King: Week Two Frankincense
Notes
Transcript
. -Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby and was born in a manger. And before Mary, Jospeh, and Jesus would leave Bethlehem they would be visited by wise men from the East.
Matthew 2:11 (ESV)
11 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 when these men came they brought gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.
These are more than gifts. On Christmas when you receive a gift, it may be something you like, but it is simply a gift. But these gift pointed to something. Something about him. Who he was. What he was going to do. And next week we will see a gift that will show the price he would pay for us.
Last week we looked at the gift of gold. Gold was a gift for a king. In the book of Revelation, the apostle John is told write the things that are shown to him about the end of the world. John write in Revelation 19
Revelation 19:11–16 (ESV)
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus is THE King of all kings…He is THE Lord of all Lords… and there will be none greater…and none more powerful…
This gift of Gold was brought for a purpose, because he was the coming KING.…
This week we move to the second gift. the gift of frankincense.
+++++CORNERSTONE CREED++++++++
If we can take our minds back to the time of Matthew 2, we can understand that the world needed a true King, a Savior. But they were not looking for one. Faithful Jews at that time had believed that a Messiah would come. Their Scriptures had talked about it, their prophets had pointed to it, but there was still no Messiah. No king to save them from the oppression of the Roman government that was ruling them.
There was a king in that day, King Herod, he was a Roman King but ruled over all of the Jewish people. He didn’t understand their beliefs about the one true God. He didn’t even care. He was a Gentile. He did some good things, like help repair the temple in that day. But when he heard there was another king he was not happy. You know the story, the Wise men stopped and asked King Herod where the King was. So he told him when you find him, come back and tell me because I want to worship him. ‘, But he didn’t want to worship him, he wanted to get ri..d of him. When he didn’t hear back from the wisemen where the baby was born, what did he do?
16 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.
This wasn’t the King that the people needed. The King they needed would give life, not take it.
The second gift, frankincense would to Jesus being the great High Priest.
Today, we point to him as Savior. And he is, by his work on the cross he has the ability to save us from our sins.
We point to him as God, because he is the second person in the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But we can not overlook him as our High Priest.
But to fully understand Jesus as our High Priest, we need to look back at what the Bible says about the earthly role of the person as High Priest in the Old Testament, the time before Jesus came to take over that role.
The Role of the High Priest:
Serve as the person between God (Yahweh) and the people.
In worship: the High Priest would see that the Law of Moses was followed. He would make sure that the sacrifices that were brought before the Lord were performing in the the right way, and once a year he would enter into the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God was on the Day of Atonement.
Do you remember who the first High Priest was? Aaron. The office was established with him, because it was then that God’s presence was with he Israelites through the wilderness in the Tabernacle, and then in the temple when it was built.
If you remember only one thing about the High Priest in the Old Testament, remember this: The High Priest served as a mediator between man and God. To get to God, the Israelites had to go through the High Priest. He would pray for them, he would help them with their sacrifices. He was a must to connect with God.
But all of that changed with a baby born in Bethlehem, and the gift of frankincense pointed to what was coming thirty years later.
Frankincense comes from a plant. It is like a gum that when it is dried in the sun will become a powder. It was used in the the temple with sacrifices and was an ingredient of the showbread that was placed on the altar.
15 And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
The high priest is the one that used and looked over the use of frankincense in the temple, and now the wise men brought a gift of frankincense to this baby. As students of the Bible, today, we see why… He would be our great high priest…
He would now be the one who would be the mediator between God and man.
Other religions and denominations believe that you need a priest to confess today, so he can pray for you to God. That’s wrong! There was a time in the Bible when God used the high priest for that, but then Jesus came, and by his death and resurrection from the grave, we don’t go through a man to get to God, we go through Jesus Christ.
I want to point to two verses in the Bible that show that Jesus replaced the need for a human high priest to go to God for you.… Mark 15:37-38
37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
What does that mean, the curtain was torn? This curtain was what separated the most holy place…the holy of holies, the presence of God resided there. Only the High Priest could enter once a year. Now, with Jesus’s payment of blood and sacrifice on the cross, there was no need for a priest to atone for our sins, man now had direct access to God through Jesus Christ.
The second instance where we see our direct access is when Jesus said
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Frankincense pointed to a time when he would become our High Priest.
SO what does that mean? What does that mean to you and me living in 2023….2000 years after this baby was born in the Bethlehem?
Jesus, as our High Priest
Has the power to forgive your sin that leads to death
You and I were born with a problem. Sin. From the moment we came out of our mother’s womb, we were sinners. And this sin drives us away from God. It makes us want to do what we want. It makes us want to live our own lives. It makes us want to do our own will.
But this is not how we were made. The Bible say that man was made in the image of God, and God had no sin. But the first man and woman brought sin into the world, and since that time, everyone has come into a world as a sinner.
For 4000 years the only way to God was through sacrifice of animals or other things. This had to be done at the tabernacle or temple, and it had to be done by the High Priest. But, there was still seperation. Then something happened. Paul wrote about it to the church in Galatia:
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Jesus, the way, the truth, the life, gave himself up as a ransom. Do you know this word, ransom? Ransom is what a kidnapper wants when he takes someone. He says give me money (ransom) and I will give you back this person I kidnapped.
Jesus said I will be your ransom. I will give my life for your sins, so you can be free of the sin that leads to death.
Jesus, as our High Priest has the power to forgive your sin that leads to death
Jesus, as our High Priest
2. Has the power to forgive you when you sin against him in this world
During Jesus’ ministry he made it clear that he had the power to forgive sins.
1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Why did Jesus heal him? He wanted those who were there, and even us reading today that he had authority on earth to forgive sins. Why? because he is our High Priest.
And the Apostle John makes is very clear 1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus wants you to come before him and ask for forgiveness. When you do something wrong, something against God, he is ready to hear you asking for forgiveness…and ready to forgive.
+++by the way, every sin is a sin against God+++ (sin-miss the mark)
Jesus as our High Priest has the power to forgive you when you sin against him in this world.
Jesus, as our High Priest
3. Has the power to redeem you and give you eternal life.
That’s why God sent him down to earth as a baby in a manger. He sole purpose was to come and bring back to God what was lost when sin entered the world. Without God, we are lost. Without God, you are lost. Without God, you are separated from him now, and if you leave this life separated from him, for all eternity you will continue to be separated from him. In a place
Eternal punishment (Matt 25:46)
Blazing furnish with weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:50)
Realm of the Dead (Acts 2:27)
The fire never ceases (Mark 9:43)
A place where the devil and his angels reside (Matt 25:41)
Chains of darkness (2 Pet 2:4)
But he does not want that for you. The very reason he sent Jesus, the High Priest was to bring you back to him. He doesn’t want you to be separated, he wants you with him! He came to redeem you from your sin and for you to move towards him and away from a selfish, sinful life. To make what HE wants, what YOU want. To make his sacrifices, your sacrifices. And to live like you were created to live, as a child of a High Priest. Completely devoted to him.
That’s why God came to this earth..for you.
But he doesn’t make you follow him. He simply says, look what i have done for you…now what will you do? Turn to me, or turn away?
The High Priest, our Savior and Lord is asking…what will you do with me?
—-Will you bow your heads—
These wise men were looking for a King. They brought gold as a gift, but the also brought a gift that would show tha he would be the High Priest that would give you and me direct access to God though himself.
Now he is the only way. There is no other way to connect back to the Father….God…except through Jesus Christ. Remember Paul’s words…in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus to redeem us so that we could be considered a son or a daughter… that means salvation. That means making Him your Savior…giving up your life for his…
Are you a son or daughter? Have you given up your life for his? Today you can know for sure that you are his, by coming to the High Priest, Jesus Christ.
And if you have become a son or daughter already, you are a Christian and you have given yoru life to God, I want you to remember the words of the Apostle Paul to the Romans…
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Like the High Priest in the temple would take frankincense and burn it, a sweet aroma would rise to the heavens to the Lord, your lives. our lives, need to be daily given to him. Our lives should be living sacrifices…lives that walk around and show the love we have for our Savior everyday. And when we do this we are worshipping him.
ADVERTISEMENT