The King Is Worshiped Series

A King is Worshiped

Worship by seeking (Matthew 2:1-10)

Worship by giving (Matthew 2:11-12)

By giving your self (v.11a)

By giving your stuff (v. 11b)

By giving your service (v. 12)

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Over these last several weeks we have been looking at Jesus as the newborn King, as a King like no other.

We have seen that He is a king like no other in that His coming was prophesied and foretold in detail that He would come through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah. That He would be through the line of David.

We have seen that He is a King like no other in that His birth was through miraculous and special events and through people of extreme faith so that God would demonstrate His incredible love by being with us in a special and unique way, first in bodily form, and then by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Today we are going to see how we should worship this king like no other through taking a look at how those who were at a distance to God’s people took the things that were revealed to them and worshiped this newborn King.

We are going to jump right in this morning so

Turn with me to Matthew 2:1-12 (p. 681)

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We will be reading about the magi, or what is often is referred to as the wise men.

We are going to look at how they worshiped and seek to learn how we might worship this King like no other.

Matthew 2:1-12

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.

The first thing we find out about these men is that they are seeking this newborn King.

In verse 2, they say, "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."

One of the ways we worship the King is by Seeking Him

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Worship by Seeking

Matthew 2:1-10

Now, have you ever wondered how it is that these men came to be seeking this king?

They are not Jews.

They are from far away.

How do they know that some astrological sign that they have seen is in reference to some King of the Jews?

The Scriptures don’t tell us specifically, but as I studied this passage and these men this week, I discovered some interesting things that may indicate how this could be.

The magi were actually, according to John MacArthur, Jr. “members of an Eastern priestly group, descendants of a tribe of people originally associated with the Medes.”

(John MacArthur. Birth of the King – Who were the wise men, accessed at http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/sg2182.htm on 12/9/08)

The Medes were one of the major groups and empires that ruled much of the world around the time of Daniel. In fact, one of the kings that ruled over Daniel in Babylon was Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:31).

Anyway, in Daniel’s day, all the kings who ruled from Babylon, (which is east of Israel, where the magi from our story would have travelled from) in what is now Iraq) would surround themselves with wise men and these wise men always included magi or magicians and astrologers.