The Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-12)
The Wise Men
Matthew 2:1-12
We have begun our study of Matthew’s gospel, and as you know,
Matthew began his gospel in very scientific fashion.
There are those in the world who are skeptics.
Those who simply doubt everything.
And while the Bible certainly doesn’t ask us to be gullible
And just believe everything.
Scripture does require us to believe God when He speaks,
Regardless of how “unbelievable” it may seem.
And there are those who simply refuse to do so.
Matthew is really challenging that group.
He is doing so by setting out to prove that Jesus is the Messiah.
He did so first by identifying His kingly lineage.
(Abraham – David – Joseph)
Next Matthew revealed His divine lineage.
Jesus is God as proved by His virgin birth.
This morning Matthew continues with his evidence
As he begins to reveal a unique group of people.
“The Wise Men”
WHO WERE THE WISE MEN?
• From the Orient
• Astronomers
• Became notable to the Medes and the Persians
• Known for knowledge in Math and Science
• (Couldn’t interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream)
And these men actually do a great deal for Matthew
As he sets out to prove that Jesus is God’s king.
All you have to do is ask yourself one question.
HOW DID THE MAGI KNOW ABOUT JESUS?
What caused the Magi to travel to Jerusalem in search of the Messiah?
(1-2) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
WHY DID THEY COME?
They saw a change in the heavens.
And of course you and I know who the author of the stars is.
GOD TOLD THEM.
IF GOD HADN’T TOLD THEM, THEN WHO DID?
The fact that they arrived looking for the Christ child,
Is a proof that Jesus is God’s Messiah.
And so you see that Matthew is fascinated
With proofs of Jesus’ Messiaship.
But that isn’t all.
Matthew is also fascinated with the fulfillment of prophesy,
And in our text this morning, he gives us another one.
(4-6) “Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'”
And not to stray too far off course here,
While the main point in mentioning this prophesy
Is to reveal that Jesus fulfills the prophetic birthplace,
I don’t want you to completely miss what was prophesied.
Not only was He to be born in Bethlehem,
But notice what Micah said about Him.
“OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.”
What a great title for Jesus!
“A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD”
We studied in chapter 1 about how Jesus was the merciful king
And we read out of Ezekiel about the promise of Him being a shepherd.
Matthew definitely saw Jesus in this light.
Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Not only is Jesus the King, but He is a compassionate king.
None the less, you see Matthew’s main point in this section.
HE IS STILL PROVING TO YOU THAT JESUS IS GOD’S KING
God revealed Him.
Prophecy supported Him.
BUT THIS MORNING WE HAVE EVEN MORE TO LEARN.
For not only do we see that Jesus fulfills prophecy,
We also get our first glimpse of the response to His coming.
We are not debating whether or not Jesus is the King (that is obvious)
We are determining how people respond to Him.
This is also a major theme of Matthew’s gospel.
Proving that Jesus is King is only half of Matthew’s goal.
Leading you to submit your life to the King is Matthew’s other goal.
And this morning we are awarded a contrast
We see some who responded well.
We see some who responded poorly.
And in our observation it becomes obvious to us how we must respond.
Let’s examine our two groups this morning
And see three main differences in them.
#1 “One was Seeking, One was Suppressing”
Matthew 2:1-3
It is quite an amazing thing when we read this story
and see the difference in the two groups,
One was looking for the absolute truth,
One had it right under their nose, but couldn’t see it.
The Magi of course where the ones who were seeking absolute truth.
(1-2)“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
It is obvious that the Magi were hungry for the truth.
There is no telling how far or how long they traveled to get to this point.
And this by the way is a great example for you and I.
You know that I am big on the sovereignty of God.
(I believe God is sovereign even over salvation)
That means He must reveal truth.
He must draw.
He must save.
While I am adamant about those truths,
Equally evident in scripture is that of the responsibility of man.
I don’t like to call it “The free will of man” for that is an erroneous term.
But if you read Scripture it is obvious that man is responsible.
• He is commanded to repent of sin.
• He is commanded to call on the name of the Lord.
• He is commanded to trust in Jesus Christ.
• He is commanded to persevere to the end.
• He is commanded to walk in obedience.
And before he is commanded to do any of these things,
He is first commanded to seek the truth.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Acts 17:24-27 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
Scripture teaches that it is the responsibility of every person
To take the revelation of truth that they have been given,
And use it as motivation to seek for the rest.
What is interesting about the magi, is
ALL THEY HAD WAS THE TRUTH OF CREATION.
They had nothing else.
They did not have the Law, they did not have the prophets.
They saw the star appear, and it sent them seeking for the truth.
Even those who only have the testimony of creation
Are responsible to seek for the truth that is behind it.
Psalms 19:1-2 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.”
David revealed that the creation itself is screaming a simple truth.
THERE IS A CREATOR!
There is One who made all of this,
And therefore there is One who made you,
And therefore there is a standard that He requires,
And you had better learn it.
That is why Paul said creation is also enough to condemn a person.
Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
These magi where in the east, and they saw His star appear.
They didn’t just set there and admire the view,
They were seeking.
Now lets look at the other side of the coin.
Lets look at Herod, and Jerusalem. They were not seeking.
Vs. 3 “When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
“troubled” = TARASSO
“to stir up” or “to trouble”
It paints the picture that not only where they bothered,
But that there was a pretty good “buzz” about the city.
It is obvious that the Magi had showed up
And turned that place upside down looking for the King.
No doubt they had asked the people,
And that is why they were eventually taken to Herod.
That means that while the Magi knew what was going on, Jerusalem did not. They were oblivious to God’s Son
The reason is they were suppressing the truth they had.
If anyone should have been ready for the arrival of the Messiah
It should have been Jerusalem.
Romans 9:4-5 “Who are the Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.” (PROMISES = PROPHECY)
ON ONE HAND,
We have a group of people who only had a star to point them to the Messiah,
And they came.
ON THE OTHER HAND
We had a nation with countless teachings about the Messiah.
And they were clueless
HOW COULD THEY BE SO BLIND?
That is the effect of having suppressed the truth.
Matthew 13:10-13 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
When you ignore the truth God has revealed (Like creation or Prophecy)
Why would you expect God to continue revealing truth to you?
One group was given a small piece of truth and sought its source,
The other was given mounds of truth and suppressed its teaching.
WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
Do you really want the truth,
Or do you just want what you believe to be the truth?
One was seeking, and the other was suppressing.
#2 “One was Ecstatic, One was Enraged”
Matthew 2:4-10
Regardless of their prior suppressing of truth,
HERE TRUTH IS GIVEN ONE MORE TIME.
How did they handle the truth they were confronted with?
Well lets look at the magi.
(9-10) “After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
There are people like this in our world today.
Genuinely honest people who only want to know the truth, whatever it is.
They are not to prideful,
They just want to know the truth.
When a person like this finds the truth, they rejoice, for their quest is over.
The magi were like this.
THERE ARE OTHERS
Ethiopian Eunich
Acts 8:26-39 “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its sheerer is silent, so He does not open His mouth. In humiliation His judgment was taken away; who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.” The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.”
Cornelius was a man like this.
The Woman at the well was a woman like this.
How about these men?
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
A person who just wants the truth,
Will rejoice when they are confronted with Jesus, for He is truth.
However, there is another type of person.
The type of person we mentioned earlier, who doesn’t want the truth,
They just want what they believe to be the truth.
This was Herod, and Jerusalem.
(VERSES 3-8)
Now it may appear like Herod wants the truth.
But if you read further in the chapter, you see that is not the case at all.
(16) “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”
Herod put on a display to trick those around him,
But he had no intention of truly worshiping Jesus.
The magi were just happy they had found the truth.
Herod was angry, and desired to stop the truth.
WHY WAS HEROD SO ANGRY?
Because Jesus threatened his way of life.
Herod wanted to be king.
Herod wanted to be in control.
And so Herod had no place in his heart for a new king,
Even if that king was from God.
He fulfilled that prophesy from Psalms 2
Psalms 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”
Herod wanted no part of submission.
AND MAKE NO MISTAKE THERE ARE MANY LIKE THAT TODAY.
You see Jesus never leaves anyone like they are.
He forces people to die to self, and surrender control to Him.
He came upon 4 fishermen on the sea of Galilee:
Matthew 4:19 “And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
He came upon a tax collector sitting in his booth:
Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”
Jesus demands changes,
And there are people who are flat out unwilling.
Remember this man?
Matthew 19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”
That man was like Herod.
He didn’t see Jesus as the answer,
He saw Jesus as a threat to his way of life.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Is Jesus the One you’ve been looking for, or the One you’ve been running from?
One was seeking, the other was suppressing
One was ecstatic, the other was enraged.
#3 “One Responded, One Rejected”
Matthew 2:11-12
First we see the response of the Magi
(11-12) “After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.”
When they found the truth, not only did they rejoice, but they responded.
They fell on their faces and worshiped Jesus.
(Of all the figures in the nativity, they are the only ones that are said to have done that)
LOOK AT WHAT THEY GAVE.
“Gold” – Jesus kingship, as gold was the most precious metal.
“Frankincense” – Jesus as High Priest, as incense was burned in the sacrifices.
“Myrrh” – Jesus sacrifice, as myrrh was used to prepare the body for burial.
They responded to the truth of Jesus, and worshiped Him.
However, there was another group. Herod and Jerusalem.
They rejected so violently,
that one tried to kill Him, and the other succeeded.
Herod tried to kill Jesus.
(16) “Then when Herod was that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”
Of course we know the reputation that Jerusalem had.
Matthew 23:37 Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”
And it would be Jerusalem
Who would eventually succeed in killing the Christ.
WHAT A CONTRAST.
One Sought Him, One Supressed Him
One was Ecstatic, One was Enraged
One Responded, One Rejected
AND THAT REALLY ADDRESSES YOUR ONLY OPTIONS.
Either you ACCEPT HIM, or you CRUCIFY HIM.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
To accept Jesus is to worship Him as King, God, and Sacrifice.
To reject Jesus is to suppress the truth and Crucify Him.
MATTHEW WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT JESUS IS THE KING
And because he is the King, you must submit.
Let me close this morning with a Psalm we already read part of.
Psalms 2 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'” Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
