Matthew 2:1-12

BIG IDEA

God is at work; let us worship.

INTRODUCTION

I found some interesting facts about the Christmas season in my reading today. First off, Christmas decorating is really dangerous.

If you’ve ever watched Clark Griswold decorate his house in Christmas Vacation, that probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 14,700 people visit hospital emergency rooms each November and December from holiday-related decorating accidents. So please, be careful when you’re decking your halls.

[Mistletoe may not be as romantic as it seems]

The name itself even has a meaning that might not inspire as many warm fuzzies, however. Mistle thrush birds eat the plant’s berries, digest the seeds, and then the droppings eventually grow into new plants. So, the Germanic word for mistletoe literally means “dung on a twig.” Pucker up!

Some families cook up a turkey for Christmas dinner, others go for ham, and still more go rogue and stick a leg of lamb or another protein in the oven. Google searches for “ham” and “turkey” both spike during the month of December, according to Google Trends data. Despite the popularity of both festive entrees, spiral-cut ham remains the more popular choice for a Christmas table. The jury’s still out on whether people prefer ham or turkey sandwiches the day after, though.

(https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/g2972/surprising-christmas-facts/)

Although these are some surprising Christmas facts, there are also some surprising Christmas myths. And perhaps no part of the Christmas story has more myths about it than the portion of Scripture that we are considering today. In fact, today’s Christmas story really isn’t a Christmas story at all. In fact, it happened sometime after that first Christmas. Let’s look at Matthew 2:1-12.

EXPLANATION

Here’s the problem. John Henry Hopkins, Jr. wrote a carol in 1857 that is really catchy, but not really accurate. “We three kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we traverse afar…”

Myth 1: Their total. Despite the catchy carol, we don’t know if there were three or thirteen. The Scripture doesn’t say.

Myth 2: Their title. The Scripture does not say that they are kings. In fact, I am going to argue today they were NOT kings. The word used in the Scripture is “magoi,” or transliterated “Magi.” Recently here at EBC, we were working through the Book of Daniel, and we saw on multiple occasions, King Nebuchadnezzar called for the “wise men.” These were “magicians, astrologers, and diviners.” I believe the ones for our consideration today were direct descendants of these same wise men from the Medes and the Persians.

Daniel 5:11, “There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him” – talking about Daniel now – “Whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king I say, thy father made master of the Magi.” 

The Magi were so powerful that historians tell us that no Persian was ever able to become king…now watch this one…never able to become king except under two conditions:  One, he mastered the scientific and religious discipline of the Magi.  Two, he had to be approved of and crowned by the Magi.  Now that’s something.  That’s power.  Do you know what they called the wisdom of the Magi?  They had a name for it.  The name for it was this.  The law of the Medes and the Persians.  That law was the law or the code defined by the Magi…The law of the Medes and the Persians was the code, the scientific religious discipline of the Magi.  And their wisdom was that which was required for anyone to be a monarch in Persia.  Additionally, historians tell us that they controlled the judicial office as well as the kingly office.

https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2182/who-were-the-wise-men

So listen, the Magi had the power to make men Kings and Judges. In addition to all their mysterious activities, their prime responsibility was to make men Kings and Judges. And so back in Daniel, 6-700 years before Christ, God put Daniel in charge of the Magi to begin to teach them about the Christ who would come. God began through Daniel to confront their pagan religion with the truth of the Gospel. And I believe that began the search for the star that would reveal Christ.

God was setting up the situation for a great Hebrew prophet to rule a group called the Magi so that one day when a baby was born in Bethlehem, some of those Magi would find their way to the house where the baby was.  That’s planning history.

https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2182/who-were-the-wise-men

Myth 3: Their travel. Probably not the Orient, or what today is known as “East Asia.” I believe they came from Babylon, miraculously prepared by God hundreds of years before for the arrival of a King.

Myth 4: Their timing. Of course we are all familiar with the three crowned figures in every nativity scene with their bowed camels and gifts in hand. But verse 11 of Matthew 2 says, “when they came to the house.” They came to the house, not a manger. A great deal of time had lapsed since the birth of Christ. Maybe a year. Maybe longer. It’s interesting that Herod, after he saw that the Magi had left by another route, made a decree that all children, “under the age of two” be slaughtered. Further, the Scripture describes Christ as a “child” and not a “baby.”

Myth 5: Their trip. I do not believe that it was magic or astrology that led the Magi to Jesus. In fact, I believe it was prophecy, taught to them by the Hebrew Scriptures, that led them to Jesus. Way back in Numbers 24:17, it was prophesied that “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.”

Of great importance is the verb used in Numbers 24:17: the star “will arise.” Matthew alludes to it in 2:2 and 2:9, with the magoi seeing the star “in its rising,” which is derived from the word in Numbers 24:17. Matthew does not specify whether it was a supernova, comet, planetary conjunction, or other supernatural event—only that it “arose” and “appeared” (2:7, 16).

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/three-kings-orient-arent/

Listen, we don’t know if it was a star, a solar occurrence, like the current Christmas “star,” a supernova, a comet, or something else. What we do know is that their trip was the result of a prophecy given hundreds of years before. And these “king-makers” came looking for a King, and what they found was the Christ.

APPLICATION

What does this ancient story have to do with us today? What is the significance of the story?

1. There is a need for special revelation. There are different kinds of revelation. There is general revelation, which is the created world around us. The Bible says that general revelation is enough to point us to God, but it is not enough to save us from our sins. We need God’s Word to make sense of everything. Listen, the Magi could have followed a star and found a baby, but without the Bible, they would not understand what kind of king they had found. You need the Bible. You need to memorize it, meditate on it, learn it, and live it. It is God’s guidebook for you at Christmas, and throughout the year.
2. There is a need for action. The Magi saw a heavenly light, and they moved. They did not just gaze, they were guided. They moved. All around you, God is pouring out His light. You must respond. Every day, He is opening doors, creating new paths, and unfolding His plan. And He wants you to move. Herod was angry at Christ’s arrival. The majority of people were apathetic to Christ’s arrival. But the Shepherds and the Magi accepted Christ’s arrival. What about you? Are you angry at God, are you apathetic towards God, or have you received God’s Christmas Gift, His Son Jesus Christ.
3. There is a need for adoration. The Magi came looking to make Christ a King. They came bearing gifts for the King. When they found the King, they bowed down. Worship is not to be just a weekly activity confined to one hour on Sunday morning. It is to be a lifestyle.