The King of Peace
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Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ would be born.
5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:
6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah:
Because out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”,e
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”,f
9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
1) ME (orientation)
Good to be back with you. Last week Luke and I had the privilege of getting to hang out with several people in our favorite Caribbean island. They send their love and wanted to let you know they are praying for you. Thank you for praying for me and realized something while I was down there. As I have made this transition to church based ministry my travel flexibility has decreased. Now that is not to say that I can sit anywhere and I was so tired I actually got some good sleep in the plane, but the reality was not knowing language, where I was or even when things were going to happen was more of a challenge for me this time then it has been in the past. I had more internal struggle then I thought I would have, and there were times when I would wrestle with situations and honestly I did not like what I saw. No one else really saw it, as far as I know, but I knew what was going on, and it was a peace problem. Boiled down I had to wrestle with where I was going to find my peace. Was it going to be in my situation or in my Lord.
The funny thing is this is supposed to be a season of peace. Where we care about more important things and celebrate the coming of our King, but let’s be honest this time year is often not associated with living in the peace He offers. Sure we pay respect the idea. We sing songs about it, or we see commercials that take the Angels statements in “Peace on earth to men” and we hear statements like what if we treated everyday like Christmas. These are all great things; we should sing, recite verses and hope we treat people better but between the rushing around the awkward family and business interaction and the crazy schedules we keep to make everyone happy we often find much peace. In reality though as I look at the biblical portaryals of the Christmas season I do not see much that has to do with what we envision as peace. I actually see more struggles like what I dealt with last week. People having to decide, do I find peace in my situation or in my King?
Let’s be honest this time year is often not associated with Peace. Sure we pay respect the idea. We sing songs about it, or we see commercials that take the Angels statements in “Peace on earth to men” and we hear statements like what if we treated everyday like Christmas. These are all great things; we should sing, recite verses and hope we treat people better but between the rushing around the awkward family and business interaction and the crazy schedules we keep to make everyone happy we often find much peace. In reality though as I look at the biblical portaryals of the CHristmas season I do not see much that has to do with what we invision as peace.
2) WE (identification)
Most adults deal with these challenges and on our good days we remember that most of our struggles fall within the first world issues types of struggles. What about those of us who struggle with a deeper level of turmoil. We wrestle with memories of lost loved ones or broken relationships we long to have healing in. Or some of us are struggling with just getting buy. We would love to have enough to be able to buy presents but in reality we may not even be able to pay the electricity bill. No matter the origin of our lack of peace, lack of peace is a very real thing. Lack of peace is extremely challenging and can lead to deep spiritual, relational and emotional pain when left unchecked.
So what do we do about this? I seriously doubt any of us really want to get rid of the Christmas season or the celebration of Jesus. As we wrestle with this idea of lack of peace I think it is important to redefine the struggle a bit. I have already mentioned this but I think the struggle is more about where are we trying to find our peace. Take a look at one of Jesus’ promises about peace,
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
3) GOD (Illumination)
Jesus’ peace is a peace that brings courage and stability, it is more then just feeling at rest, but feeling at rest as result of God faithfully comforting and faithfully building reliance in His follower. Peace is the idea of God doing something in us that brings benefit to us and to those around us and gives us satisfaction. This will first happen when we decide to receive his free gift of eternal life. As we walk with Him the awareness of Him being our peace becomes clearer so that we choose to trust Him. For many of this this is not new but it is a good reminder that He is our peace. Lets take a couple of min to watch this video. It really helps put this idea of peace into perspective. (Video is 3:30).
Understanding that peace then is not just the absence of conflict but the existence of wholeness or completeness. Means that in a broken world we will not be able to conjure up long term satisfying peace. It is impossible. The reason why is becuase we are a people born to rebel. We take life and see the beauty that could be but then twist it into something that is self-serving, self-protecting or self exalting. The peace we long for, the wholeness that is found in an eternal relationship with God, is cut short by the broken peace we try to replace it with by filling in the gaps with fractured artifacts that last only so long until they wear out and are needing replacement with other fractured artifacts! To understand this more lets take a look at a familiar passage for this time a year. Turn to
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
,
,the wholeness that is found in an eternal relationship with God, is cut short by the broken peace we try to replace it with by filling in the gaps with fractured artifacts that last only so long until they wear out and are needing replacement with other fractured artifacts! To understand this more lets take a look at a familiar passage for this time a year. Turn to
The nature of this gift of peace brought by Jesus may be easier to explain by stating what it is not. It is not an end to tension, an absence of warfare, domestic tranquility, nor anything like the worldly estimation of peace (; ; , ). Its presence may, on the contrary, actually disturb existing relations, being a dividing “sword” in familial relations (). Jesus’ gift of peace is, in reality, the character and mood of the new covenant of his blood which reconciles God to man (; ) and forms the basis of subsequent reconciliation between men under Christ (). Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Peace,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1635.
[1] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Peace,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1635.
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Peace,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1635.
3) GOD (Illumination)
This story is so familiar it easy to assume we have a full grasp of it. We look at it and think of claymation figures walking to see the baby Jesus, or the nativity scenes that do not take the fact that time is an actual thing in the bible and not all the characters they are selling were there the night Jesus was born. But don’t get too comfortable with this passage. As we look at it we see people looking for peace. Lets take a look at how they are looking for it and if they find it!
The story of the wise men has definitly
Lets read .
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
Matt
This part of the passage introduces our main characters. Let’s take a second and meet them so as we move through the story we will be able to see how they find peace. The first and most important person we meet is Jesus. The passage does not tell us how old He is at this point but we can guess He is younger than 2. When He is born a new Star appears in the sky. At this point Jesus is walking around and probably talking like most toddlers do. In this passage He is referred to in two different ways. “The King of the Jews” by the magi and “the Messiah” by Herod. These titles are important they show the mission of Jesus. Matthew’s goal in writing this letter is to provide an apologetic to those who question Jesus being God and man. The title King of the Jews is used by gentiles in this book. The two times it is used is by the magi and by Pilate in chapter 27. The words Messiah and Christ mean the same thing just different languages. It means anointed one. Jesus is the one who brings peace becuase he is the King . Who does the one thing we cannot. He humbled himself for His creation, and lived the life that we could not, fully devoted to the Father and free of sin, but when the time came He did not keep this life for Himself, He went to the cross for the fact that we could not do these two things. He died for us, taking the wrath of God for us He was buried and on the third day He rose again. He conquered sin and death, the ultimate peace robbers, so that we can choose to receive HIs gift and have the peace we so desperately desire. That was His mission and though the wise men and Herod probably did not understand this, we have the choice to receive this gift now, to know Him as King and to know Him as our Messiah. He offers that gift now and if you have not recieved Him, please consider accepting HIs gift of peace and love. To find out more we talk about this more in our bulletin.
Matthew uses a time marker to introduce our next character, King Herod.
He says, “in the days of King Herod.” Herod the Great became client king over Israel around 37 BC. At this time, probably around 4 bc, he was a paranoid ruler who had put to death at least two of his sons, one of his wives and many confidants because he feared they would try to overthrow him. This is important, because it shows his mental state as the Magi came into his presence and explains how he could order the slaughter of many children after Jesus’ family fled to Egypt.
The next group of people we meet are the wise men or the magi. These guys are not magicians or kings, but were wise men and priest, probably from Babylon, who observed the stars and who dabbled in astrological speculation. Some think they saw the star and remembered the writings of Daniel and that is why they ended up in Jerusalem. Magi are typically looked at in a negative light in Jewish and Christian circles so to see them presented here should clue us in that this seen is extremely important in God’s redemption plan. Matthew’s willingness to show those who are typically not the jewish hero as the heroes of the story lends to its credibility and more importantly his willingness to point to something extremely important. Jesus did not come to offer peace to just the Jews but to men and women of all nations. Check out what Isaiah wrote in
“This is my servant; I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in him. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick; he will faithfully bring justice. He will not grow weak or be discouraged until he has established justice on earth. The coasts and islands will wait for his instruction.”
Isaiah
This is just one reference but there are many that point to the beautiful reality that many of us are partaking in right now. God is in the business of bringing peace to those who receive His gift of grace on His terms. He wants people to know Him and in knowing Him peace comes even when we cannot completely understand how. We will get to know these guys better in a few minutes, but now that we have met the main characters lets jump into the story. Take a look back at verse 2.
2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
Our wise men show up form the east coming to Jerusalem. During this time the magi would have seen the star rising as an important signal to find out what is going on. So they probably started digging into documents that would have been from the west of them. It is reasonable to deduce that they would have come across Jewish writings left from the time of the exile in Babylon. People like Daniel who had status in the royal courts were looked at with honor so they would have kept his writings. Some commentators think they went to Jerusalem specifically becuase they assumed the King to be would reside there. They may have even thought that the King would be Herod’s son. This makes the next interaction even crazier. Check out verse 3 - 6.
3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” 7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”
The Magi’s question brings up all sorts of emotion and helps us see the state of the people involved. While the Magi sought to worship, the question troubled Herod. He was appointed king, but now a king has been born and these strangers are not only announcing it, they are telling him they want to worship this new King. You don’t have to be a paranoid king to understand why he would be troubled, but it does show where he is seeking his peace. He wanted power. He felt if he had power the world is right and he is at peace. He felt threatened and wanted to remove anything that was going to attack what he worshiped, himself and his power. If he was truly a worshiper of God he would have rejoiced that the Jesus had been born, instead he begins to scheme. DA Carson thinks this why Jerusalem is troubled with him. They knew what he was capable of murdering whoever threatened his power or his peace.
It is clear if Herod is going to maintain his power he was going to have to know where this “King of the Jews” is located. Don’t miss this. The wise men and Herod are not asking about any replacement, but the one who is going to be the Christ, who will bridge the gap created by sin. They may not understand that but the Jewish Chief Priest and the Scribes understood more of what he is asking then He did. This is a big deal, Israel is looking for it’s Savior and He has come. The Chief Priest (Sadducees) and the Scribes (mainly pharisees) share two verses to explain both where this new king is and His role. First they quote the location from Micah 5:2
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.
answering Herod’s question. Then they quote a statement that was originally used when the nation of Israel made David king over them. Matthew writes, “Becuase out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” The message taken from 2 Sam 5:2, would have been clear to Herod. He was on a clock and his time was running out. A king is alive who is going to truly lead Israel.
2 Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back. The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’ ”
Before I move on let me make a statement that I want to make sure is clear. “Power and peace are compatible.” Jesus is the source of both, but when we walk outside of the boundaries given to us to either snatch or retain power we will not have peace. We will also cause those around us or those we lead a great deal of turmoil. We see this in family life. Dad feels threatened when one of his children or his spouse says something to him and he blows up demanding to be respected. Fellas we need to lead and we need to set boundaries for our children to understand they need to respect you and your wife, but we do not need to maintain that power by being ungodly or self-serving. We need to make sure we are building relationships with our loved ones and encouraging them so that they want to follow. We need to be willing to pull the extra weight so that they feel loved and not neglected. We need to play with our kids so they know that if they get in trouble they will not be abandoned. This is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary. This picture of completeness helps those we love have peace and paves the way for them to follow Jesus.
Herod did not lead this way. He killed those who got in the way, he used his power to abuse people and to bring harm to them. No wonder he was always paranoid. He had no peace he treated power as an idol. Notice what he does next.
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”
This is where things get intense. Herod secretly summons the wise men so he can begin to enact his scheme. He knows the child is in Bethlehem, but where? It is not a big town, but he wants to be sure he gets the right child. We are not privileged to have their response but they seem to agree since they have to be warned later on. Verse 9 just says they go on their way. As they go on their way they see the star again. Take a look at verse 9
9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.
To this point they trusted the writings of Scripture and whatever documents they read at home. Here though we see God guiding their paths to the exact home they needed to be by using the star to guide them. This is the first time we see the star actually moving. This shows this is more then just an astrological signal, but a divine intervention. The greek word used for the word led is proago; it is used to show an object moving in time and space, sometimes used to show the objects arrival before others. While this may sound crazy to us, it is what God used to lead the Magi. The star is not a cosmic event, but something else that is lighting their way. Imagine their excitement as this object goes before them. It does not say how far ahead of them it is, but it is fair to say that it is not too close to them. Could you imagine the anticipation that was building as they were walking that 5 mile journey? This was close to a two year process from when they first saw the star, figured out they needed to go to Israel and then followed the star to the Prince of Peace. When they finally get there Matthew says they:
10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.
I imagine they were like my kids when we get home from a long trip. They have been asking how much longer for a while, finally we pull off of I 35 and they start talking about seeing the dog or getting out of the car. Then when we get home we have to remind them to help unload becuase they are so excited. They do not have to question when they are home. It was the same way with the wisemen they did not have to question where the King of the Jews was anymore. It was clear. If you have decided to follow Jesus you have had these moments. You know the moments where you have been struggling to understand or struggling to get through a situation. You know those times you feel like you are wrestling and clawing your way through life. Then God brings you to a point when that part of your journey is over. When this happens there is great joy, and there is also great peace! This is because you have followed the giver of true peace. Though there were moments you didn’t know if you were going to make it, you knew you were trusting the Peace Giver and no matter what He would not fail you becuase He has promised to be your peace. puts this way:
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Since we have been declared righteous by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The wise men may not have understood this kind of peace, but they were about to meet the one who would purchase their peace for them. Lets take a look at
11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
:!1
Coming to a little village house with in an obscure village they walk into the house. The language of the text is not clear as to how they found the exact house. It might have been the star stopped over the village and they asked around or the star stoped directly over the house. Either way it guided them and they found the house they were supposed to be at. So when they came in they saw the child the text makes it clear they worshipped Him. They now understood why they had traveled all that way. They found the peace giver. In response to this they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts fit for royalty. Many try to tie a symbolic meaning to the gifts and it might be possible that there is, but from what I have read the most important thing to understand about them is they are fit for a king. Ordinary Jewish families would not have had these things. They were too luxurious, but they show us something that is true through out Jesus’ life. Many assumed this man would grow up and do what Joseph did for a living and die in obscurity like the rest of us. However, the wisemen knew differently. They understood, they didn’t travel all that way for a man to build bookshelves, they traveled to worship a king. Like the queen of Sheba who traveled to find out about Solomon, they traveled to find out about another King in David’s line. But he was not like the rest He came to show His rightful place as King of Kings, but not by conquering the world, but by conquering Sin and Death.
11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
Shows us the wisemen’s exit.
12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
They met the King and now they would go home. We do not know how their lives were changed. We know that they had experienced the intervention of God, they met God and they followed Him but obey the warning they recieved. They did not fall into Herod’s trap, but had peace becuase they trust God.
Main point: As we wrap up let me ask you this. Where are you finding your peace? Is it in the King of Kings or the King of Self? If you take anything away from this talk my pray is that it will be this:
4) What is the main point?
Peace is known when we know the King.
If you have met the King He is faithful and will provide you with all the peace you need. If you not I invite you to consider Him and compare Him to the other things you are looking at to find peace.
5) YOU (Application)
Let me ask you something, “What are you going to do with this?” How are you going to apply all this principle? It is one of those concepts that is big and if not applied can kind of float around like a bubble. One idea that i might suggest to you is to memorize a verse about peace.
1. is a common one people will memorize when they are struggling with fear or lack of peace. Another one might be
2. Make a prayer list out of situations you know you struggle to have peace in and ask God to guide you in trusting Him before, during and even after those situations.
Make a prayer list out of situations you know you struggle to have peace in and ask God to guide you in trusting Him before, during and even after those situations.
3. Another idea is to
What ever you application, just make sure to apply it. Application is like the tip of an arrow. If you shoot an arrow at a target and you forget the tip it wont go in to far, if at all. Most likely you will just miss the target. But equipped with a tip that arrow will sink deep down into that target.
WE (inspiration)
So equip yourself with some sharp pointed arrow and start applying! I am going to close us in prayer as the band comes back up, but take some time and think through what you will do with this sermon and also is there anyone you can share what you learned with. Let’s pray!
Keller describes Jesus peace as “The confidence and trust in God’s wise control of your life.”