Why We Need Christmas (Part 5)

1:01He did a lot in Beirut, Damascus, Tyrus, Sidon, and Rhodes. A lot of construction projects, even sent a lot of contributions over to Athens. He even built that impregnable fortress of Masada, where in 73 AD, nearly a thousand Jewish defenders committed suicide rather than being captured by the Romans. So he was a great builder, but he was also merciless. He was a cruel man. He was incredibly jealous and very suspicious of anyone who would threaten his power or he didn't feel was loyal to him. He was afraid. He was suspicious and he held on to his power very ruthlessly. In fact, he married a woman named Miriam, and she had a brother who was the high priest, Aristobulus, and he got to suspecting him, so he had him drowned. And then at the funeral, he goes and acts like he's really torn up about the whole event, shedding lots of tears. Well, it wasn't too long after that that he had Miriam killed, so his wife. And then at the same time, he had two of his own sons killed, thinking they were a threat to his power. And then five days before his death, and this was just about a year after Jesus would have been born, about five days before his death, he had a third son executed. It was a common saying that it was better to be Herod's pig than his son, because if you were his pig, you had a greater chance of living than you had his son. But one of the greatest instances that just underscore his cruelty was that as he was getting close to death, he knew that. There would not be any mourning in Jerusalem, that people would actually be happy and celebrate his death. So, shortly before his death, he had some of the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and put into prison. And the order he gave was as soon as he died, that all of these leading men would be executed, so that there would be for sure a guarantee that there would be mourning in Jerusalem upon his death. This is the guy. This guy is not a friend. So, the only thing that he did that probably was even more ruthless than this is what we read in verse 16 of this very same chapter: that he was mad that the Magi didn't come, so he goes up to Bethlehem and he slays all the male children who were to and under. Again, an indication that he thought that Jesus could have been up to two years old. This was a psychopsychotic man, Herod the Great, jealous, suspicious, psycho, nervous.

4:14There's another party, the Magi, the Magi, enter into this narrative. Who were they? Well, legend, and there's a lot of legend and mystery behind these people, but legend in the Middle Ages. Grew up that came up that they were actually had proper names. One was Caspar, one was Balsazar, and one was Melchoir. I don't know how you actually say it, but Melchoire Ben-Hur actually shows, you know, depicts them as such. But they were also seen to represent the tribes or the children of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japeth. And that's why one of them shows up black in many of the scenes. And then a casket in Cologne Cathedral, today there is actually a casket that claims to have the skulls of these Magi, three of them. Well, legend, that's what it is. The only real legitimate and sure facts we know about these Magi are what's given in Matthew. Verses we just read. We're not told what number. We're not told their names. We're not told how they got to Israel. We're not even told what country or countries they came from. But the word Magi probably comes from the root word magi, or megas, which is maybe a Babylonian origin. There was Herodotus, a historian, speaks that there was a tribe of Magi among the Medians. Among the Persians, there was this priestly cast of Magi.

6:00Like that of the Chaldeans in Babylon. And if you remember, Daniel was the head of such an order. So you get this Persian, Median, Babylonian group, a priestly caste. They were actually scientists, mathematicians. They were students of agriculture and history and the occult. They were astrologers and astronomers. And they had a great religious and political influence. As you can see, as they continued to grow in their science and ability, and especially in their religious, they became a very prominent and powerful group of people and advisors in the Medeo-Persian Empire and in the Babylonian Empire. And that's so it's not strange to refer to these as wise men. We actually get the word magic from them. Magi, magic.

7:02And we also learn from the book of Daniel that there were many of these Magi among some of the highest-ranking officials in Babylon. They were a very high-ranking group, advisors to the king. Except, you remember, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, right? And he wanted the Magi to, he wanted somebody to interpret the dream. But then he said, but first, I want you to. Tell me what the dream is. I'm not going to tell you the dream. I want you to tell me what the dream I had and then interpret it. Well, no one could do that, so Nebuchadnezzar got all irritated and was going to kill them all. Well, if you'll remember, Daniel then receives the dream and the interpretation and basically saved their hide. The short story of it. And so Daniel became very highly regarded among these Magi from the East.

7:59And the plot in Daniel 5 or Daniel 6, where they threw Daniel into the lion's den, really had more to do with the satraps and some other commissioners, not the Magi. He was very highly regarded among the Magi. And so it's not hard to imagine that these people had been impacted a great deal by the ministry of Daniel, by the prophecies of Daniel. It seems certain that the Magi would have learned much from Daniel about the true God. And they came from the East, the land of the rising sun, literally the land of the rising sun.

8:46So we looked at the search of the Magi. Here they are coming to find the one born king of the Jews. And Daniel, you know, had prophecies about coming king and filling the earth. Kingdom never pass away, crush all the. They're looking for this particular king. Next, I want you to see the apprehension of Jerusalem. Look at verse 3. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him. So this gave Herod special cause for concern. Here's these men from the East, probably quite a number of them. And because of their wealth and their prestige and power, they probably had with them a contingency of soldiers. Their appearance was that of royalty. They were wealthy. I think that's why you see these images of this wealthy kings from the East coming. Well, they were certainly a political, ruling, important class of people.

10:01And this entourage that they would have brought into Jerusalem would have been quite impressive, certainly noteworthy. Obviously, Herod took notice. And it was of such a magnitude that all of Jerusalem was troubled. Now, they were troubled, probably, because Herod was troubled. And they knew what happens when Herod gets troubled. They knew that Herod. Herod's reaction to him could be horrifying for everybody because Herod didn't do a good job identifying who his enemies were. He just went in and just took them out. And so the collateral damage they knew would be devastating. And so probably they feared for Herod's reaction. They knew bloodshed and suffering inevitably followed in Herod's wake. So we looked at the search of the Magi, the apparent apprehension of Jerusalem. Now I want you to look at the inquiry of Herod. Look in verse 4. Gathering together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. So first he pulls together the chief priests. There would have been the high priest there. Another one of the chief priests was the captain of the temple. This was kind of like the man who had the authority to police the temple. So he could have had a contingency of soldiers as well. But he was second in rank only to the high priest. Then there were the other chief priests. These would have been some of the other leading priests, such as those who oversaw the daily and weekly events and schedules of the priests. Those, the temple treasurer, the temple overseers, and a number of temple officials. So this All these together kind of formed that priestly caste or that aristocracy that called the chief priests. But he also called the scribes together. Now, the scribes were the authorities on the law, scriptural traditions of Judaism. They were often referred to as lawyers, and they were the key scholars. So he brings together the very highest level of religious experts, lawyers, and he asks them, where was the Messiah to be born? Well, look at verse 5 and verse 6. He tells them, They said to him, In Bethlehem and Judea. For this is what has been written by the prophet. And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. For out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. So the chief priests and the scribes told Herod exactly what he wanted to know. Bethlehem. Of course.

13:04Verse 7: Then Herod secretly called the Magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. So you get this idea. First, he calls in the chief priests and the scribes and asks them, okay, where is the king? And then Herod calls in the Magi, when did you see the star appear? So he wants to get the age range. He wants to know how high he has to go. To take these, to rid himself of this king. What time did the star appear? Now, what is a star? Okay, that's open to a lot of questions. Some suggest that it was Jupiter. Some suggest that it was Jupiter and Saturn coming together, or even three planets coming together, and that this is what led the Magi. This is what they saw. Others think that it was probably the glory of the Lord. Same glory that the shepherd saw in Luke 2:9, and was when Jesus' birth was announced by the angel. And throughout the Old Testament, there is this Shekinah glory of God that is revealed, manifested as light, brilliant light. It was the Lord that guided the children of Israel through the wilderness by this pillar, cloud by day, fire, and light by night. When Moses went up on Mount Sinai, to the eyes of the sons of Israel in Exodus 24, 17, was like the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop. You remember, it was this Shekinah glory that filled Solomon's temple. It was this glory that Ezekiel saw departing from the temple.

15:00And on through, when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. You remember on the Damascus road, just before Jesus spoke to him, Saul was surrounded by a light from heaven, which he described as brighter than the sun. Well, which is it? Or is it a combination of both? Maybe they left and with the constellation. They were certainly stargazers. Maybe it's this kind of glory. Well, since the Bible doesn't identify or explain the star, we can't really be dogmatic. But it was certainly a sign, and it certainly led them to Christ. I tend to think that it may have been the glory of the Lord. Verse 8, and he sent them to Bethlehem, go and search carefully for the child, and when you have found him, report to me so that I too may come to worship him. Now, does he really want to worship him? No, of course not. If you believe Herod wants to worship him, I've got a little piece of land I want to sell you off the coast of Florida somewhere, okay?

16:15So I looked at the search of the Magi, looked at the apprehension of Jerusalem, we looked at the inquiry of Herod. Now I want you to see the worship of the Magi. After hearing the king, they went their way, and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on. Before them, until it came and stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. This doesn't seem to describe a natural constellation movement. The star moves on and it stands over the place where the child was.

16:50And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly. So it almost seems like the star then appeared again. The language seems to be different. But, like I said, maybe there was something going on in the constellation that they had to set out on their journey, and certainly they saw the star. But it led them, it got them where they wanted to go, it got them to the right house, to the right address. In verse 11, and after coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The idea of worshiping, they saw him, they fell down, prostrating themselves. It's a very word of homage, tribute, paying tribute, paying honor. It's the most graphic form of paying honor. It's like kissing the feet, kissing the hem of the garment. They bowed low to him.

17:55And they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What? All these special gifts. Well, one thing, they were costly. That we can be sure of. May even have been prophetic. Gold speaks of the king, but it's a very precious metal. Throughout history, gold has been the most precious of metals, and it's a symbol of great value and wealth. They didn't bring a bunch of aluminum cans to them, they brought something of value. Frankincense was, again, a costly, very beautiful-smelling incense that was used only for the most special occasions.

18:42Origin says it was used in the temple. Myrrh was also preferred. It wasn't as expensive as frankincense, but it was used many, much, it was used as an anesthetic. They would mix that with wine. Remember, they offered that to Christ to kind of deaden the pain. It was also used in preparation for bodies. Even Jesus' body was used upon. So gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Christ was a king. Christ was a priest. Christ died for the sins of mankind. The gifts were costly, honoring. And then in verse 12. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi left for their own country by another way.

19:38So there you have it. The passage. Now, I want to shift gears a little bit, and I want you to see four responses to God's gift. You see, God intervenes into our world, and He intervenes to such a degree that man has to respond. You remember Noah's day? He intervened. Noah, what are you to do? Build an ark. Build an ark. Obey. And He intervened in Israel's day. He called the people out of Egypt, entered into a covenant with them. What was your responsibility at that time? Hear, obey, hear, and obey the law. Well, here is God again breaking in in the incarnation of Himself. He breaks into our world. And I want to take the remaining few minutes tonight and look at how we are to respond, or certainly look at four ways that the people in this passage responded to God's gift. First, the hatred of Herod.

20:52Now, Herod represents those direct enemies. His investigation to where this King was to be born was to kill. It was not to worship. He wanted to eradicate Jesus from his life. He wanted to eradicate Jesus from his society. He is a direct enemy, an antichrist, a hater of Christ. But he also illustrates the foolishness of wickedness. Because it's an interesting thing. Does Herod believe the prophecy? You think he believes it? Well, if he believes it, is he foolish enough to think that he can really slay God's Messiah?

21:39But if he doesn't believe it, why in the world do you go up to Bethlehem and kill all the children? Just a foolishness. Do you believe? Do you not believe? The folly of wickedness. But Herod represents those who hate Christ. They want Christ out of their lives, period. And there's another group, and that's those in Jerusalem, the apprehension of Jerusalem. What's interesting is they did not investigate the news about, okay, king, the great king is going to be born, the one prophesied. They're not interested in that at all. They're only interested in how this news about Jesus is going to impact their life. They're afraid of the mayhem. They don't want to be put out. They want the status quo. They don't want news of Jesus impacting their lives. So they're upset. They have no desire to go inquire anymore. They're just nervous that it's going to cost them something.

22:48These are the ones who don't want to be bothered with Christ. They don't want Christ coming in, changing their status quo. Well, then there's another group that I want you to see, and that's the academic indifference of the religious elite of the chief priests. I would say that, yeah, it's the academic indifference of this religious elite group. Notice they answered well. They were satisfied to quote Scripture and nothing more. Yeah, you want to know where they're sight? Yeah, over there in Bethlehem. How's that? I know my Bible, don't I? Got it down. Well, they answered well. I mean, they recognized that God's word clearly spoke of a literal personal Messiah, a historical figure that was going to come, that was going to be born in Bethlehem, who was going to rule Israel and the world. Like, yes.

23:53The problem with these guys is they were content with just their expert knowledge. They didn't praise God. They didn't inquire anymore, nor did they join the Magi in worshiping Christ. I find this perhaps the most scary of these groups, of those mentioned today. I find these far more scary than Herod. You know why? Because it was these chief priests and this religious elite that did to Christ what Herod could not do. These were the ones that crucified Christ. They did what Herod wanted to do.

24:41They put him to death. You see, information is not a substitute for worship. Information is not a substitute for worship. And these guys had their T's crossed. They understood Scripture. But they sat, and to them, worshiping God is nothing more than an academic exercise, and they put their finger right on the place of the Messiah, and yet they didn't worship him. So there are those who hate Christ, like Herod. There are those who do not want to be bothered with Christ, like those inhabitants of Jerusalem. And then there are those who are content with mere knowledge about Christ.

25:30And this is the religious elite of the day. The fourth response to God intervening in this world of ours was the faith and the worship of the Magi. What's interesting is the Magi had less knowledge about the true God than the Jewish leaders. But what they knew about him, they believed. And that's what's important. They believed and they followed. You know, they knew less, but they acted to the fullest. Remember, they left families and they left their homes and they went on a long journey, a costly journey, bearing gifts. They brought gifts suitable for a king. They didn't bring something worthless before him. Their gifts were expressions of their worship. It wasn't an appendage to their worship. It was part of their worship. And they're the ones that are the models of faith. You see, they're those like the Magi from the East. They accept the Lord when He comes.

26:38They may not have a whole lot of light initially, but they believe. They see, yes, this really is from God. And they believe what God gives them. And they believe it to the fullest. This is what faith in Scripture is. It's not how much you know about Christ, it's what you do with the information you do have. And And that's who Matthew is holding up to us as the model of faith. You see, we are to act upon what we do know and act to the fullest of what we do know. That's the legacy of the Magi. They worshiped the person, they worshiped Jesus Christ. He was the object who they came to worship. So, if I can sum up this whole series, why do we need Christmas? Well, we need Christmas to be reminded that we have a king to honor, that we need a Savior, that we need a refiner, that we have a gift to open, and that the object of our worship is Jesus Christ, a person. We worship Him that we might be transformed into the one we worship. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Father, help us to be faithful and to respond in faith to the information that you have given us. Father, you have made your ways known to us in Jesus Christ. Father, that we are to follow him, Father, that we are to call upon him, that we are to put our faith and trust in him. Father, help us all, every one of us, everyone here tonight, Lord. I pray by your Spirit, Father, that you would move us to respond in faith. to that which you have made plain and clear about yourself to us. Father, thank you for this church. Thank you for this season. Go with us now as we continue to honor and worship you outside these walls. In Jesus' name, amen.