Matthew 2:1-12
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern
lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We
saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2
NLT)
Allow me to once again speculate as to who these wise men were. I
wrote about these wise men in 2015 in a message titled “Wise Men,” and then again
in 2017 in a message titled “Truth Made Clear.” For those of you with exceptionally
good memories, some of this material will be a repeat of those articles.
Matthew tells us these men came from “eastern lands.” We have
often heard these wise men called “magi.” This is because Matthew wrote in
Greek, and the Greek word is “μάγοι” (magoi). This was the title used
for the priests and sages of the Babylonians and the Persians. Since they
brought gifts consistent with the region of Arabia, we assume they were from
that area.
We are certain that they were Gentiles and also that they did not
belong to the nation of Israel. We see in this the beginnings of Jesus’ victory
over darkness. The devil worked for many years and in many ways to blind the
hearts and minds of the Gentiles. The world was filled with many religions and
philosophies that ran contrary to Scriptural teachings. However, in spite of
these obstacles, magi from the east were among the first to recognize the
Lord’s Messiah. They traveled far to see the One born King of the Jews.
They did not know where to go, so they went to Jerusalem and made
inquiry. If you are looking for the One born King of the Jews, what better
place to start than in the capital city of the Jewish nation. In Jerusalem, they
found the people ignorant and unprepared for the birth of their king.
The magi stated their purpose in traveling and inquiring. They
said, “We have come to worship him.”
Their purpose was so clear that when Herod wanted to use them to
find the child, Herod said, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the
child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and
worship him, too!” (Matthew 2:8, NLT) The magi had come to worship so Herod
pretended that he wanted to worship also.
The text tells us:
When they saw the star, they were
filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother,
Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure
chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew
2:10-11 NLT)
When they entered the house they bowed down and worshipped.
They traveled far. They made inquiry. They brought gifts. They
did it all so that they could worship Him.
God prepared these wise men in advance for this day, and in their
voice, we continue to learn an important lesson. In their worship, we learn
that we must worship also.
The Jews who had the temple and the rituals of worship did not
recognize the time of their visitation. The Jews had the Law of Moses that
spoke of the Messiah to come and was written to prepare hearts for His coming.
The Jews had the temple, which was the house of God and provided a picture of
heavenly things. The Jews had the ritual sacrifices which prefigured the
sacrifice God would make in order to save His people from their sins. The Jews
had the Passover and the festivals, all of which pointed to the coming Messiah.
They had practices and forms that had been handed down to them from Moses and
the prophets. However, although they had the practice or form of worship, they
did not have a heart of worship. Their worship was proper in form and practice,
but it did not reach as far as their hearts.
As John 4:23 tells us:
But the time is coming—indeed it’s
here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. (John 4:23 NLT)
The Father is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit
and in truth. He is not looking for rituals, sacrifices and the ceremonies of
the law. He says He is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in
truth. Today, from the wise men, we will learn a few lessons about worship
First, we learn that we must adjust our lives to worship
God.
There is no worship without some cost.
The wise men traveled far to worship Jesus. They had to make
arrangements with their jobs back home. They had to make arrangements to have
their affairs looked after. They had to prepare for the journey. They had to
prepare camels, donkeys, food, routes for travel, finances and all that goes
into both a prolonged absence and a long journey.
There is no worship without cost. King David expressed this
principle when he was offered the means to give a sacrifice that would have
cost him nothing.
At one point in his reign, King David sinned against God. When
David was getting right with God and repenting, he wanted to offer a sacrifice.
He wanted to offer an ox, and a farmer had some. So, David said, “Sell me your ox
if you would please.” And the farmer told David, “Oh no, I will gladly give it
to you. David then told the farmer:
No, I insist on buying it, for I will
not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing. (2 Samuel 24:24 NLT)
Worshipping God and receiving His Messiah requires that we make
some adjustments in our lives. It might mean one has to give up sleeping in on
Sunday, partying late on Saturday or watching television shows on Wednesday.
One cannot expect to accept Jesus and not have to make any adjustments in his
or her life. It just does not work that way. Acknowledging Jesus as Lord is
very inconvenient for the flesh. In fact, the flesh and its lusts must die. The
Christian life has been likened to a journey. John Bunyan wrote a book called
“Pilgrim’s Progress” that uses an allegory of a journey to depict the Christian’s
life. Like the wise men’s journey, our own journey is not undertaken without
some adjustments, work and changes.
The wise men teach us that true worship requires some adjusting
of our lives.
When we have made adjustments, we will find that we also must use our resources to honor Him.
The wise men offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These
are not cheap gifts. Far from it, these are the most costly gifts they could
give. Admittedly, we do not know in what measure they gave these gifts.
However, these gifts were of such value that even the transporting of these
gifts posed a danger. Even today, it is not generally safe to walk around with
a box of gold or, at least, to let it be known that you are walking around with
a box of gold.
Our resources are where the rubber meets the road when it comes
to our worship. Those who truly believe, give of their resources; God promises
to bless those who give. The Scriptures tell us:
Each one must give as he has decided
in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver. (2
Corinthians 9:7 ESV)
God loves a cheerful giver! This is consistent with what we
learned from John 4:23 that God is looking for those who will worship Him in
spirit and in truth. A true heart of worship is marked by using one’s resources
to honor God. I said we must use our resources to honor God, but for the
believer this is a cause for joy, not compulsion. For the heart full of love
for God, giving is a privilege. Through our giving, we get to participate in
what God is doing in the world.
The wise men participated in welcoming the Savior to the world
and in announcing His arrival. We get to participate in both the spread of that
good news and in the encouragement and building up of our fellow believers. For
the eye of faith, God is doing great and mighty things in this world~things
that are exciting to be a part of.
For those of us here in Clearwater, I can think of nothing more
exciting than being a part of what God is doing right here in our midst. There
are exciting little children growing up here that thrill me to no end. Oh the
mighty work God is doing in our midst! Not too many years ago, our youth were
the little children, now look at what they are becoming! Speaking of children,
some of these wonderful little children that we are blessed with today are the
children of those that grew up here in this very church. The miracle of God’s
work among us is seen in families that love Jesus, children that love Jesus and
a Church that bows continually before God and gives of its resources to glorify
Him who was born King of the Jews. This is especially exciting and gratifying
for those who have a stake in it, for those who have given of their resources
to make it happen.
So far, we have seen from the wise men that true worshippers will
adjust their lives to God’s presence and honor Him with their resources. In the
wise men, we also see that true worshippers will humble themselves in His
presence.
Matthew 2:11 tells us:
They entered the house and saw the
child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they
opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. (Matthew
2:11 NLT)
It is easy to pass over the fact that the first thing they did
when they saw the child was to bow down. The Greek words Matthew used to say
“bowed down and worship” were “πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν.” (pesontes
prosekynesan) The idea behind these words is to fall down or prostrate
one’s self and kiss the ground before a superior.
Although Jesus was only a baby, these men humbled themselves
before Him. Being rich, educated and powerful men, this would have been one of
the most difficult things they did. Sometimes it is easier to make adjustments
in our lives and to give of our resources than to humble ourselves.
Do not think to yourself “Oh, I have got this one down.”
Have you humbled yourself before your wife or husband?
Have you humbled yourself before your children, your parents,
your siblings?
The reason I ask these questions is because of what the Lord says
in 1 John 4:20. It says there:
If someone says, “I love God,” but
hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we
can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? (1 John 4:20 NLT)
Of course, we do not humble ourselves before our fellow believer
the same way we do before God, but love requires that we give up our pride in
order to do what is best for the other person. When you or I have difficulty
saying we are sorry, we demonstrate just how resistant we are to truly humbling
ourselves.
We are to subject ourselves to God, and our will to His will.
However, the New Testament makes it clear that our subjection does not end
there. Ephesians 5:21 tells us:
And further, submit to one another out
of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21 NLT)
I know of no better test to tell me whether I am humbling myself
before God than to check my heart in relation to other people.
We have said:
We must worship Him:
•
by adjusting our lives to His presence.
•
by using our resources to honor Him.
•
by humbling ourselves before Him.
After learning from the voice of the wise men, can we say of
ourselves that we are wise?