Matthew 2:1–12

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”’ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.’ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.”

There are two things I’d like to establish before we dive headlong into this week’s scripture. One, the wise men that are referenced in this week’s passage were not present at the birth of Jesus. Shepherds came to see Jesus in the manger, after their visit from the angel of the Lord to relay the good news, but not the wise men. I point this out because I constantly see nativity scenes and pop cultural references that insert the wise men directly with the birth of Jesus, and while their appearance is certainly a relevant and noteworthy event in the early life of Christ, it muddles the timeline if we imagine that they showed up on the night of His birth. Two (and I bring this up because I never realized this before delving into this week’s passage), nowhere in the Bible does it specify that there were three wise men. There were the three gifts presented in the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and most traditions hold that there were three, though some claim that twelve wise men came to see the child Jesus. The exact headcount doesn’t make or break the story, but I would have died on the hill that the Bible explicitly states that there were three wise men, and it simply doesn’t. Regardless of how many there were, or the exact age that Jesus was when they arrived, what they signify and illustrate shows us something that, as all of Scripture does, reaches far beyond their singular story. Their overall response to Jesus shows us an expression of joy – joy revealed to those who seek God, yet is entirely incomprehensible to the world.

Joy in the Spirit of Truth

1. The Right Response to the Gifts of God

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’”

I’ve discussed in other outlines that the Jewish people were not particularly evangelical. They were happy to be called God’s people, in many cases they were also happy to chase and worship false gods, but we don’t really see them encouraging others to convert to Judaism and come under the Law. However, during the time of the Babylonian exile, the nation of Israel was destroyed and its people disbanded, taken into captivity, and scattered through much of the known would. With such a broad dispersion of the people, it’s assumed that their beliefs and practices as Jews became more widely known throughout the rest of the world. It is fascinating to see that in God punishing His people for their rampant sin and rebellion against Him, He laid the groundwork for His message to be spread throughout the world. Just as how Alexander the Great’s spread of the Hellenistic culture throughout his empire, led to widespread use of the Greek language, aiding in the future spread of the gospel, God’s hand is visible in the grand movements of the world. We’re not told that the wise men were visited by angels to report the birth of Jesus as the shepherds were, nor do they report such an event when they speak with Herod. But what they do say references back to something their people would have only picked up from the Israelites as they sojourned in foreign lands during the exile, which is part of the final oracle of the wicked prophet Balaam from Numbers 24:17,

“… a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…”

The Greek word for the wise men, “magi,” had a broad use for those who practiced astrology, dream interpretation, the study of sacred writings, the pursuit of wisdom, and magic. It seems that these men, keeping an eye on the heavens and having some grasp of Old Testament prophecy, saw the star they spoke of in the direction of Israel and applied Balaam’s prophecy to it. It’s important to bear in mind that these men weren’t Jews and were likely pagan polytheists, and yet considering that, there is something backward about what we see unfold. “Magi,” as I mentioned before, is a broad title, and helps us understand that these men were seekers of wisdom, albeit, by pagan means that would have been blatantly sinful for God’s people to take part in. Proverbs 8:12–17 says,

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. By me kings reign,              and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.”

God is there to be found by those who seek Him. Paul wrote in Romans 1:20–23,

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

We don’t know exactly who the wise men were, but it’s highly likely that they themselves would have been worshipers of “images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” Yet when they saw the star and believed it to herald the arrival of the King of the Jews, they traveled a vast distance to see Him. As we only know “the east” as their point of origin, we don’t know exactly how far they came. However some scholars believe they came from Persia, making their trek somewhere in the 800-900 mile range, while another popular theory is that they came from Babylon, which would have been a 500-600 mile trip. Regardless they traveled far to come worship the new King. They do not truly know God, and yet their spirits are any many ways aimed toward the things of God, and they express great joy in God coming into the world, whether they fully understand what this means or not. Their behavior shows the coming hope not just for the Jews, but for the gentiles as well, giving us an example of how all will seek Jesus. This reminds me of Paul speaking at the Areopagus in Athens, delivering the gospel to the people through a means familiar to them. Acts 17:22–25,

“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: “To the unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

There was a vague, undefined worship of a God they couldn’t quite see, which Paul, through the Spirit and good news of Christ gave focus. Likewise we see that the magi responded with a great intensity once they were given a sense of direction.

“‘Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.’ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.”

Herod tells the wise men to seek Jesus, and then return to him to relay their findings. We’ll get to Herod later, but continuing to study the travels of the magi, we see that despite them seeking instruction from the political ruler of the region, it is God who guides them on their path. Divinely guided, the star that had given them inspiration for their journey, and a direction in which to go has reappeared, and with it comes great joy. Most people are familiar in some capacity with the gifts of the wise men, however it’s worth noting and applying to ourselves that the first thing they offer up us their worship. If we give our time, or resources to God without first giving Him our worship and praise, then we have misaimed and are acting out of order. Whatever we do, whatever we offer, it is out of praise and devotion before anything else. Concerning the gifts themselves, gold is probably the easiest to understand. While gold has of course a highly valuable precious metal throughout history, it was also used extensively in the creation of holy artifacts. The Ark of the Covenant was overlaid with gold, the incense altar was overlaid with gold, when David speaks of the provisions he has set aside for Solomon to build the temple, he says in 1 Chronicles 22:14,

“With great pains I have provided for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add.”

Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, 100,000 talents comes out to 7.5 million pounds. If we melted that down and just made a giant cube, it would be a little over 18 feet in each direction. And David specified, that was to be added to… There was a lot of gold used in the temple, and gifting it to Jesus helps signify something beyond just giving him something valuable. It points us toward His royalty and His deity. Frankincense was a sweet, perfumed spice, used as part of the only incense allowed to be burned on the altar, as directed in Exodus 30:34–38,

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD. Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.”

Myrrh is another spice, though unlike frankincense, it’s bitter, and among its many uses, was common in the process of embalming. I’ve read in commentaries and heard in sermons as a child that the gift of myrrh was to symbolize and foretell the crucifixion. That the bitterness was to be associated with suffered and affliction, the use in embalming was to be reference to Jesus’s death on the cross. I’m not saying this isn’t the case – God’s Word can often mean many different things from many different angles. But what I haven’t found mentioned often is that while frankincense was used in the holy incense, myrrh was used in the holy anointing oil. Exodus 30:22–30

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.’”

If we look at the three gifts we see Jesus acknowledged by the gold as King, by the frankincense as the Holy One who will be offered up, like a burnt offering before the Lord, and by the myrrh we can see Him as both the consecrated One, and the One who consecrates, the Great High Priest, the One who’s work is finished, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. Three gifts, three roles, One God who has come into the world to save humanity. The final thing we see from the magi, in how to respond to the joyous gifts of God, is further obedience. Herod told them explicitly to return to him with news of the location of the Christ, claiming that he wanted to worship Him too. God warns the wise men through a dream – again we don’t see an angelic visitor, but a medium they’re familiar with. They’re known to be astrologists, and God gave them the sign of the star. They’re known to be dream interpreters, and God warned them through a dream – and they obeyed. Defying the orders of an earthly king, they listened to God and they give us a picture of how we should conduct ourselves – with worship, with obedience, and with great, unyielding joy.

2. The Wrong Response to the Gifts of God

Before the beginning of advent season, and devoting a sermon to each of the four points, we’ve spent a significant amount of time in John’s gospel. Something that is shown again and again in this gospel, with ever increasing hostility, is the discord between Jesus and the ruling Jews. If you zoom in too far, you may only focus on the contrast between Jesus as an individual and the specific Pharisees and Sadducees of His day. However what is truly being illustrated is the clash between seeking the things of God, and seeking the things of the world. The defining spiritual characteristics of each path are utterly at odds with one another, and as light and dark, water and thirst, food and starvation are all opposed to one another, so Jesus is rejected by the corrupt and worldly institution of the religious rulers. The contrast is shown quite distinctly in John 8:39–44,

“They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’”

The religious elite were out of step with God in their very spirits, and the truth of Christ was so unwelcome in their hearts and minds that they desired to kill Him. We see in today’s passage that this was nothing new, that before the Messiah had a name or a face in the minds of His enemies, those who should have rejoiced the most at His coming despaired.

“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”’ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.’”

First it may help to understand exactly who Herod was as “king.” He was not king in that he was anointed by a prophet of God and placed on the throne, or that he was part of the succession of the Davidic line. Herod was placed as king over the region by the Roman empire, serving as ruler under their authority and power. He was effectively an installed “king of the Jews,” as well as the surrounding region, and so the arrival of the Messiah, who everyone expected to create an earthly kingdom, was a direct threat to his power. While it doesn’t make it right, the idea that this one man could be so bent on maintaining his own authority as to despair over the arrival of the Christ is understandable, even if it’s in a broken, sinful way. What’s so troubling is what follows, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” “All Jerusalem,” doesn’t mean every individual in Jerusalem, but the governing religious body of the Sanhedrin. The Sadducees, who were the dominant force behind the Jewish council, are known historically to have been in deep compliance with Rome. The idea that the Messiah would come and disrupt the system that was so directly benefitting them would have been just as repellant to them as it would have been to Herod – despite the fact that these are supposed to be God’s people who are waiting earnestly for the hope and Joy of God’s promises to be fulfilled. The Pharisees for their part, who were supposed to be more representative of the common people, had turned the Law into their idol rather than the God who gave it to begin with. While neither the Sadducees or Pharisees are cited specifically in today’s passage, it’s fair to say that one party would have opposed Jesus’s arrival in practice, while the other would have at the very least, opposed it in spirit. We next see Herod conferring with the religious leaders as to where the Christ was to be born, which they confirm, citing Micah 5:2–5

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace…”

It is an odd quality of our flesh that we will delight in the things that are terrible for us, and angrily fight against what is good. There isn’t any illusion that cigarettes are good for you. No smoker is out there right now lighting up and thinking each puff is somehow beneficial to their health. Most addicts know that what they’re doing is harming them, whether it’s cigarettes or alcohol, drugs or pornography, there’s an awareness that the addiction is causing harm, and yet when you try to take the thing away, you’re more often than not met with resistance. What it truly boils down to is that in our flesh we are addicted to sin itself. Paul wrote in Romans 7:21,

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”

Now this doesn’t mean we throw our hands up and say, “oh well, I can’t help it, I’ll just carry on sinning.” We are slaves to sin in our flesh, and we are liberated and made free in the Spirit through Christ. But if we need an example of just how addicted to sin someone can be, we’re given an excellent example in today’s passage. The religious leaders cite the passage that points to the birthplace of the Christ – this is it, this is the promise their entire nation has been waiting for through four hundred years of silence. These wise men come from the east and say that your true King has been born, that the greatest source of joy that they could have ever hoped for has come into the world and we see… Nothing. Herod aside, as we’ll get back to him in a moment, but from the religious ruling class, we see nothing more than their citation from Micah. They should have been eager to go to Bethlehem with the magi – for that matter, they should have sprinted ahead of them! They have word that maybe, finally, if these wise men are right, their God has entered the world, and all we see from them is distress, followed by nothing. This is what a hard heart can look like, this is how a commitment and addiction to sin can manifest itself – this is how the joy of God is reflected by unrighteous men. And Herod for his part is worse. “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him,” is what we see Herod say to the magi. But this isn’t just despair or apathy in the face of joy, it’s outright hostility, covered by a lie. If we continue reading, we see that Herod’s plan was, as you might imagine, never to worship the Messiah, but to eliminate someone he saw as a rival and threat to his power. Matthew 2:16–18 says,

“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 in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’”

Romans 1:18–19 tells us,

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.”

While the Bible does not tell us the specifics of Herod’s death, only that he died while Jesus was still a child, church history speaks of him passing from a painful, physically degenerative disease. There is great joy in the truth and promises of God, but there is only destruction in rejecting the offered peace, and choosing war instead.

3. The Hand of God Brings Joy for Eternity

The visit of the wise men gives us excellent examples of how to respond to the joyous offerings of God, as well as what it looks like to reject Him. But the ripple effect from the magi’s visit allows us to further see the hand of God in establishing Jesus’s credibility as His Son. Before Herod kills the children of Bethlehem, Matthew 2:13–15 tells us,

“Now when they (the wise men) had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’  And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”

It’s important to understand that God is holy, and in His holiness, He does not cause sin. James 1:13–15 clarifies,

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

God does not cause sin, but given that humanity holds a measure of freewill, He does allow sin to unfold. What we see here is that even in tragedy, God is glorified, and that in being glorified, He offers comfort. Through another prophecy fulfilled, we’re given a clearer picture of Jesus as the Christ and our King to hold on to and rejoice over. Hosea 11:1 says,

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”

In Jesus the transgressions of man are corrected. He is a new creation like Adam, but without sin. He is the Prophet like Moses, perfected. He is the King like David, prepared for war, like Solomon, equipped for peace, perfected. He is the representative embodiment of the entire nation of Israel, shown in His being called out of Egypt as they were in the Exodus, but perfect, returning to the promised land, but never straying from the will of God, redeeming, not just Israel, but the world from the shackles of sin. This is the offering that God gives to us all, the joy He invites into our lives. Through the darkness of sin, His is the light that shines, offering us hope in a fallen world, extending peace we did not earn, and giving us a joy that endures forever in Him.

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgwDpcbisC4