Sound The Trumpet : Matthew 2:1-12 Pt. 2

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“Matthew 2:1-12 Pt. 2”
by Art Sadlier
April 11th, 2010

Last week we saw the Magi coming to Jerusalem, a group of official Persian kingmakers, looking and longing for a new king. Today, we want to see five acts in this drama.

1 - The Arrival

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

The non-Jewish world comes seeking Christ the Messiah, the greatest officials of the orient, the king makers of the east. They see and confirm Christ as the promised King. The amazing thing is that though the gentiles recognized Christ as the king, the Jews did not recognize Him. John said in John 1;11, "He came unto his own and his own received him not."

There are many myths and erroneous ideas that have come out of the dark ages, some from artists who were ignorant of God's Word. When thew Magi arrived it wasn't just three men on camels, that doesn't come from God's Word! That comes from Christmas cards! I suggest,there were perhaps 6 or 12 Magi, and they were probably riding on Arabian horses. They were probably accompanied by as many as a thousand Persian soldiers, this is suggested in verse 3, a part of the trouble expressed was the fear that this Persian brigade would attack the Roman soldiers in Jerusalem and mayhem would result.

"Come to worship him" 'Worship' = Greek 'proskenao' Means to 'stoop to kiss' The New Testament uses this word exclusively in the New Testament for the worship of Diety.

What a testimony this was to the King that was born in the manger, God was in effect, saying to Israel's leaders, if you wont worship my Son, I will see to it that others do. This reminds us of the triumphal entry, the people were crying praises to Christ, acclaiming Him as the King who would deliver them. The religious leaders of Israel came along and urged Christ to tell them to stop, Jesus said if these hold their peace the stones will cry out. God will see to it that there will be those who will worship His Son, will you be one of them?

2 - The Agitation

"When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." verse 3.

Herod was the King of the Jews, these king makers arrive and say, "Where" is the new King of the Jews. "When herod heard these things he was troubled" Herod panicked! "and all Jerusalem with him" They knew that if Herod was angry they were in for a hard time.

Understand what kind of a man Herod was. He made his funeral plans, he left instructions that when he died, they were to round up a number of prominent people and kill them. The motive behind this was to assure that there would be mourning in Jerusalem, he knew no one would mourn his death. They knew that when Herod was troubled, he would take it out on the people. So, "all Jerusalem was troubled", in fact it wasn't long after this that he had all of the babies of Bethlehem killed, he was a wicked man!

"And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born." verse 4. Herod knew about the Messiah, he immediately made the connection in his mind. This was a day when the hope and expectation of Messiah was running high in Israel. Herod knew that the King of the Jews and Messiah were one and the same. Just like the wise men, Herod understood who Christ was. Now here is a great contrast between the reaction of Herod and the reaction of the Magi. One was intent on murder and the others were intent on worship. That is the story of history, those who hate Christ and those who worship Him.

Interesting, that today in Israel we see the same phenomena present as was present prior to His first coming. Today in Israel there is a tremendous anticipation and excitement about the coming of Messiah! Bumper stickers, posters, billboards and literature in anticipation of the coming of Messiah! The hearts of the Israeli's are again being readied for the coming of Christ!

"He gathered all of the scribes and chief priests." These were the people who ran Israel, both spiritually and politically. They were corrupt and motivated by lust for power and money. The scribes were ordinary men who gave themselves to studying the scriptures.They were the scholars who continually challenged Jesus. Here we have gathered together the group who would oppose Jesus until the moment He hung on the cross.

Think about it, here are the leaders of Israel who had to be told by a bunch of gentiles that their king had been born and they didn't even know it. Herod asks them a question, " He demanded of them where Christ should be born?" Herod wanted truth to be used for wrong purposes! We have a parallel of that today. There are those who seek knowledge from scripture for wrong purposes, for their own aggrandizement and their agenda. Herod enquired of God's Word to use against the will of God. The world is filled with such enquiring today!

The chief priests and scribes gave the immediate answer, they knew, they quoted Micah 5:2. They knew where the King was to be born. Furthermore, Daniel prophesied the time of His birth. The prophet Micah said that He would be born in Bethlehem. The Sanhedrin said here in Matthew 2, that He would be born in Bethlehem and He was born in Bethlehem. These orthodox Jews had all the head knowledge of scripture - they knew it all! But it never touched their hearts and souls!! That is legalism, full heads but empty hearts! The scripture says, "The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life" They knew it all but they never troubled to go and witness it and to worship the King.

Understand we have three groups of people in our text;

1 - The fearful and and hateful Herod feared Jesus and hated Him! He didn't want Jesus interfering with his lifestyle and his position. There are people like that today, they don't want Jesus to rain on their parade! they don't want Jesus to spoil their fun! Eventually they will react against Jesus, quietly or openly.

2 - The indifferent The chief priests and scribes and pharisies knew all about Christ, where and when He was to be born. They were so engrossed with their own agenda, so engrossed in their religion that Messiah didn't matter. These kind of people are all around you, they have heard the gospel, but they are just indifferent. They remind me of Jeremiah who cried out in anguish of heart, "Is it nothing to all you that pass by?"

3 - There was Adoring Worship A few Magi, its always that way. Jesus said, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." The faithful servant of God who is willing to contend for the faith and the souls of men, will often find he walks a lonely pathway. He may have to leave freinds and family behind, he may be misunderstood and disdained. Those who love Christ would not trade the whole world for the opportunity to worship Christ.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13