all its fullness (Matthew 13:35).
The “mystery” centres around the grafting into Israel (Romans 11:17-18; Romans 11:24) of the Gentile believers (Ephesians 3:6). Ephesians 3:6 is the key verse in this passage, demonstrating that we are co-heirs of the same inheritance; fellow members of the same body; and joint beneficiaries of the same promise. All this is accomplished as both Jewish and Gentile believers are reconciled to God and to one another “in Christ” (Ephesians 3:6), and is proclaimed “through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).
2. This grace of God was also given to Paul in order to commission him as a minister of the gospel (Ephesians 3:7): more specifically as the Apostle to the Gentiles (Ephesians 3:8). This came about by “the effectual working of His power” (Ephesians 3:7). The church early recognised Paul’s special ministry to the Gentiles, just as Peter’s remit was to minister to the “circumcision” (Galatians 2:8).
Paul was awed by this God-given privilege. What a wonder of grace, that the “less than the least” should be given this responsibility (Ephesians 3:8)! It humbled him, especially when he considered how undeserving he was (1 Corinthians 15:9).
Preaching is a privilege, and a responsibility never to be taken lightly. It is to proclaim the “unsearchable” riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8). Paul uses the same word in Romans 11:33, as he considers the unfathomable nature of God’s plan for mankind.
These “riches” include redemption from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7); being seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6); the double reconciliation of people with God, and Gentiles with Jews, making of the two “one new man” (Ephesians 2:14-16). These are riches indeed!
3. The “mystery” (Ephesians 3:9) is not a riddle to be solved, but the declaration of something which has been hidden hitherto in God, but which is now made known to all men. This mystery is carried forward by the church, as the “manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10) is revealed to angels (1 Peter 1:10-12). God’s “eternal purpose” (Ephesians 3:11) is at last made known in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have confidence of access to God by faith in Him (Ephesians 3:12).
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
D). WHERE IS HE THAT IS BORN KING?
Matthew 2:1-12.
MATTHEW 2:1. This verse simply states that “when Jesus was born in Bethlehem” there came “wise men from the east to Jerusalem.”
MATTHEW 2:2. The visitors were forthright. They were come seeking the one “born King of the Jews.” It is unusual for somebody to be born already possessing the title of “King” – but this was the case with Jesus. And they were come to “worship” Him.
They had been following His “star” which they saw “at its rising” (more usually translated “in the East”). And they sought Him first at Jerusalem.
These sage travellers were no doubt aware of the expectation of the nations (Haggai 2:7), that One was to be born in Israel who would be a King of universal significance to the whole of mankind (Numbers 24:17). They had the faith to believe that they were following His star, but when they drew near Jerusalem (where they expected Him to be born, in the king’s palace) they seem to have lost sight of the star.
MATTHEW 2:3-4. The reaction of King Herod was natural enough. A rival King could mean trouble. The whole City was infected with his agitation. Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes to him, and “demanded of them where Christ should be born.”
MATTHEW 2:5-6. The chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem, quoting Micah 5:2, acknowledged that the ultimate Ruler, the Messiah/Christ/Anointed One was to be born in Bethlehem. But, unlike these strangers from the East, they did not care enough to check out the rumour of His birth. They might well be proud of their head-knowledge of Scripture, but it did not serve them well if it did not bring them to the feet of Jesus. Wise men still seek Him.
MATTHEW 2:7-8. This could have been the beginning of a happy new year in the life of Herod, but his motives were wrong, and he was not altered by what he learned. Herod next secretly called the wise men to himself, and determined what he needed to know from them. But, even as he sent them to Bethlehem, Herod had no intention of worshipping Jesus (cf. Matthew 2:16).
MATTHEW 2:9. ‘Bad company corrupts good manners’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:33), and it was not until the wise men left the duplicitous Herod that they could truly resume their quest. When the Magi left Jerusalem, they again saw the star which they had seen at its rising, and followed it to the place where it appeared to stop (as seen from the perspective of people standing upon the surface of the earth).
MATTHEW 2:10. In an example to all who will follow, the wise men sought Jesus. The wise men followed what light they had: the star in the East. Where their light stopped, they rejoiced, because now the true Light would be revealed.
MATTHEW 2:11. When they found Him, they worshipped the young child, and offered symbolic gifts. They offered gold for one born King; the best of incense for a Priest offering prayers before God for the people; myrrh for embalming one born to die for His people.
Whoever they were, wherever they came from, they represented all the Gentile nations. They represented all who would genuinely believe in Jesus, from both near and far. The wise men represent all who will seek Jesus, not only from the east, but from all over the globe.
MATTHEW 2:12. And as they left that peaceful scene, they listened to God: for all would not be peaceful for long.
Wise men still listen to God. Wise men still seek Jesus.
