JESUS WORSHIPPED AS KING BY MAGI

JESUS WAS WORSHIPEDAS A BABY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
MATTHEW 2:11 11 On coming to the house, they
saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed
down and worshipedhim. Then they opened their
treasures and presentedhim with gifts of gold,
frankincenseand myrrh.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Gentile Worshippers
Matthew 2:11, 12
J.A. Macdonald
Guided by the providence of God, the devout scientists from the East, who
inquired in Jerusalemfor the King of the Jews, are arrived at Bethlehem.
Now they enter the house of the carpenter. Let us also enter, that we may see
and worship with them.
I. WHAT DO THEY SEE?
1. They behold the King of the Jews.

(1) He is denoted by the star. Some think it entered the dwelling and formed
as a nimbus round the Infant's head. This notion was ancient, and has
suggestedto painters their practice of depicting a glory surrounding the head
of Jesus. The evidence in favour of this opinion is not very clear. The star
sufficiently indicated the Prince of Israelas it stoodblazing in the atmosphere
directly over his dwelling. No palace was everso honoured as this humble
residence. The "morning star" indicates the place and rising of the sun.
(2) He is denoted by the prophet. The passage citedfrom Micah by the
Sanhedrin, togetherwith the star, declared the Babe of Bethlehem to be the
"Ruler whose goings forth have been from the days of eternity. The greatness
of Christ is conspicuous in his gentleness.
(3) He is denoted by the angel. For the Magiwere warned of God in a dream -
presumably by the angelof the Lord who afterwards in a dream appearedto
Joseph. Note:The testimony concerning the Messiahshipof Jesus is ample (cf.
Deuteronomy 19:15;Matthew 18:16). Unbelief is as perilous as it is defence-
less (see Deuteronomy17:6).
2. They see him veiled in humanity.
(1) His humanity was real. The young Child." Born as other children, though
very differently conceived. "Withhis mother." Nourishedas an ordinary
infant.
(2) Note in the truth of the humanity of Jesus:
(a) The reality of our interestin his mission and work.
(b) The reality and perfectionof his sympathy with us.
(3) So let us be encouraged
(a) to open all our anxieties to him;
(b) to trust him with a perfectconfidence.
3. They see Immanuel in humiliation.

(1) He is the "King of the Jews;" but, in this humble dwelling, in what
contrastto the magnificence ofSolomon! Note:True grandeur is spiritual.
Mind is above matter.
(2) How much greaterstill is the contrast!The "King of the Jews," in the
carpenter's house, attended only by his poor mother; and the King of glory, in
the heights of heaven, attended by his myriad retinue of angels!
(3) Let us read in this
(a) how humanity is dignified in Christ;
(b) how in him the Divine royalty of man is and may be assertedamidst
circumstances ofreverse.
4. They see a heavenly vision.
(1) Whether God warnedthem by his Shechinah or by his angel, when in their
dream or trance, in that revelation their faith was richly rewarded.
(2) Their obedience to the heavenly vision also became a means to the
important end of preserving Christ from the fury of Herod. So are faithful
defenders of Christ and his cause still the honoured instruments of preserving
his life in his Church.
(3) Their obedience securedalso their own safety. For had they rather obeyed
Herod and returned to him, they might have fallen victims to his tyranny
under a construction of treasonin acknowledging a rival King of the Jews.
The way of duty is safetyas wellas honour.
II. HOW DO THEY WORSHIP?
1. They worship Jesus as the King of the Jews.
(1) "They fell down," etc., put themselves into that attitude which Orientals
are accustomedto assume in presence ofroyalty.
(2) "Opening their treasures," etc. It was also customaryin the Eastto bring
gilts to kings. Note:

(a) "The powers that be are ordained of God," and should therefore be
religiously respected.
(b) Kings exist for the order and happiness of states, andshould therefore be
religiously sustainedin the due exercise oftheir functions.
2. They worship Jesus as the Christ of God.
(1) They did not journey from the distant Eastto pay respectto an ordinary
prince. The star had markedthis prince as extraordinary and supernatural.
Prophecyalso had declaredhim to be Divine.
(2) These Gentiles, in coming to the King of the Jews, claimedan interest in
his kingdom. They did not honour Herod as they honoured Jesus. Neitherdid
they pay religious worship to Mary.
(3) The humble circumstances in which they found the Christ did not
discourage their faith. Now, since nations have come to acknowledgehim,
faith has become fashionable.
3. They worshipped him with gifts.
(1) They presentedthemselves. This, in the first place, is most important. The
living sacrifice. The reasonable service.
(2) They consecratedtheir substance. "Gold," etc. (see Psalm72:10). Some
will give to Christ personalservice, but withhold property. Others will give
property, but withhold personalservice. The Magigave both. Christ is worthy
of all homage.
4. Their worship was typical.
(1) The mention of "goldand frankincense" refers us back to Isaiah 60:6,
where the gathering of the Gentiles is foretold (see also Haggai 2:8). "The
respectpaid to Christ by these Gentiles was a happy presage and specimenof
what would follow when those who were afar off should be made nigh by
Christ" (Henry).
(2) The shepherds of Bethlehem found Christ before the Magifound him. The
gospelcame "to the Jew first." But, though Bethlehemwas but half a dozen

miles from Jerusalem, the Magido not appear to have been accompaniedby
any of the Sanhedrin or citizens. The Gentiles receivedthe gospelwhen it was
rejectedby the Jews. Heathendomis accepting it as Christendom is rejecting
it. "Those nearestto the means are often furthest from the end" (cf. Matthew
8:11, 12).
5. their gifts were symbolical.
(1) Some think the "gold" was given as tribute to the "King;" the
"frankincense"in recognitionof his Divinity, because Godis honoured with
incense;and the "myrrh" in recognitionof his humanity, and that as man he
should die, because myrrh was used in embalming (see John 19:89).
(2) Perhaps their purpose was to confess Christas universal King. They
presentedthemselves as representing the "kingdom of men," and the whole
animated creationat whose headman stands. The "frankincense and myrrh"
would represent the vegetable kingdom. "Gold" in like manner would
representthe mineral. Christ, who carriedhis miracle-working into every
kingdom of nature, is destined to receive universal homage (see Ephesians
1:10, 20-23;Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 1:16;Revelation4:11).
(3) Or perhaps they may have designedto express simply their faith in Jesus
as the Christ. Thus they came seeking the "King of the Jews,"and now they
give him "gold," orpay tribute to him as such. But then the King of the Jews
is the King Messiah. Theirfaith in Jesus as such would be expressedin the
"myrrh," which was a leading ingredient in the composition of the holy
anointing oil (see Exodus 30:23). The ointment in compositionthey could not
present, for it would have been unlawful for them to compound it. But
further, since all excellencesin perfectionexisted in Christ, they would
express this in their donation of "frankincense;" for this was a principal
ingredient in the holy perfume, viz. that which common persons must neither
compound nor use (Exodus 30:34). The Bridegroom, in the Canticles, is
describedas "coming out of the wilderness, like pillars of smoke, perfumed
with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant" (Song of
Solomon3:6). The cloud of the Shechinah, the holy oil, and the holy perfume
are here togetherassociatedto describe the qualities of Christ. - J.A.M.

Biblical Illustrator
Worshipped Him
Matthew 2:11
Action, Prayer, Sorrow
M. Dix.
I. Gold may be takenas representing our substance, our goods, our material
wealth. All work, all material, have their worth in gold. This oblation,
represents the efficiency of that which is external to us, and can be detached
from us.
II. The frankincense is a substance which, once kindled, sends up sweet
clouds. to the sky. it is the symbol of religious thought directing itself lovingly
and longingly towards God. It typifies what is inward. There is a life of
contemplation as well as of action.

III. The last offering completing the text is myrrh. This. stands for sorrows;in
this we are equal before God. We canoffer to Him our pains and repentance.
(M. Dix.)
The characteroftheir worship
D. C. Hughes, M. A.
1. Devout.
2. Believing.
3. Self-sacrificing.
4. Intelligent.
5. Obedient (ver. 12).
(D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Give the bestyou have to Jesus
H. J. Wilmt Buxton.
It matters not how poor the offering be, if it is the best you can give. A legend
tells us how once u little boy in church had no money to place among the
offerings on the altar, so he gave a rosy apple, the only gift he had to offer.
Presently, when the priest removed the alms from the altar, he found there an
apple of pure gold. The simplest gift is in the eyes of Godas pure gold.
(H. J. Wilmt Buxton.)
A Christmas-time address -- Gifts for the child Jesus
R. Tuck, B. A.

From this visit of the magi has grown up our idea of keeping Christmas with
gifts. We will try to see the inner meaning of the goodold custom.
I. Our chief idea in keeping Christmas is to make everybody happy. Jesus
came to make us all happy — blessedof God.
II. Making everybody happy can be done best by giving gifts. All sorts needed
— should be adapted — make everybody happy because they bless both him
who gives and him who takes.
III. In giving gifts we remember especiallythe little ones. Because we think of
Jesus as a child, etc. Show how suggestive are the magi's gifts.
IV. Then we rise beyond the little ones to all those whom Jesus taught us to
think of as His brethren. Those who are poorer than ourselves, etc. Every
child may make somebody a little happier with their love-gift to-day.
(R. Tuck, B. A.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(11) Opened their treasures.—The wordpoints to caskets, orchests, which
they had brought with them.
Gold, and frankincense, andmyrrh.—These were natural enough as the
traditional gifts of homage to a ruler. Compare the gifts sentby Jacobto
Joseph(Genesis 43:11), and Psalm45:8, for the myrrh and spices;Psalm
72:15, for the gold; Isaiah 60:6, for gold and incense. The patristic
interpretation of the gifts as significant—the gold, of kingly power; the
incense, of Divinity; the myrrh, of death and embalmment—interesting as it
is, cannotbe assumedto have been definitely presentto the mind of the
Evangelist. It is noticeable that there is here no mention of Joseph. Looking to

his prominence in St. Matthew’s narrative, we must assume that his absence
on the night of their arrival was accidental.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:9-12 What joy these wise men felt upon this sight of the star, none know so
well as those who, after a long and melancholy night of temptation and
desertion, under the powerof a spirit of bondage, at length receive the Spirit
of adoption, witnessing with their spirits that they are the children of God. We
may well think what a disappointment it was to them, when they found a
cottage was his palace, and his own poor mother the only attendant he had.
However, these wise men did not think themselves baffled; but having found
the King they sought, they presentedtheir gifts to him. The humble inquirer
after Christ will not be stumbled at finding him and his disciples in obscure
cottages, afterhaving in vain sought them in palaces and populous cities. Is a
soul busy, seeking afterChrist? Would it worship him, and does it say, Alas! I
am a foolishand poor creature, and have nothing to offer? Nothing! Hast thou
not a heart, though unworthy of him, dark, hard, and foul? Give it to him as it
is, and be willing that he use and dispose of it as it pleases him; he will take it,
and will make it better, and thou shalt never repent having given it to him. He
shall frame it to his own likeness, andwill give thee himself, and be thine for
ever. The gifts the wise men presentedwere gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Providence sent these as a seasonable reliefto Josephand Mary in their
present poor condition. Thus our heavenly Father, who knows what his
children need, uses some as stewards to supply the wants of others, and can
provide for them, even from the ends of the earth.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
The house - The place where he was born, or the place where they lived at that
time.
Fell down - This was the usual way of showing respector homage among the
Jews, Esther8:3; Job 1:20; Daniel3:7; Psalm 72:11;Isaiah 46:6.

Worshipped him - Did him homage as King of the Jews. Seethe notes at
Matthew 2:2.
Had opened their treasures - The treasures whichthey had brought, or the
boxes, etc., in which they had brought their gold, etc.
They presented unto him gifts - These were presentedto him as King of the
Jews, becausethey supposedhe was to be a distinguished prince and
conqueror. It was customary in the Eastto show respectfor persons of
distinction by making presents or offerings of this kind. See Genesis 32:14;
Genesis 43:11;1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Kings 10:2; Psalm 72:10-15. This customis
still common in the East, and it is everywhere there unusual to approacha
person of distinguished rank without a valuable present.
Frankincense -Frankincense is a white resin or gum. It is obtained from a
tree by making incisions in the bark, and suffering the gum to flow out. It is
highly odoriferous or fragrant when burned, and was therefore used in
worship, where it was burned as a pleasantoffering to God. See Exodus 30:8;
Leviticus 16:12. It is found in the EastIndies, but chiefly in Arabia; and hence
it has been supposedprobable that the wise men came from Arabia.
Myrrh - This was also a production of Arabia, and was obtained from a tree
in the same manner as frankincense. The name denotes bitterness, and was
given to it on accountof its great bitterness. It was used chiefly in embalming
the dead, because it had the property of preserving dead bodies from
putrefaction. Compare John 19:39, it was much used in Egypt and in Judea. It
was obtained from a thorny tree, which grows 8 or 9 feet high. It was at an
early period an article of commerce Genesis 37:25,and was an ingredient of
the holy ointment, Exodus 30:23. It was also used as an agreeable perfume,
Esther 2:12; Psalm45:8; Proverbs 7:17. It was also sometimes mingled with
wine to form an article of drink. Such a drink was given to our Saviour, when
about to be crucified, as a stupefying potion, Mark 15:23; compare Matthew
27:34. The offerings here referred to were made because they were the most
valuable which the country of the Magior wise men produced. They were
tokens of respectand homage which they paid to the new-born King of the
Jews. Theyevinced their high regardfor him, and their belief that he was to

be an illustrious prince; and the fact that their deed is recordedwith
approbation shows us that we should offer our most valuable possessions, our
all, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise men came from far to do him homage, and
bowed down, and presented their best gifts and offerings. It is right that we
give to him also our hearts, our property, our all.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
11. And when they were come into the house—notthe stable; for as soonas
Bethlehem was emptied of its strangers, they would have no difficulty in
finding a dwelling-house.
they saw—The receivedtext has "found"; but here our translators rightly
depart from it, for it has no authority.
the young child with Mary his mother—The blessedBabe is naturally
mentioned first, then the mother; but Joseph, though doubtless present, is not
noticed, as being but the head of the house.
and fell down and worshipped him—Clearly this was no civil homage to a
petty Jewishking, whom these star-guided strangers came so far, and
inquired so eagerly, and rejoicedwith such exceeding joy, to pay, but a lofty
spiritual homage. The next clause confirms this.
and when they had openedtheir treasures they presented—rather, "offered."
unto him gifts—This expression, usedfrequently in the Old Testamentof the
oblations presented to God, is in the New Testamentemployed seventimes,
and always in a religious sense ofofferings to God. Beyond doubt, therefore,
we are to understand the presentationof these gifts by the Magias a religious
offering.
gold, frankincense, andmyrrh—Visits were seldom paid to sovereigns without
a present (1Ki 10:2, &c.; compare Ps 72:10, 11, 15; Isa 60:3, 6).
"Frankincense" wasanaromatic used in sacrificialofferings;"myrrh" was
used in perfuming ointments. These, with the "gold" which they presented,
seemto show that the offerers were persons in affluent circumstances. That
the goldwas presented to the infant King in token of His royalty; the

frankincense in tokenof His divinity, and the myrrh, of His sufferings; or that
they were designedto express His divine and human natures; or that the
prophetical, priestly, and kingly offices of Christ are to be seenin these gifts;
or that they were the offerings of three individuals respectively, eachof them
kings, the very names of whom tradition has handed down—all these are, at
the best, precarious suppositions. But that the feelings of these devout givers
are to be seenin the richness of their gifts, and that the gold, at least, would be
highly serviceable to the parents of the blessed Babe in their unexpected
journey to Egypt and stay there—that much at leastadmits of no dispute.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
How long the virgin Mary and her holy Child had been there is not expressed;
those that think these wise men came within six weeks ortwo months, judge
that Josephand Mary came thither from Jerusalemafter that he had been
there offered, to the Lord, of which you read Luke 2:22; but they are forced,
to uphold this, to interpret Luke 2:39, which saith that after they had
performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into
Galilee, to their owncity Nazareth, of a considerable time after they had
performed these things, which seemethsomething hard and needless,
especiallyconsidering Nazarethwas Joseph’s owncity, i.e. the city where his
fixed habitation was. It is most probable that they, after so long absence, went
right home, and if the wise men (which is said) found them in Bethlehem, they
were gone thither againto visit some relations.
They saw the young child with Mary his mother; under what other
circumstances the Scripture saith not, but questionless they were very poor
and mean, which is a very strong inducement to us to believe that they had a
spiritual Divine revelation, that this was a King whose kingdom was not of
this world, the true Messiahand Saviour of the world; they would hardly else
have treated a poor infant, in an ordinary house and no more attended, at the
rate they did, for the text saith they

fell down and worshipped him; a usual homage indeed which the Eastern
nations paid to princes, but they used then to have better evidences oftheir
royal state and dignity than these wise men seemedto have had, if they had
not, besides the star, a Divine revelationwhat manner of King this was to be.
We may therefore rather judge that their revelation extended not only to the
birth of a King, but of such a King as indeed he was, the eternal Son of God
clothed with human flesh; and that their falling down and worshipping him is
to be understood of a Divine worship they paid to him, as the Saviour of the
world: and so they were the first fruits of the Gentiles, owning and believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that their following offerings to him were upon
that account, for opening
their treasures, they presentedto him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The
guessesofthose who think that they offered him goldas to a King,
frankincense as a High Priest, and myrrh to sweetenthe place where he was, I
take to be but the product of luxuriant fancies. It is most certain that those
Easternpeople seldom came to their princes without some presents, and that
their presents were usually of the most choice things their country afforded.
This is plain from Genesis 43:11;and if what naturalists tell us be true, that
myrrh was only to be found in Arabia, and frankincense in Sabea, (a part of
Arabia) and that country also had gold, which it is plain that it had from 2
Chronicles 9:14, it makes a very probable argument, that these wise men
came from Arabia, which was full of men that were astrologers.The
providence of God was wonderfully seenin these presents, by them providing
for the sustenance ofJoseph, and Mary, and Jesus in that exile which they
were soonafter to endure. Forother allegoricaland mystical significations of
these presents, they are but conjectures, andthe exuberances ofmen’s fancies.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And when they were come into the house,.... Whichthey entered without
making any inquiry, being fully assuredby the star's standing right over it,
that this was the house, and here was the king of the Jews, whomthey were
come to worship; and having entered in "they saw" some copies read

they found the young child, with Mary his mother; in her lap, or arms, or in
the house with her, for by this time he might go alone. Josephperhaps was not
at home, but about his business;and which might be so ordered by the
providence of God, that so these men might only see the mother of Christ, who
had no real father as man; who had they seenJoseph, might have took him to
be his proper father. Upon the sight of the young child,
they fell down on their knees or faces to the ground, agreeablyto the custom
of their country,
and worshipped him as a king; giving him the same civil honour and respect,
as they were wont to do to their own kings and princes; which custom began
with Cyrus: for so Xenophon (c) says, that
"when the people saw him, , they all worshipped him; either because some
were ordered to begin this custom; or else being amazed at the apparatus; or
because he seemedto appear so greatand beautiful; for before that time none
of the Persians worshippedCyrus.''
And when they had opened their treasures, thatis, their purses, bags or boxes,
in which they put those things they brought with them necessaryfor their
journey;
they presented, or offered to him
gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh: such things as they had; it being usual,
not only with the Persians, but other easternnations, to make presents to
kings and greatpersons, when they made any addresses to them; which
generally, among other things, consistedofgold, spices, myrrh, and the like,
see Genesis 43:11. Whichlast passagereferredto, being a prophecy of the
Messiah, has beenthought by some now to have had its accomplishment,
togetherwith Isaiah60:6 where frankincense as wellas goldis mentioned,
"they shall bring goldand incense" or frankincense;upon which a noted
Jewishwriter (d) observes, thatgold and frankincense shallbe brought
privately as a presentto the king Messiah. According to the Ethiopians, these
wise men were three, whose names they give us; the name of him that offered
the gold, was Annoson; he that offeredthe frankincense, was Allytar; and he

that offered the myrrh, Kyssad (e). The Papists callthem the three kings of
Colen, and saythey lie buried in that place.
(c) Cyropaedia, l. 8. sect. 23. (d) R. David Kimchi. (e) Ludolph. Lex. Ethiop. p.
539, 542, 543.
Geneva Study Bible
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary
his mother, and {h} fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had
opened their {i} treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and
frankincense, and myrrh.
(h) A kind of humble and lovely reverence.
(i) The rich and costlypresents, which they brought him.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 2:11. Εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν]As the Magidid not arrive till some time after
the birth (Matthew 2:1), it does not follow indeed from εἰς τ. οἰκ. in and by
itself that the evangelistmakes Jesus be born not in the stable of a friend
(Luke), or in a cave (Justin and Apocrypha), but in Joseph’s house. Certainly,
however, the latter follows from this, that, according to Matthew, Bethlehem
is the dwelling-place of Joseph;see Remark afterMatthew 2:23.
τὸ παιδίονμετὰ Μαρίας]The non-mention of Josephis not to be ascribedto
any design.
τοὺς θησαυρούς]the chests which held their treasures, Xen. Anab. v. 4. 27;
1Ma 3:29; 4Ma 4:4. See Wetsteinand Valckenaer, adHerod. iv. 162. To find
symbolical references in the individual presents is arbitrary. Tertullian and
Chrysostom:Incense and myrrh they presented to Him as to a God; Irenaeus,
Origen (in answerto Celsus, who ridiculed the divine worship of a νήπιος),

Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, Erasmus, Luther: as a king, they presented
Him with gold; as a God, with incense and with myrrh, ὡς μέλλοντι
γεύσασθαι θανάτου. Comp. the Christian Adamsbuch in Ewald, Jahrb. V. p.
81, which makes the three gifts and their meaning to be derived from Adam.
It was and still is the Easterncustom not to approachprinces without
presents, Genesis 43:11;1 Samuel 10:27;1 Kings 10:2; Aelian, V. H. i. 31;
Harmar, Beobacht. üb. d. Orient, II. p. 1 f. That the gifts of the Magiare said
to have enabled the poor parents to make out their journey to Egypt
(Wetstein, Olshausen, and others), is a strange conceit.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 2:11. The Magienter and do homage.—καὶ ε. ε. τ. οἰκίαν:the house.
In Luke the shepherds find the holy family in a stable, and the holy child lying
in a manger; reconcilable by assuming that the Magiarrived after they had
found refuge in a friend’s house (Epiphan. Theophy.).—εἶδοντ. π.… αὐτοῦ:
εἶδον better than εὗρον, which seems to have been introduced by the copyists
as not only in itself suitable to the situation, but relieving the monotony caused
by too frequent use of εἶδον (Matthew 2:9-10). The child with His mother,
Josephnot mentioned, not intentionally, that no wrong suspicions might occur
to the Gentiles (Rabanus in Aquin. Cat. Aur.).—καὶ πεσόντες … σμύρναν.
They come, easternfashion, with full hands, as befits those who enter into the
presence ofa king. They open the boxes or sacks (θησαυροὺς, some ancient
copies seemto have read πήρας = sacculos, whichGrotius, with probability,
regards as an interpretative gloss that had found its wayinto the text, vide
Epiphanius Adv. Haer. Alogi., c. 8), and bring forth gold, frankincense and
myrrh, the two latter being aromatic gums distilled from trees.—λίβανον:in
classic Greek, the tree, in later Greek and N. T., the gum, τὸ θυμιώμενον=
λιβανωτός, vide Phryn. ed. Lobeck, p. 187. The gifts were of three kinds,
hence the inference that the Magiwere three in number. That they were kings
was deduced from texts in Psalms and Prophecies (e.g.,Psalm72:10, Isaiah
60:3), predicting that kings would come doing homage and bringing gifts to
Messiah. The legendof the three kings dates as far back as Origen, and is

beautiful but baseless. It grew with time; by-and-by the kings were furnished
with names. The legendaryspirit loves definiteness. The gifts would be
products of the givers’ country, or in high esteemand costlythere. Hence the
inference drawn by some that the Magiwere from Arabia. Thus Grotius:
“Myrrha nonnisi in Arabia nascitur, nec thus nisi apud JabaeosArabum
portionem: sedet aurifera estfelix Arabia”. Gold and incense (λίβανος)are
mentioned in Isaiah60:6 among the gifts to be brought to Israel in the good
time coming. The fathers delighted in assigning to these gifts of the Magi
mystic meanings:gold as to a king, incense as to God, myrrh as to one
destined to die (ὡς μέλλοντι γεύσασθαι θανάτου). Grotius struck into a new
line: gold = works of mercy; incense = prayer; myrrh = purity—to the disgust
of Fritzsche, who thought such mystic interpretations beneathso greata
scholar.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
11. the house]St Matthew gives no hint that “the house” was an inn, or that
the babe was lying in a manger. Perhaps here as in other places we are misled
by the ideas suggestedby greatpictures; and in truth the visit of the Magi
should be placed at leastsome days after the events recordedin Luke 2:1-38.
their treasures]Properly caskets orchests in which treasures were placed.
Such offerings to kings were quite in accordancewith Easternusage. Seneca
says “No one may salute a Parthian king without bringing a gift;” cp. Psalm
68:29;Psalm 72:10.
frankincense and myrrh were products of Arabia, and, according to
Herodotus, of that country only. They were both used for medicinal purposes
and for embalming; cp. John 19:39.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 2:11. Εἶδον, they saw)Sweetlyis expressedthe increase andprogress
of their joy from that of seeing the star to that of seeing the KING Himself.

The inferior reading, εὗρον[94](they found), corresponds with the words of
Herod, “Enquire diligently, and when ye have found,” etc. But the star, by
becoming stationary, sparedthe Magithe labour of enquiring. They did not so
much find as see. Cf. Luke 2:17; Luke 2:20; Luke 2:26; Luke 2:30.—
προσεκύνησανΑὐτῷ, they worshipped Him) Mary was not an object of
worship to the Magi. If she had been conceivedwithout sin, as the greater
portion of the RomanChurch has now decided, why should she not then have
been worshipped as well as now? for she was then alreadythe Mother of the
King, who was to be worshipped.—τοὺς θησαυροὺςαὐτῶν, their treasures)or
receptaclesoftreasures. The Hebrew ‫,רצוא‬ which is rendered by the LXX.
θησαυρὸς;in Proverbs 8:21, etc., signifies a storehouse,a repository, even a
portable chestor casket.—προσήνεγκαν, theyoffered) as to a King. They were
not offended by His present poverty.—ΧΡΥΣῸΝ, ΚΑῚ ΛΊΒΑΝΟΝ,ΚΑῚ
ΣΜΎΡΝΑΝ, gold, and frankincense, andmyrrh) from the productions of
their own country. There was a prediction concerning gold and frankincense
in Isaiah 60:6. These first fruits showedthat all things were to belong to
Christ, even in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, etc.—SeeHaggai2:8.
[94] BCDa readεἷδον. bc, Vulg. and Rec. Text, with less authority, εὗρον.—
ED.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 11. - And when they were come into the house. Forafter the enrolment
the caravanseraiwouldnot be so crowded(Luke 2:7). But whether it was now
the caravanseraiora private house, we have no evidence to show. They saw
(εϊδον, with the uncials and most of the versions). The translators in this case
followedthe text of the Complutensian (1514)and of Colinaeus'edition
(1534), rejecting the false εῦρον of the Vulgate and the ReceivedText. The
young Child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him (ver.
2, note). In this latter clause Maryis not mentioned. And when they had
opened. Neither the Authorized Version nor the RevisedVersion brings out
the exactcorrelationof the six aorists in this verse. Their treasures (so the
RevisedVersion); perhaps, more strictly, treasuries, coffers. There is the same

ambiguity about "treasure" in old English(cf. Jeremiah 10:13;Jeremiah
51:16;Eeclus. 43:14)as in the Greek. Theypresented unto him gifts. Thus
fulfilling in germ the predictions of offerings being made to Messiahand
Messiah's people by the Gentile nations (Isaiah60; Haggai2:7; Psalm 72:10).
Presented;offered(Revised Version). The verb used ( προσφέρω) seems to lay
stress on the persons to whom and by whom the offering is made, the personal
relation in which they stand to eachother; ἀναφέρω (cf. BishopWestcott, on
Hebrews 7:27) and παρίστημι on the destination and use of the offering
(James 2:21; Romans 6:13). Observe the three stages in this verse - vision,
submission, consecration. Gifts;without which one does not approach an
Easternmonarch (cf. 1 Kings 10:2). Gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Wealth and delights, the material and the aesthetic.
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Wise Men Worship The King (Matthew 2:1-12)
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I. Intro and Recap:
a. Chapters 1 and 2 are about the birth narrative.

i. Matthew gives two full chapters to the origin of Jesus. His earthly origin,
and his divine origin.
ii. But his primary point in these two chapters is this: Jesus is the
fulfillment of the prophets. He is the fulfillment of the OT.
iii. He is the Son of David. He is #14 (as we saw in the Genealogy)
b. Recap:
i. 1:1-17- teaches thatJesus is the Son of Man.
1. His genealogyis proof that Jesus is qualified to be the promised Messiah.
2. He is promise of Abraham and the Sonof David.
ii. 1:18-25-teaches that Jesus is the Sonof God. (virgin
conception)
1. His birth is not natural, and yet He is born of a woman.
2. Chapter one tells us that Jesus is both God and Man. He is the God-Man
and is uniquely qualified to be the Savior.
iii. 2:1-12
1. Now we are in chapter two, and Jesus is a toddler, not a baby anymore.
2. And we see two responsesto this Savior-King.
3. Herod and the Wise Men.
4. Some people love Him and some people hate Him.
5. Some people respond to Him, and others want to kill him.
6. But the main purpose of these 12 verses is that Jesus is the fulfillment of
prophecy.
iv. So the main point of this passagehas to be v. 6, that from
Bethlehem will come a ruler who will shepherd Israel.
II. Observations from Herod the King.

a. A little bit about Herod:
i. About 60 years before Jesus was born, the Roman GeneralPompey
captured Jerusalemand the rest of Palestine. The Romans installed local
rulers in these areas, andeventually Herod became the ruler of Jews. He was
even called“King of the Jews”eventhough he was only half-Jewish.
ii. Historian Paul Maier:
1. “You may be surprised to hear this, but believe it or not, if you are ever
askedwhich is the one figure from the ancient world on whom we have more
primary evidence from original sources than anyone else in the world, the
answeris not Jesus or Saint Paul or CaesarAugustus or Julius Caesar—none
of those. Alexander the Great? No, no. It is Herod the Great, believe it or not.
Why? Because Josephus gives us two whole book scrolls on the life of Herod
the Great. And that is more primary material than anyone else.”
2. Kind Herod was a paranoid tyrant who ended up killing three of his sons
on suspicion of treason, putting to death his favorite wife (of his ten wives!),
killing one of his mothers-in-law, drowning a high priest, and killing several
uncles and a couple of cousins. They also talk about Herod’s plot to kill a
stadium of Jewishleaders, and he even killed all the male babies and toddlers
in certain village.
iii. CaesarAugustus even said he would “ratherbe Herod’s pig,
than his son.”
b. Herod is an illegitimate worldly king.
i. He is the opposite of Jesus.
ii. Instead of using is powerto serve people; He uses people to
protect his power.
iii. Instead of serving people; he uses people.
iv. Herod represents worldly leadership and power.
v. Jesus comes lowlylying in a feeding trough…

vi. The ladder to greatness in God’s economy is the exact opposite
of the world. It’s down, down, and down.
vii. There used to be a popular TV show called “The Apprentice”
and it is hosted by the famously wealthy man, Donald Trump.
1. It’s a show of leadership, business savvy, skill, and smarts. The goal, if
you are a contestant, is to eventually pass all of the tests to become your very
own CEO of one of Trump’s companies for one year. This show perfectly
typifies the world’s understanding of leadership. If you want to win you do
everything in your powerto getto the top. You cheatif you have to, you lie if
you have to, you use others at their expense if you have to. You do anything
and everything to getto the top; because that’s where you want to be.
2. I remember as a child growing up in Minnesota in the winters we would
play a game called, “King of the mountain.” The goalwas to do anything and
everything to getto the top of a huge snow hill.
viii. It’s a picture of the systemof this world.
1. But in the economyof God, it’s completely backwards.
2. Mark 10:42-45, “Youknow that those who are recognizedas rulers of
the Gentiles lord it overthem; and their greatmen exercise authority over
them. ‘But it is not this way among you, but whoeverwishes to become great
among you shall be your servant; and whoeverwishes to be first among you
shall be slave of all. ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’
3. But it is not this way among you! The world has its wayof operating,
but it is not this way among you!”
4. Jesus is the opposite of Herod.
c. Herod represents the world’s hostility towards God.
i. He is terrified and wants to kill Jesus.
ii. The right king would have rejoicedto see the King of Kings,
but King Herod wants to kill him. He sees Jesusas his mortal enemy.

iii. Herod is more interestedin saving his throne than saving his
soul!
iv. Herod hears of these wise men who have come to worship a
king, and he is immediately threatened.
v. Herod (and others) are troubled by the news of a king (2:3).
vi. Herod is like the new Pharaoh.
1. I think Matthew makes the connectionbetweenHerod and Pharaoh.
2. Herod is like the new Pharaohjust like Jesus is like new Moses.
3. Moses onlyforeshadowedwhatJesus would do. Jesus is the True and
BetterMoses. Jesus is the True and better Deliverer. Jesus is the True and
BetterSavior.
III. Major LessonLearnedfrom Herod the King--There will be
hostility towards Jesus.
a. This world is hostile! Evil is all around us!
i. Jesus is born into a hostile environment!
ii. We will look at this more in the next section, but soonafter
the Wise Men leave Herod commits a mass murder on a whole village. He
kills all the baby boys under the age of 2.
iii. Jesus was born into a war zone.
iv. In the words of Doug Wilson, “Nativity sets should include a
pair of Herod’s soldiers.”
v. All is not well in this world we live in.
vi. How do you explain the mass murder of children without using
the word “evil?”
vii. Evil exits. Period. Sin is alive. Period.

viii. Our hearts should ache for those who lost their little ones, and
loved ones.
ix. We should weepwith those who weep.
x. Notonly is evil seenin humanity, horizontally; evil is seen
vertically, towards God.
b. There exists in all of us, a hostility towardGod.
i. By nature, are opposed to God.
1. We are not by nature indifferent to Jesus, we are antagonistic towards
Him!
2. We do not appreciate His rule in our lives, by nature!
3. We don’t want His government! We don’t want His opinion! We would
rather not hear His Word.
4. We are dead to Him. We are immune to Him.
5. He represents the highestthreat to our sinful desires.
6. R.C. Sproul, “If God were to expose His life to our hands, He would not
be safe for a second. We would not ignore Him; we would destroy Him.”
ii. The King James says, “Peaceonearth, goodwill towardmen”
Or, “Godhas now made peace available.”
1. There was ill-will. Hostility.
2. This explains wars, fights, everything.
3. Rom. 5:10, “Forif while we were enemies we were reconciledto God by
the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shallwe be
savedby his life.”
4. Rom. 8:7, “Forthe mind that is seton the flesh is hostile to God, for it
does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
iii. Tim Keller gives an illustration that is helpful.

1. Let’s imagine a couple that was once in love, but they have become
“estranged”which basicallymeans, we used to be in love, but we have become
strangers. And if you ever watch how that works, this is how it happens. You
were in love and what made you in love with that personwas certain
characteristics. Butwhen you decide to getangry, you take all those
characteristicsthat you loved, and you read them through your angerand
turn them in to flaws. You read the things you used to love, the very same
traits, as imperfections and weaknesses.
a. “She used to love the fact that he was poised and unwavering, but now
she sees itas emotionalcoldness. And she’ll use it to justify her alienation
from him”
b. He used to love the fact (when he was in love with her) that she was a
detail person. That’s why she’s done so well in her accounting firm. Always
checking up, always checking up. Now he see it as a lack of trust, now he sees
it as a critical spirit or nagging.
2. What Keller is saying is that, “You have enmity in your heart, so that,
the sovereigntyof God, where God cando whateverHe wants, you see it as
unaccountability. He does whatever he wants. You see it as reckless.
3. You have enmity towards the grace of God… “it’s too easy, you can’t
just acceptthat, you have to work for it.”
4. You have enmity in your heart when you despise Him.
a. “How can I believe in a Godthat could let this happen?”
b. “I can’t believe in a God who would let such horrible things happen to
people.”
5. That’s enmity. That’s despising God. You don’t really trust him.
iv. So when the angels pronounce peace in Luke chapter 3, they
are pronouncing the end of hostility.
1. When Matthew records what Herod did, he is showing the hostility and
evil that Christ came to conquer.

2. Through Jesus, you can have peace with God, and with one another.
a. Vertical peace, andpeace on earth.
v. One of the schoolteachers in the Connecticutmassacretold
Diane Sawyerthe heart wrenching story of huddling her kids togetherin her
room, moving a bookcaseoverthe door as a barricade.
1. With tears she told the kids to be quiet, “to be absolutely quiet, because I
was just so afraid that if he did come in he would just start shooting the kids.
So I just said ‘we have to be absolutely quiet.’ I said, ‘there are bad guys out
there…and we just need…to wait… for the goodguys…”
vi. Well the good guys did come. And in our story, the Ultimate
GoodGuy came…
1. Jesus was born into a war zone.
2. The Christmas story is smack dab in the middle of a story of Monster
trying to wipe out an entire village of baby boys, and I don’t think the weapon
he used was the main topic of conversation.
3. He was evil. Satanic.
4. Herod represents evil and hostility.
vii. In a world of hostility and evil and grief and pain…the Good
Guy Came…
1. And with tears in our eyes we can say, “Merry Christmas—Beholdthe
Lamb of God Who has come to take awaythe sins of the world.”
2. Rom. 5:1-2, “Therefore,since we have been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also
obtained accessby faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in
hope of the glory of God.”
viii. How do we make sense ofsuffering and evil and sin and death?
1. The cross ofChrist.

2. Jesus is born into this world to be a Savior.
3. Mercy and Justice collide at the cross.
4. Sin is exceedinglyevil. The Sonof God has to die because ofit. This
massacre is exceedinglyevil. And on the cross, Godthe Fathercondemns it.
He condemns sin. He pours out his angerat evil and at sin. He rouses His
fury againstsin.
5. His solution: Put His own Son forward to be the sacrifice. Pourout His
righteous vengeance againstevilon His own son.
6. The Result: Evil is dealt with, legally. And justice is upheld, legally.
And now he can legallypronounce sinners as righteous.
7. So God is holy and just, in that He deals with sin, he doesn’t let it slide,
and yet He is merciful in that He offers peace to the world through Jesus
Christ.
IV. Observations of the Wise Men.
a. Who are the Wise Men? (2:1)
i. These Maji are not identified with perfect precision.
ii. Educated speculationsays that they were likely the priestly
caste ofthe Medes and Persians.
iii. Danielrefers to the “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, andthe
Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams”
iv. This is likely the same group as the Magicians, orMaji.
v. These Majiare called“wise men” because theywere people
of learning.
1. Think of these folks as a mixture of being the elite, the intellectuals, and
the religious priests of their culture. They were like science-math-literature-
priests.
2. They were astronomers/astrologers.

3. Star-gazing book worms.
4. And they were Gentiles.
5. There is no indication they were kings.
6. And there is no indication that there were only three (there were three
gifts)
7. Sorry to ruin the Christmas song, “We three kings from Orient are...”
b. Why did the Wise Men come?
i. Undoubtedly, word of a coming king has spread beyond the borders of
Jerusalem.
ii. How would they have known?
1. Remember when Daniel went to Babylon, he studied under people who
studied dreams and visions and stars.
2. Daniel skyrocketedinto fame when he correctlyinterpreted King
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
3. Daniel later predicted the three successive kingdoms that would follow
Babylon, and then told of a coming King would swallow up every other
kingdom in the world.
4. It seems likely that these same Magi, these same Chaldeans from the
Eastwould have remembered Daniel’s words. They would have been students
of the Prophets.
5. They would be interestedin this coming Son of David.
iii. There was widespreadexpectationfor the birth of a great
ruler.
1. They come to the “City of David” to look for the “Sonof David.”
2. Jewishprophecies and even Romans were expecting a coming ruler.
This is likely why Herod is so nervous.

3. Numbers 24:17, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a
star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptershallrise out of Israel;it shall
crush the foreheadof Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth…”
4. Micah 5:2, “But you, O Bethlehem…from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from
ancient days.”
c. When did the Wise Men come?
i. They likely came about two years after the birth of Jesus.
1. Hence Herod ordering to kill all the kids under two.
2. And notice (v.11), Mary and Josephare no longer in an INN, they are in
a house.
d. How were the Wise Men led?(2:2,9)
i. 2:2, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? Forwe saw his star
when it rose and have come to worship him.”
ii. Notice, the ESV simply says the star “rose,”whichis a better
translation than saying it “rose from the East.”
1. If these men came from the East, and the Star rose in the East, then they
went wrong direction.
iii. 2:9, “After listening to the king, they went on their way. And
behold, the star that they had seenwhen it rose went before them until it came
to rest over the place where the child was.”
iv. Two major possibilities of what this star was:
1. An actualstar, or cometor, supernova, or planetary conjunction.
a. Church father Origen had this view, and also lateron, the father of
modern astronomy, Johannes Kepler.
i. Kepler thought it was likely the convergence ofJupiter and Saturn.
ii. Making one bright light.

b. If this is the case,then the Magimost likely saw the star of conjunction
of planets, figured out that it had something to do with the Son of David, and
came to Jerusalem.
c. Apparently, unusual stars have been noted throughout history.
i. Alexander the Great and Julius Caesarhada type of supernova at their
births.
d. The main problem with this view is that the star moves.
i. It stops when they getto Jerusalem. Thenis shows up again and even
hovers over the exacthouse of Josephand Mary.
2. An angel-or some sort of supernatural light (The Shekinahglory of
God).
a. Light was used as God’s presence with Israel in the dessert.
b. Possiblyit’s the same kind of light, and they calledit a star?
i. These people didn’t realize that stars are actually millions of light years
awayand twice as big as the earth…
ii. The word for starcan mean a star, or a heavenly body, or a
supernatural light.
iii. It is also used metaphorically for a spiritual leader, or even of
Christ, or of the messengers ofthe churches.
c. Angels are all over the scene during the nativity.
i. Angels are even called stars.
ii. And, angels are all over the place during the birth narrative.
d. The main reasonthis makes most sense is verse 9. It moves.
v. Isn’t astrologycondemnedin Scripture?
1. Doesn’tit seemodd that these Gentiles find Jesus using a system that is
mockedin the Old Testament? Forbidden in the OT…

2. Matthew neither endorses nor condemns it.
3. It is Mathew’s way of showing how God was reaching out to the Gentiles.
4. He is using their broken systemof discovering truth and He
supernaturally guided them to THE TRUTH.
5. The Jews, who HAVE the Scriptures, and are 6 miles away in Jerusalem
and are totally uninterested, while the Gentiles, from far-away, with a broken
system, are coming to see the King of the Jews.
6. You could even say that the Ox and Ass understood more of what was
going on that the priests and the scribes.
7. Mat. 11:25, “At that time Jesus declared, “Ithank you, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and
understanding and revealedthem to little children…”
e. The Wise Men worshipped Jesus with gifts (2:10-11)
i. The Wise Men rejoicedexceedinglywith greatjoy (2:10)
ii. What is the significance ofthese gifts?
1. We don’t know for sure if there is meant to be significance to these gifts.
At the least, it was a lot of money that helped finance Josephand Mary’s trip
to Egypt and back.
2. But it’s possible, that these gifts indicate the kind of life this child will
have…
iii. Gold- the symbol for a King.
1. This is Matthew’s main point on this gospel. Jesus is the King.
2. Gold is the metal of kings.
iv. Frankincense-the symbol of he High Priest.
1. Incense was used by the priests in their worship.

2. Incense was never mixed with sins offerings like meat and wine offerings.
In other words it was pure.
3. A white gum from a tree in Arabia
4. It pointed to Christ as our High Priest, His entire life was pleasing to
God.
v. Myrrh- the symbol of death.
1. Myrrh was expensive and was usedfor embalming. It was also a gum
from bush.
2. Myrrh was a valuable commodity. In fact, the town “Smyrrhnah” was
named that because it was a huge factory of Myrrh.
3. Nicodemus used 100 pounds of myrrh for Jesus’burial.
4. They unknowingly gave Jesus a gift symbolizing death.
5. Jesus would suffer and die a sinners death.
f. More than likely these wise men had no idea of the magnitude of this
king, but their gifts do foreshadow the kind of King this would be.
V. Lessons Learnedfrom the Wise Men.
a. The Wise Men teachus that Jesus is for all people, Jews and Gentiles.
i. The worship of the Magiimplies that God’s redemption goes beyond the
Jews.
ii. The response ofHerod and the indifference of the religious
leaders tell us that many of the Jews willnot believe in Jesus.
iii. Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes and prophecies of Israel
but also as one who will extend God’s blessings to Gentiles.
iv. Paul says of the Corinthians that “…notmany of you were
wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were
of noble birth.”

v. They were wise according to worldly standards, they were
powerful and influential, and they were of noble birth.”
vi. Jesus has come for all people! Rich and poor.
vii. The grace ofGod is wide and reaches to all people.
viii. Even his genealogyproves this, as numerous Gentiles are
mentioned. The grace ofGod reaches far and wide…
b. The Wise Men teachus what it means to be wise.
i. What does it mean for us to be wise?
1. 1 Cor. 1, For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdomof the wise...”
2. “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the
debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdomof the world? For
since, in the wisdomof God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it
pleasedGod through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”
ii. The wisdom of the world looks atthis birth story and scoffs.
1. He wasn’tborn of a wealthy family, His parents were poor.
2. He wasn’tborn in the Temple.
3. He wasn’twrapped in kingly garments.
4. He wasn’tborn surrounded by dignitaries noblemen.
iii. The wisdom of the world mocks Christ and mocks Christmas
and says,
1. “In an age of science andtechnologyand education, do you really believe
in a virgin conception?”
2. The New York Times thinks this is laughable.
iv. The wisdom of this world says that Christ is old news.

v. The wisdomof the world says that Christ wasn’tthe
promised King.
vi. The wisdom of this world is always dated….
1. The wisdom of the age this year, will be ridiculed 50 years from now.
2. Whatever the op-ed page of the NYT is this week, in 50 years will be
mocked.
3. The experts of this age will look ridiculous to the experts of your
grandchildren’s age.
4. Freud was in, then he was out.
5. Every generationbelieves that our experts are different.
6. NOT with the Truth. The Truth is never old.
a. ReadPaul, readLuther, read Augustine, Sprurgeon, and they all teach
the same thing.
b. If you try to invent a new kind of Christianity, or redesignit, or take
some of this truth and leave that truth you will come awaya laughingstock.
Guaranteed. 50 years from now you will look like a caveman. The wisdom of
this world is always dated.
vii. The wisdomof this world is shallow.
1. It values looks, money, relationships, power, it values pomp, it values
prestige.
2. The world want influence, the world wants power.
3. You don’t start your campaign in a stable, you start it in the temple.
You start it surrounded by powerful people, not shepherds.
viii. The wisdom of Godis different.
1. The wisdom of God is lying in a manger.
2. The wisdom of God is lay dying on a cross.

3. The wisdom of God foolishness to the world.
a. The wise men go to Bethlehem.
b. Ethnically, they were not the in people.
c. Theologically, they were not the in people.
d. All the right scribes and theologians andpriests and dignitaries weren’t
there.
VI. Observations of Jesus.
a. Jesus is the promised King (2:5).
i. Main point of 2:1-12 (Five times Matthew quotes the Old Testament).
1. 1:23;
2. 2:6,
3. 2:15,
4. 2:18,
5. 2: 23,
ii. This is a major motif that runs through all of Matthew. Jesus
is the fulfillment.
1. Jesus is born in Bethlehem—a fulfillment of prophecy (2:1)
2. He is calleda Shepherd of Israel(2:5)
iii. Herod assembles the chief priests and scribes to talk about
this. These are not folks who all agree on every matter of doctrine, but they
unanimously quote Mic. 5:2 and saythat prophecy points to the Messiah
being born in Bethlehem.
b. Jesus confronts the powers of the world.
i. Look at the ruckus Jesus makes andhe is just a child!

ii. The entire nation is buzzing about the news!
iii. Jesus poseda threat to the powers of the world.
1. “At the heart of the Christmas story is a baby who poses sucha threat to
the most powerful man around that he kills a whole village full of other
babies. At the heart of the Christmas story is a baby who, if only the Roman
emperor knew it, will be the Lord of the whole world. Whatever else you say
about Jesus, from his birth onwards, people certainly found him a threat. He
upset their powergames, andsuffered the usual fate of people who do that.”
~N.T. Wright
iv. Jesus cannotbe stopped by the powers of the world.
1. The plan of God cannot be stopped.
2. No matter how much the world tries to stop Jesus, it can’t.
VII. LessonLearned from Jesus.
a. Be prepared to be held in low regard, if you follow Christ.
i. Restassured, if you pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ your life will change.
ii. The powers of this world will rouse up with hostility towards
you.
iii. You will be mocked.
iv. You will be belittled.
v. You will be patted on the head.
vi. You will be calleda Exclusive. Narrow. Fundamentalist.
Backwoods. Backwards.
vii. The powers of this world will hold you in low regard, just like
they powers of this world held the Savior of the world in low regard.
viii. Ratherthan come in pomp, He comes as a Servant Savior.
Humble, riding on a donkeyto His death.

1. A Roman cross is His symbol.
2. He was seenas weak andinsignificant by the Vanity Fair of His day.
3. But his weaknessanddeath were actually the wisdom and powerof God.
ix. Forbes:
1. Forbes magazine presents their annual lists for the top 100 celebrities, or
for the 400 RichestAmericans, or the world's most powerful women. Other
websites list the top ten most powerful people in the world, or the 50 most
powerful people in Washington, D.C.
2. But a website called24/7 Wall Streethas an unusual twist on this theme.
They call it the "100 LeastPowerfulPeople in the World List." The list
includes corporate executives, athletes, politicians, andcelebrities who share
one common characteristic—theyusedto be powerful. Here are some
"Winners" (or "Losers")that qualified for this year's "100 LeastPowerful
People in the World List":
a. Tony Hayward, the former CEO of BP, in 2011 the 4th largestcompany
in the world (based on revenues). After a massive oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico, the BP board of directors eventually fired Hayward.
b. Jim Keyes, the former CEO of Blockbuster, once one of the nation's
largestretailers.
c. Mike Jones, the current CEO of the former #1 socialnetwork—
MySpace, whichonce had 70 million users.
d. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the once powerful actorand politician in
California, who is attempting to make an acting comeback afterdriving his
state's finances into the ground
e. Hosni Mubarak, the former President of Egypt who left the country in
disgrace
3. Some of the individuals on this leastpowerful list were victims of
circumstances;others made poor business decisions;and others losttheir

influence because ofmoral failure. But none of them chose to become
powerless.
4. In contrast, through his birth, incarnation, earthly ministry, and death
on the cross, Jesusthe all-powerful and sinless Son of God chose to become
powerless forour sakes.
x. If you follow Jesus, be prepared to be seenas insignificant
and weak.
b. Jesus is worthy of our worship.
i. Is there hostility betweenyou and God?
1.
ii. Respondto Him with worship!
1. Bring your own gold, incense, and myrrh.
2. These Wise men were wise!!!
a. They were wise enough to seek Jesus.
i. “Wise men still seek Him.”
b. They were wise enough to seek information.
c. They were wise enoughto worship him when they found him.
i. They didn’t respond with hostility, like Herod.
ii. They didn’t respond with indifference, like the scribes and
priests.
iii. They responded with worship.
3. So I say with the Apostle Paul, “Where and who is the one who is wise?”
a. They are humbling themselves.
b. They are worshiping the King.

c. They are bowing down and falling at His feet.
d. They are acknowledging His Lordship.
e. They are believing His Word.
f. They are preparing the way with repentance, removing everything that
offends the King.
g. They are praising His names with the host’s angels.
h. They are counting the riches of this world as rubbish.
i. They are ignoring the wisdom of this world.
j. They are valuing the things unseen.
4. So bring your gold!
a. Worship Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s.
b. King who rules a spiritual Kingdom which will some day come to His
people and at which point He will rule the world.
5. So bring your incense!
a. Worship Him as the High Priestwho can sympathize with your
weaknessesand welcomesyou just as you are.
b. Emanuel, He is God with us, sympathetic high priest, able to understand
and to aid us.
c. He is the Humble King who is approachable. He is meek and riding on
a donkey. Humble and lying in a manger.
d. He doesn’trun awayfrom you and the dirt in your life. He is drawn to
it. He is born into it.
6. So bring your myrrh!
a. Worship Him as the Savior.
b. He was born to die.

c. Jesus, He saves His people from their sins.
c. Suggestions to prepare for Christmas.
i. Prepare for Christmas as a family by going over the Christmas story.
1. Have hot chocolatetogetherand read Matthew and Luke’s narrative.
2. Readthrough the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke—write down
some new observations and discuss it.
3. If you are single, do this yourself or with some friends.
4. If you are married, do this with your spouse over a cup of coffee.
5. If you have kids, have them actthe story out.
6. Have a series of family devotions on this.
ii. Talk about Christmas with your family over dinner:
1. Don Whitney “10 Questions to ask this Christmas”
a. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you since last Christmas?
b. What was your best Christmas ever? Why?
c. What’s the most meaningful Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
d. What was the most appreciatedChristmas gift you’ve ever given?
e. What was your favorite Christmas tradition as a child? 6. What is your
favorite Christmas tradition now?
f. What do you do to try to keepChrist in Christmas?
g. Why do you think people started celebrating the birth of Jesus?
h. Do you think the birth of Jesus deserves sucha nearly worldwide
celebration?
i. Why do you think Jesus came to earth?
iii. Prepare for Christmas by playing goodChristmas music.

1. “Goodtidings of comfort and joy” God rest ye merry gentlemen
2. “Peaceonearth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled"
3. “Veiled in flesh the Godheadsee Hail the incarnate Deity Pleasedas man
with man to dwell Jesus, our Emmanuel”
iv. Watchthe Nativity Story Movie.
1.
v. If you hosta Christmas party, share something meaningful.
1. Readthe Christmas story in Matthew.
2. Make a few comments.
3. Ask some questions to getpeople to think.
vi. Start some Christmas traditions.
1. Make a specialmeal.
a. Directthe conversationtowards the Incarnation.
2. Make a calendar of Christmas where you peeloff a sticker eachday of
December.
3. Francis Chan:
a. We all have various Christmas traditions. Few of us probably have a
tradition quite like the Robynsonfamily's. In his book Crazy Love, Francis
Chan shares their story:
b. This family of five, with three kids under the age of ten, choosesto
celebrate the birth of Christ in a unique way. On Christmas mornings, instead
of focusing on the presents under the tree, they make pancakes,brew an urn
of coffee, and head downtown. Once there, they load the coffee and food into
the back of a red wagon. Then, with the eagerhelp of their three-year-old,
they pull the wagonaround the mostly empty streets in searchof homeless
folks to offer a warm and filling breakfaston Christmas morning.

c. All three of the Robynson kids look forward to this time of giving a little
bit of tangible love to people who otherwise would have been cold and
probably without breakfast. Canyou think of a better way to start the holiday
that celebrates the God who is Love?
d. Yes, Do all these things to help focus your attention on Jesus, But
remember, Jesus came as Saviorto deal with sin and evil. And He has. Now
we wait for his final return and that greatand awesome Day, whenperfect
justice is executed, and He saves those eagerlywaiting for Him.
VIII. The Gospel.
a. Yes, Do all these things to help focus your attention on Jesus, But
remember, Jesus came as Saviorto deal with sin and evil. And He has. Now
we wait for his final return and that greatand awesome Day, whenperfect
justice is executed, and He saves those eagerlywaiting for Him.
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-3-wise-men-worship-king-matthew-21-12
Does the Bible describe Jesus being worshiped?
Question:"Does the Bible describe Jesus being worshiped?"
Answer: Worship means “reverence paid to a divine being.” If Jesus was
offered and acceptedworship, then by doing so He was confirming His
divinity. This is important because there are those who deny the deity of
Christ, relegating Him insteadto a lesserpositionthan God. Yes, Jesus
acceptedworship. As the secondPersonofthe Trinity, He was and still is
worshiped.

From the beginning of Jesus’life, we see examples of Him being worshiped.
As soonas the Magilaid eyes on the infant Christ, “they boweddown and
worshiped Him” (Matthew 2:11). The Bible records the initial response Jesus
receivedwhen He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem:“So they took
branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna!
Blessedis he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’”
(Matthew 21:9; John 12:13)The word hosanna is a plea for salvationand an
expressionof adoration. This word used by the crowd is definitely a form of
worship.
Just after Jesus amazedthe disciples by walking on water, “those who were in
the boat worshipedhim, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matthew
14:33). Two more memorable examples of Jesus accepting worshipoccurred
just after His resurrection. Some of the women (Matthew 28:8-9;Mark 16:1;
Luke 24:10) were on their way to tell the disciples of the resurrectionwhen
Jesus met them on their way. When they realized it was He, they “came to
him, claspedhis feetand worshiped him” (Matthew 28:9).
Then there is the case ofThomas, who didn't believe Jesus had risen from the
dead despite the other disciples’testifying to that fact. It had been about a
week since the resurrection, and Thomas still doubted it. Jesus, knowing
Thomas doubted, appearedto him and showedhim the nail marks in His
hands and feet and the wound in His side. How did Thomas respond?
“Thomas saidto him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28). In none of these
instances do we see Jesus telling those worshiping Him to stop, as did mere
men and even angels who were being worshiped wrongly by others (Acts
10:25–26;Revelation19:9–10).
We continue to offer worship to Jesus today by offering ourselves to Him as a
living sacrifice—offering ourselves to God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to do
with as He sees fit (Romans 12:1–2). Jesus said, “Godis spirit, and his

worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). We worship God
in spirit and truth by obedience to His commands. Worship is not solelyabout
bowing to Jesus, throwing palm branches at His feet, or singing and shouting
about our love for Him. Worship is about knowing Him, communing with
Him, serving Him, and trusting in Him. https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-
worshipped.html
THE WONDER AND WORSHIP OF JESUS
Dr. W. A. Criswell
Matthew 1:18-25
12-23-87 7:30 p.m.
The title of the message tonightis The Wonder and Worship of Our Lord
Jesus. And I have a passage in the first chapter of Matthew and then two
verses in the secondchapter. Matthew 1, verse 18:
Now the birth of Jesus the Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary
was espousedto Joseph, before they came togetheras man and wife, she was
found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Josephher husband, being a just
man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her
awayprivily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angelof the
Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, do not
hesitate to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceivedin her is
of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His
name the Savior, Jesus, Savior: for He shall save His people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spokenofthe Lord
by the prophet Isaiah, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall
call His name Immanuel—with us is God—whichbeing interpreted is, God
with us.
Then Josephbeing raised from sleepdid as the angelof the Lord had bidden
him, and took unto him his wife:
And knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn Son: and he called
His name the Savior, Jesus, Savior.
[Matthew 1:18-25]
Now the two in Matthew chapter 2:
The wise men, the magi, came from the East. . . saying, Where is He that is
born King of the Jews? for we have seenHis star in the East, and are come to
worship Him.
[Matthew 2:1-2]
And the eleventh:
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with
Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had
opened their treasures, they presentedunto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense,
and myrrh.
[Matthew 2:11]
The Wonder and Worship of Jesus Our Lord.

I love that little phrase that I hear so often in these Christmas days; “Jesusis
the reasonfor the season.” There has to be some accounting for Christ. We
are facedwith a greatfact; namely the Lord Jesus. There is no life, there are
no words, there are no deeds, there is no charactercomparable to His.
Charles Lamb the tremendously gifted English writer with a company of the
most illustrious of the literary men of his age were together. And they began
talking about what they would do if these of the greatof the past were to come
into their presence. And one of them said, “If Shakespeare were to come into
our group, we would rise to greethim.” And another one said, “If Jesus were
to come into our presence, we would kneelbefore Him in worship.”
That is so true. There is none on all the pages ofhistory that is comparable to
our Lord Jesus, none. There’s no life like His. There are no words like His.
There is no characterlike His. There are no miraculous works like His. Jesus
is the greatdifferent. He is the great separate. He is the greatapart. He is
the greatunique. He is the greatincomparable.
In our biblical account, Matthew wrote from the standpoint of Joseph, but
DoctorLuke wrote from the standpoint of Mary, and in their writing, both of
them presented in a glorious way the virgin birth of our Lord [Matthew 1:18-
25; Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-16]. There is no thing in history, or in the Bible, or in
human experience that has been assailedwith the vehemence and the
viciousness as the story, the revelation of the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus.
To us who are humble believers in the Lord, that seems so strange. Butit’s a
fact and a harsh one. There’s nothing in history that has been denounced
with the vehemence and the viciousness as the virgin birth of our Lord. For
example, in the Talmud—which is a lengthy, lengthy, lengthy recounting of all
of the oral tradition of the Jewishpeople;a Babylonian Talmud and a
PalestinianTalmud, two of them—in the Talmud there is the tradition written
that Mary and a dissident Roman soldier are accountable for the birth of the
Lord Jesus. And uncounted Jews through all the centuries have believed that,
that Jesus is the illegitimate sonof Mary of Nazarethand a dissident Roman
soldier.

In modern liberal criticism, they say that the story of the birth of our Lord is
just another one of those unbelievable, mythologicaltales that fill the Greek
and Roman day with the stories of the birth of the gods and the goddesses.
And this is just one more of those mythologicaltales. We live in a scientific
age, so our pseudoscientists have come up with a skepticaland materialistic
accountof the virgin birth of our Lord. There’s no doubt but there is a great
fact to face;the factof Jesus Christ.
Such as the fact of the universe; it’s around us, we live in it, and we cannot
escape it. It is here. Now matter is inert. It does not give birth to anything.
So these pseudoscientists, in seeking to explain the marvelous entrance of our
Lord into human life, have a theory that they call parthenogenesis.
There are certain plant lice; there’s certain fungi; there’s certain algae that
propagate themselves from unfertilized spores and eggs. And these
pseudoscientists seekingto explain the marvelous fact of Jesus saythat Mary
gave birth to the Lord Jesus in the same way that an unfertilized lice, or a
fungi, or an algae multiply themselves. Theyput Mary in the class oflice, and
bugs, and insects. It is astonishing, the lengths to which men who are
unbelieving go to try to explain the marvel of the Lord Jesus.
Now in our review, we cannotdeny that something has been introduced into
the human race unparalleled and unprecedented. There is nothing like Jesus
in history. Human history breaks awayinto a new and a different form in
Him. Christ is different.
Compare Him with anyone; anyone you canthink of, anyone you can name,
anybody in human story. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Gautama the Buddha,
Confucius, Mohammed, Shakespeare,Milton, Washington, Lincoln; name
anyone in human story and compare that someone to the Lord Jesus. Itis not
so much an insult to history as it is a piece of sheerinanity. It doesn’t fit. It
doesn’t compare.
The accountof the birth of our Lord Jesus is of one piece with the restof His
wondrous and wonderful life. In the first chapterof Matthew out of which I
read, in the twenty-secondverse, “All of this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spokenof the Lord through the prophet, saying” [Matthew

1:22]; then that glorious prophecy of the virgin birth of our Lord [Matthew
1:23-25]<<<<<. The prophetic picture of our Savior in His life and in His
birth are all one and the same.
In keeping with the work and the order of God, out of the dust was brought
forth the man [Genesis 2:7], and out of the man was brought forth the woman
[Genesis 2:21-23]. And out of the woman was brought forth the Son
[Matthew 1:22-23], and out of the Son was brought forth the church
[Ephesians 5:25], His body, the redeemedfamily of God [Ephesians 1:23]. I
do not think that in all of the Bible there is more an amazing prophecy than
the one in Genesis 3:15;the Seedof the woman, the Seedof the woman.
Now to begin with, a woman doesn’t have seed, it is the man that has seed.
Yet the prophecy says the Seedof the woman shall crush Satan’s head
[Genesis 3:15]. Mostremarkable thing; it is the woman that is to bring forth
the Saviorof the world, to deliver us from our sins, to teachus the wayof
God, to open for us the doors of heaven. In the beginning, in the gardenof
Eden, God said, in prophecy, the Seedof the woman [Genesis 3:15]. So He is
to be born of the woman, not of the man; the woman, the virgin birth of our
Savior [Matthew 1:22-23].
I have just said that the whole story of the birth of our Lord is of a piece with
all of His wondrous life. It is just the same; the marvelous birth [Matthew
1:18-25], the marvelous life, the marvelous words, and the marvelous deeds,
and the marvelous miracles, and the marvelous resurrection[Matthew 28:1-
6].
One of the interesting things to me is a quotation of a song, a hymn that they
sang in the days of the apostle Paul. And Paul quotes it is 1 Timothy 3:16
Here it is: “Greatis the mystery of godliness:God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seenof angels, preachedunto the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, and receivedup into glory.” That’s a first Christian century
hymn, and it’s all of a piece. It’s all the same texture; the mystery of
godliness, the Lord’s intervention of grace and love in our human race.
It’s a wonder. What is it? It’s all of a piece. Godwas manifest in the flesh [1
Timothy 3:16], His virgin birth [Matthew 1:23-25];justified in the Spirit [1

Timothy 3:16], witnessedto by the Holy Ghost;praised by the angels, singing,
glorifying [Luke 2:13-14], preachedunto the nations! [1 Timothy 3:16] I’ve
heard it. We’ve listened to it, believed in the world a miracle [1 Timothy
3:16]; Jesus acceptedin our hearts and lives and receivedup into glory [1
Timothy 3:16]. It’s all of a piece;born of a virgin [Matthew 1:23-25],
resurrectedfrom the dead [Matthew 28:1-6], ascendedinto heaven.
We, with these who were present at the birth of our Lord, look upon the
miracle with wonder and adoration. Joseph, Joseph;somehow all of us seem
born to misunderstand the greatand the noble and the heavenly things of life.
But God helped him when he turned over in his mind what should he do with
Mary, with whom he had not yet lived as a wife, and yet she is there before
him with child [Matthew 1:18-20].
What should he do? All of us have that weakness to misunderstand. We don’t
comprehend. We are faulty in our faculties. So God helped him, and he
responded nobly and beautifully [Matthew 1:20-25]. Praise Godthat he did.
And Mary, in the Scriptures she is no imaginary woman. Her story is literal
and human. She lived a common, human life. Enough is said to present the
beauty and purity of her days, but little enough is said not to magnify her into
a feminine goddess offanatical theology.
She is here long enoughto be seen, to be understood, to be attested, affirmed,
and then she is gone. She is not a theatrical woman. She is not a paper
goddess. She is a woman with other children.
Did you remember the Word? Josephtook unto him his wife and knew her
not [Matthew 1:25], did not live with here until she brought forth her
firstborn, her firstborn Son [Matthew 1:25]. He was not with her as a
husband until that first Baby was born, then he lived with her. And she
brought forth her firstborn Son [Matthew 1:25]. She had another, and
another, and another [Matthew 13:55].
Then she is buried. Mary is buried without a funeral, without a grave
marker, without an epitaph. The eye cannot follow the swift movement of her
passing. Here in the purpose of God a virgin mother, then having

accomplishedthe purpose of the Lord in the earth, she is taken away, and we
cannot follow the swiftness ofthe flight of her passing.
So the interest and the involvement of heavenin the birth of this wonderful
Child; the angelGabriel speaking to Zechariahthe priest [Luke 1:5-20], and
the same angelGabriel announcing the coming of the Child to Mary [Luke
1:26-38], then this speaking of the Lord Godto Joseph[Matthew 1:20-21],
then the angels announcing to the startled shepherds [Luke 2:8-12], and
finally the guiding star to the magi who kneeland worship before the Lord
[Matthew 2:1-11]. And that reaches downto us. I am so overwhelmedby the
unconscious, unplanned tribute of the whole world to the blessedJesus.
I go into these stores. The man that owns it may be a rank infidel. And these
who run it may be as far awayfrom the Christian faith as heaven is from
earth. When I walk through the store, I hear them singing on the PA system;
“Joyto the world the Lord is come, let earth receive her King,” or, “O Come
Let Us Adore Him.”
It is marvelous. It is wonderful. It’s of heaven, and the lights, and the color,
and the seasonofrejoicing, and the giving of gifts in His name, and the love
that pulls the family together;all of it is just a part of the wonderof the
worship of the blessedLord Jesus. Godbe praised, and the Lord be honored.
Now may we bow our heads? In this moment when we pray, is there someone
here tonight to give himself to the Lord Jesus, or to come into the fellowship of
our church, or to answera call of the Lord in your heart? Would you hold up
your hand? “Pastor, I’m here tonight, and I want to take the Lord as my
Savior.” Or, “I want to give my life to Him in a specialway”;or answerthe
call of the Holy Spirit of God, or to come into the fellowshipof His church;
anywhere? Wonderful Savior, just thank Thee for the privilege of naming
Thy name, of standing in this sacredplace, adoring and worshiping Thee, O
Thou Son of heaven, our Savior, our hope forever, amen.

View all Sermons
Worshipers At The First Christmas Lesson2 Series
Contributed by Elmer Towns on Feb 13, 2019
(rate this sermon)
| 602 views
Scripture: Luke 2:25-32, Matthew 2:1-11
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: God will guide you to take the right path on your worship journey.
1 2
Next
A. SIMEON:A TRUE WORSHIPER:LUKE 2:25-32
“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalemwhose name was Simeon, and this
man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolationof Israel, and the Holy
Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealedto him by the Holy Spirit that
he would not see death before he had seenthe Lord’s Christ. So he came by
the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus,
to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms
and blessedGodand said: ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in
peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seenYour salvation which
You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelationto
the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel’” (Luke 2:25-32).

1. True worshipers are both godly and devout. “Simeon. . . was a righteous
man and very devout” (v. 25, NLT).
2. True worshipers are filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 25).
Simeon was yielded to be filled by the Spirit (v. 25).
Simeon was led by the Spirit (v. 27).
Simeon was enlightened by the Spirit (v. 26).
3. True worshipers are taught by the Holy Spirit. “Revealedto him by the
Spirit” (v. 26).
4. True worshipers experience a divine epochor divine circumstance. “That
day the Holy Spirit led him to the temple . . . when Mary and Josephcame to
present the baby Jesus to the Lord” (v. 27, NLT).
5. True worshipers embrace Jesus. “He took the child in his arms” (v. 28).
6. True worshipers “bless God” (v. 28). To bless means to add value.
How Can We Add Value to God?
He becomes more valuable to you.
He becomes more valuable to others.
He is pleased.
BecauseGodseeksworshipers, His mission is completed.
7. True worshipers receive peace. “Let. . . thy servant depart in peace” (v.
29).
8. True worshipers want to share with lost people. “A light to bring revelation
to the Gentiles,
and the glory of Your people Israel” (v. 32).
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B. FOLLOW THE WORSHIP JOURNEYWITH WISE MEN:MATT. 2:1-
11
“Now afterJesus was born in Bethlehemof Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, wise men from the Eastcame to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He
who has been born King of the Jews?Forwe have seenHis starin the East
and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was
troubled, and all Jerusalemwith him. And when he had gatheredall the chief
priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born. So they said to him . . . And he (Herod) sent them to
Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and searchcarefullyfor the young Child, and when
you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship
Him also.’When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star
which they had seenin the Eastwent before them, till it came and stoodover
where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoicedwith
exceedinglygreatjoy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the
young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And
when they had opened their treasures, they presentedgifts to Him: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. 2:1-5, 8-11).
1. The worship journey overcame barriers to find Christ. “There came wise
men from the east” (v. 1).
a. Distance
b. Mountains
c. Rivers
d. Culture
e. Family
f. Age

2. The worship journey begins with what you know. They knew Jesus was the
King of the Jews (v. 2).
3. The worship journey centers on your background. Magistudied stars, “We
have seenHis star” (v. 2).
4. The worship journey leaves your comfortable surroundings. “We have seen
His starin the Eastand have come to worship Him” (v. 2).
5. When Christ is the focus of your worship, He takes possessionof
everything. “His star” (v. 2).
6. If you are an honestseeker, Godwill catchyour attention. “We have seen. .
. in the East” (v. 2).
7. Noteveryone will support your worship journey. “Herod . . . was troubled,
and all Jerusalemwith him” (v. 3).
8. Religious people want to study your journey, but not go with you.
“Gatheredall the chief priests and scribes” (v. 4).
9. Our worship journey tells us what belongs to Jesus. “His star.”
10. People who have religious answers don’t necessarilytake the worship
journey. “He sent them to Bethlehem” (v. 8).
11. Some are so concernedwith time (v. 7), a place (v. 4), they forget to focus
on the Babe.
12. Some may claim they will go with you to worship. “Bring me word, that I
may come and worship him also” (v. 8). But they are enemies of Christ.
“Herod . . . sent forth and slew all the children . . . two years and under” (v.
16).
13. God will guide you to take the right path on your worship journey. “The
star . . . went before them” (v. 9).
14. True worship focus on Christ. “Stoodoverwhere the young child was” (v.
9).

15. We change our physical posture when we confront Christ. “When they
saw the young child . . . they fell down and worshiped Him” (v. 11).
16. We can’t be selfish with our treasure when worshiping Christ. “Whenthey
opened their treasures . . . gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (v.11).
If you have never really acceptedJesus as your personalSavior, would you do
it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by
faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
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DearLord, I acknowledge thatI am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins
on the cross, and rose againthe third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I
receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe
You, because Youare God and cannotlie. I believe right now that the Lord
Jesus is my personalSavior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His
precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to
welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
All PBC lessons are available online at trbc.org/pbc. Go to www.Hopenow.tv
for the current program schedule.
Dr. Towns’email is eltowns@liberty.edu. Dr. Towns’web address is
www.elmertowns.com.
WORSHIP THE KING

Matthew 2:1-12
Key Verse:2:11
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they
bowed down and worshipedhim. Then they opened their treasures and
presentedhim with the gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
Merry Christmas!Happy New Year! God gave us the sign of Immanuel
through the virgin birth in Isaiah 7. We learned through Christmas message
that Immanuel Jesus would become the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Now the zeal of the
Lord accomplishedhis promise. Jesus was born in Bethlehem according to
God’s promise. The Magicame to worship the baby Jesus. The focus of
today’s messagewill be “worship.” The WestminsterConfessionofFaith says,
“The chief end of man is to glorify God and exalt Him forever.” Matthew
depicts Jesus as our King and his main theme of the gospelstoryis the
Kingdom of God. Matthew used to have a worship problem. So, he explains
true worship by introducing the visit of the Magiwho came to worship baby
Jesus. His main messageis “worshipthe king.” The basic meaning of the word
for 'worship' is to express, by words or by bowing down and offering gifts,
profound and submissive respector adoration. In this Christmas, let us find,
worship, and serve our King Jesus like the Magi. May God bless us to obey
and love God with wholehearteddevotion as our act of worship today.
PART I. WE HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM (1-4).
Look at verse 1. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time
of King Herod, Magifrom the eastcame to Jerusalem....”At that time, the
political ruler of the regionwas King Herod. King Herod was knownas Herod
the Great. He was also knownto be a greatbuilder. To appease the Jews, he
built the Temple in Jerusalemwhich attractedso many people due to its
beauty. But he was a man with paranoia who murdered his favorite wife and
two sons when he suspectedthem of plotting againsthim. In spite of his
madness, Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. God carried out his plan of

the world salvation. He sent his One and Only Son to be born in a manger.
God came to men in the human form. Out of his mercy and grace, Godvisited
his ownpeople by becoming like them. His birth was the goodnews of great
joy to all people. But people in Jerusalemwere not ready to receive his
coming. They did not welcome his coming because they were living in
darkness. But there were the Gentiles who welcomedthe birth of Jesus. Who
were they? They were the Magiwho were seeking the truth. How many were
there? People call them “three wise men from the East.” ButMatthew did not
tell the numbers. Three types of gifts are mentioned in verse 11, so it is
something assumedthat three wise men came to worship the baby Jesus. Who
were the Magifrom the East? These men were astrologersand astrologywas
a respectedscienceofthe stars. They observedthe stars and began to follow
the starof Jesus. Theyprobably came from ancient Persia or Babylon. They
made a long harrowing journey, overcoming the threat of mountain bandits,
spending much time and money, missing family members. Why had they come
to Jerusalem? Look atverse 2. “...andasked, ‘Where is the one who has been
born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the eastand have come to worship
him.’” These Magiknew that the king of the Jews had been born. They knew
that he was the promised Messiahofthe Scriptures. How did the Magi
connectthe star with the birth of the king of the Jews? Theysaw “his star” in
the east. These Magiwere scholars, who intensively studied many subjects,
including astronomy and astrology. One night, they observedan unusual star
in the sky. It captured their attention, for it seemedto have specialmeaning.
Somehow they concluded that it signified the birth of the king of the Jews.
God’s truth was revealedto them through the stars. God gave them a special
revelation about the birth of the Messiah. In Genesis 15:5 God told Abraham,
“Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them. So
shall your offspring be.” Through the stars Godrevealed his plan to give
Abraham many descendants. In addition to revelation from the star, the Magi
also had the revelation of Scripture. In Numbers 24:17a, there is a prophecy
by Balaam. This man Balaamwas hired by Balak the Moabite king to curse
the Israelpeople. Instead of cursing them, he blessedIsraelpeople after
rebuked by his own donkey and instructed by the angelof the Lord. He
prophesied about the Messiah. He said, “I see him, but not now; I behold him,
but not near. A star will come out of Jacob;a scepterwill rise out of Israel.”

Here, the scepterrefers to a king and the star to the promised Messiah.
Moreover, in the book of the greatprophet Daniel, there was a clearpromise
of the coming Messiahand also a prediction of the time of his coming. The
Magimust have known about these Scriptures, possibly from the Israelites
who had been there ever since the time of the exile to Babylon. The Magiwere
certain that the king of the Jews had been born. They made a long journey to
Jerusalemsacrificing their time, careers, andfamilies.
Then what was their single purpose of their journey? They said, “We have
come to worship him.” Wow! They troubled to journey all the way just to
worship the baby Jesus. The originof the word “worship” came from Saxon
word “worthy.” Worship is to ascribe the proper worth to God, to magnify his
worthiness, to approachand address God as He is worthy. Worship is to exalt
God because he is worthy of our praise and honor and adoration. Man wants
to worship something or someone because Godcreatedhim in that way. The
Magiwanted to worship God. Biblically, worship is defined as loving Godfirst
in one’s heart. Deuteronomy 6:4,5 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,
the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength.” Since God is only true God, he required the
wholeheartedobedience ofhis people as the condition of possessing the
blessings ofthe PromisedLand. God knew that his people would be snared to
worship the Canaanite Baal. If they turn awayfrom God and worship idols in
the land, they will bring the curse of God. If one leaves God, he will worship
createdthings. This is a greatmistake. When a man worships an idol he
degeneratesinto a wretchedcreature and an object of God’s wrath.
Worshiping God is the necessarycondition for blessing. It is easyto worship
God’s blessings rather than God. It is easyto hold visible blessings like houses
and cars rather than invisible God. This is a snare to God’s people. When
Adam disobeyed God in the Garden, the paradise turned into prison. People
setup a trap to catchmonkeys with a banana. If the monkey let the banana
go, he will be free. But he holds the banana firmly and he becomes a prisoner
of a zoo. In the same way, some people receive God’s blessing and worship
God’s blessing and lose God. Godwants our hearts so that we may worship
him and enjoy his blessing forever. This is a secretofour relationship with
God.

The Samaritan womanin John 4 worshipedman in searchofhuman love. She
gave her heart to man. She became a thirsty woman with five divorces and
one roommate boyfriend. When she acceptedJesus as her true husband and
worshipped Jesus as her Messiah, she found happiness and joy. The author of
this gospelwas Levi the tax collector. His life goalwas to make money and
enjoy his life with the pleasures ofthe world. Instead, he became miserable
and people called him a public sinner. He was not happy with his life when he
loved money more than God. The story of the Magiimpressed him most
because they riskedtheir lives to worship the baby Jesus. Levi acceptedJesus
as his personalMessiahand became one of Jesus’disciples by accepting his
invitation, “Follow me.” In fact, he worshipedJesus from his heart.
Gradually, he became like Jesus, until he wrote the Sermon on the Mount---
the most beautiful literature in history---that describes the holy inner
characterof God’s children. He said, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in
heaven” (Mt 5:44-45). When we worship Jesus, we canbecome like beautiful
Jesus. But if we worship something else we will degenerate in the image of the
animal man. Let’s examine our hearts. What do we worship? In the 1960s
young people worshiped the Beatles orElvis Pressley. In the 1970s people
worshiped hippies. In 1980s people worshipedyuppies. In1990s people
worshiped technology. In 2000s young people worship sports and video games
and older people seek securityand pleasures and money. MayGod help us
worship baby Jesus.
PART II JESUS THE SHEPHERD KING (5-6)
How did King Herod respond to the goodnews of the birth of the king?
When he heard the Magi’s question, “Where is the king of the Jews?” he was
disturbed. When he was disturbed, all Jerusalemwas disturbed with him.
Why was he troubled? He feared the loss of his kingdom to the baby king
though he killed all his political opponents. The bottom line was that he did
not want to lose his kingship. He refusedto worship the baby Jesus. When his
kingship was threatened by the birth of the baby king, he was disturbed and
lost his peace. He became a mad man. He did not respond properly to the
goodnews of the birth of Jesus. His attitude was not good. Why were all
Jerusalemtroubled? They feared Herod and the Romans, believing that to

have a new king would mean much bloodshedfor them. This showedtheir
lack of faith in Jesus. How did Herod solve his fear problem? So he called
togetherthe Bible teachers ofIsraeland askedthem where the Christ was to
be born. He knew very well that the Christ was coming. He also knew that the
Bible was the place to find out about the Christ. But he was not interestedin
truth. He only wanted information for his political purpose. He was a
superficial Bible student. He only used the Bible study for his political gain.
What did he do with his Bible knowledge? He tried to make use of the Magito
discoverwhere baby Jesus was. He lied, saying he wanted to worship baby
Jesus. In fact, he wanted to kill him. In his effort to do so, he killed many
innocent baby boys in Bethlehem(16). He was a liar and a mass baby killer.
He was the incarnation of the devil himself (Jn 8:44). Herod searchedthe
Scriptures, believing that it was the truth, and that the coming of the Christ
was predicted therein, and that the Christ was now born. But he did not
worship the king. How about the teachers ofthe law and Bible scholars?They
knew that Christ was born in Bethlehemand gave that information to Herod.
But they did not go to Bethlehem few miles to verify the Bible truth and
worship the new born king. Why? They were superficialin their Bible study.
Who would have thought that such intentions could have even entered the
human heart? Yet the world is always full of Herods, and they are generally
the rulers and upper class like the politicians and movie stars who oppose the
truth of the Bible. They cannot refer to Christmas as Christmas but not to
offend people they say holiday. How about us? We can be a small Herod
when we come to church but refuse to worship Jesus in order to protect our
own world. We become selfishand upset easilybecause we do not have Jesus
in our heart. Here we must considerhow we respond to the birth of Jesus. We
must worship the baby Jesus orwe will be disturbed by the news of the birth
of Jesus. We must not be disturbed but rejoice at the birth of Jesus. We
should not become small Herod fearful of losing our small kingdom to the
baby king but welcome the goodnews of the birth of the king with praise and
adoration.
Look at verse 6. It says, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no
means leastamong the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who
will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” Here we learn about Jesus. Jesus

JESUS WORSHIPPED AS KING BY MAGI

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