(Matthew 2:1-14) Christmas serves many purposes for many people. Some celebrate it as a time of family gathering, some do so for the gift giving and receiving and still others do not recognize it at all. Ultimately, we must celebrate Christmas for one reason and one reason alone; the birth of our Redeemer, too often we remember Jesus still in the manger. We must, however, understand that he is no longer the babe in the manger but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and I. Even in infancy, Jesus changed the course of history and the hearts of men. Let us look at a few of these instances and begin to understand that “THEY HAD.”
1. THE WISE MEN HAD A PURPOSE (VS 1-2)
• The wise men came to worship the newborn King of the Jews
• Who were these wise men? The word’s ‘Wise Men’ are interpreted “Magi”
• This brings into its meaning; An appellation given among the Medes and Persians to a class of priests, wise men, philosophers, etc., who devoted themselves to the study of the moral and physical sciences, and particularly cultivated astrology and medicine. They alone performed the religious rites
• Their purpose was:
a. WORSHIP: As described in Psalms 72:10-11: “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.” And again in Isaiah 60:1-3: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”
• The purpose of the wise men’s traveling was simple, to pay respect to the newborn King of the Jewish people
• We, too, must come to the feet of Jesus and worship Him and His authority
• John 4:24: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
• What does it mean to worship in ‘spirit’ and ‘truth’? It is complete and unrestricted obedience to the call of God through the Holy Spirit
• The magi didn’t allow time, distance or obstacles to interfere with their divine direction leading them to the feet of the Savior of the world
• The Wise Men worshiped a Babe in the Manger
• We Worship:
a. The Redeemer of all Mankind Titus 2:14: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
b. Lord of All Isaiah 45:23-24: “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.”
c. Our Friend Proverbs 18:24: “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
2. HEROD HAD A PROBLEM (VS 3;7-8)
• What was Herod’s problem? His problem was that his “kingdom” was threatened
• The basis of his problem was threefold:
a. Greed
b. Ungodliness
c. Ignorance
• To often, our problems arise from this same foundation
• James 4:2-3: “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
• We seek to satisfy ourselves without concern about others
• Herod had the same problem; he did want to loose what he thought was his when in fact, what he had had been given by God
• We must always remember that that which we have is given by God, is God’s already and we just take care of it for him anyway
• Herod’s objective: KILL BABY JESUS
• The driving force: SATAN
• WHY? Because Satan knew he would be defeated by the pure blood of Jesus Christ
• The devil continues today, on a rampage to destroy Christ and His ministry upon earth
• Organizations such as the ACLU, the pro-homosexual and abortion movements all are being driven by a force not of this world, a force that has already been defeated;
• We must stand united and strong for the ministry of Christ; willing to protect it at all costs
3. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAD A PROPHECEY (VS 4-6)
• The religious leaders understood the OT teachings of a Messiah to be born Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
• They knew what the scripture said about a King being born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
• In all of this; the ‘religious’ leaders did nothing to respond
• A couple of reasons for their response:
a. They Feared Herod
b. They Didn’t Understand the Prophecies
c. They Feared For their Own ‘Religious’ Positions
• Whatever the problem, they had been taught that this was going to happen; it was their choice to accept or reject the situation
• We, too, have the same choice of acceptance of rejecting what God has done for us
• We have the privilege of being able to read the completed Word of God
• Its instructions are clear, its design simple and the contents understandable. Yet, in all of that, do we fully obey and complete the will of God through His word?
• Or do we, like the ‘religious leaders,’ question the authenticity of God’s handy work?
• The Word of God is our handbook for living and we must accept its authority in our lives and live it out to the best of our ability
4. WISE MEN NOW HAVE A KING (VS 9-11)
• Not necessarily wise in intellect; but wise in being able to know the necessity of calling upon Jesus as Lord and Savior
• Knowing the difference between false hope and the real hope that only Jehovah God can provide
• Wise Men:
a. WORSHIP JESUS: Luke 4:8: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
b. BRING HIM GIFTS:
i. Of the Spirit: Ephesians 4:11-12: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
ii. Of Our Time and Resources: Malachi 3:10: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
iii. Of Our Love: John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
c. OBEY HIM AT ALL COSTS:
i. The Wise Men received instruction from Herod to bring back Jesus’ location so that he may worship the newborn KING:
ii. They had divine direction to disobey the directive
iii. Had they been caught after fleeing from Herod they surely would have been murdered for their disobedience
iv. No willing to compromise the message; they were willing to die; we must possess the same righteous indignation
5. JESUS HAD PROTECTION (VS 12-15)
• Jesus had a purpose and God protected that purpose
• He is willing to do the same for us
• He prepares us for the task at hand: 1 Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
• Ephesians 6:10-11: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
• We have divine protection; we must, however, be willing to do some work to help God protect us
• Just as God had provision for Jesus, Joseph and Mary in Egypt; Joseph had to be willing to get up, trust God and Go
