Advent 3 - Christmas Through The Eyes Of Matthew - Matthew 2:1-12

 


Matthew starts out his gospel with Jesus' genealogy that includes some of the different nations indicated by selected names included and he ends his gospel with, "Go therefore and makes disciples of all nations."(Matthew 28:18)  Matthew starts out his gospel with Jesus being called Immanuel meaning "God with us" and he ends his gospel with "And lo I will be with you always even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)  Matthew starts out his gospel with all of Jerusalem stirred by the magi's question "Where is He who is born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2) and he ends his gospel with a Palm Sunday entry of Jesus on a donkey and all of Jerusalem stirred asking "Who is this Man?" (Matthew 21:10)  

A revealing genealogy,  (Matthew 1:1-17)

a general man (Joseph),  (Matthew 1:18-25)

giving worshippers (the magi),  (Matthew 2:1-12)

an infant genocide,  (Matthew 2:13-18)

and a Galilean destination.  (Matthew 2:19-23)

The Davidic line, 

the demanding angel, 

the dusty magi, 

the demonic Herod, 

and the journey home delayed.  

The foreigners included, 

the step-father's simple obedience, 

the favors of the magi, 

the flood of tears, 

and the fear of the unknown.  

Enough alliteration.  It has been interesting to see what Matthew has included with the backdrop of knowing who he was primarily writing to, a Jewish audience.  This is further evidenced by Matthew's references back to the prophecies of the Messiah found in the Old Testament.

The worship of the magi to Jesus stands out.  They travel and give of their time to worship the King of the Jews; they physically bow before the Holy One of God; and they return resources to the Creator of all.  They never take their eyes off of the One they were seeking.  The palace of King Herod would have been magnificent.  An audience with the high society of Jerusalem would have yielded all the luxuries of life.  "Let's just hang out here for awhile."  Their laser focus and physical endurance was evident as they travel south from Jerusalem to the little town of Bethlehem.

Their worship is described most vividly in Matthew 2:10.  "And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy."  They, in number (exceedingly) and size or volume (great), express their gladness over the sight of the star leading them to the King of the Jews.  May the rejoicing and the adoration of the magi for King Jesus be an example for us to display because we realize again who He is to us.

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life - Spurgeon

     I heard this phrase today along with another that if you connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life, it will end up effecting all of your life.  This came up in my study of the book of James and specifically the verses dealing with not just being a hearer of the Word but also be a doer of the Word.  It is all about application.  I can't look at preaching the Word without giving steps of applying the Word.  It really is an incomplete sermon if I don't.      Many times I think it has to be big and many points and given cute aliteration that makes it snappy and I think easy to remember and fun to write down.  Reality is, if I would make it a bit of Scripture connected to a bit of life and just that it would probably accomplish much more.  How much time I spend on the opening statement and lame joke and research and introductions and how many points and the closing statement and so little time on connecting the bit of Scripture to the bit of life.      So I guess I ha
Read more

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlier in  Ga
Read more

Sermon prep and maybe a video...

     James 4 has brought up some interesting study.  First, "the quarrels and fights among you."  Those are usually worse than you think even though we try to minimize them.  The source is simpler than you think because it is coming from within you.  The solution is easier than you think because the solution that James gives is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Any sincere resolution is specific and brief.  Beware of lengthy resolutions that usually include explaining it away or excusing some of the behavior.      As I have seen before, the words are a sign of the heart.  I read this week that if we have a critical heart we usually start by speaking evil of another to ourselves.  Then we progress to speaking evil of another to that person with a running tally in our heads of all their wrongs.  Finally, we speak evil of another to others and broadcast in a way that we are thinking that we are helping.  Giving judgment is always easier than giving mercy.  I
Read more