The Questions of Christmas (4)
The Question of the Magi
Where Is He?
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-12
They had traveled over miles and miles of desert,
leading a caravan of camels
loaded with servants and supplies
in their wake.
They were wealthy noblemen,
astrologers, sages and
advisors in the court of an Eastern king.
Their journey had begun weeks ago,
when one of them,
charting the stars in the sky
and reading the omens and portents
in their movements,
had identified a heavenly body,
a star of unusual brilliance,
of the kind that they believed signified the birth of a great prophet or king or warrior. . .
So they left their regal homes
and journeyed for weeks,
following the star,
until they finally arrived in Jerusalem,
the heart of Israel,
the capital of the tiny but once-powerful nation,
and sought an audience with the king,
Herod.
The formalities of such an occasion were adhered to,
protocol was strictly observed,
and an audience was arranged.
King Herod and his ministers
came to the receiving chambers
and were properly seated
in the great palace he had built
to the glory of himself and his reign.
The court of the king arranged their formal robes
and engaged in excited conversation
as they waited to hear what business
these envoys from the East had come to discuss.
Perhaps a new trade agreement was in the wind...
Possibly a new trade route was being considered and Jerusalem’s economy would be greatly enhanced if the details could be worked out. . .
Maybe it was a new product,
perhaps a political alliance,
or news of a coup d’etat.
Whatever it was, they would soon find out.
Good morning. I’m Bob Hostetler,
and that scene is the setting
of the passage from the Bible, God’s Word,
that we’re going to consider this morning as we conclude our four-week series of messages from the Bible, entitled “The Questions of Christmas,” a series that has prompted us to encounter some of the most basic,
most searching,
and most revealing
questions any human being has ever asked.
So, if you would, please turn in your Bible to the Gospel of Matthew, the 1st book of the New Testament, where we’re going to consider the question of the Magi, a question that I believe has historical,
philosophical, and
personal implications for us today.
Now, as you’re turning to the book of Matthew, let me just encourage you,
if you worship regularly here
at Cobblestone Community Church,
to get in the habit of bringing your Bible with you so you can read for yourself
with your own eyes
from your own Bible
what’s being taught up here at the front.
BUT, don’t be embarrassed if you’re here without a Bible of your own, because we’re happy to provide Bibles for your use in the center of each table.
AND if you don’t own a Bible of your own, we would love for you to take one of ours home with you as our gift.
So, once again, we’re looking at
Matthew, chapter two,
page ___ if you’re reading from one of the
table Bibles today . . .
And our study of God’s Word this morning will extend from the first verse of that chapter through the 12th. So I invite you to follow along with me in your Bible as I read aloud from mine, beginning at Matthew 2:1:
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 in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ 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 be the shepherd
of my people Israel.’"
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 make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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 and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
That familiar story not only forms the historical basis for the giving of gifts to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I also believe it has something to teach each one of us here this morning.
So I want to look with you at three questions of our own that will help us understand and apply the question of the Magi. And the first question I invite you to consider is, quite simply,
1. What Did They Ask?
When those “wise men” or Magi entered the court of Herod, they approached the throne,
and probably presented to the king
a number of gifts representing the finest products of their country and culture.
And then, one of the noble visitors probably stepped forward and, as Matthew 2:2 records, asked,
"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”
or, in the wording of the King James Version,
"Where is he that is born the king of the Jews?”
In the moments following the question,
we might imagine an embarrassed silence hanging over the room,
as the eastern sages cast confused looks at the ministers of government and the king himself----
they don’t know!
What an awkward moment that must have been!
You see, the magi would have assumed,
quite naturally,
that the birth that was heralded by the star
would have taken place in the royal city,
in the palace,
where kings are born!
They would have expected the newborn
king of the Jews
to be a son of the last-born king of the Jews.
But when the question had been asked,
it must have been quickly apparent
that such was not the case.
Whoever’s birth was proclaimed by the star,
it was not a son of Herod. . .
Which could only mean
there was some other king of the Jews
somehow,
somewhere . . .
If that had been Daryl Zimmer in that position,
he would’ve said, “oops!”
If it had been Lynette Holzworth,
she would’ve said, [fan face with hands]
If it had been Gilda Radner’s character,
Roseanne Rosannadanna,
she would’ve said, “Never Mind!”
But in any case, these wise men, these magi,
asked the question, “Where is he?”
because they expected
to be ushered into the royal nursery
where they could pay homage
from one royal court to another,
the way it was done in those days.
Which brings us to the second question I will ask you to consider, and that is . . .
2. What Was the Answer?
Look at verses 3-6:
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Now, let me pause there, briefly, to mention that there may be some passage of time intimated in verse 3; it’s likely that, once Herod heard the magi’s question, the palace gossip started to make the rounds very quickly about these regal visitors from the east, and when it got out that they were asking about a newborn king of the Jews, at the very least the royal precincts and perhaps even the citizens of Jerusalem itself became very anxious.
You see, the half-Jewish Herod was such a ruthless king and protector of his own throne that Caesar Augustus was reputed to have said, “It is better to be Herod’s pig (Gr., hus) than his son (Gr., huios).” In other words, a pig--which Jews did not eat--would be safer in Herod’s household than a son, who might, of course, want to take over the throne.
Thus, as you might imagine, the people of Jerusalem knew that “if Herod ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy!”
So what did Herod do? Walter Wangerin, writing in The Book of God, suggests a scene like the following:
Herod began to think in extremes. . . . Who held any greater right to the throne than he? Jews, surely; but Davidic Jews! A son of David had always sat on the throne until the exile--and even then it was prophesied that such a son would be anointed again. “Anointed” in Hebrew is Messiah.
Suddenly, Herod was shooting down the halls of his palace, commanding his scribes to seek out certain information: was there a prophecy regarding the anointed one of God? The Messiah? Saying where he would be born?
Yes! Dreadfully, there was such a prophecy. Scribes brought to Herod the scroll of the prophet Micah. . .
Look at verse 4:
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ 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 be the shepherd
of my people Israel.’"
That was the answer to the question of the Magi: the Messiah, the Christ, was to be born in Bethlehem, the city of David, a mere five miles from Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.
But, of course, Herod did not make the trip. Instead--look at verse 7:
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 make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
But the magi, having received the answer to their question, made the journey:
After they had heard the king [verse 9 says], they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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 and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
So there you have it, though there’s more to the story, and much more that we could say. But we’ll stop there and take a few minutes to consider our final question, and that is. . .
3. What Difference Does It Make?
What does it matter that the Magi
following a star, found the newborn Christ, and paid him homage as a king?
Well, I would say that all depends on who you are and what you’re looking for today.
You see, it’s like this.
A. Those sages looked to Herod and asked,
“Where is He?”
If you have any interest in the historical answer to the question of the Magi, that’s it. They found him in Bethlehem, where the prophet said the Messiah would be born.
But there’s something more that’s involved in the historical answer. What does it mean that historically speaking, the most religious people of the day--the scribes and Pharisees Herod consulted in verse 4, the ones who knew where the Messiah was to be born-- seemed to have been the least interested in the infant king, while the only ones who made the trip to Bethlehem and paid homage to Jesus were Gentiles, pagans?!
I think it means this:
• first, Jesus is Savior not only of the Jews, but of the world, of Gentiles and pagans, too.
• And, second, when it comes to finding and filling your soul’s deepest needs, the issue is not what you know,
it’s where you go.
And those wise men, those sages, those magi, found what they were looking for in Bethlehem,
in Judah,
just as the prophet had predicted,
just as the Scriptures said.
So that’s the historical answer. The sages looked to Herod and asked, “Where is He?” But there’s more. Consider this:
B. The skeptic looks around and asks, “Where is He?”
This is a more philosophical issue. Because, face it, we’re surrounded with suffering and starvation, tension and strife,
from the Middle East to Ireland,
from the 2000 election chaos to
the Gulf of Yemen,
problems domestic and foreign,
economic and moral.
No wonder the skeptic looks around and says, “Where is He?”
Where is His influence?
Where is His impact?
Oh, we might answer, like author Michael Novak, that one of the gifts Christ has given to the world is the gift of dignity, that while the ancients reserved dignity only for the elite, the Gospel of Christ proclaimed “that every single human being is loved by the Creator, made in the Creator’s image, and destined for eternal friendship and communion with him.”
Or, like Professor David N. Livingstone, we might point to the influence of Christ in the development of scientific inquiry, because of the sweeping contributions by scientists who were spurred by their Christian faith “to interrogate God’s creation.”
Or, we, along with with Professor David Lyle Jeffrey, might point out that the spread of literacy and literature in the western world coincided with the spread of the Gospel of Christ.
Or, like Dr. James Kennedy, we might show the vast humanitarian enterprises that Christ has inspired in his followers--the hospitals, the clinics, the homeless shelters, the relief organizations, the universities, and on and on and on.
But you know what? Such answers will often be unconvincing to the skeptic, because the real question is not historical anymore,
nor is it philosophical;
I want to suggest to you that the important question is intensely and necessarily personal. The most valuable way to approach the question of the Magi is
as a seeker, because. . .
C. The seeker looks inside and asks, “Where is He?”
You see, Jesus Christ did not come,
was not born in a manger,
did not die,
did not rise from the dead
in order to change history,
nor to change our circumstances;
He came to change US!
The ultimate question of Christmas is . . .
Where is he . . . in my life?
In fact, the Bible even commands this. It says,
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves (2 Cor. 13:5).
Have I confessed my sins to him
and experienced his forgiveness
and given him control of my life,
or am I waiting until I’m older,
or not so busy,
or THIS close to death?
Is he king in my life?
Is he on the throne?
Am I trusting him moment by moment to
guide me and control me by the power of his Spirit?
Or am I still trying to call the shots?
Am I still holding back from total commitment to his will and his ways?
Have I decided to stop “playing church,”
and determined to follow him,
to love him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength,
Or am I holding him at a distance,
holding him “in reserve,”
keeping him “handy” in case I get sick or broke
or desperate?
Where is he . . . in your life?
If you have not yet found forgiveness of sins and newness of life in Jesus Christ, I urge you today to pray a simple a simple prayer confessing your sin,
asking forgiveness,
accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as the payment for your sins,
and committing to follow him from this day forward . . .
And if you’d like any help at all in praying something like that, there will be counselors up here at the front wearing bright name tags to help you do that as we worship together in the closing moments of this celebration.
I want to also say, if you’re experiencing
any struggle,
any uncertainty,
any fear,
in your life right now, Jesus Christ can come to your heart and meet your need, if you’ll just reach out to him in prayer. We’d love to talk and pray with you about that, too.
In any case,
as we approach God in worship
in the closing moments of this celebration,
please feel free to join any one of us in prayer,
or to pray with someone else at your table,
or to seek out a friend,
or to respond in any way that God’s Spirit leads you . . . .
