It was 1857 when John Hopkins first published the carol that we know as We Three Kings.
It became a classic carol.
Perhaps you sung it at some point.
I don't think we sang it in our congregational singing,
but perhaps you have reflected on it at some point this month.
It walks us through the details of this particular text,
but there are a couple of discrepancies with the hymn that are worth noting.
The first one being that the men, the journeymen in this particular story, were not kings.
It's not who they were.
It's a different word that's used to describe that we translate as wise men.
Really, the word is magi.
They weren't kingly figures per se.
So that's the first discrepancy.
The other is that it's really unlikely that there were only three of them.
There probably were actually much more than just three.
But both of these notes in the carol, it comes from the emphasis on the three gifts
that they open up and give to the baby Jesus or the toddler Jesus,
however old he might have been at the time that they arrived.
There were three of them, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And so John Hopkins associates these men as being kings
because the gifts that were given were very, very valuable.
They were extremely valuable, actually.
So valuable that these are the kind of things that would have really only belonged to or been given to kings.
And so he associates these men, perhaps they're kings.
The reason he says that there might be three of them is because there were three gifts.
And of course, we know that we can think that through and understand that that's not exactly what the text says.
Could have been three.
Probably was a lot more than that, actually, at this particular moment.
So there's some discrepancies in the carol, not to ruin it for you.
But though it may be a bit off, there are at least two kings in this text.
One was obsessed with preserving his power, going so far as to even execute all the male children,
two and under, in Bethlehem, in the region around Bethlehem,
just in his attempt to preserve his own position of authority and power over the people.
The other one couldn't have been more different than that.
The other king in this text is the one that Paul would later say in Philippians chapter 2,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, a thing to hold on to at all costs,
but instead humbled himself, became a servant, was made in the likeness of men.
One murdered innocent people to maintain his place,
while the other one, the truly innocent one, laid down his life for the guilty.
Mark, after church last Sunday, came up and he told me a joke, and I found it funny,
especially coming from Mark.
He had a great joke, and he said,
what's the difference between Santa and Jesus?
I really don't know what's the difference.
And he said, he said,
Santa brings gifts to all the people who are nice.
Jesus brings his gift to all the people who are naughty.
And that's exactly true, isn't it?
That's really what the gospel is.
Herod, on one hand, he murders innocent people in order to preserve his power.
Jesus, one with God the Father and God the Spirit,
leaves the throne of heaven, takes on humanity,
suffers in our place,
not for the nice ones and the ones who did all the good things this year.
He actually did that for sinners,
for the naughty ones.
And as we'll see throughout our study,
one of these kings brought tremendous trouble.
One of them actually brought exceedingly great joy.
Now here's the approach I want to take to the passage.
I think there's three potential responses to the advent of the Christ,
to the birth of the King.
Three potential responses to Jesus that are revealed or exposed in this particular text.
Each one has a distinct outcome,
but only one of them results in true and lasting joy.
And I want us to take a few minutes to consider each of these responses.
And in the process of doing that,
examine our own hearts to see which one of these responses most characterizes our own.
Here's the first one.
We want to look at those who are threatened by the King.
Those who are threatened by the King.
This comes in the first four verses.
I know we've read it twice already,
but it's just my habit to keep reading it.
So let's just read those four verses again.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King,
wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying,
Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?
We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.
And when Herod the King heard this,
he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.
So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes,
inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born.
Herod the Great is how we know this man historically.
He ruled over Israel for about 40 years under the authority of Rome.
And he's really known for two things.
He's known for building tremendous buildings.
He had all kinds of fortresses.
He's responsible for even the amazing architectural achievement
that was the temple in Jerusalem for the Jews at that particular time.
And he's known for that.
He's regarded for the things that he built.
The other thing that he's known for is murdering anyone that he saw as a threat to his own power.
He was a murderous man.
In fact, he was personally responsible for the murder of hundreds,
if not thousands, of individuals,
including his wife, his mother-in-law,
which maybe some of you could understand.
Three of his sons,
all because he felt like they were a threat to his own power.
This was his legacy, really, of his own time.
And he knew that.
He knew it so intently that he ordered and arranged
that hundreds of the notable men in Israel and Jerusalem
be gathered in the Hippodrome on the day that his own death was announced
so that in Jerusalem the people would weep
rather than celebrate on the day of his death.
That's what he was known for.
He knew it.
He was a vile man, a wicked man,
ruthlessly taking the lives of others that he perceived as threatening.
Well, it's no surprise then that Herod was troubled
when he heard that this group of magi from the east were in town
and the thing that they were asking for
was the birthplace of this new king of the Jews.
Herod hears that and he says,
Wait a minute.
I'm the king of the Jews.
Who is this that they're looking for that they say is the new king of the Jews?
And it's also no surprise that everyone else in Jerusalem was troubled
by what Herod might have done as a result of this inquiry.
Notice what the text says.
Herod is troubled.
And because Herod is troubled, everyone else in Jerusalem is troubled too
because they know what he's capable of.
And certainly those worries and troubling thoughts were warranted.
And so this section, these first four verses,
they really show us the first of our three responses.
And it's this.
Herod says,
Those who are threatened by the king are full of trouble.
They're troubled by him.
Now Herod's response actually reveals the credibility of Jesus' threat.
If he didn't think that Jesus could indeed be one who would dethrone him,
there would have been no reason for him to do what he did.
He legitimately perceived Jesus as a threat.
And he immediately understood that the one the wise men were searching for was not just any child.
He understood enough about the Jewish scriptures to know they're asking about the child,
the one who would actually be capable of dethroning him.
That's why he gathers all the experts.
It's not the experts that come to Herod and say,
This might be the Christ.
Let's look at the scriptures and see what they say.
It's Herod that goes to the experts.
And he says,
Tell me, where is it that the Christ has been said to be born in the scriptures?
If what the wise men suggested was true,
this baby was a genuine threat to Herod's rule.
And so his response to that threat was to eliminate it at all cost.
That was his goal.
Now, the application of this is not just limited to rulers of nations,
of counties and cities or whatever it may be.
This isn't just about politics here.
Those who are determined to be the supreme ruler of their own lives
will always find Jesus to be a threat.
Always.
And the insistence on Jesus as Messiah will always be troubling.
It will always upset them.
The demand of his lordship and of his kingship over each and every one of us
will be something that they deny and reject vehemently.
Think about this for just a moment.
It's not hard to see it.
Consider the secularist for just a moment.
Have you ever wondered why they carry so much vitriol so often
towards something that they insist isn't actually true?
There are so many more crazy things to believe in this world than the Christian religion.
And yet, talk of Jesus is the thing that they routinely label even as dangerous.
Some going so far as to write that to put your faith as a Christian before your children
is tantamount to child abuse in some occasions.
Why such hatefulness toward this?
If it's not true, why make such a big fuss about it?
And I think the answer for that, at least in some sense,
must be the same that it was for Herod.
Jesus is a threat to our personal kingdom.
And when we have a threat to our own personal autonomy,
a threat to our own personal kingdom,
our reaction is to eliminate that threat at all costs.
But it's not just secularists here.
That's not the only thing that we see.
What about those who attempt to blend somehow the rule of Jesus
with their own personal autonomy and their own rule over their life?
They're just as troubled by the insistence of the Scripture on the things of Christ.
They don't mind coming alongside and being religious to some extent,
but in order to do that, they have to dethrone Jesus to some extent,
primarily by rejecting and denying any of Jesus' teachings
that they feel are intolerable
or go against what it is that they truly want out of their lives.
He becomes a threat.
So they must bring the threat down.
And what do we find by this?
Those who are threatened by the King,
they really have no joy.
There's no real joy in their life
because any time Jesus comes up, it troubles them.
It's painful for them.
It's frustrating for them.
They are utterly troubled in heart.
But that's not the only response we see here.
We see the extreme response of Herod,
those who are threatened by the Christ.
Secondly, we see those who are indifferent to the King.
Those who are indifferent.
Look at verse 5.
The chief priest and the scribes told Herod in Bethlehem of Judea,
for so it's written of the prophet,
by the prophet,
and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people, Israel.
So the religious leaders here,
they reveal the second potential response,
which is indifference.
Think about the men that Herod has gathered.
They knew the scriptures better than anybody else in Israel.
And they immediately knew the right answer
to Herod's question.
As soon as he brings them in and he says,
where is it that the scriptures say
the Christ is to be born?
I would imagine they were all,
perhaps in unison, said,
Bethlehem.
This is what Micah says.
This is, it must be Bethlehem.
But what's fascinating about their response
is not that they knew the answer.
What's fascinating about their response
is that they did nothing about
the possibility
that the Christ might have come.
Think about this.
What was the purpose in them studying the scriptures?
In order to learn who God is,
in order to live a life that was pleasing to God,
they're all looking for this coming Savior
and King and Messiah.
And now these men have come.
They're troubling the whole city now
because they're saying,
we saw this supernatural sign.
We think that the Messiah is here.
Where might we find him?
They know the answer.
And then they did nothing.
Nothing.
We're not even told of a routine inquiry
into the suggestion of the wise men.
These men traveled perhaps hundreds of miles
over many months to visit this child.
And the spiritual leaders in Jerusalem,
they couldn't make a six-mile walk
to Bethlehem just to ask around?
You know, if they had,
I wonder who they might have come across.
Maybe they had come across
that group of shepherds
who on the night of Jesus' birth
just happened to be out in the field
and had this amazing experience
with the heavenly host
who immediately rushed in
and found this baby in a manger
and worshiped him.
Maybe they would have found those men
and those men may have given
a little credibility
to what even the wise men had said.
Maybe they had bumped into a few others
who said, yeah,
we heard about this thing.
It's really quite amazing.
We're not sure what to think about it.
We don't see anything about that.
Douglas Sean O'Donnell says it this way.
What is surprising
is that they did nothing with the answer.
Unlike these foreigners
who traversed afar
over field and mountain,
moor and fountain,
these religious experts
pushed their buzzer,
won their prize,
and went back to bury their heads
in the Word of God.
As Paul put it,
they were always learning
and never able to arrive
at a knowledge of the truth.
They were as indifferent to Jesus
as the priest and Levite
were to the bruised and battered man
in the parable of a good Samaritan.
That's really what's intriguing here,
isn't it?
It's not what the leaders did.
It's what they didn't do.
Which brings to life
something that John says
at the beginning of his gospel.
In John chapter 1 and verse 11,
he says,
Jesus came to his own
and his own
did not receive him.
Now, of the three responses
as we're thinking through
potential applications
for our own lives,
of the three responses
we're covering,
this is the one that I think
is the most common.
I think it's probably the one
that most of us
will be familiar with.
Because churches like ours
are absolutely full of people
just like this.
People that can answer
all the trivia
about who Jesus is.
They can tell you
where he was born.
They can maybe even point you
and connect all the dots
that Matthew begins to connect
in his gospel.
But when you really get to know them
and you begin to talk to them,
you find out that
the truth of Christ
and the potential
of this gospel message
has really had no real impact
on their lives.
They know all the things,
but it doesn't really
mean anything to them.
It hasn't done anything
in them.
They're basically
indifferent.
And those who are relatively
indifferent to Jesus,
they're not troubled by him
the way Herod is troubled by him.
They're not troubled by him
in the same way
that people who feel
the immediate threat
that Jesus imposes
to their own personal life.
After all,
they generally do
most of the things
that good Christians
are supposed to do.
But,
they've never truly experienced
the joy
of knowing him either.
Generally,
they're content with that.
They do the things,
they say the prayers,
they attend the services,
they do good works,
they do their best
and they try their hardest,
but there's really not been
any joy to be found
in Christ for them.
Why?
Because basically,
they're indifferent.
They know the things,
but they don't know him.
But what's to come
of these people?
Well,
if you go to chapter 3
and you start to read
a little bit of
John the Baptist,
you'll see John the Baptist
referred to them
as chaff,
an empty shell
that only appears
for a season
to be the real thing.
And John said,
ultimately,
they'll face Jesus' judgment.
Look at Matthew 3,
verse 12.
John says this,
Jesus' winnowing fork
is in his hand.
This is an agriculture
illustration.
His winnowing fork
is in his hand
and he will clear
his threshing floor.
He will gather
his wheat into the barn,
but the chaff
he will burn
with unquenchable fire.
Those who are threatened
by Jesus
and those who are
indifferent to Jesus
have very different
dispositions toward him,
but ultimately,
they face the same fate.
they don't experience
the joy
of eternal salvation.
Rather,
they must
settle
for whatever
fleeting moments
of happiness
they're privileged
to experience now.
But there is something
far better
than this for us,
which brings us
to the final response.
There are those
who are threatened
by the king.
There are those
who are indifferent
to the king
finally there are
those who come
and genuinely
worship the king.
Verse 7,
Herod summoned
the wise men secretly.
He ascertained
from them
what time the star
had appeared
and he sent them
to Bethlehem
saying,
Go and search
for the child
and when you found him
come and let me know
so I can worship him too.
After listening
to the king
they went on their way
and behold the star
that they had seen
when it rose
it went before them again
until it rested
over the place
where the child was.
And when they saw
this star
they rejoiced
exceedingly
with great joy.
Not because of
the star itself
but because of
what the star
was leading them to
at least what they
believed the star
was leading them to.
And going into the house
they saw the child
with Mary his mother
and what did they do?
They fell down
and they worshipped him.
They opened
their treasures.
They offered him gifts
gold and frankincense
and murder.
It's quite a different
reaction from the other two.
Let's talk for just
a moment again
about who these men were.
Wise men translates
a Greek word
that we would say
is magi
which is linguistically
connected to magic
or magician
that kind of gives us
an understanding
of what these men
were like.
The term initially
referred to those
in Persia
who were experts
in Persian
and Babylonian mysteries.
Eventually
it took on
a broader meaning
and really was used
to refer to
people who were
immersed in
magic
or astrology
the interpretation
of dreams
studies of sacred
writings
and so on.
A good biblical
parallel
if you're looking
to see
who would these
people match
at other places
in the Bible
you might go
to the book
of Exodus
and you see
the sorcerers
who Pharaoh
used to mimic
the works
and the powers
of Moses.
This would probably
be somewhat
in line
with the background
of these men
and of course
perhaps coming
from the Babylonian
era
where they were
introduced to the
things of the
Hebrew beliefs.
So the identity
of these men
is unique
in the incarnation
narrative.
They were Gentiles
whose lives
were linked
to things
that are expressly
forbidden
in the scriptures.
Yet they're
the ones
in the story
who ultimately
experienced
the joy
that came
with the advent
of the Christ.
Now many people
believe that
their interest
in the Hebrew
scriptures
is the lasting
result of
Daniel's
influence
in Babylon.
You remember
Daniel ruled
as a Hebrew
over Babylon
and even Persia
with King Darius
for many,
many,
many years
and his influence
was certainly
lasting there
and perhaps
that's how
they became
familiar
with the Hebrew
Bible
and some
of the prophecies
that are in it.
But their reason
for looking
for and following
a star
is not actually
very clear
in the scriptures.
Most people
suggest that
it probably
came from
Balaam's prophecy
in Numbers
chapter 24
which says this,
I see him
but not now,
I behold him
but not near,
a star
shall come out
of Jacob
and a scepter
shall rise
out of Israel.
Now there's
no doubt
that Balaam's prophecy
has to do
with the forthcoming
Messiah.
But it's not
entirely clear
if the star
that Balaam
talks about
is meant
to be taken
literally here.
I'm not so sure
that it is.
I guess it's possible.
Many people
have suggested that
but the text
doesn't tell us that.
Now here's my hang up.
Matthew
is very much
concerned
with notating
when something
in the narrative
actually fulfills
an Old Testament
prophecy.
He does it
at least
six different times
in the first
three chapters
alone
of his gospel.
But he doesn't
do it here.
And the reason
I think
is because
they're searching
for a star
and noticing
of a star
I don't think
actually had
anything to do
with prophecy
at all.
These men
were probably
astrologers.
They were
stargazers.
They interpreted
life and events
and future things
on the basis
of the movements
of the stars
and the planets
much like
astrologers might do
today.
But they were
also for some
reason compelled
by the Hebrew
scriptures.
So they've got
this life
in paganism
that they live
out but then
they've also got
somehow this
fascination
with the Hebrew
scripture that
talks about
a coming Messiah
and king
and these two
things start to
collide together.
So God then
supernaturally
I think that's
clear in the text
certainly Matthew
believes this is
a supernatural
event.
He sends a star
that grabs
their attention
they associate
it somehow
with this
coming Messiah
and they pack
up their bags
and they head
toward Jerusalem.
It takes them
however long
it takes to
get there
and eventually
they get there
not having seen
the star again
and then after
this conversation
with Herod
suddenly the star
that they had
noticed before
appears again.
There's something
supernatural
happening in that
and what I think
is happening here
is a demonstration
of God's
sovereign work
to bring even
the most unlikely
of people
to Christ.
I think that's
what's happening
here.
God may even
use elements
of our sin
and confusion
to draw us
to himself
and in the case
of these men
it resulted
in the experience
of exceedingly
great joy.
Now isn't this
a marvelous truth
of how God
works in our lives?
Many of you
may have a
similar testimony.
You didn't come
to Christ
because you were
looking for Christ
you came to Christ
because something
in your life
wasn't right
and the Lord
used that thing
that wasn't right
to put you
in just the right
place where somebody
introduced you
to the gospel
or you came
to a church
service
or something
happened
and the Lord
was actually
using the error
of your life
the confusion
of your life
to get you
to the truth
and I think
that's what he's
doing with these
men.
He's drawing
them even
with their own
deception
so that he
might get them
to the truth
of the person
of Christ.
It's amazing.
Now
the Magi
they weren't
threatened
by Christ.
they were
humbled
by Christ.
They weren't
indifferent
to Christ.
If they were
coming from
the regions
near Babylon
like they
we think
they might
have come
we're looking
at an 800
mile journey
perhaps on foot
many months
to actually
get to Jerusalem
and then
perhaps a few
weeks longer
before they
actually figured
out to go
to Bethlehem
or whatever
the case
may have
been.
Jesus
and his
family
for some
reason
are still
there
and they
come in.
This is
tremendous
effort.
That's not
indifference.
It's effort
to get to
the truth
to get to
this Christ
King
and when
they get
there
there's no
indifference
in their
reaction.
There's
tremendous
sacrifice
in their
reaction.
Gold
frankincense
and myrrh
people have
tried to make
some connections
there.
Some symbolic
connections
perhaps there's
some the text
doesn't tell us
that.
I think these
were gifts
meant for a
king.
This was an
acknowledgement
that they
believed in
that moment.
This child
is the king
who is said
to come
and they
sacrifice
tremendous
wealth
and they
get on their
hands and
knees
and they
worship
the child.
It's tremendous
faith.
They came
to Jesus
based on their
faith in what
the Bible
said.
Sound
familiar?
If you're
going to
come to
Jesus at
some point
you're going
to come
because the
Bible says
so.
They come
because they've
been enamored
at some point
with the
Hebrew
scriptures
with the
Bible.
They
worshipped
at his
feet in
recognition
that he
is the
true king
and Messiah
and through
this encounter
with the
Christ they
experienced a
joy that no
one else in
this text
understood.
Herod never
had this
joy.
At least at
this moment
the Jews in
Jerusalem
didn't
experience this
joy.
No the
Gentile
magic
stargazers
from Babylon
they were the
ones who
experienced the
joy.
So let me ask you
a question.
Are you a
sinner?
Are you a
sinner?
here to
examine your
life and the
truth outs for
you would you
just have to
say maybe
there's people
worthy of
salvation.
I'm not one
of them.
I match
probably a
little more
closely to
these men in
the way that
I've lived my
life.
Maybe you're
the one that in
your family if
people were to
come over at
Christmas and
they were to
say okay this
is the one in
our family who's
probably going to
be most likely to
want to think about
Christ and talk
about Christ and
be impacted by the
gospel and read Luke
chapter 2 before we
open up our
presents or whatever
the thing is that
we do.
You're the last one
that they would say
would do it.
Well I've got good
news for you in
this text because
these men they were
the last ones in all
the Christmas story
that we would have
ever expected would
have come to a
saving knowledge of
Christ and the
gospel and yet
it's them.
This text has
great news for all
of us that the
joy of Jesus is
offered to all who
will come to him
and worship him.
Let me conclude
this way.
All sorts of things
can contribute to
both our troubling
experiences and
even our happy
experiences in life.
Only one thing
though can actually
bring us genuine
joy and that's
Jesus.
He's the only one.
The joy that he
brings though it
doesn't come merely
because of his
birth.
It doesn't come
merely because of
his existence.
It actually
ultimately comes
through his death
on the cross.
That's where the
joy comes from.
The basis of our
joy as Christians
is Christ's
joy in making
an atonement
for our sins.
Consider Hebrews
chapter 12.
The writer says
we are to look
to Jesus who
is the founder
and perfecter
of our faith
who for the
joy that was
set before him
endured the
cross
despising the
shame and is
seated at the
right hand of the
throne of God.
In other words
the writer of
Hebrews is saying
the death and
resurrection of
Jesus he pursued
that willingly
as a pursuit of
joy.
joy was going to
come to him
as a result of
him laying down
his life in
this way.
And then the
writer follows it
up in the next
verse and he
says so consider
Jesus who
endured from
sinners such
hostility against
himself so that
he says you may
not grow weary
or faint-hearted.
Well what's the
opposite of weary
and faint-hearted?
I would say joy
is probably a
pretty good
description of
the antonym
there.
What is the
writer saying?
Our joy comes
from the cross
and the
resurrection and
so does Christ's
joy.
His joy comes
from saving us
through his cross
and resurrection.
It's amazing.
He said it all
sounds so great.
How can I
actually have this
joy?
How can I
experience the
joy?
Well the
scriptures tell
us that the
joy of salvation
is not something
you can earn.
You don't hit a
button or go to a
certain amount of
services or do
certain amount of
religious things.
It's a gift that
has to be received
and the Bible says
that we receive
that gift through
faith in Jesus.
By our faith he
transforms our
lives.
He redeems our
souls and he
brings us this
joy.
And I'll show
you.
First Peter
chapter one
verse eight
says this.
Though you have
not seen him
you love him.
Ever thought
about that?
Ever experienced
a true affection
for Jesus who is
someone that you've
never actually even
seen before?
Though you do not
see him you love
him.
Though you do not
now see him you
believe in him.
and you rejoice
with a joy that
is inexpressible
and filled with
glory.
Obtaining the
outcome of your
faith which he
says is the
salvation of your
soul.
This joy of
salvation is not
something you earn
by doing your best
and trying your
hardest.
forgiveness.
It's something you
receive by coming
to the king,
worshiping at his
feet, trusting by
faith in who he is
and what he's done to
save your soul.
Now you can fight
against the truth
and feel miserably
troubled at the
threat that Jesus
poses to your life
and it is a
legitimate threat.
You can also
remain indifferent
searching for
meaning and
happiness and all
sorts of things but
always ending up
empty in the end.
We all know what
that's like.
We've been there.
We've experienced
that.
You can continue
in your indifference
and that experience
will continue the
way that it is.
But if you will
come by faith and
worship the king,
you too will
know this
inexpressible joy
that comes from
knowing Jesus as
Lord and Savior.
And I know if
you're here and
you're not a
believer, you're not
even sure if you're
a believer, you're
trying to sort
things out.
Let me just say,
I'm glad you're
here.
And I want you to
keep coming until
you get it sorted
out.
And when you keep
coming to the word
and seeing it's
good that you're
here, it's good
that you're thinking
and it's good that
you're listening.
But if you're here
and you don't know
him, it's hard for
me to explain
anything other than
what I've just said.
Faith comes by
hearing.
Hearing comes by
the word of God
and joy comes
by the faith.
Now you've
already got part
of that out of
the way.
You've heard the
word of God.
You can come
back to it again
and again to
understand the
gospel message as
clearly as you
possibly can.
You've heard it.
What's left is for
you to believe it.
And when you
believe it, you'll
feel the joy of
it.
And I hope that
you will do
that.
That you won't
waste another
moment of your
life feeling
threatened or
indifferent to
Jesus.
But that you'll
accept the joy
that he desires
to give you.
That was his
joy to provide
for you.
And come to
him in faith.
Well,
that was
goodNINGNINGNING