Matthew 2:1-12

Herod had part of the information that he needed; he found out where (Bethlehem of Judea) the Baby was to be born. But he needed more information. Herod needed to know when the Baby was born.

However, there was no specific prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures about when the Messiah would be born. The specific prophecy, presented in the Book of Daniel, was when He would be declared the King of the Jews.

Let us think about this…

Herod could not act like he was concerned about some Baby. He could not let on about his real concern -- where was that Baby? It would appear odd for a grown man, namely Herod the king, to be worrying about a four month old Baby. No, he was smarter than that.

Herod knew the magi were interested in astronomy, so he asked them about the star.

Matthew 2:7 "Then Herod secretly called the magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared."

Ascertained means "to keep diligently probing." Tell me exactly, exactly, exactly.

How could he get away with that? Because they were astronomers.

His mindful plot was to not let this Child become the King of the Jews. To prevent this kingship from happening, he had to know the age of the Child. Again, he could not let others know his concern about the Baby. After all, he was a big shot "king".

Herod knew he personally could not go down to Bethlehem to look for the little Baby. Instead, he decided to use the magi since they were going down to Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:8 "He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, that I too may come and worship Him.'"

This was one of the lowest kinds of treachery in history.

Does this not all prove, however, that Jesus was the King of the Jews?

• What other four-month-old baby would have stirred up this much turmoil?
• What other baby brought king-makers hundreds of miles from the east?
• What other four-month-old baby makes a king tremble?

Obviously, the Baby was the King of the Jews!

Then the magi go to Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:9 "And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east [in its rising], went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was."

Again, stars do not have that kind of movement. It was a supernatural star that guided them. And God was moving the star.

The Jews had been waiting for the birth of the Messiah for at least 4,000 years.

However, the Jews did not recognize the moment when it occurred. Instead, gentiles are sent to seek Him out. The magi leave Jerusalem and go to Bethlehem without Herod, without the chief priests, without the scribes, and without all Jerusalem.

The star was in its rising in Persia; it rose up in the east where the magi were. The star guided the magi across the desert to Jerusalem. Obviously, we know the star stopped there because the magi stopped in the City and went to Herod to ask for the King of the Jews. Finally, the star lead them to Bethlehem where the Child was.

It seems God intentionally lead them on a detour through Jerusalem to see if anybody in Jerusalem was interested in Him -- the King. By then, Messiah was four months old. Did anybody have the slightest bit of interest?

This is one of the saddest parts of the New Testament. God brought the star from a pagan country to Jerusalem to tell His own people that Messiah had been born. The star comes to Jerusalem along with a large force of Gentiles (non-Jews) -- the pagan magi and their cavalry. Then, who accompanies them to Bethlehem? Nobody. They went by themselves.

Do you see how the magi could have gotten dissuaded from carrying on? These pagan gentiles followed the star to Jerusalem to find the King of the Jews, and the Jews were neither aware nor interested in what had occurred.

If it had been me, I probably would have packed up and gone back to Persia. Undoubtedly, I would have thought that I had been mistaken:

It would have been understandable if they would have stopped their pursuit while they were in Jerusalem and returned to their eastern land. But no! Their convictions were very strong.

They were 100 percent sure that the Baby was the King of the Jews. It was no problem to them that the nation of Israel was not aware or appeared to be uninterested. They were certain God was leading them, so they continued. The magi followed the star to Bethlehem and to the house where they saw the Child.

By the way, one of the other saddest parts of the New Testament occurred in Matthew 21:1-17 -- Jesus' Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem.

Messiah Jesus went into Jerusalem on the appointed day -- the exact day Daniel had prophesied (see the Daniel 9-10 study) -- which the Jews had been awaiting for thousands of years. The King of the Jews entered the Temple where He cleansed the Temple and healed the blind and the lame. Sadly, His own did not accept Him, so He left. Then, the text says, He went to Bethany alone.

That was not supposed to happen because He came as King, specifically, King of the Jews. But His own rejected Him.

Matthew 2:10 "And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy."

Do you think they had some joy? It is hard to tell because Matthew is a little bit ambivalent is he not?

It is important to note that these pagan magi saw the star and they rejoiced. However, they did NOT worship the star.

Matthew 2:11 "And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him. And opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."

The pagan magi worshipped the Child! Messiah was ignored by the nation of Israel and worshipped by gentiles.

How did those gentiles express their worship?

• They fell down. Notice there is nothing in the text that indicates that anybody tried to stop them from doing that. He was God, and they should have worshipped the Child.

• They brought gifts. These gifts are very familiar to us: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At that time, gold was the most valuable commodity in the world. Even to those wealthy king-makers, the gold they gave to Messiah Jesus cost them.

Gold has always been connected with royalty. In the Hebrew Scriptures, kings had golden crowns and golden scepters.

Frankincense was one of the many spices used in the Temple. Specifically, it was used as incense. The frankincense was put before the altar where it was burned for a "soothing aroma" unto the Lord. Exodus 30 stated that incense was to be made and used for God only -- never for people.

Those two gifts are marvelous, but the third one seems strange.

Myrrh had two principle uses, as follows:

1. It was used as an embalming fluid. Is this not a great gift to bring somebody?
2. It was mixed with wine and was used as an anaesthetic. Does myrrh mixed with wine sound familiar? That was what was offered Messiah at the cross. At His birth there was the shadow of the cross.

This picture seems wrong because when you look at a baby the last thing you think about is death. A baby is new life, particularly if a baby is King! He is born to rule. That is why we say Long live the king. We do not say May the king die very early. A baby is supposed to live, especially a Baby-King.

This Baby-King was different. The first time Jesus came, this King came to die for His subjects. That is why we have pictures of His death even at His birth.

Also, Jesus was a King who did not come to rule by force. He came to rule by grace. And that is how He is ruling in the hearts of the redeemed right now; He is ruling by grace. Remember though, Jesus is going to come again with force. However, for now, He is ruling by grace.

We read in the Gospel of Luke that Mary wrapped the Baby in swaddling clothes (King James Version). It is a strange word, but here is the probable explanation.

In those times, when women would travel throughout the Orient, they would take with them something that today sounds rather odd. Life expectancy was short, and life was very hard. Generally, the average person was always consciously aware of death. Apparently, when women [in particular] would travel, they would take their own burial cloths to use as their wrap in case they died on the trip.

If so, then the Baby Jesus was wrapped in a burial cloth when He was an infant. This is speculation, but we do know that at His birth His death was all ready foreshadowed.

We have to remember He is the King. Even His death is going to be on the Lord's timing, not Herod's.

Matthew 2:12 "And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country by another way."

Herod was determined to kill Him, and God is not going to let it happen.

Let us not two aspects about the magi:

This is a classic picture of the question, "What about those who have never heard?" "What about the person who will stand before God and say that they did not know about judgment or about God being their Redeemer?" What about them?

There is no such person. This story is a classic picture of somebody following the life that they have. They did not worship the star like a typical pagan would have done.

We know from the Book of Romans that God has put the knowledge in our hearts that we are not to worship inanimate objects.

The people who fall down and worship stars have rejected the knowledge they had. These people had a little bit of knowledge.

Anyone who wants to find Messiah will be taken from where they are by God, He will use what they have, and He will bring them to His Son. Once that happens, it does not matter from where they came.

Finally, the star stopped when it came over Bethlehem… That is the end of the road. Therefore:

Heavenly Father, we thank You again for Your Word. Thank You for the picture of the star that led the magi, the king-makers to Messiah Jesus.

Generally, none of us today are led to Your Son by a star. However, if we look back on our lives we see unmistakable, supernatural events that led us to Your Son. Thank You for guiding us to Him.

Thank You that it does not matter where we have come from, as long as we go to Your Son through believing Him.

Father, we also thank You for the picture of the star that stopped in Bethlehem and that did not lead them anywhere else. What a great picture for us! Once we have Messiah, we have everything we need. Thank You for Him and that He now rules by grace because we are sinners.

We also thank You that He is coming again by force to remake this universe, to remake us so we will be totally in His liking.

In Messiah's name we pray. Amen.