Matt 2:1-12, 16-18
We see here 3 different responses to the news of the birth of Jesus Christ.
• First, we see the Magi in a passionate search for the child Jesus.
• Second, we have King Herod also eagerly seeking to find the child, but so that he could kill him.
• And thirdly, we see the indifferent attitude of the people in Jerusalem – not bothered to find the child.
I. The Response of Magi
We do not know who the Magi were, and how many of them were there.
• Nor do we know their names, or where exactly “from the east” they came.
• We do not know the source of their information, other than the fact that they saw some unusual appearing of a star in the sky.
But one thing we can be sure – they were serious about finding Jesus.
• They were from a faraway land, but the long journey did not deter them.
• They believed the message of God, and came prepared with gifts to worship Him.
God guided them with a miraculous sign in the sky.
• Our God is a God who guides, who delights to show you the way.
• Moses said to the people of Israel: “If from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut 4:29)
• God guided them to Jesus, and guided them when they leave.
• 2:12 tells us God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
• Be assured today, brothers and sisters. God wants to guide you. When you seek Him, He will show you the way.
The Magi arrived first in Jerusalem. The city came to know of the news.
• King Herod and all Jerusalem were disturbed by this news.
They were unprepared for this.
• How could foreigners from afar have received such information, without Jerusalem first learning of His coming?
• How could these foreign “Gentiles” be seeking for a Jewish king, so that they might worship him?
• The worst part of all was that those who considered themselves the spiritual elite of Israel were not even sure that the Messiah was born.
Jerusalem is the place where the Temple of God is sited, where the Scriptures can be found and be heard read out on the Sabbath.
• Yet they were unprepared to believe the prophecies of the Scriptures.
• The chief priests and the teachers of the law, when questioned by the King, knew the answers but refused to believe it.
• If they had, they would be among the first to find out and worship their Messiah.
Herod called the Magi secretly and supplied them with the name of the village — Bethlehem — where the Christ could be found.
• You see how God guided them. God provided the answer they need through a pagan King.
• Herod became a tool in God’s hand. In the OT, we read how God uses a similar way – using a pagan King Cyrus to bring His people in captivity, back to Jerusalem.
So the Magi headed south from Jerusalem towards Bethlehem.
• The “star” reappeared, this time leading them to the very house where Jesus was.
• 2:10 “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”
• By this time, Jesus was no longer in the manger but in the house (2:11).
• It took a long time for the Magi to travel from the east to this place.
• It was a difficult journey, but they came prepared with gifts – heavy gifts.
In this passage, we saw the eagerness of the Magi to find Jesus.
• They were extremely happy just to see the star, knowing that it would lead them to Jesus.
• They “bowed down and worshiped” Jesus and gave him expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (2:11).
• Let us seek Him and worship Him with the same excitement each time we come to church.
• Let us rekindle the joy of Christmas. Let’s “bow down and worship Him” this Christmas.
No matter how far away you feel you are, you can find Jesus and worship Him.
• Believe the Word of God – today a Saviour has been born to you.
• We are lost in life without Him. Open your heart and receive Him as your Saviour.
• God will forgive us of our sins, and give us a new life.
II. The Response of Herod
We saw a totally different response in King Herod.
• He believed the news enough to be disturbed by it, but he refused to accept the truth. Jesus was no Messiah to him. He was a threat to his throne.
• He was determined to kill all the young children in order to remove the threat of that one child.
• And to make sure that he would get rid of Jesus, he gave himself a bigger “margin of error” - killing not only the children in the town of Bethlehem, but the surrounding vicinity as well, and not just killing the very young children, but those up to two years of age.
Man rejects what God provides. Man refuses to believe what God is saying.
• John puts it this way: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)
• Every prophecy in the Scriptures will be fulfilled.
• Matt 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
• You need not have to believe everything you read about in the newspaper, magazine or the internet. But you must believe every word you read in the Bible.
• Only the truth of God’s Word can save us and set us free from sin (John 8:32).
III. The Response of Jerusalem
The response of the people of Jerusalem was equally sad.
• Matthew says in verse 3: “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem WITH him.” (Matt 2:3)
• They were disturbed, but they did nothing about it.
• The chief priests and the teachers of the Law reviewed the Scriptures, and they knew that Christ was born “in Bethlehem in Judea” (v.5) but they did nothing.
• They had the Scriptures in their hand, but none of them believed it enough to travel 10 short kilometers south of Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
The Magi were willing to travel over 1000km and 4-5 months journey to find Jesus, while the people in Jerusalem would not even take a short one-day trip to Bethlehem to investigate the claim.
• If this was an event prophesied in the Scriptures, a big event, why wouldn’t they do something about it?
• In fact, Herod has taken Christ’s claim more seriously than the people of Jerusalem. He believed that this child was born. He summoned all the chief priests and teachers, and secretly called the Magi, and then killed all the young children.
The people were apathetic. They did not bother. They refused to believe.
• A helpless baby cannot be the mighty Messiah they are expecting.
• They wanted someone who can free them from the Romans, and throw out a madman like Herod.
• The child Jesus did not fit their expectation. This child has nothing to offer them.
Do not let unbelief blind our eyes to the truth of God’s Word.
• If our heart is filled with unbelief, we are not going to receive anything from God.
• We must not only know the Scriptures, we must believe the Word.
• We may have the Bible in our hand, we may be staying near to Bethlehem, but proximity to the truth is not enough. We must believe the message from God.
• We need to believe it enough to act on it.
We cannot be indifferent to His Word, and expect God to bless us.
And we must not let busyness and work crowd God out of our life.
Conclusion:
We can say that the 3 responses of the Magi, King Herod and the people of Jerusalem typify the world’s response to Christmas today.
1. Throughout history there have always been those who, like the Magi, have sought Jesus and found him.
• They could have been so far away and we did not expect them to come and worship Jesus, but they came.
• God will draw all men, no matter how far they are from Him - whether that distance is geographical, racial, or cultural - to worship Christ.
2. Then there are also those, like Herod, who heard the Christmas story but refused to acknowledge Jesus’ Lordship in their life.
• They want to be their own King. They want to rule their own lives and do their own thing.
3. Finally, there are those, like the vast majority of those who stayed in Jerusalem, who are so apathetic to the claims of Christ that they will not bother to make the minimal effort, to seek Him and acknowledge Him.
What about you? How are you going to response to Christmas?
• Seek Him and worship Him with all our heart.
• Come with joy and thanksgiving, and with gifts in our hands.
• Believe and act on the Word of God. You will be blessed.
Dear friends, you cannot remain indifferent to Jesus Christ.
• He is the Saviour of your soul.
• He is the only One God has prepared to take away the penalty of your sin.
• “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
• If you follow Christ and obey His Word, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
• Pray, repent of your sin and accept Jesus as your Saviour.
