This morning I would invite you to take the Scriptures and open the Bible to Luke, chapter two. I would like to read to you the Christmas story. Luke, chapter two. We're going to begin with verse one. What church service just prior to Christmas would be complete without reading the Christmas story? Luke two, verse one.
"In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Cyrenius was governor of Syria and everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and the line of David. And he went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for the Baby to be born and she gave birth to her first born, a Son. She wrapped Him in clothes and placed Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn."
There's so many rich lessons, aren't there, to this story. Our scripture reading was the version of Matthew and then you’ve just heard the version of Luke. And I would like for us to go back to Matthew, the first chapter. I want to base the sermon on Matthew and so let's continue reading where the scripture reading left off.
Matthew chapter one and verse 22. The first verses that were read are about the birth of Jesus who will save His people from their sins. And then verse 22, "all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The Virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son and they will call Him Emmanuel, which means" what? "God with us. And when Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home to be his wife but he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son and he gave Him the name Jesus which means" what? "Savior. He will save His people from their sins." And then what happened? Notice verse one of Chapter two. "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and we have come to worship Him.’" Isn't that a beautiful story? It didn't happen in Tennessee, but it did happen. It's a real story. Jesus was born.
I want to focus on the Wise men. And I want to tell the story the way that I see it.
One clear evening, several rich Persian Ph.D.s were pondering on the porch as they philosophized. When what to they're wondering eyes should appear but a bright glow on the western horizon. As the light slowly faded, a large unnamed bluish white star remained in the sky. No star belonged there. This was something new. And as the light slowly faded and the star remained, its sudden appearance caused them to stroke their beards. These noble, upright magi were totally excited about this new phenomenon. They had just witnessed, apparently, the birth of a star. This was amazing. And they were used to looking at the skys. They knew the stars. They knew the heavens. The great signboard of the skies had been their study. And there it was in plain sight like a blue, bright, pearl shining there. Like a gem of hope hanging out over the western desert. They had just witnessed the birth of a brand-new star.
I imagine they dusted off many books that next day. After a very short night’s sleep they researched the subject. Perhaps it was the conjunction of several stars. Maybe it was a meteor. But it hung there. It couldn't be a comet. What was it? It was a unique, maybe a nighttime mirage, maybe. It's hidden mystery must be fathomed, and so they brought out the ancient Greek manuscripts. They studied them. The Persian documents. The Egyptian papyrus. They studied all of these things, and finally they turned to the Hebrew Scriptures. They must have studied for days. And they discovered an old prophecy by Balaam who had himself been a magi. And this is listed in the book of Numbers. And I'd like for you to read this. Come over here to the book of Numbers, chapter 24. Numbers 24, verse 17. And here's what they read. Now you know they didn't have computers to search. They didn't even have Young's analytical concordance or Cruden's concordance or Strong's concordance. But they found this. They must have known the Bible. They must have been Bible students. And here in Numbers chapter 24, verse 17 it says, "a Star shall arise out of Jacob, and a Scepter." Who controls scepters? Kings. This must be a King. "A Scepter shall spring up from Israel." And they thought about this and they realized that what they had seen, maybe they were observing the arrival of a new King. A Savior. Sent from God to the Jewish people. Clear from Persia they were seeing this. And if so, the fact that they could see it clear from Persia maybe meant that the Savior was also capable of saving them. Capable of saving anybody who would look and believe. Capable of saving Medes and Persians and Babylonians and Assyrians and Romans and Iraqis and Iranis.
So they must investigate this new star. This moving star which hung low in the sky. Low enough to where they thought they could follow it. They could find it. It was always there. Immediately servants were set to packing provisions. There was food to take. Lots of water because they had to cross the desert. And ancient scrolls had to be packed. Charts. And yes, just in case, they brought gifts. In case they found the Person who would hold the scepter. In case they would find a new King. They brought gifts. Treasures, which were fit for the arrival of the new King. And toward dusk the excitement must have been pretty high because they thought, "I sure hope that star comes back tonight." And sure enough. As it got darker, the star was there. And they set out in the darkness, on their camels, leaving on a long trip. They didn't know where they were going. They didn't know where the roots of that star were. All travel had to be done in the darkness. And camels don't have headlights. And so it was a hard trip. Very difficult. All their sleep had to be gotten in the heat of the day. It's hard to reverse the order of things. And yet they set out, and at every time that they could rest and pitch their tents, they continued searching the prophecies. Like Abraham of old they went out not knowing where they were going. They didn't know. Probably over there in Palestine someplace, but we don't know where.
Finally after a long but happy trip the star stopped. And where did it stop? Right over the temple. Now what? Well, they went into the temple. They must've gone in. Having no way to hear the news on the trip, they probably expected that Jerusalem would be just bubbling with excitement of the new Savior being born. That the word would be out. Everybody would be talking about it. But nobody knew anything. Priests were going about their daily routine. Swinging those smoky censors. No one seemed to have the slightest bit of idea about a new King being born. They didn't even seem to be interested in this wonderful event. Nobody knew what was happening. The religious leaders were indifferent. They were preoccupied with so many things.
You know at Christmas time we are so busy. I went to visit a new baby that was born. I went yesterday to the women's East Pavilion. It took me 20 minutes to get off the exit of East Brainerd Road and go over to the women's Pavilion. Everybody is going somewhere at Christmas time. We’re so busy. And at Jesus’ birth it was the same. People were busy. They were too busy to attend the greatest event in the history of religion. Even the priests did not attend. They didn't even know about it. They lived five miles away from the birth of the Baby, the King of Kings, and yet they were ignorant of His very existence.
And you know, you can live just a few inches away from the greatest Book in the world and it won't even affect you unless you get involved with it. I hope you bought a new Bible for your wife or your husband for Christmas. Or at least you get out an old one and you’re going to begin reading January 1. Read it all the way through.
The priests were busy. Rumors were flying all over Jerusalem. Who were these three wise men that had come? All this entourage of camels. And it wasn't just three people and it might not have even been three wise men. It might have been six wise men. We don't know. Why had these important looking scholars from Persia come in to town? Something was up, and the excitement even penetrated the thick walls of the palace of Herod. He began to hear about this. And he became insane. He was insane anyway. The older he got the worse he got. His dark, bearded countenance with wild rolling eyes. He had been dying from a wasting disease for about a year. History tells us that. And this suffering had only boosted his hatred of any competitor. He was an insanely jealous person. And any rival... Well let's read here in Matthew two. Come over to Matthew now, chapter two. And let's continue reading here about this event. Look at verse seven. "Then Herod called the magi secretly, and found out from them the exact time that the star had appeared." Herod arranged a secret meeting with these three dignitaries. These camel riding royalty from Persia, and he offered them some grapes and figs, and appeared to have an academic interest in what they were doing. And he said, “If you find Him, please tell me because I want to come and worship Him.” A lie detector would have caught that. “That I may come and kill Him.”
And so after a gift exchange between kings, the wise men left. And Herod was sort of like an overheated boiler, ready to explode. He was half Jew, you know, and he was half Edomite. Quite a mixture. He had been on his bloody throne for 43 years. From 47 BC to 4 BC, and he was not all bad. He built that huge temple. And remember the big famine? Herod melted down his own golden plates and used them to buy food for the people. He had done some good things. Not all bad. But he was flawed with a terrible, insane jealousy. The older he got the worse it got. And if he got wind that somebody was a threat they were eliminated. In other words, his wife Mariamin, he had her murdered. Alexandria, his mother-in-law was murdered, because of a possible threat to his kingship. His oldest son Antipater, murdered. Two other sons, Alexander and Aristabulis were assassinated. In fact, Augustus said that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than it was to be Herod’s son.
And now here he was threatened by an unknown Baby. This Baby is going to take over. “I'm not going to stand for this.” Imagine this great king being afraid of a Baby. And therefore he requested the Magi, “When you go and you find Him, let me know. I'd like to worship Him as well.”
The Magi went outside. I don't know what they did. The star was gone in the daytime. Maybe they went back to their camp, and as they searched the dark evening sky that evening, they hoped that the star would come back. And sure enough it did. It came back. And I just can't help but thinking they weren’t the only ones looking at the sky that night. Don’t you imagine that the priests would have also looked. I can just imagine the high priest going out during the early watch. They had several watches of the night. Standing there in the tower, right over the golden grapes there in the temple on the east wall of the temple. Squinting into the evening sky, looking, searching. And suddenly in the southern sky, maybe they saw something. I don't know. Maybe they saw the light. Maybe they didn't. Maybe they studied it a few minutes, and said, “Aww, its nothing”, and went back to bed.
You know, those who are searching for Jesus, will find Jesus. If you search for Him with all your heart, you will find Him. And at this Christmas season you can still find Jesus. Despite the news channels, and the malls and the stores, you can find Jesus if you search for Jesus. If you take time for Jesus. So these priests looked around and didn't spend much time at it. Finally determined, “Nothing important. It’s just a star. A fairly bright star, but nothing important.” They were sort of like those people on December 7, 1941 that looked at the radar and saw something. “Uuhh, it's not important.” This was the Jewish Pearl Harbor. They didn't take any action. They went back to bed.
But the wise men got on their camels. And they sat in their camel saddles and they went south toward Bethlehem. Five miles they went. And when they came to Bethlehem, the star stopped. It was a moving star. It was close to the earth so they could follow it. And probably a shaft of light came right down on a humble house, because Jesus might have been two years old by now. He was not a baby. The Bible says "the Child". And this shaft of light illuminated the place where Jesus was. So the wise men went into action. They sprang from their camels. They pitched their tents. They changed their traveling clothes. They got into clothes fit for a King. And they went into the house, it says. From their saddlebags they retrieved their priceless gifts that they had carefully packed weeks before.
And when all was ready they quietly made their way to the young King's house. And there they met with Mary and Jesus. Joseph was not there. I don't know where Joseph was, but he was gone. He was out at the time. And immediately they cast themselves at the feet of Jesus, and worshiped Him. And announced that they had come to show their loyalty to this new Regent. They smiled. And I imagine Jesus smiled. Mary must have smiled. Young Jesus must have been a beautiful young Boy. The guests could tell by looking that He was a King, or would be. Then in that humble abode they gave their gifts to the newborn King.
They gave Him six gifts, as far as we know. The first three were gold nuggets, then frankincense, which was a priceless fragrance from the resins and oils of East Africa. And they gave Him myrrh which was a rare orange colored perfume. A rare perfume. And finally they gave Him the most precious gifts of all, according to Desire Of Ages, page 63, they each gave Him their heart. That’s special. And you know, when you're at the feet of Jesus, you need to give Him your heart. At this Christmas season you need to give your heart to Jesus. Their long search for hidden Treasure ended at the feet of Jesus. And that's where we belong. Every person needs to live long enough to establish a saving relationship with Jesus.
I think of Richard Torsney who died this week. His funeral will be right here tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock. One of our deacons. Here every week. 70 years old. We never know. We should live long enough to establish that relationship with Jesus. However long it is. And then the rest is gravy. The rest is given to us that we might witness to Jesus.
Well, they went to bed that night. These three Persian Ph.D.s. They slept well. Except they had a dream. Do you believe in dreams? They had a dream, and in the dream, an angel appeared and warned them not to go back to Herod, but to go home a different route. A longer route, obviously, bypassing where they needed to be. Marco Polo claimed to have seen the graves of three Eastern Magi in what is today Tehran, Iran. And these Magi, you know, were wise men. They were wonderfully wise men. Smart enough to give good gifts to the Child. They were the first to devise the art of what we call Christmas giving. This originated from them. They were the first.
And those who give their most valuable gifts to Jesus are wise. If you give your kids all these treasures and don't give much to Jesus, you're not wise. You're consuming it upon yourselves. Give something to Jesus.
How do you do that? Well the finest gift that you can give is your heart. The gold of your heart, the frankincense of your heart, the myrrh of your heart. Your time. Your life. Give it to Jesus.
I doubt if Herod was ever told of the history making meeting that the wise men had with the Baby. But Joseph also had a dream that night. He must've come home, and while the wise men were dreaming, Joseph was dreaming. And the angel was telling them both a different message. “You wise men go home a different way, and Joseph you get up, pack your things right now. Leave. Go to Egypt.” And Joseph and Mary and Jesus set out the same night as the Magi. Both groups traveled without headlights, without a guiding star, in the darkness, different directions, guided by God. But Mary and Joseph had the priceless Star of Christmas in their hands. And the Magi had the priceless Star of Christmas in their hearts. These Iraq sages had Jesus. And you know, like Abraham, Jesus and His parents went off in the darkness not knowing where they were going to go. They didn't really know. “Egypt? Okay, we’ll head there. I don't know where we're going to be or what's going to happen.” And their escape was financed by the Persian Ph.D.'s priceless presents.
Herod was in a towering rage when the wise men showed him up. He painfully arose from his couch. History tells us this. The cold fire shining from his eyes, which were deep set like twin caves in the dark forest. This was an evil looking man. His tongue spat out dangerous words. The 70-year-old king was enslaved by his rage. He tore the fabrics and drapes of the walls. He screamed until his saliva hung from his beard. “They will not escape me. Quick, get that census.” They got the census. Soon he had a list of all the Jewish families who had male sons who had been born in the last two years, and every baby boy Hitler Herod slaughtered in that area. Soldiers went out to each house and slaughtered baby boys. All around the greater Bethlehem area.
Finally the Holocaust was over. A feeling of tranquility came over Herod. To celebrate this, he had his son Herod Antipater executed. Antipater. I didn't know him, so I'm just pronouncing his name like I would say it. And so there would be no one to try to take his throne. He could rest. He could take his ease. But it didn't last long. He was seized with convulsions and he died a miserable death. On the floor of his palace. Royal guards stood and watched helplessly as he writhed and tore at his throat. His dark eyes, history tells us, bugging from the sockets of his head. With a plea of help showing on his dying face. He followed the poor babies that he had murdered, into death.
And now at least Jesus was safe. Safe to grow up, until the devil would be after Him with greater vengeance.
Friends, what you have heard is the Christmas story. Jesus was born into a dark, dangerous place. Only if He is born in your heart will He transform your life. Inspire you. Fill you. Save you.
There are three attitudes that are always found in regard to Christ. And all three are exhibited here, in this story of the three wise men.
The first attitude, which was at the world’s first Christmas is hatred and hostility. Herod had that. He hated the Baby. He hated Jesus. And it cost him his life. There are many agnostics today and atheists. One out of every six young people today in the United States is an atheist, between the age of 18 and 24. He hated Jesus. Jesus interfered with his plans, was a threat to his way of life. A lot of people do that. They hate Jesus.
The second attitude is represented by the passive preoccupation of the priests. They were too busy. They just didn't have time for Jesus. They lived just five or six miles down the road, and yet they were too busy to come. They had too much going on. They were indifferent. They slept while the Light was shining all around them. The Light is there if you want to find it. Even now, too many of us are absorbed in the hubbub of Christmas to take time for Jesus. Did you read your Bible this morning? Did you pray this morning? I read chapters of the Bible this morning. Before I came to church. Let's do it. Too many ignore Jesus’ birthday. I walked by a house, and it had all these decorations. You know, some people fill their yards with Christmas decorations. Lights. And it had one sign that said “Happy Birthday, Jesus”. I thought, well now, there you go. That's the message of Christmas.
The third attitude is represented by these three wise men, if there were three. They worshipped Jesus. Only the wise were awake. Only the wise saw the Light. Only the wise searched for Him. Only the wise gave generously to sustain Him. Only the wise worshipped Him. And only the wise gave their hearts to Him. And only the wise were blessed. If you're wise, you, at this season, you've remembered Christmas. I know you have. Look at all this red that’s out there. You remember Christmas. Remember Jesus. Give your life to Jesus. When you get to heaven, the only people there will be wise men and women. Wise enough to have given Him the most expensive gift, their heart.
John three, verse 16. God gave His gift to us. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting life." Give your heart to Jesus at this Christmas season. You can't do any better.
Merry Christmas.
Let's sing our closing hymn, number 137.
Hymn of Praise: #119 Angels From the Realms of Glory Scripture: Matthew 1:18-21 Hymn of Response: #137, We Three Kings
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McDonald Road Sermon transcribed by Steve Foster 1/8/08