A Response to Christmas that Provides an Example to Follow...

During this Christmas season, we have been looking at an account of the Christmas story that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke in order to discover what Christmas calls us to as followers of Jesus. Today, I would like for us to look at another account of the Christmas story in our Bible called the gospel of Matthew. And it is in a section of this letter in the Bible that we will discover another response to the birth of Jesus that reveals what Christmas is all about. So let’s look at this section together, beginning in Matthew 2:1:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Matthew begins by introducing us to a group of men that were known as magi. Most scholars believe that the Magi were learned men who were from the region that is now modern day Iraq. The magi were men who specialized in the study of astrology and the interpretation of dreams. Now these magi had received special revelation from God in the form of what appeared to be a star that announced the birth of the Messiah.

You see, God had previously predicted and proclaimed that from the Jewish people there would be a descendant of Abraham, from the line of David that would be the promised Messiah who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. So, the Jewish people had been looking forward and counting the days until God would fulfill His promise to humanity.

And now, these Magi, who had travelled over hundreds of miles, had arrived in the capital city of Jerusalem and announced that they were searching for a baby that they said would be the Messiah that God had promised. We see the response of Jerusalem to the arrival of the magi and their announcement in verse 3:

 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'" Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him."

Herod, who was the ruler of the Jewish people at the time, along with the entire city of Jerusalem, was troubled by the news. Now this word troubled literally means to be disturbed, unsettled, and thrown into confusion. Herod was troubled; Herod was disturbed because Herod viewed the news of this new king as a potential threat to his position and his power.

So Herod concocted a sneaky and shady plan to deal with this potential threat. Herod called the Jewish religious leaders together for a meeting in order to determine where this new threat to his power and position would have been born. After discovering that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, King Herod points the magi to Bethlehem and requests that they report back to him with the baby’s exact location after they find Him. Matthew then records what happens next in verse 9:

After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

After traveling for several months over hundreds of miles to arrive at Jerusalem; after hearing that the Messiah was to be born five miles south of Jerusalem in a small sleepy town called Bethlehem, the magi make the subsequent journey. And as they traveled, we see God guide and lead them in a special and supernatural way to the location of Jesus. Upon arriving in Bethlehem, the magi do not find Jesus in a cave in a feeding cloth for animals. Instead, after the hustle and bustle of the recent census subsided and people returned back to where they had been living, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were able to find a house to live in after the birth of Jesus.

Matthew tells us that after experiencing God’s supernatural revelation and direction, the magi rejoiced exceedingly with great joy upon seeing Jesus.  The magi rejoiced with great joy because that had reached their destination after traveling hundreds of miles over a significant period of time. The magi had sacrificed time away from their families and their country on this journey. And this journey would not have been cheap.

After arriving at this location, Matthew tells us that the magi responded to their encounter with the Child Messiah by falling to the ground and worshipping. And as part of their worship, the magi presented to Jesus, as an act of worship, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And it is in the story of the magi that we see what Christmas calls us to. It is in the response of the magi that we see what Christmas is all about. You see, it is in the response of the magi that we see that Christmas calls us to worship Christ fully. The magi responded to God’s transformational and supernatural revelation and intervention in history through Jesus by worshipping.

And it is in the story of the magi that we discovered that Christmas calls us to spend less so that we can worship without worry. The magi did not allow other financial concerns to cause worry or distraction from God’s supernatural revelation. Instead the magi were solely focused on encountering this new king Jesus.

It is in the story of the magi that we discovered that Christmas calls us to give more of ourselves as an act of worship that impacts others. Instead of spending the resources that they had on things that they did not necessarily need, the magi spent that first Christmas season making a journey that resulted in an act of giving that would provide the resources that allowed the family of Jesus to escape to Egypt as King Herod attempted to kill every child in Bethlehem in order to secure his power and position as king.

And it is in the story of the magi that we discovered that Christmas calls us to love all as an act of worship that reveals and reflects God’s love for all. Just as the magi responded in love to God’s revelation and intervention in the world, Christmas is about responding in worship to God’s love that is most fully revealed by His Son Jesus by revealing and reflecting the love of God to others.