Sermon Tone Analysis

Christmas:  A Season Of Expectation

Matthew 2:1-12

The Expectation Of A King

 

 

“*Little Rajah, Little King*”

 

In India, they practice “baby worship”.

“All the women would gather around a newborn baby boy and display their approval, by noting the supposed likeness to mom or dad, holding the baby’s fingers, touching his cheek, and kissing his feet.

A favorite term to describe the young baby boy was ‘Little Rajah, Little King’.”

Though they do not actually bow down and worship a newborn baby, those Indians give so much attention to a new infant that it’s no wonder they call it “baby worship”.

When Jesus was an infant, He too received adoration and honor.

But there is a major difference between the babies of India and the Babe in the manger:  He was a king!!!

 

       */Even as a pregnant wife and her husband expect a child, we, the pregnant Church, spiritual mothers and fathers, should expect the Christ-child, during the Christmas season!/*

Christmas should signal to us that we are pregnant and expecting the Messiah to be born in our hearts and spirits.

We are involved in a series of Messages entitled:  “Christmas:  A Season Of Expectation.”

We should receive our mood of expectation from the narratives of the very first Christmas.

In the first sermon, we explored “The Expectation Of A Forerunner.”

In the second sermon, we dealt with “The Expectation Of The Son Of The Most High God.”

In the third sermon, we dealt with “The Expectation Of A Savior.”

Today, we come to “The Expectation Of A King.”

 

/(Please turn with me to Matthew 2:1-12.

Let me read this aloud for us.)/

In this short series of messages, we are using the same outline, because it is the pattern of the Christmas narratives.

The outline is

 

·        The Divine Announcement

·        The Divine Promise

·        The Divine Expectation

·        The Divine Fulfillment

 

\\ (Let’s rush forward and deal with:)

 

1.

The Divine Announcement (vs.

1-4).

*/Matthew gives us the backdrop of this wonderful story of expectation and promise./*

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of *Herod the king*, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.

We could probably do two or three sermons on the identification of these magi and who they really were.

There is much speculation.

So, let it suffice to say that the word ‘magi’ “originally denoted the priestly caste among the Persians and Babylonians (cf.

Dan.

2:2,48; 4:6,7; 5:7).

Later the name was applied by the Greeks to any sorcerer or charlatan (Acts 8:9; 13:8).”

“In the NT, the word refers to possessors of secret wisdom, and in our passage it probably connotes astrologers, that is, men who gained special insight into world affairs from their observation of the planets and stars (hence, the common translation ‘wise men.’)”[1]  “*Matthew uses the term in the better sense to designate honorable men from an Eastern religion.*”

(Wycliffe).

These were wisemen!!!  Tradition holds that there were three wisemen, but the bible does *not* give their number.

These wisemen came seeking the king of the Jews!!!

They were seeking the Messiah, i.e. the one who would reign eternally from the throne of David!

 

/(And why were they seeking Him?)/

 

       */They were seeking Him, because they had seen His star in the east and they had come to worship Him!!!/*  A star made this divine announcement of the Messiah.

These wisemen had either seen a star or a comet that led them to the conclusion that the King of the Jews was being born or had been born in the area.

*/Now, the purpose of their mission tells us much.

They had come to worship Him!/*

They had *not* come just to find Him, or look at Him, or to be His disciples, but to worship Him.

Hence these wisemen may have been Jewish proselytes, because the world was catching the Messianic hope.  A.

T. Robertson says, “The whole world was on the tiptoe of expectancy.”

Would to God that we were “wisepeople”—watching the signs of the heavens for any sign that might point the way to the birth of the King of the Jews in our hearts:  “So that we might worship Him!”

 

\\        The stars and the sky are prominent in giving signs about coming events.

Luke writes in

 

Luke 21:25-28 (NASB-U), “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

I would to God that we were all wise enough to see the signs and announcements of the times and seek the one who has been born King of the Jews, so that we might worship Him!

       */During Christmas time, we should be reminded that He was born not only to be King of the Jews, but to be King of kings, and He wants to reign on the throne of our lives./*

When He reigns upon the throne of our lives, we must worship Him.

We must give Him that which is due His holy and righteous name.

*/We live to worship Him!!!/*

 

       */Now, if you look at these verses carefully, you will see a stark contrast./*

The first two times that Herod is mentioned, he is referred to as “Herod the king.”

Herod was the king of Judea, “the seat of the one enduring dynasty of Israel, the site of the temple, and the platform of Israel’s chief prophets” (/The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary/).

It is likely that the name “Jews,” comes from the name “Judea.”

Herod had been king of Judea since B.C. 40.

*/So, in short, Herod was the “king of the Jews.”/*

But now we have a stark contrast, these wise men arrived in Jerusalem, the headquarters of Herod, “king of the Jews,” saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?”  Herod was “king” with a small “k,” but there was One who had been born “King” with a capital “K.”

We have two representatives from two different worlds, two different kingdoms, put in juxtaposition to each other.

*/Now, Herod was the devil’s representative./*

And as the devil’s representative, the incumbent king of the Jewish world, he was troubled when he heard the words of the magi.

You would have been troubled too!

These words said to him, “There is a new king in town, a new mayor, a new sheriff.”

So, the villainous Herod, along with his henchmen, began to use all of his considerable and formidable power to find and destroy this threat to his kingdom.

Now we need to understand that the villainous Herod had bullied the land of Judea for a long time, through the help of his /desperadoes/.

That’s what they called criminals in westerns.

*/They were bold, violent criminals, because they were desparate./*

Herod’s kingdom was a kingdom of terror, grief, sadness, and slavery, and he wanted to maintain that horrible reign.

Those who were desparate and had given up hope either acquiesced to the reign of Herod or became desperadoes, but—I said but—there was a new Sheriff in town and He brought a new hope.

He was the King of the Jews, but He was much more than that:  He was the King of kings!!!  */His reign would be one of expectation, excitement, joy, and fulfillment!/*

How many of us have become desperadoes, instead of those who have deputized by the new Sheriff to bring hope?

 

       */Likewise, the devil is troubled./*

He is troubled because it is Christmas time again, and he has come down with great wrath knowing that his time is short.

Satan has to hurry up, against great odds, and try to implement his program.

/(In addition to Herod being troubled, all of Jerusalem was also troubled.)/

*/The inhabitants of Jerusalem did not know what to make of this new announcement./*

They had *no* way of knowing how Herod would respond to this threat to his reign.

And sure enough, their alarm was *not* in vein, for the Bible tells us that when Herod could not find this child, he went on a killing spree that would put you in the mind of all of the cruelest badmen and dictators of history.

Jerusalem was the Holy City and it was intimately tied to the prophecies of the Messiah.

So, Jerusalem may have also been troubled and wondering rather the Messiah had truly come to set up His reign upon earth.

Would Wyatt Earp be able to defeat Bad Bart?

 

Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp

Brave, courageous, and bold

Long live his praise and long live his glory,

And long may his story be told.

That song can be sung about Jesus, the Sheriff of the universe!!!

 

\\        *Finally,* */we the people of God should also be troubled at Christmas./*

Why?

Because just like that first Christmas, the devil will *not* easily let us find the King of kings and let himself be replaced on the throne of our lives.

*/God wants to establish the worship of His Son, the King of the Jews and King of kings, in our hearts, but the devil wants to hold on to his reign and his territory./*

His reign is one of terror, grief, sadness, and slavery, whereas God’s reign will be one of excitement, happiness, joy, and freedom.

*/There is a warfare going on and Satan is not going to let you have the divine expectation of experiencing the reign of Jesus, along with the wonder of worshipping Him, without fighting to maintain his dominion./*