TALE OF FOUR KINGS
Part 3 of the Christmas Perspectives Series
Matthew 2:1-20
Read at beginning of service:
Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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."
INTRODUCTION
The Christmas Story, from the perspective of Mary and Joseph was intimate, real and precious. It began with an unusual message, led them on an extraordinary journey and began yet again as the message was fulfilled in the moment of Jesus Christ’s birth.
Two weeks ago, I continued the Christmas Perspectives series of messages by delving into how the Christmas Story would have appeared to the shepherds. This familiar story became more beautiful as we witnessed through their eyes the joy of God’s grace in announcing His Son’s birth to them, the faith of their belief that there would be a child in Bethlehem (just as the angel had said), and the willingness of their gift as they quickly spread throughout the slumbering town of Bethlehem with the joyous news of the Messiah’s birth. From the perspective of the shepherds the Christmas Story is a story of tremendous joy and love found in the grace God had shown them and shows us!
As I pick up on the Christmas Perspective series this week I want to remind you that we are attempting to witness the Christmas Story through the eyes of those who were there, seeing how they saw it, feeling how they felt it. In doing so I hope that you will discover, as I have and am still, that our perspective of the Christmas Story can at times be very shallow and distanced from the immediacy and intimacy that God would have us experience in this present day. For Christmas is not merely about an event that took place over 2000 years ago but it is also about an event that can take place in our lives in the present as the Christ child is born in our hearts through our faith and belief in Him.
Remember, our perspective on something will shape our actions, our reactions, and even our lack of action in circumstances, experiences and relationships with people. I’ve been beginning these messages with examples of the influence perspective has and I’d thought I’d share another one with you today:
Things are not always what they seem – A pastor went to call on one of the elderly widows of the church. While visiting with her, he noticed a bowl of shelled peanuts on the coffee table. During the conversation he began nibbling on them and soon the bowl was empty. He then apologized to the woman for eating all of her peanuts. She replied, "That’s OK, Reverend. It’s no bother. You see, three weeks ago I had all my teeth pulled. Since that time, I’ve just been sucking the chocolate off the peanuts and putting them in that bowl." (PERSPECTIVE, Autoillustrator.com)The only connection between this example and today’s message is that just as there were two differing perspectives between the Pastor and the elderly widow – today we are going to look at two differing perspectives in our "Tale of Four Kings". We find this tale in Matthew 2:1-20
Matthew 2:1-20 (NIV)
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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." 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 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. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 "’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.’" 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 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." 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." 16 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. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 "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." 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead."
PRAY
the magi…"A Tale of Four Kings" is the tale of men called magi and a king called Herod. Although this title indicates that there were three magi – we really don’t know. The scripture isn’t specific about the number of magi – there could have been three, or even fourteen. But regardless, the fact remains that here in this particular passage of scripture we have a story that presents two very interesting perspectives on the Christmas Story.
I’d like to begin introducing you to the Magi.
In this passage these men are referred to as Magi – which is generally understood as meaning "Wise Men". However the literal meaning of this word is Magician. There are some who say that these men were magicians in the good sense – the Magi among Persians were their philosophers and their priests; and nobody would be admitted as King unless they had first been enrolled among the Magi (or learned ones). There are others who think that these men were magicians in the bad sense, that is that they dealt in unlawful arts; this word is used of Simon, the sorcerer (Acts 8:9,11) and of Elymas, the sorcerer (Acts 13:6).
I can remark with confidence however that whatever "wise men" they were before, they became wise men indeed when they set out in search of Christ. There are some things here that we can be sure of however,
These men were Gentiles – that is they were not Jews and were of a non-Israeli heritage.These men were scholars. They were men who sought to advance their learning.
These men were men of the east, who were known for their soothsaying, and their superstitions. They were open to spiritual things. (Isa. 2:6).
These men were foreigners and yet they were being drawn to the presence of the Messiah.
the star
For the magi the tale begins with the appearance of a star. In their country in the East these magi had seen a star that was obviously out of the ordinary. They took this to be an indication of an extraordinary person born in the land of Judea, over which land this star was seen to hover. The star seemingly popped out of no where and was not expected. There is much speculation as to how the magi made the connection between the star and it signifying the birth of the King of the Jews but I don’t want to get into that today. Let us instead remember this – this star made a huge impression on these men and in some way they were directed to follow the star and seek out the King that it was giving recognition to.
If you are careful you might see that there are some similarities beginning to take shape between the tale of the magi and our tale in this world. Like the magi, we too are Gentiles – we are people who apart from Christ are separate from the Israeli heritage and outside of the promises of God.We also live in a society that prizes learning – that is on the march towards advancement in knowledge and information. My generation quickly learned that in order to get ahead in today’s world you had to become a scholar and get a University or College degree. And like the Magi, in the past few years we have seen the trend of our society towards being open to spiritual things.Yes there is much similar between the Magi and us. But what is even more striking about their perspective of the Christmas Story is that they were captivated by a star! A star that eventually led them to the star of the universe, the star of David – Jesus Christ Himself. I believe that God has a star shining for each one of us that points us to Christ. For some the star is an answer to prayer, for some it is a miraculous healing or provision by God. However there are more people directed to Christ when "the star" is seen in the church – in the lives of individual men and women who are sold out to Christ and let God’s light shine through them drawing those who are seeking more in.
Remember however, that although the star captivated the magi – it was not the star that they worshipped. But it was the star that pointed them to the one they wanted to worship. The star was only an "indicator" of the presence of greatness. It was not great in of itself.The Magi pursued the star because they believed it would lead them to the one who was the cause for its magnificence and light. But listen to this…they were not satisfied until they found the King who caused the star to shine.
Notice that they went to Jerusalem. The star had guided them to Judea and yet they had no idea where to begin looking for this "King", so they went where it most made sense – the capital of Judea! Jerusalem during this time was at the peak of its fame and power. The city was the center of commerce, pleasure, and religion. In its streets were people from all kinds of different nations. The Magi probably thought, "Surely, here we’ll find out where this King is!"
They probably thought as they entered the city that they would find all Jerusalem bowing down and worshipping this new king. They probably figured that they would have no difficulty in finding Him. And yet, as they went door to door they probably would have instead endured ridicule and derision as the people of Jerusalem laughed at this unusual inquiry. Surely there hearts must have begun to fall as they realized that there was no one in Jerusalem who knew about this King – "Perhaps we’re wrong" they might have thought, "Is there no one else who saw the star?"
Then they were invited to the court of the current King of Judea, Herod the Great – who informed them that he knew where this child was but he needed to know when they had seen the star. "Finally, we’re getting somewhere!" The Magi must have thought. Armed with the news that the King of the Jews would be in Bethlehem they set out from Jerusalem and then it happened again…The scriptures record that, "…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." (v.9,10) The star appeared again and it’s uniqueness was confirmed by how it went ahead of them in leading them to the child who was the King. They were overjoyed because this was confirmation that they were on the right track – that they were heading to the person for whom they made this journey.
The Bible then records very simply that when they found the child, they bowed down and worshipped him and presented to him precious gifts. There is no more mention of the star – the star had fulfilled it’s purpose – it had led the Magi to the one that caused it to shine… The Magi then returned back to their country by another route because they had been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.
The Bible doesn’t say to much more about the Magi. It simply says that they returned to their own country after worshipping the one they sought. We don’t know if they went back and shared the news of this King. We don’t know if this was, in their view, the most important journey of their lives or just another visit to impress future royalty. But we do know, is that, regardless – they made this journey in search of Christ – in response to the pulling on their hearts by the light of the Star placed by God to announce His son’s birth. What stands out in their perspective – is that although – there surely must have been many people who had seen this star – it was only these Magi who recognized the significance of it’s light and only them who pursued the one who caused it.
Their perspective on the birth of Jesus was radically different from the perspective of another I’d like to look at today – His name is Herod.
HEROD
Herod was known in this time period and according to historical accounts as Herod the Great. He, by no means, was a benevolent ruler. He is described by many historians as a man of stern and cruel disposition – "brutish and a stranger to all humanity". Herod the Great was a Jew and although he was the King reigning in Jerusalem – he was not of the line of David. In his ascent to power in Judea, Herod committed many atrocities: he was a turncoat and would change sides according to who had the upper hand in Rome; his way of keeping power and the upperhand was by murdering or planning the death of all those who opposed him. He had killed family, some of his sons, his wife, and even a brother on his way to power. Herod was often at the center of dire plots and directed many of these himself. When he first gained Jerusalem as the major city in his kingdom of Palestine, Herod executed forty-five of the noblest and richest people. His next step was to appoint an obscure Babylonian to the High Priesthood who was later replaced by Herod’s nephew-in-law. But Herod soon tired of this priest and had him drowned why he was bathing. Over the course of his reign Herod changed the High Priesthood six times!
Herod was also fond of splendor, and lavished great sums in rebuilding and adorning the cities of his empire. He rebuilt the city of Caesarea on the coast, and also the city of Samaria, which he called Sebaste, in honour of Augustus. The people hated him – they detested his semi-heathen reign; they abhorred his deeds of cruelty. The King had surrounded himself with foreign councillors, and was protected by foreign mercenaries from Thracia, Germany, and Gaul. So long as he lived, no woman’s honour was safe, no man’s life secure. An army of all-powerful spies pervaded Jerusalem, nay, the King himself was said to stoop to that office.
Everywhere was his mark. Temples to the gods and to Caesar, magnificent, and magnificently adorned, outside Palestine and in its non-Jewish cities; towns rebuilt or built. But in Jerusalem it seemed as if he had gathered up all his strength. The theater and amphitheater spoke of his Grecianism; Antonia was the representative fortress; for his religion he had rebuilt the Temple, and for his residence the noblest of palaces, at the north-western angle of the Upper City. A word about the temple: he began the work in B.C. 20, but it was not finished until after his death, probably not till about A.D. 50. Herod didn’t spare labour or money on the Temple – a thousand vehicles carried up the stone; 10,000 workmen, under the guidance of 1,000 priests, wrought all the costly material gathered into that house, of which Jewish tradition says, "He that has not seen the temple of Herod, has never known what beauty is" And yet Israel despised and abhorred the builder! His apparent work for God in rebuilding the Temple did not deceive those who knew his history and what he had built his reign on.
the rumour
Our tale of Herod this morning, begins with him hearing the rumour of some men from the East inquiring about the birth of the King of the Jews – a birth signified by a star. Perhaps it was Herod’s network of spies who overheard these wise men from the east! There are three observations I’d like to make about Herod’s reaction to hearing this news.
He was disturbed (v3)
Herod was most likely disturbed about this news because:
It threatened his security
Remember Herod became known as "the Great" not because of his awesome character but because of his horrifying deeds. Herod was known for his tyranny in quelling rebellion and unrest by any means possible. Herod had risen to power by making himself look good in Rome and quashing any nationalistic movement at home. This rumour threatened the security he had built up for himself. He was probably wondering, "There’s been a baby born that I don’t know anything about that is being called the King of the Jews. How come I don’t know anything about this?" He probably feared that Rome might find out about this baby – or maybe Rome was acting without his knowledge, preparing to replace him. And thus, Herod was also disturbed because this rumor… It threatened his position
If this baby was found and protected – Herod could find himself deposed as King.
It threatened his pride
History tells us that Herod was a very proud man – and his pride was evident in the works he set his name to. This rumour would have been a blow to his pride as it meant that someone else was claiming to be the King of the Jews – a title he reserved for himself. Yet, at the moment, there was nothing he could do about it.
Notice that not only was Herod disturbed but the all of Jerusalem was disturbed as well – most likely for the same reasons as Herod – albeit different circumstances – The rumour… Threatened their security
There were probably two camps in Jerusalem, those who had grown to accept Herod’s reign and the status quo and those who passionately hated Herod and were waiting for the right opportunity to get rid of him. Both camps would have felt their security being threatened. Both camps knew of Herod’s wrath when angry and the danger when his suspicion was aroused.The first camp would have been disturbed because they knew that Herod would lash out and it would interrupt the status quo the "peace" that was finally starting to settle over Jerusalem. The second camp would have been disturbed because they hadn’t heard of this "baby" and they weren’t ready to make their move and now their plans might be uncovered with Herod tightening his net again.
Threatened their position
For the first camp, if this rumour was true – and this baby came to power their position in society could quickly be changed because of their "tolerance" of Herod’s reign. For the second camp, if this rumour was true this meant that someone was really messing up their plans and their "positions" in their plans were being threatened.
Threatened their pride
For the first camp, this "king" is not in Jerusalem and if he comes to power the importance of this city dwindles. Perhaps the pride of the second camp would be injured the most as they would think to themselves how come we don’t know anything about this baby?
The second observation I’d like to make about Herod’s reaction to the rumour he heard about the Magi is… He made his own inquiries (v4-6)Herod gathered the chief priests and teachers of the law and posed the question to them of where the Christ (the Messiah, the King) was to be born. Notice that Herod was aware of the teaching of the Jewish hope for a Messiah and yet his inquiry, as we learn later, was not based on the hope that this rumour was indicating the birth of the Messiah but a threat to his own throne.
"Okay guys, if the Christ was born where would he be born?" "Umm…according to the prophet it appears he will be born in Bethlehem, in Judea."
Herod discovered that if there WAS a King of the Jews (the Christ) that he would be born in Bethlehem
Note the reply by the priests and teachers of the law. They accurately described the location of Christ’s birth and yet the MISSED its fulfillment!! These teachers and priests of the law probably would have also hear the rumour of the Magi and their inquiries and yet there is no record of them making the connection between what they knew from the scriptures and what was being heard on the streets…Duh!!
And yet folks the same thing is happening today in our society. People know the reason why we celebrate Christmas – but many are failing to make the connection between the story that they know and what they are hearing from the pulpit, from the "stars" of the church, and the word of God itself. It is not a rumour, it is not a myth – it is true! God came to Earth as man to save mankind from their sins and restore a relationship between man and Himself!
The third observation I’d like to make about Herod’s reaction… He plans for damage control…(v7-8)The Bible records that Herod called the magi secretly (why? Because he is scheming…) and made two requests of them..when did the star first appear?
so he could know the approximate age of this child who would be King.
for the Magi to go and search for the child in Bethlehem and when (not if) he is found report back to him so that he may go and worship Him.
note that Herod was sure the child would be found. In fact he wanted to be sure the child would be found.
If Herod was really serious about going to worship this child He would have joined the magi! But he didn’t – instead he sent others.Herod’s tale picks up in verse 16 where he learns that he had been outwitted by the Magi and they had failed to return to him. So Herod completes his plan of damage control by having every child two years and under killed in the town of Bethlehem – he had taken care of the problem…or so he thought. Unknowingly, he had fulfilled another prophecy in the Bible.
Herod’s tale finishes in verse 19 with the simple acknowledgment of his death. What is interesting is that historians tell us that that Herod died in Jericho amid great agonies both of body and mind in B.C. 4 which according to common chronology is the year in which Jesus was born. This would suggest that not only did Herod’s plan for damage control utterly fail but in fact, it backfired.
Herod’s perspective of the Christmas story is a sharp contrast to that of the Magi. But you know, as I began to look at the Christmas story through his eyes I realized that his perspective is very similar to that of another.
For there is an enemy that prowls in our world who serves as the model for the characteristics Herod showed. You see, I think Satan shared and shares some very similar reactions to this event. For Jesus Christ threatens his security, his position and his pride. And like Herod the Great, Satan hatched his own plan of damage control – one that he thought he had completed at the cross of Calvary but instead backfired and sounded his own death knell. But still Satan does not give up and I believe even to this day is seeking to cover up the true meaning of Christmas with anything that will keep peoples attention focused away from the Babe in the manger, anything that will cloud people’s vision of the star, and anything that will rob people of the true peace and joy that can only be found in a relationship with Christ.
And just as all Jerusalem was disturbed along with Herod, I think there are some very similar reactions to the "rumour" of Jesus Christ in today’s world. Some people, when they hear the story of Christ will be disturbed in the same way the people of Jerusalem were. Why? Because Jesus threatens their security, their position, and their pride: Security in the way of life they’ve grown used to – I don’t want to have to change anything in my life – why do I need God? – I’ve got everything going okay…; Position – "What do you mean I need to be saved?", "Hey the only ruler in my life is me?"; and Pride – for those who come to Jesus must humble themselves and acknowledge their need for a saviour and the death-grip sin has in their lives. Pride is often the greatest stumbling block to someone finding Christ. And sadly, due to the attempts by Satan to cover up the star and the King – many people are blinded on Christmas and fail to receive the best gift of eternity.
CONCLUSION
(NOTE TO READERS OF THIS MESSAGE: The concluding thoughts are only briefly mentioned here as I left the conclusion of the message for when I delivered it so I could trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit. Very rarely do I go to the pulpit without a conclusion carefully prepared in advance as I believe the conclusion is the most important part of the message! However, this was one of the times when I felt that God would lead me in the words for that moment based on this message)
Maybe you are one of these people this morning… Challenge also to Christians about being a Star.
This sermon was preached by Darren Ethier at Hanover Pentecostal Church on December 17,2000. This message is Part 3 of the sermon series: Christmas Perspectives. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright © 1873, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
