Well, Merry Christmas, everyone.
I thought I would start with controversy.
Let's talk politics.
Now, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum,
you've got to admit that the field of Republican presidential candidates
consists of some very unique personalities.
You've got to admit it.
And so I'm not about to advocate one candidate over the other here,
but let me, I mean, there is a significant contrast
between one Donald Trump and one Jeb Bush.
I mean, one is very brash.
The other is quite reserved.
Sharp contrast between the two.
And when we get into the actual debates
between the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee,
we'll have some more contrasts.
All vying for the top position in the land.
This morning, as we prepare our hearts for this week,
celebrating Christmas,
we're going to look at this passage in Matthew 2, 1-12,
a passage that brings out contrasts
to help us see who is the one true king.
Matthew makes some contrasts between Herod and Jesus,
and we're left asking,
well, which one is the true king of the Jews?
The Magi, who were Gentiles,
point us to the real king.
And he's not just the king of the Jews,
he's the king of all.
And all are to bow down and worship him.
And so this morning,
here's how I'd like to move us forward.
We're going to walk through the story,
verses 1-12,
and I want you to see five contrasts.
And those contrasts are going to help us to see
who is the one true king.
I'll walk through the story,
we'll make the point,
and we'll ask the question,
so what?
What difference does this make for us now?
So let's look at this story.
Five contrasts.
And the first contrast begins in the very first verse.
Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea
in the days of Herod the king,
we already have our two candidates, so to speak.
Jesus and Herod for king of the Jews.
Which one?
And where the gospel writer points us to
is he's talking about birthplace.
There's a contrast
in where each of these people were born.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
We know that.
And Bethlehem was outside of Jerusalem
in southern Israel.
But what you may not remember
is that Jesus was also,
he grew up in Nazareth,
which is in northern Israel,
around the Sea of Galilee.
And so one of the things Matthew's doing here
is helping people understand
why this Jesus of Nazareth
was actually born in Bethlehem.
And what we all know about Bethlehem is
it's the hometown of David.
That's where King David was born.
That's where he grew up.
And so what Matthew is doing here
is helping us link Jesus
to the kingship of David.
And he spent a lot of time
in chapter 1 doing the very same thing.
Today, Jesus is from the line of David.
He has a birthright to the throne.
Now Herod, on the other hand,
he's not from Bethlehem.
He's an Edomite.
He was born outside of Israel.
Edom was south of Israel.
In a little background on Herod,
in 40 A.D.,
he was declared to be the king of Judea
by the Roman Senate.
He was declared to be the king of the Jews
by the Roman Senate.
So he was not Jewish.
And the Jews held that against him.
And so the throne was not his birthright.
And he actually married into
a very powerful Jewish family of the time.
And so what we have here
at the very outset
is a contrast of birthplaces.
And we have to ask the question,
well, which one points to the one true king?
Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
but not Herod.
So that's contrast number one.
Contrast number two,
who the Magi sought.
We see that at the second half of verse one
and into verse two.
Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.
Now, you've got to remember,
these wise men from the east,
east is most likely Babylon.
And the perspective here is east of Israel,
east of Jerusalem.
So Babylon would have been to the right.
Hundreds of miles away.
And what is important to note is
at that time in Babylon,
there was a significant Jewish settlement.
And so these Magi's could very well,
likely have been influenced
by the Jews living in Babylon at the time.
Now, Magi were Gentiles, non-Jews.
And these Magi were astrologers
and dream interpreters.
And so they studied the stars.
They tried to make sense of dreams.
And so isn't it interesting
that God leads them by a star.
He leads them by a dream
at the end of this section.
What you need to see about these Magi
is that they're Magi on a mission.
They've come to Jerusalem for something.
They're looking.
And we see that in verse two.
They come to Jerusalem.
And they're saying,
where is he who's been born King of the Jews?
Where is the one born King of the Jews?
They're not saying,
hey, where's the one who was voted in
as King of Judea?
They're not asking that.
They're saying,
where's the one who is by birthright
King of the Jews right now?
That's what they're looking for.
And they go on to say
that we've been following His star.
His star.
Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?
Where we saw His star when it arose.
His star.
At that time,
when there was a star that would appear
that corresponded to someone's birth,
it was a huge deal.
And so somehow,
these Magi,
seeing this star appear,
and somehow being influenced
by Jewish thinking at the time,
most likely in Babylon,
they were putting two and two together.
And they were saying,
okay, we're going to Jerusalem.
We're going to find this one born King of the Jews.
It kind of begs the question,
did they know that this King of the Jews
would be God with us?
God in the flesh?
Well, we don't know that.
But we know what Matthew says now.
That this baby that they're searching for
is in fact God in the flesh.
So here we have these Magi on a mission.
And at the end of verse 2,
they say,
for we saw His star
and have come to worship Him.
Come to pay Him homage.
Come to bring tribute.
Come to recognize this one greater than us.
We have Gentiles coming to worship a Jewish king.
It's amazing.
This word worship shows up three times
in this passage alone.
It's a significant theme.
Worship.
Worship this king.
So here we have foreign diplomats
paying homage to someone greater than they are,
this baby born a king,
king of the Jews.
We know Him as Emmanuel.
Here's the contrast.
It's not explicitly stated,
but it's there.
These Magi come to Jerusalem
where Herod would have been reigning.
And they're asking around the city,
hey, where is this one born king of the Jews?
Where is he?
Do you know who they're not asking for?
They're not asking for Herod.
They're looking for a child.
A child marked by this star.
And so there's a contrast in who the Magi sought.
Which one is the true king of kings?
The king of the Jews?
The third contrast I want to help you see
is the contrast of plans.
If you look at verse 3, we read this.
When Herod the king heard this,
he heard the mumbling.
He heard that there were Magi in town.
He heard that they were looking
for the one born king of the Jews.
When Herod the king heard this,
he was troubled.
What was he troubled about?
Was he troubled about a baby
born under his reign?
Was that what he was troubled about?
Here's what he was troubled about.
He was troubled that there was now
a rival claim to his throne.
That's what troubled him.
There's someone else in the kingdom
who is being said is the king of the Jews
by birthright.
Born king of the Jews.
It represented a threat.
Herod dealt with threats
in a most disturbing way.
By this point in his reign,
Herod the great
was greatly paranoid.
And he was a killer.
I read something this week
that I want to read with you.
This is one of the people
who help kind of like
the four Tauruses like me
see things that I normally don't see.
And so one of the commentators
wrote this,
speaking of Herod.
He was wealthy
and politically gifted,
intensely loyal,
an excellent administrator,
and clever enough
to remain in the good graces
of successive Roman emperors.
His famine relief was superb
and his building projects,
including the temple,
admired even by his foes,
but he loved power,
inflicted incredible,
incredible heavy taxes
on the people,
and resented the fact
that many Jews
considered him a usurper.
In his last years,
which would be
at the point of this story,
in his last years,
suffering an illness
that compounded his paranoia
turned to cruelty
and in fits of rage
and jealousy
killed close associates,
his wife Miriam,
and at least two of his sons.
This man,
this Herod the Great,
is troubled
and his troubledness
runs deep.
He sees this announcement,
this potential king
as a threat to him.
We notice too
that all Jerusalem
was troubled with him.
The best way
to understand that
is this.
If Herod ain't happy,
nobody else
in Jerusalem is happy.
I mean,
think about it.
You're someone
living in Jerusalem
and these foreign dignitaries
come into the city
and they're asking,
where is this king
of the Jews,
this one born king
of the Jews?
And you're thinking,
oh, this isn't going
to be good.
This isn't going
to be good
because freak show,
Herod,
in the throne
right now,
is not going
to like this.
And so,
in verse 4,
we see what
Herod does.
This guy,
this guy's a rascal.
And assembling
all the chief priests
and scribes
of the people,
he inquired of them
where the Christ
was to be born.
So, he gets word,
he's troubled,
and then he goes
into political
Simonizing.
Do you know
what Simonizing is?
My father-in-law
uses Simonize.
It's you start planning.
You get the political
kind of wheels turning.
You're like,
okay,
we've got a potential
threat here.
How are we going
to handle this?
We've got to figure out
kind of the scope
of this
in order
how to handle it.
And so,
being very politically
savvy,
Herod calls in
kind of the religious
elite
in Jerusalem
at the time.
And he asks them
the question,
where is the Christ
to be born?
He's setting a plan
in motion.
We don't know it
quite yet.
He'll come out
in a second.
But he does not
have something
good in mind.
So,
he brings these
kind of religious
elite together
and he asks them,
where is the Christ
to be born?
Now,
there is a really
subtle point
to be made.
The Magi come in
asking,
where is this one
born king
of the Jews?
And now,
we see Herod
asking these
religious elite,
where is the Christ
to be born?
And so,
we see this
connection between
king of the Jews
and the Christ.
They're one and the same.
The long-awaited one.
The promised one
of God.
Where is he
to be born?
And so,
these religious elite
answer Herod
very quickly.
They know right
off the top of their head
where he's going
to be born.
They say in verse 5,
they told him,
in Bethlehem of Judea.
The second time
that phrase is used.
For so it is written
by the prophet.
Written through the prophet.
God spoke through the prophet.
God has a plan.
And this baby
fulfilled that plan.
It's not a Simonizing plan
of a tyrant king.
It's God's plan
for the salvation
of the world.
And so,
what they do is
they quote
Micah 5.2.
But it's a combined quote.
It's more than Micah 5.2.
It's Micah 5.2
and 2 Samuel 5.2.
So they're kind of
squished together.
And what it functions as
is a prophetic stamp
saying,
this is legit.
This is God's plan.
We've already seen
Matthew do this
in the section before
where he quotes
Isaiah 7.14.
This baby
born of a virgin
is Emmanuel.
It's Jesus.
And next week
we're going to see him
do this three more times
where he says
that this baby
and his life
fulfill what God
had said beforehand
in the Old Testament.
It's all about
God's plan.
And so this quote,
the Micah 5.2 part
is the first part.
And you, O Bethlehem
and the land of Judah
and by no means
least among the rulers.
What he's doing there
is yes,
it was God's plan
for the Christ
to be born in Bethlehem.
That location is legit.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
And then he goes on
to talk about
in the second half,
for from you,
this is the 2 Samuel 5.2 part,
for from you shall come
a ruler who shall shepherd
my people Israel.
The significance is
ruler and shepherd.
What's being talked about
is kingship.
And when you hear
the words shepherd king,
who comes to your mind
but David?
And so this quote
has David-ness
all about it.
Kingship.
But why it's being quoted
is to help us to see
that this is God's plan.
And might I add,
God's loving plan.
For God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son.
This is His plan
for our good,
for the salvation of all.
It fulfills God's forever plan.
And so what we see going on
in this section
is a contrast.
Herod's political Simonizing.
The wheels are turning.
Jesus,
the fulfillment of God's plan.
See the contrast?
The next contrast I want you to see
is a contrast
in character.
We see this come out
in verse 7 and 8.
Then Herod summoned
the wise men secretly
and ascertained from them
what time the star
had appeared.
Okay, so this is the first time
we see Herod talking
to the Magi
and it's a hush-hush meeting.
He calls the men in secret.
He wants to get some information
from them.
He's still Simonizing.
He's still enacting a plan.
But what you need to understand
is that it's a murderous plan.
Do you see Him ascertaining
when the time the star had appeared?
Do you know why He's asking that question?
Here's why.
He knows it corresponds
to the birth of the Christ.
And so do you know what He's doing?
He's narrowing the field
of possible threats.
He's trying to find an age range
of how old this boy is.
Later on in this passage,
God appears to a dream
to the wise men.
They don't go back to Herod.
And then in the next verse,
if you want to look ahead
to verse 16,
Herod flips out.
He's furious.
And look what he does.
Then Herod, when he saw
that he had been tricked
by the wise men,
became furious
and he sent and killed
all the male children
in Bethlehem
and all that region
who were two years old or under
according to the time
he had ascertained
from the wise men.
Do you see why He's asking
this question?
He's trying to remove
His threat.
This is not a good man.
verse 8.
Verse 8.
He continues the con job.
He sends them to Bethlehem
saying,
Go and search diligently
for the child
and when you found him,
bring me word
that I too may worship him.
This is the second time
that word worship is used
in this passage.
The word worship is used
13 times in Matthew.
Nine of the 13 times
are about worshiping Jesus.
One of them is this time.
But it is tongue-in-cheek
at best.
He has no intention
of worshiping Jesus.
The reason why he wants
to know where Jesus is
is not to worship him.
It's to kill him.
He's a threat.
So he cons the magi.
He sends them to Bethlehem
with the expert information
he's learned
from the religious elite.
Yeah, I learned that
they're in Bethlehem.
Go.
Go find him.
Let me know the house address
and I'll come worship him.
That's not what's going on.
He's conning them.
He's deceiving them.
So the contrast going on here
is this self-serving tyrant,
this con man killer
with the shepherd king
who's a baby.
And what we know
about the shepherd king
is that he's going to give
his life as a ransom for many.
Herod is self-serving.
Jesus is self-sacrificial.
One is a killer.
The other is the Savior.
This contrast points to
who is the real king of the Jews.
The last contrast I want you to see
is a contrast of worship.
In verses 9 through 12,
Jesus is worshipped.
In verse 9,
the magi listen to the king
and they go.
They go on their way
five or six miles
to Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
The star reappears.
Remember, it's his star.
Verse 2.
The star of the Christ child, Jesus.
It's God leading them.
God wants these Gentile magi
to find the king of the Jews
so that they can worship Him.
And He's not just king of the Jews.
He's king of all.
This is the Savior of the world
that's been born.
God is salvation.
Jesus.
Emmanuel.
God with us.
That's who this is.
Jesus came not just for Jews,
but for all people.
And just as a side note,
you know what?
Here are the religious elite.
They know exactly where
the Christ is to be born,
but they don't go.
These Gentiles are the ones
that are sent.
Well, the star went before them.
It literally led them.
And then the star came to rest.
It literally stopped moving
over the place
where Jesus was residing in Bethlehem.
It had an address.
We don't know the address,
but it was a specific place.
And there are all sorts of theories
that want to explain,
try to explain the star.
And so maybe it was
the alignment of planets.
Maybe it was a comet.
Maybe it was a huge explosion,
a supernova,
just at the right time.
They're all means.
God could have used any of those.
But what you can't miss
is that this was supernatural.
God was making it clear.
God was using these kind of natural means
for His supernatural purposes.
God was leading the Magi
to the King of Jews.
His birth
was that important.
Now in verses 10 and 11,
you see these Magi,
they are thrilled.
When they saw the star,
they rejoiced exceedingly
with great joy.
One commentator said
they were delirious with joy.
I mean, they get to the house.
They've journeyed from Babylon.
It's been a long time.
They've wanted to see this baby.
And so now they're at the house.
Can you believe it?
I'm reminded of,
Jenny and I adopted our youngest
from China.
And it was a four and a half year process
capped by a huge trip.
And we were counting down the days.
We were counting down the days
to gotcha day
when we gotcha'd Mary.
It was awesome.
And I'll never forget.
We have video of this
being in our hotel room
in Nanchung.
And we are literally
counting down the minutes.
We're so thrilled.
We can't believe it.
The time has come.
And I'll never forget
being down in this hotel
and being on the other side
of the door
of our baby.
It's palpable.
We are so excited.
We're surrounded by people
who are just as excited.
Exceeding joy
at the prospect
of seeing
a baby.
A child.
And this is no ordinary child.
This is Emmanuel.
Well,
God with us.
The offspring
of Abraham
who would bring salvation
to all the peoples
of the world.
So you can see
why they're a little
geeked about this.
So the star
leads them
to the house
and they walk in
and they find
this baby Jesus
chilling
with his mama.
And going into the house
they saw the child
with Mary,
his mother.
And they fell down
and worshipped him.
Joy to the world.
The Lord has come.
Let earth receive
her king.
They fell down
and worshipped him.
This is the third time
that word worship
is used.
This passage
is all about worship.
It's all about
the worship of the one
true king.
And Jesus
is the one
true king.
Notice,
they gave him gifts.
They gave him gifts.
Gold, frankincense,
and myrrh.
There's no need
to kind of
overly complicate
these gifts.
There's no need
to super spiritualize them,
to go deep
into symbolism of them.
Here's what you can know.
There's no other resident
in the town of Bethlehem
that would have received
gifts like these.
Because these are gifts
fit for a king.
These are for a king.
Turns out,
Isaiah chapter 60,
verse 6,
a messianic passage,
points to people,
Gentiles,
coming to the Messiah
and offering him
golden frankincense.
These Gentiles
were worshiping
the king of the Jews.
And if there had been
any other question
up to this point,
Matthew's making it clear
that salvation
is for all people.
The focus
of these magi's worship
is Jesus,
and Jesus
is the focus
of God's plan
of salvation.
He's a Jewish king
for all people.
Bow down
and worship him.
Bow down
and worship him.
Verse 12,
we're not told how.
We don't know
how long the magi stayed,
but it must have been
at least one night
because they had a dream,
and in that dream
they were told,
by God,
inferred,
but told,
don't go back to Herod.
So they go another way.
Don't go back
to that con man.
Go home another way.
So here's the contrast.
It's a contrast
of who is worshiped.
The magi worship
King Jesus,
Emmanuel,
the long-anticipated one.
But the magi
avoid King Herod.
They keep away from him.
They draw near to Jesus,
but steer clear of Herod.
So what is this passage
all about?
Well, these contrasts
point to the one true king.
Jesus.
He's the king of the Jews.
He's the king of all.
And so this Christmas,
we worship him.
We bow down
and worship him.
We give him
the most valuable gift
we can,
our lives.
We live for him.
He's worthy.
He's the real king.
He's Emmanuel.
You know,
it's not in this text,
this passage,
but there is one
other contrast.
Herod died
and stayed dead.
It's said
that the day
that Herod died,
he had prisoners
executed
to ensure
there was mourning
in Jerusalem
on the day he died.
He was a tyrant.
But King Jesus,
he died.
He gave his life
as a ransom for many,
right?
Amen.
But he didn't stay dead.
He was raised
on the third day.
Amen.
And he's reigning
right now
at the right hand
of the Father.
Amen.
And he's going to come back
and when he comes back
as a warrior,
every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess
that Jesus the Christ
is Lord.
He's King of all.
Amen.
Two so what's.
So what number one.
If you're not a follower
of King Jesus,
bow your knee by faith.
Become a follower
of the King.
Come under His glorious reign.
Don't rebel against it.
Come under it.
And find life
and joy inexpressible.
The Gospels,
Matthew as well,
are designed to introduce
King Jesus
to people
who don't know Him.
Do you know
King Emmanuel?
Have you come
under His reign?
Have you bowed
your knee by faith?
Have you recognized
that you are
a sinner
who has been
a rebellion
against Him
and that you need
to turn from that
and come under
His glorious reign?
Have you seen that?
Do you know that?
Bow your knee today.
Become a Christian today.
Here's what you need to do.
You just need to admit it.
King Jesus,
I've been rebelling
against you
and trying to reign
over my own life.
But I see that.
I'll praise to you.
And I bow my knee
under your reign
and I will follow you
all the days of my life
because you're that awesome.
If you're not a Christian,
become a Christian today.
It's by faith alone.
Bow your knee to King Jesus.
The second so what
is this.
Now,
Christmas is much more
than one day of the year.
We all get that, right?
We live every day
in light of our King Jesus.
We get that.
But this week
provides a unique opportunity
for us as Christians
to reflect upon
and bow down
and worship our King.
So I have a couple suggestions
for you this week.
In light of
it being Christmas,
in light of
our Emmanuel,
first is this.
Pray.
Pray that God would use
the Christmas Eve outreach
to introduce people
to King Jesus,
that people would bow to me.
Second,
come to the Christmas Eve service.
come,
let's worship Him together.
Come,
let's sing Christmas carols
to our one true King.
Let's do that together.
What it's going to be
on Christmas Eve
is a bunch of Gentiles
coming together
to worship
our Jewish King
who's King of all.
Oh, come,
let us adore Him.
And then,
this Friday,
before you exchange gifts,
maybe it's one gift,
maybe it's five gifts,
but before
the wrapping paper
starts flying,
take a moment,
pull out your Bible,
read Matthew 2,
1-12,
read Luke 2,
1-21,
read Isaiah 7,
14,
Isaiah 9,
2-7,
Micah 5,
take your pick,
and call to mind
why we are exchanging gifts.
Call to mind
our great King Jesus,
our Emmanuel.
The Magi gave gifts
out of reverence for Jesus.
Let's give gifts
to one another
out of reverence for Jesus.
This is about Him.
It's about Him.
This passage
provided some contrasts
so that we can see
that Jesus
is the Christ,
our one
great King.
Come all you faithful.
Let's adore Him.
God in Heaven,
we of all people
know the significance
of this season,
and we choose
to rejoice
and bow down
and worship our King.
God, we won't be
distracted from that.
And so God,
would You make our hearts
ring all week long
praises
to Emmanuel.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.