And let me add my welcome to the other welcomes here this morning.
My name's Steve. I've never met you before.
I've seen you past here at St Paul's.
And what a great day to be gathering on this Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Christmas is huge. It's big.
It is incredible that something that is started so small would grow into something as magnificent as it is today.
So small that a poor, unwed teenage girl would give birth to a baby.
And this day, 2,000 years later, around half of the world's population, 3.5 billion people celebrate Christmas.
160 countries in our world declare it to be a holiday season.
That's over 80% of our countries in this world declare it to be a holiday season.
To go from something so small to something so big points to something clearly very significant that's happening here on this very first Christmas Day.
It's celebrated differently around the world.
But one of the interesting things about Christmas, which we don't get in any other celebrations throughout our calendar year in the year,
is the fact that the giving and receiving as gifts is so widely spread.
You know, like birthdays or retirement, that sort of stuff.
It's normally one person getting all the gifts.
Whereas Christmas is about everyone involving and sharing the gifts.
And it's pointing to the symbolic nature of the magnificence of the gift of Jesus Christ.
Who he is and what he has come to do for our sake.
That's what makes Christmas so, so big.
And that's where we want to head today as we look at Matthew chapter 2.
It'd be great if you got your Bibles open.
We want to see three personal gifts, three personal reactions, and one personal response to the person of Jesus.
So three personal gifts.
We read there in verse 11.
Jesus, as a baby, received a bunch of gifts, three gifts from some strangers.
Odd sort of thing.
He gets gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.
As a poor peasant girl, Mary would have been fairly pleased, I'd imagine, with this.
You know, like these are expensive gifts.
And so this newborn baby comes with this extensive trust fund that would have been deeply encouraging for her.
But these gifts are deeply personal and confusing at the same time.
They reveal, in the end, three significant things.
Who Jesus is, what he came to do, and how he did it.
The gold that he receives points to the kingship of Jesus.
Gold was a gift that was brought to an audience of a king in the ancient Near East in the first century.
You didn't turn up to a king without a gift of gold.
So the Magi, when they turned up, were expecting to see a king.
Once upon a time when Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia, the nation, the grateful nation of Australia, gave her the 50th edition of Who's Who in Australia.
That's the gift she received.
Obviously, we really appreciate her.
So they turn up to say, where is the one born who's to be born king of the Jews?
And what alerted them to the arrival of a new king is in the second half of verse 2.
We saw his star in the east and we have come to worship him.
Now, the Magi were astrologers.
They were magicians and interpreters of dreams.
And in the ancient world, people believed in astrology.
And so the Magi, in their culture, were considered the elite.
They were the academics.
They were the wise men, the professors.
And when these guys saw the star, they really recognised in this moment that something significant was happening.
Why is that?
Well, in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, when he died, one of the most astonishing flukes in history, if you like, took place.
A nova appeared in the sky above his funeral.
And so from that moment on in the ancient Near East, stars were associated with great men and particularly rulers.
And so these Magi are putting two and two together here.
And so what would have particularly encouraged them to dust off their passports and head off
was the strong rumour in the first century that there would be a change in world dominion.
Rule would start to come out of centralised in Judea.
Famous and diverse first century historians like Tacitus, Josephus and Suetonius all recorded this incident.
It would have been not really much of a leap at all for the Magi to conclude that political changes were underway when they saw the star.
And they set out on this long and difficult journey to find the ruler of the world and to offer him gold.
But frankincense or incense was an unexpected gift.
Because this gift was used by priests in the temple as they mediated between God and people.
That is, frankincense was symbolic of relationship with God.
And so the Magi were recognising Jesus at this point, not just as a king, but as a priest.
The one who would mediate between God and humanity, the divine and a rebellious people.
But the third gift would have really been something that would have thrown any brand new mother, the gift of myrrh.
That's because in the first century ancient Near East, myrrh was the main ingredient for the embalming of a dead body.
It's a symbol of death.
And so the gift of myrrh is prophetic.
The baby born a king and priest was a baby born to die.
And that, in the end, is what was needed to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity.
Jesus would die for the sins of humanity.
The title, King of the Jews, is only used twice in Matthew's Gospel.
Here at the birth of Jesus, again at the crucifixion of Jesus.
Born a king who exercises his rule by sacrificing himself to bring us back into relationship with God.
That's the three gifts.
Who Jesus is, what he came to do, and how he would do it.
And then, in this text, we see three reactions to the person of Jesus.
One thing you notice in all the historical biographies of Jesus is that whenever Jesus turns up, he divides people's opinion rapidly.
It's like he's this bowling ball.
It just sort of smashes people's views.
And see, here at the start of his life, we see three immediate reactions.
And really, if you like, two groups, two camps forming already.
One is full of praise and welcome.
The other is full of hatred, opposition, and indifference.
So first of all, we have hostile Herod.
Herod lies through his teeth.
Verse 8.
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.
Now, Herod has as much interest in worshipping Jesus as I have to take up knitting lessons.
Which, you don't know me, no interest at all.
Later in the chapter, we read Herod didn't fool the Magi.
They sneak off a different way, telling, you know, without telling Herod where Jesus is.
And he is furious.
He is furious, Herod.
So furious.
He orders all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and all of its surrounds to be put to death.
And Mel was right.
I heard Mel there when she's reading the emotion associated with that.
This guy is a brutal tyrant.
A brutal tyrant.
He was known to be brutal.
Anyone who challenged his authority at all was murdered.
He killed one of his wives and two of his sons.
He's the Roman appointed king of the Jews.
And he does not like the news that a king has been born.
He is immediately threatened.
And his response is hatred and fear.
A hatred of anything or anyone that threatened his self-centeredness and autonomy.
This account of deception and fear, bloodshed, injustice and homelessness are all too familiar.
There is an awful lot wrong in our world today.
One under the spectrum says that the reason there's so much problem in our world today is because of the rich and powerful.
We need to blame the rich and powerful people.
This world tends to make the poor, the minority groups in our world the heroes, the victims and the heroes at the same time.
The other end of the spectrum are those who insist that it's the immoral, irresponsible people who are the main problem in our world.
And this view of the world tends to make hardworking, decent, middle class people, the heroes of the world.
And yet what we have here, and in fact the full teaching of the Bible,
is that the source of evil in the world and the source of our problems in life,
the underlying issue of everything,
is in fact the human heart.
Herod's reaction to Jesus here is just a glimpse of all of us.
If you want to be king,
you want to rule your life,
autonomous over your life,
and someone else comes along and says that they're king,
then only one person has to give way.
Only one person can sit on the absolute throne.
And Jesus came into this world and in from his birth,
his claim to be king,
to be God,
to be the ultimate ruler of all things.
And throughout his life,
he calls for an allegiance so supreme
that it makes all other commitments in life look weak in comparison.
It is a claim to absolute authority,
a summons to unconditional loyalty,
and it inevitably triggers deep resistance from every human heart.
Who has the right to rule my life?
That is the most disturbing question possible for any human heart.
We want to remain on the throne of our lives at all costs.
It's interesting how we do it.
Some of us use religion to hold God at arm's length.
We try to put God into a position where he owes us
in some kind of way
because, you know, we've been obedient
or we do things for him.
And so we want to,
ultimately, we want to stay on control of our thrones.
We want to be in,
and we want to keep even God in our back pockets of controlling.
So some of us use religion.
Some of us flee from religion altogether,
become atheists maybe,
and they only proclaim that there is no God.
Either way, we're expressing our natural hostility
to anyone controlling, ruling our life,
and particularly God.
What is interesting here,
if you read to the verse 19,
Herod could not get rid of Jesus,
even with an entire army at his disposal.
In fact, verse 19 says,
just very simply,
Herod died.
He died.
That's Herod, hostile Herod.
And then we have the passive priests.
Their reaction is not as hostile as Herod,
but it's just as negative.
They're the ones who simply do nothing.
He is a non-entity in their life.
And this group is represented
by the chief priests and the scribes.
Verse 4,
gathering together all the chief priests
and scribes of the people,
Herod inquired of them
where the Messiah was to be born.
They told him,
well, this is what history tells us.
This is what we know
about where the Messiah,
the king of the Jews,
is to be born.
He's going to be born in Bethlehem.
They told him,
these are the elite,
these are the scholars,
these are the Bible guys,
and they said,
here it is.
He's going to be born there.
And then it was back to normal for them.
They didn't even so much as raise a sandal.
Why not go with the Magi?
This is your job after all
to know where the Messiah is
and when he's coming.
Why not go with them?
They knew it all,
and yet they knew nothing.
They knew their Bibles.
They were the scholars.
They had no problem in answering Herod,
and yet they entirely missed God.
Their apathy eventually handed
into outright opposition to Jesus.
In the end,
their knowledge of Jesus
and who he is
made as no substitute
for obedience to him.
But the final reaction we see,
and the only positive one,
is the malleable Magi.
It's the best word I could find
to represent their response
that starts with an M.
I'm trying to get it all working out here.
Their response is remarkable.
Impressed by what they saw
in the sky that night,
they journeyed west to Judea
to find out what it all meant.
It is astonishing
that these men
with so little to go on
should venture so far
to endure such hardship in travel
and face such uncertainty
of finding the one
to whom the star pointed.
And what is more,
they gave him costly gifts
and the worship
and the honour of their hearts.
It is astonishing
where the religious leaders
expend no time,
no energy,
no expense
or inconvenience,
where Herod expended
a great deal of time
and energy
and expense
and inconvenience
to try and find Jesus
in order to kill him.
The Magi expend
a great deal of time
and energy
and expense
and inconvenience
to try and find Jesus
so that they could worship
and honour him.
The Magi
are the worshippers,
the ones who joyfully
ascribe dignity,
authority
and honour to King Jesus
and whose lives
are satisfied in him.
Even if they did not know fully
what they were getting into
at this point,
they went on the journey
expecting to see a king,
which is why they turned up
to the palace
in Jerusalem.
Instead,
they were directed
to a king,
not like Herod,
a king,
not a tyrannical ruler,
not in a palace,
not in a throne,
but to a king
in a manger,
a baby,
helpless,
weak
and humble.
The kingship of Jesus
is fundamentally
different
than the kingship
of Herod.
when Queen Victoria
ruled as the British monarch
in the 1800s,
she controlled
a third of the world
at that point
and one day
she said
that she couldn't wait
to meet Jesus
and she was asked
why
and her response
was profound,
so that I can cast
my crown
before him.
Even Queen Victoria
recognised
that even as the,
in fact,
at that time,
the most powerful person
in the world,
she too had a ruler,
one who deserved
her everything,
even her crown.
So there's the,
there's the two,
the three broad responses,
indifference,
hostility
and worship
and really
they're,
they're divided
into two camps,
the positive
and the negative.
So I want to speak
to two broad groups
here today
about what your
personal response
might be.
Firstly,
the Christians.
Let me just say
those who
accept
Jesus
and Christmas
and Christianity.
If that is you,
I think it's important
for you to remember
that
every Christian
still has
a heart
of residual
anger
and hostility
towards God.
Every one of us.
and it will always
be there to the end.
And that is why
it is so hard
to pray,
to give,
to obey,
to grow.
There is still
that Herod
in each of us.
There is still
something in us
that fights God.
We cannot glide
through
the Christian life.
We've got to be
far more intentional
about
Christian growth
to overcome
all of those
bad habits.
which is why
we keep talking
about taking
your next step
here at St Paul's.
But taking
your next step
knowing
that the God
who you are
obeying
is not
Herod,
a tyrannical ruler.
He is a God
of grace
and mercy.
A God
who laid aside
his glory
as we have
already sung
this morning
and descended
humbly
to serve us.
That kind
of king
is calling
you to follow
him.
Now,
if however
you're here
today
and you're
unsure
about
Christmas
and
Christianity
or perhaps
even the
existence of
God,
if there's
one thing
you want
to hear
from me,
you need
to hear
this.
you are
not
objective
in your
view.
You are
not
objective
in your
view of
Jesus
and God
and Christmas
and Christianity.
It is an
absolute
fallacy
that anyone
would say
that they're
objective.
You're not.
The
philosopher
Thomas
Nagel,
he's an
American
philosopher,
he's an
atheist,
who's very
candid about
this point.
He wrote,
I'm talking
about the
fear of
religion
itself.
I'm speaking
from experience,
being strongly
subject to
this fear
myself.
I want
atheism to
be true
and are
made uneasy
by the fact
that some
of the most
intelligent
and well
informed
people I
know are
religious
believers.
It isn't
just that I
don't believe
in God
and naturally
I hope
that my
belief is
right.
I hope
there is
no God.
I don't
want there
to be a
God.
I don't
want the
universe to
be like
that.
My guess
is that
cosmic
authority
problem
is not
rare.
His point
is,
and which
is why I
respect him
at this
point,
is that
he's entirely
honest.
He's entirely
honest.
Nobody is
neutral about
whether Christmas
is true.
Thomas Hagel
is entirely
honest.
I don't
want there
to be a
God who
rules my
life.
I want
to be
Herod in
my life.
none of
us are
neutral
about
whether
Christmas
is true.
If the
Son of
God was
really born
in a
manger,
then every
single person
has lost the
rights to
oversee their
lives,
if it's
true.
You cannot
be objective
about a
claim like
that.
So just
keep that
in mind
for the
rest of
Christmas
Day,
if that's
where you
sit at
the moment.
In other
words,
what I'm
encouraging you
to do is
question your
doubts.
Doubt your
doubts,
if you like.
Now I
figure you've
got a bunch
of stuff on
your plate
in the next
24 hours,
the next few
days,
but maybe
soon you
might want to
look at that
issue,
come back to
it again.
Who is
Jesus?
What did
he come
to do
and what
did it
cost him
to do
it?
The
Magi
were the
knowledgeable
men of
the East.
They were
the wise
men,
the sages,
the elites,
the academic
elite,
but their
knowledge about
the events
of the
first Christmas
only took
them so
far.
It only
took them
to the
palace
in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Their
observation
of the
star took
them to
Jerusalem,
but that's
it.
The only
way they
got to
Bethlehem
was because
of the
scholars
saying,
the Bible
says he's
over there.
They had
to consult
the Bible
to find
Jesus,
and in
finding
Jesus,
they found
what they
had been
looking for
all of
their life.
These wise
men found
the wisdom
that they
had been
looking for
all of
their life.
So I
just want
to say
it without
explaining
it.
I haven't
got time
to explain
it,
unpack it,
and you'd
be grateful
for that
right now.
Jesus
is the
answer to
everything
that you've
been searching
for your
entire life.
There you
go.
I'm not
going to
unpack that
any further
than that.
I just
hope that
sits.
He is
your goal.
He is
your destination
in life.
I'm hoping
that encourages
you to
pursue that.
Why would
I make
such an
outrageous
claim?
I want to
encourage you
to be like
these wise
men and
search for
Jesus.
But go to
the source.
The evidence
is overwhelming
and it is
compelling.
As Ash
told us this
morning,
there are
New Testaments,
there are
Bibles floating
around everywhere
in this
place,
out there
in the
free.
If you
haven't got
one,
take it
and go.
Take it
and read
it.
Or there's
a few
copies of
this,
Is Christmas
Unbelievable?
Or there's
other ones
like Word
Wonder.
We here at
St. Paul's
would be
delighted at
any point to
sit with you
and to
engage with
those questions
you have
and to
help you
see why
Jesus is
the wisdom
you've been
searching for
all of your
life.
And even if
that means if
you're online
and you're at
another part of
this world,
such as my
mate Matt,
who's currently
in Utah,
checking in
for the
service.
You two
guys in
Utah,
check in
if you like.
We'd be
delighted to
help you see
why Jesus
is the
answer.
So consider
Jesus.
That's the
call for this
Christmas.
Ponder who
he is,
what he came
to do,
and what it
cost him to
do it,
and what it
means now
to bow down
and worship
him 2,000
years later.
Merry Christmas.