Joy to the World

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Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 2:1–12 ESV
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.” 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Magi

Who were the magi?
The original Greek word is magoi (the plural version of the singular noun magos). This word popped up in Greek literature several hundred years before Jesus’ birth, and it originally (and interestingly) referred to a class of Zoroastrian priests in Persia.
Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in what we now call the Middle East, and their magoi were priests who were known for their wisdom, astrology, and interpretation of dreams. Magoi were often consulted by kings because of their wisdom and supposed abilities to interpret omens and read the signs in the stars.
Seers, astrologers, magicians learned men.
Certainly not kings, though they would have been advisors to kings
By the time Matthew was written, we see in Greek literature that the meaning of the word came to include all people who practiced magic, regardless of their culture, class, or trade.
Magoi could include people who consulted with spirits, people who could predict the future, people who could curse enemies, and so on. But by and large magicians were seen as wise, powerful, and crafty people.
So the short answer is that we don’t know who these visitors were. However, we do know that they weren’t just generic wise men. They were specifically magoi. And this is important because magoi were largely looked down upon in Jewish culture.
Regardless of whether these magoi in Matthew 2 were Zoroastrian priests or generic magicians, their appearance as Jesus-worshippers would have been startling to Jewish readers, because traditionally magoi of all kinds were not the types of people Jews associated with.
Where were they from?
The east, but where exactly?
Possibly from Arabia, Persia, or Babylon, modern-day Iraq is a good educated guess.
They were known for astrology and would have possibly been familiar with Hebrew Bible from the Babylonian captivity
How many were there?
Unknown, but likely more than 3. They would have most likely traveled in a large caravan with attendants and guards.
When did they arrive?
We know they did not come when Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were in the manger. They were in a house at the time the magi came.
Herod decrees the death of boys 2 years old or younger, “according to the time ascertained” from the magoi (2:16). The magoi weren’t there that first night but sometime later. The combined Matthew/Luke sequence runs: Jesus’s birth, angels/shepherds, circumcision, presentation at the temple, visit by the magoi, flight to Egypt, and resettlement in Nazareth (where the storylines reunite
How did they know the star announced the birth of the King of the Jews?
They were students of religious texts
As astrologers themselves, they would be particularly interested in any texts or prophesies involving stars.
“In antiquity, astrological wonders were understood to accompany political events, from the star landing in what becomes Rome to the star presaging the destruction of Jerusalem. Herod was no mere paranoid fool when he detected something politically amiss with the star’s appearing (Matt. 2:7).”
“Magoi were experts in such astral phenomena. But what about this star drew them to Jerusalem? The most plausible explanation lies in Israel’s Scriptures. As learned men who interacted with various religious literature, the magoi would have been familiar with Jewish political or messianic oracles. And one of the central political prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures is Balaam’s oracle.”
Num. 24:17
Numbers 24:17 ESV
17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Prophesy in the Stars

Background and summary Num. 22-25 The Star and Scepter Oracle
“The enemies of Israel offer great riches to Balaam, a seer, if he will pronounce a curse upon Israel. God, however, tells Balaam not to curse Israel, but instead to say only what God tells him to say. Four times Balaam, rather than cursing Israel, pronounces a prophetic blessing instead. The enemy king is furious with Balaam, and Balaam departs.
The story about the donkey comes early in the Balaam narrative. Messengers come to Balaam asking him to go with them and curse Israel. God tells Balaam to go with the messengers but that he should only say what God tells him to say.
However, when Balaam sets out on his donkey, the text says that God “was angry because he was going,” and so the angel of the Lord, arrayed as a mighty warrior, blocks Balaam’s path. Balaam sees nothing, but his donkey sees the angel and balks at going forward.
Balaam is furious and beats the donkey, at which point the donkey starts talking to him. Balaam finally sees the angel himself and understands that God is angry with him. He offers to return home, but once again God tells him to go with the messengers but to say only what God tells him to say.
The final result, then, of this strange story about a donkey is to show us how much Balaam’s attitudes need correcting. He needs to be warned again to say only what God tells him to, and he needs to be humbled and shown that his prophetic “gift,” to the extent he even has one, is totally dependent on the power of God.
He needs these warnings because he thought he was powerful enough to ignore God and win himself a fortune by cursing Israel.
Balaam was promised great riches by the Moabites and Midianites if he would curse Israel. God used a terrifying supernatural experience to drive home to Balaam that his “powers” were totally dependent on God and that he had better not say anything other than what God told him to.
This was presumably because Balaam was thinking that he was powerful enough to get around Yahweh and earn great wealth by pronouncing the curse anyway. After Balaam is thwarted and unable to pronounce the curse, he goes to the enemies of Israel with another plan.
If Israel could be tricked into sinning against Yahweh and committing idolatry, Yahweh Himself would curse them. And that is exactly what happened, with Balaam presumably reaping the riches he had been promised before.
It didn’t do him any good, however; as it happens, we know what Yahweh’s final judgment on Balaam was: Balaam was killed in the war that Israel waged against the Midianites.”
Some would rightfully reply...”isn’t this looking to David and is fulfilled in David?”
Yes, and no. This is one of those prophesies that has the double fulfillment. In 2 Sam 8 we do see the tremendous military victories of David. So, as Israel’s King he did rise up and defeat his enemies.
At the end of a long list of military victories it says this:
2 sam 8:13-14
2 Samuel 8:13–14 ESV
13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
Yet, 2 Sam 8 comes on the tails of the Davidic Covenant…therefore it is already in the context of looking forward to the coming Messiah
Not only that, we know from various sources, not the least of which are some of the documents found among the dead sea scrolls…that Jews in the first century BC into the first century AD were interpreting Numbers 24:17 as a messianic text.
King Herod, like Balak saw the Israel of God a threat
Balak looked out and saw the shear numbers and strength of the people.
Herod saw these foreign wise men coming questioning where the King of the Jews had been born…a significant title as that had been come to be known as a messianic title.
Herod, though he was not a full-blooded Jew would have understood the threat of one coming with that kind of title. He would have seen his Roman-blessed rule threatened.

Unlikely Mouthpieces

Balaam - The irony here in attempting to pronounce a curse actually makes an amazing messianic prophesy.
Herod - Winds up making the birth of the messiah national news.
Matt 2:3-5
Matthew 2:3–5 ESV
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:
Herod…who I think we can safely say is an enemy in the biblical narrative actually drives Israel into the Scriptures to seek out the answers.
Its pretty funny actually…in his paranoia, he ends up leading Israel…at least in some way…away from himself and toward Jesus.
And on a side note…isn’t it interesting how God works. Its very often he takes the most unlikely mouthpieces and uses them for his glory.
We see it when we watch the unbelieving world try to make sense of the world God created…often, without even realizing it…they back themselves into a corner because you can’t make sense of this world without its creator.
But, what about you and me? We’re pretty unlikely mouthpieces too aren’t we?
We who were all once enemies of God…unrighteous…by no effort of our own have been forgiven and commissioned with a message.
All that to say…if God wants to make a point…to get a message across to us…he can use a wicked king…a wretched sinner like you or me…or he can even use a talking donkey.

Jesus, the True King, the True Israel

So, why does Matthew include this story of the three wise men?
Matthew is concerned with the theme of presenting Jesus as the promised heir to David’s throne.
The fulfillment of this prophesy in Jesus is significant, because he is clearly the one this is pointing past David to.
David rose up and defeated Israel’s physical enemies
The greater David, Jesus Christ, rose up and defeated the spiritual enemies of God’s people
Where is Israel failed morally, Jesus lived a perfectly righteous and sinless life.
God’s hand of judgment was heavy against the second generation…Balaam’s ploy to destroy them with temptation to sin was working…almost. That is, until one man stood up and trusted God’s word…a man named Phineas.
Its a gruesome account and must be understood in light of the old covenant, but in
Numbers 25:6-9
Numbers 25:6–9 ESV
6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
In that sense, Phineas too is a type of Christ…the one who stood up in trusting the Lord and through his obedience the people were saved.
Yet, even Phineas was an incomplete savior. He himself was not sinless…nor could be bear the weight of all of Isreal’s sin. Yet…he points to the one who could…to Emmanuel…to the God-man who could live sinlessly and bear the weight of his people’s sins…by whose obedience men could be saved.
See, Balaam failed. His plans did not work. Instead, it was God’s grace that prevailed.
Likewise, Herod failed. God’s grace prevailed again. The wise men were instructed not to return to him…and made their way home by another route.If we survey what we’ve looked at this morning, one thing becomes very clear...
God’s grace prevails according to his Word!
Take a moment for that to sink in…God’s grace prevails according to his word. Always…without exception…God’s grace will prevail according to his word. What he has promised, will be fulfilled.
In this story we have Gentiles from a foreign land coming to give worship and gifts to this child who was born King of the Jews. They knew very little about him…but knew his birth was a sign from God…a fulfillment of prophesy. These Gentiles were the first of many who would be blessed by Israel’s greatest King.
Isaiah 60:1–6
Isaiah 60:1–6 ESV
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 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.
That’s where some of you find yourselves this morning. You are waiting for God’s grace to prevail.
You may feel like your back is up against the wall. You have a lot on your plate and you’re looking for…praying for…pleading for relief.
More often than not you feel defeated rather than victorious. You may even be uncertain that God’s promises are really true.
Where is the peace you may be saying…where is the peace I was promised? Where is the hope I’m supposed to have? Where is my joy?
It is here in this promise that God’s grace will prevail according to his word.
You may feel like you’re a little sappling covered in frost…wondering if you’ll survive the winter. You hear the other trees who have forgotten or never understood how they grew saying “you need to drink more water...” “you should be greener” “Why haven’t you grown deeper roots?”
You hear this and you feel distraught…how could they say such things? If it were that easy I’d do it. Look…the hope for that sapling is not in its ability to drink, or turn green…or grow roots…it is in the tender, compassionate, sovereign care of its maker.
God is the best arborist. He knows how to care for his saplings. A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Jesus Christ is grace and graciousness…He is gentle and tender toward his people. So, go to him and recognize his grace prevails against anything thrown at it.
So many times the advice we receive is like the advice the larger trees gave to the sapling…what it boils down to is more of us and less of him. That’s tragic…to find the peace and joy of Christmas you must look outside of yourself…you must look to Christ alone.
I know it is difficult to look beyond your circumstances and see the bigger picture. But, just think about this globally…all of history…every age since creation God has been at work bringing about his plan of redemption.
As we page through the Old Testament we see nations rise and fall…kings rise and fall…the people obey then disobey.
But, there’s another lesson in this story. If we think about who came to worship Jesus…it was these Gentile wise men…people outside the covenant…foreigners.
While they were worshipping Jesus…the religious people were at home sleeping. Though they knew the Scriptures…they did not know the God of the Scriptures. And I think that’s a good warning for all of us…to not allow our “” religion get in the way of truly knowing Jesus Christ.
Religious people can be so focused on their own progress that they lose sight of their dependence on God.
Something miraculous had happened…nearly all Israel from the King down to our the peasant…was going about thier daily lives…they were going thru the motions. No one…not even the chief priest and scribes bothered to go to Bethlehem themselves and see…its 5 miles…
The biggest event in history up to that point happened less than 5 miles away and no one batted an eye.
Everyday miracles are happening around us…the gospel marches forward…Jesus’ Kingdom extends and so often we’re much more like Herod and the rest of Israel than we are of the magi
They had missed the point and so often so do we.
If we look back over the history of God’s plan of redemption…we see at the center of that is his beloved Israel. Israel was God’s anointed people. He set them apart and made them the recipients of his blessing, of his promises. He cared for them like a Father cares for his children.
But, the NT looks back on the OT and tells us…what God was doing with Israel was ultimately about the Son of God…it was all about and all for Jesus.
Jesus has done what the world cannot do…he has been born in the flesh and lived perfectly…never once sinning…and he died a death deserved by all. He stood in our place…he took the wrath of God for your sin and mine.
He stood in the gap…he took down the goliatih of our sin with his shed blood. He is the new Adam…the greater Moses…the greater David. The one whom they all pointed to. Where they failed, he prevailed.
And God did it all for His glory out of love for you and for me.
Christmas is taking all the individual pieces of the band and putting them together in a rapturous orchestra…a beautiful compilation of God’s great plan of redemption. The song we hear is the Glory of our God.
He has brought himself glory in redeeming lost souls by sending his own son to suffer and die in their place. He raised him for his glory…he seated him at his right hand for his glory…he rules and reigns over the universe for his glory…he continues to work through the church in redeeming lost souls for his glory and he will return to bring all things together fully and finally all the glory of God.
So here is the reality of Immanuel. God is with us…he’s always been with us. God fulfilled his promises by sending his own son…the second person of the trinity to be one of us…to love and serve God for us…to obey perfectly for us…to die for us…to lay in a cold tomb for us…to be raised to new life for us…to be ascended on high for us…to promise to return for us....and all of it to ultimately bring Glory to God.
Jesus has come bringing light to the shadows…bringing color to the black and white history of the world. What was hidden has been revealed…what was typified has been realized.
-----
Maybe you’ve had a week like mine or you have in the past…you feel like you can’t do anything right. You feel drained…you feel like a failure. You’re stressed.
But, here comes the Christmas hope.
As much as God sent his son because of his love and for his glory…he sent his son to redeem real people…and that includes you and me…likely all if not most of us being Gentiles.
This story reminds us Gentiles were part of the promise from the very beginning
And that’s a glorious truth for you and me…and here’s why...
It means God always intended to send his son to die so that you would be reconciled to him and saved.
Not long ago we looked at this passage in Ephesians:
Ephesians 1:3–7
Ephesians 1:3–7 ESV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
God orchestrated all of redemptive history in order to Glorify himself by reconciling you and me to Him through the shed blood of Jesus.
Friends, if anything is going to lift your eyes and focus your gaze on the glory of Jesus this Christmas…remember that…remember that before the foundations of the world were laid…God had decided to save you…to make you his child…to make you a recipient of the blessings of God…to be the reason heaven and earth were united in that little manger in Bethlehem.
Yes, God did it all first and foremost for his glory…but part of bringing himself Glory is the display of his love and grace in saving you and me.
Take great comfort and have peace today knowing that the object of your faith, Jesus Christ, has come in the fullness of time to save you and me from our sins…to unite us to himself and to give us peace with God.
If that peace is not yours today...
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