Matthew 1:9
"After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.
"Where the child was"
They followed the star to a house, not a manger or animal pen. They worshipped the young child. And they opened up their gifts (treasures) for the young child. They sought the king, the Messiah king, they followed the prophetic star, and they worshipped him. This approach and response to the prophecies is a completely different response than what King Herod had. Herod was deeply disturbed by the news from the wise men, and he set out to deceive them. His response is to lie and make plans for murder. These three wise men, three kings, respond quite a bit differently than the King over Israel. And it's interesting to note that from the very beginning of the advent of Jesus, Son of God and Mary, there has been no middle ground given. People either love and worship him or hate him and want to destroy him. He's either the royal Messiah, worthy of worship, or mocked and despised completely. No middle ground.
Why do you think that is?
I'll tell you what I think is really at play in all this sociopolitical intrigue that impacted the life and times of Jesus. I think the root of the hatred is something more than just a selfish desire to have the position, authority and power that is associated with the Holy One of God. I think these men of status and self-righteousness hate the nature of Jesus' kingship, which is defined by the word of God from the prophet Micah quoted in Matthew 2:6
"And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah...He will be “the shepherd of my people Israel.”
They despise the fact that this Messiah is depicted as a shepherd, and not a stern wicked ruler like them. They know their own hearts and minds. They know how they govern. They know the evils they have committed. And it burns them to no end to think about the Shepherd King. He is the gentle and loving Ruler of his people, who, like a shepherd, saves his people from destruction, and they HATE that.
They hate it because they can't do it themselves. The contrast with Herod, and even later on with the Chief Priests and Pharisees, could not be more pronounced. King Jesus, the shepherd king, gives his life for the sake of the people he rules; and meanwhile Herod takes the lives of his own people for his own sake.
This contrast has really existed from the beginning. This first century moment in time in Bethlehem is the culmination of a play that has been playing out since the beginning of time. And before really. This conflict is the battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. A conflict that exists within the hearts and minds of every person. This passage in time, in this passage of the gospel, challenges every one of us to reflect upon our own response to the kingdom of God.
We can get into deep thoughts about the star, and Herod, and the age of Jesus when the wise men showed up at his house (probably two years old), but none of that matters in the grand scheme of things. But what really matters is this spiritual battle for the minds and hearts of all mankind. This passage challenges us to reflect upon the character of our own lives. Rather than dig deep into how the wise men got to where they are, we should think about what we would or wouldn't have done in their place.
Who would we better reflect?
Herod or the wise men?
Who do you see in yourself?
I'm laser focused on this question because shortly that choice is coming up. In just a turn of the page we are all given a choice, no middle ground offered.
John the Baptist is coming:
Matthew 3:2
and he is saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”
And just in case you're one of those who say, "I follow Jesus, not John the Baptist", then hold on a second, because Jesus is coming and he's got a message for you.
Matthew 4:17
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
We are all guilty of our own compromises. Some are compliant, some are complacent, some are complicit, but all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And all must repent.
So where does your loyalty lie?
Are you like the wise men whose response is entirely appropriate for men who have committed themselves to true discipleship; or are you deceiving yourself and others, like Herod did, in order to have things go your own way? Do you desire power and self-rule, or are you worshipping the King of the universe and following his ordered and orchestrated rule over all mankind?
Militant self-rule verses rejoicing in the royal kingdom of the Messiah.
Which will it be?
No middle ground.
One day everyone stands before the king and gives an account for all they've done. And many HATE that. Many people hate Christians and their God, Jesus, the righteous king to whom every knee must bow. And they HATE that you can’t have it both ways. Truth is, they love the idea of Jesus, but they're unwilling to let Jesus change them. They choose to follow a lie and the word of God is not in them. They fall victim to the deception of sin. Their hearts grow hard and cold. And ultimately they rebel against the kingdom of God. It happens EVERY TIME.
Unless...
Unless we, the church, are working together to make disciples and encourage faith.
Hebrews 3:12-15
"Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start."
As it is said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."
Can you hear Him?
Philippians 1:10b-11
"Live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God."
Since the fall of man, Adam and every human being that followed, lost the capability to exercise holy reign over the whole of creation. Adam violated the holy command and every generation that followed did likewise. David and the nation of Israel continued this sinful trend. They too were unable to fully manifest God’s kingdom here on earth because of their unrepentant sin. Zerubbabel’s lackluster performance after returning to Jerusalem following the exile into Babylon proved that there always remains a spiritual problem of faithlessness to the law of God, a problem so prevalent that even God's wrath cannot cure it.
And I suppose this is why many Israelites rejected Jesus as the Messiah. His earthly mission was to inaugurate the kingdom and restore ...
Isaiah 5:18-19
"What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart! They even mock God and say, 'Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.'”
The soul believes that God is. The hearts believes that Jesus is the truth and full of grace, the heart believes that he's telling us the truth. And the Spirit through the word of God reveals the truth about grace and brings that truth both into recognition and into remembrance, making that truth clearer and more relevant for the believer. Spirit, soul, and body. By the works of these supernatural forces, faith comes to the hearer. Christianity then becomes what that hearer does with that truth and grace.
Today, there's a dichotomy of worldly ideologies surrounding the Christian church. The polarization is split between progressivism and bigotry. Neither is a good thing. Neither is a Christian worldview. The progressives starting ...
Zechariah 14:4-5
In that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley...Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him."
The Mount of Olives is east of the city across the Kidron Valley and is higher than the temple mound. Jerusalem becomes the source of living water when The Lord splits the Mount in two and a valley opens up from East to west. And a vast underground river rises up and pours out over the land towards the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. The Dead Sea is healed and becomes a fishing resort. And Jerusalem will be raised up, elevated above her geographical surroundings.
Zechariah 14:10
"The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem."
And all the heavens will change. All we know about the universe will change. There will no longer be day or night. No darkness. Only the light of The Lord. One day, neither day nor night, as if ...
The interpretation in question:
Isaiah 7:14b (RSV, amplified)
"Behold, a young woman (Alma, virgin) shall conceive (future tense) and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el"
In the Old Testament prophecy, (Isaiah 7:13-14), we have the Lord promising a sign to Ahaz that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” The Gospel of Matthew claims that Jesus’ conception by The Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary is the fulfillment of that promise, citing, Isaiah’s prophecy explicitly (Matthew 1:23). And so, conversely, unbelieving scholars do not take it for granted that Matthew’s interpretation of Isaiah is valid as pretty much all first century Christians did. These scholars are men who do not believe in the divine, and supernatural miracles. They maintain that Jesus was born like anyone else, with a human mother and father, and that his virgin conception was a later legendary embellishment. And they also weren't convinced that Matthew, the gospel writing evangelist, was even the same Matthew of Jesus' apostle fame.
...
Matthew 1:16
"and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah."
Joseph and Mary were engaged. In the Hebrew culture this was the first of three steps in the marriage process. This engagement is basically an arrangement to be married. This could have taken place very early in their lives, even as small children. Engagement was usually arranged by the parents. Espousal followed this arrangement period and lasted about a year in the case where the couple are of age. This espousal stage was considered to be marriage to a certain degree, but the couple were set apart to prepare themselves for full consummation and so they were kept apart sexually. In fact the father kept tokens of his daughter's virginity in case any questions arose later on. It was at this point that "it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 1:18b)
Joseph was a righteous man, a Nazarene, a descendent of David. And he didn't want to disgrace Mary and open her ...
Matthew chapter 1
"This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham..."
From Abraham to the Messiah, by his seed (Abraham's), some 42 generations later, the birth of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) came to pass. Jesus' earthly father Joseph, the descendant of king David by the line of David's son Solomon, bore the genealogy of a cursed royal line because of Jeconiah. And yet Luke looks to Jesus as the son of Mary who traces her lineage from Nathan the son of king David, though Nathan is not of the kingly line, but he's also not cursed by the sin of Jeconiah. It seems that Jeconiah birthed quite a bit of trouble, I'm thinking about his grandchild Zerubbabel who was particularly problematic. Looking back to the minor prophets we've recently studied, maybe we'll recall, that Zerubbabel tried to lead a messianic movement for himself. Whether or not he did indeed try to lay claim to Messiah status is a little unclear, but he was indeed involved in the coming of Christ. Both Matthew and Luke list ...
