Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Cain & Abel

Recently I was teaching at our Academy on the topic of worship, particularly the OT sacrtificial system.

And I asked a question.

How would you define “worship?”

Perhaps you might say something like this, “Worship is fully trusting in God.”

Or, “Worship is bringing our hearts before God in praise.”

These are not necessarily wrong.

But, if you were to transfer back to the Old Testament days and ask a faithful Jewish man during the days of Moses, “What is Worship?”

They might respond this way, “Worship is when we bring a personal gift to God as a sacrifice to demonstrate our thanks and love of him.”

That’s a little different right?

What does bringing a gift have to do with it?

The bringing of a gift to God goes all the way back to the first man-made sacrifices that we see in the Bible.

We see that in the story of Cain and Abel.

You recall the story in Genesis 4

Genesis 4:3-5 “3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.

So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.”

If you know the story of Cain and Abel, you know that what happens next reveals the true problem with Cain and his sacrifice.

Cain’s heart was desperately sick and wicked.

He made the sacrifice, but his heart wasn’t in it, and God saw straight through it and condemned for his false worship.

Cain was more interested in building his own kingdom and begrudgingly paying tribute to God, than he was in buildings God’s Kingdom.

Cain’s sacrifice was a begrudging act of legalism, while Abel’s was a joyful act of adoration.

Personal

What gift are you giving to God in your life right now?

Perhaps that sounds a bit shallow of a question, but I actually intend for you to think about it a bit.

If our lives to are to be lives of worship, and worship is both an alignment of our hearts and our gifts.

Then really the question I’m asking is, ‘How are you worshiping the Lord?”

So I ask again, what gifts or sacrifices are you making to the Lord right now?

Contextual

Today’s passage is a classic Christmas text.

But I think in it we have a few surprising lessons.

The text is that of the wise men who visit Jesus bringing gifts.

This story of the wisemen coming from the East is a precious part of the Incarnation Narrative.

In it we see a number themes at play.

Themes that will wind their way through the entire narrative of the New Testament.

Here in this passage we see the child Jesus in his innocence, a new legitimate King being born in Israel.

And we see that child contrasted against the illegitimate King, King Herod the Wicked, who ruthlessly terrorized the people under his jurisdiction.

And in the midst of this contrast between two different Kings, we see the nations coming to worship Jesus, bringing gifts.

Full worship always involves both a posture of the heart and a sacrificial gift.

Move 1: Tell the Story

The story takes place shortly after the birth of Christ, likely between six months and a year after his birth.

We read the following in the first eight verses:

Matthew 2:1-8 “1 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, 2 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.”

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘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.’

” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

8 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.””

Bethlehem

Immediately we are brought to Bethlehem of Judea.

This small, we might say backwoods town in Israel, had played a fairly significant role in Israel’s history.

If you recall the story of Ruth in the Old Testament, Ruth had married into a family from Bethlehem.

Ruth’s Great Grandchild would be the most famous King in the Old Testament, King David.

Who would also come from Bethlehem.

However at the time that Jesus was born, Bethlehem was thought of as a nowhere, an unimportant speck on a map.

The Days of King Herod

In verse 1 we’re told that it was the Days of King Herod.

Now we’ll need a bit of context to understand how ruthless and tyrannical this King Herod was.

Herod was born in 73BC and the time of Christ’s birth at the very end of his life, and therefore the end of his reign.

He had been placed in power and named King of Judea by the Roman senate in 40BC, which means he had been ruling for about 40 years at this point.

This is the famous King Herod that in 20BC had begun the work on the temple in Jerusalem, bringing it to its full magnificence that we read about in Jesus’s ministry years.

Towards the end of his life (the story we’re in now), history records that he became incredibly cruel.

He grew jealous and was prone to paranoia.

He murdered his wife, and two of his sons.

Before he died he had 70 leaders from the Jewish community killed so that the day of his death would be a day of mourning and not rejoicing.

He Ordered the Children to Be Killed

Further, and we will not get to this part of Matthew chapter 2 today, but after the events we ready about today, Herod upon learning that the child of promise, the King of the Jews had been born in Bethlehem had all the male babies two years and younger killed in Bethlehem.

It is worth considering that these children were indeed the very first martyrs for Christ.

I don’t think we can quite fathom the wickedness of this man.

Wise Men From the East

To that man comes three Magi from the East.

Now we don’t exactly where they came from, and these are certainly very mysterious.

The term “Wise men” in our translation is an interpretive decision of the Greek word Magi.

It is more than likely that these three wise men came from Babylon in the East or Persia.

One of the reasons that is a favorite origin for these men is that there was a sizeable Jewish population in Babylon at that time, which would explain why these men would have access to information about the supposed “King of the Jews.”

They were clearly well funded and likely played important political and/or religious roles in whatever nation they had come from.

Why Include the Magi in This Story?

As readers of this story the Wise Men from the East are a bizarre addition to the narrative of Christ.

These are pagan religious leaders who had access to Old Testament scrolls and were drawn by God through a star in the sky to Israel.

What are they doing in this story?

Well I think there are two key ideas associated with these men.

#1 The Magi Fulfilled Prophecy.

The first is that these men are the literal fulfillment of OT prophecy

Isaiah 60:6 “6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”

It is very possible that these religious/political leaders from whatever Pagan nation they came from had been prophesied about hundreds of years prior.

#2 Christ is Healing for the Nations

But there is a second purpose, and that purpose has to do with identity of this child that was born.

The Lord is bringing religious/political leaders from the nations to come bow down at the feet of this child.

What we see here is the beginnings of the mystery of the Gospel.

That Jesus Christ would give his life as a ransom for many.

That the Jewish messiah, Jesus born a child in Bethlehem, would not only be the savior for the Jews, but He would be the healing for the nations.

Why are these three wise men from Babylon showing up at the birth narrative of our King.

It’s because our King came for the nations, and we must never forget that.

The mission of God has always been about the nations.

And right now as we stand in this room, God is continuing to win for himself a people from every tongue, tribe, nation, and language under the sun, including you.

These Magi represent every non-Jewish person who would ever put their faith in Christ, which includes most of the people in this room.

Herod and Jerusalem Were Troubled (V. 3)

Look with me at verse 3.