#1 On Their Bucket List
#1 On Their Bucket List
Matthew 2:1-12
“After Jesus
was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from
the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been
born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to
worship him.” When
King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers
of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.“In Bethlehem
in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“‘But
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among
the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will
shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then
Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time
the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and
search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me,
so that I too may go and worship him.” After
they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had
seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place
where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On
coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they
bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and
presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having
been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their
country by another route.
As you see, the world is still here…I guess
according to the Mayan calendar I need to be wishing you a happy Mayan
New Year. I guess the next long count calendar won’t be ending until the
year 7137 A.D. or something like that. All kidding aside, what I do
find interesting about the Mayans is for being a somewhat primitive
people living in a jungle, it is reported that they had a vast knowledge
of Mathematics and astronomy. But…What is often called Mayan ‘astronomy’ was actually what we call ‘astrology’, and this is something the Bible condemns. So what is astrology?
According to the — The New Columbia Encyclopedia
Astrology is a… form of divination
based on the theory that the movement of the celestial bodies—the stars,
the planets, the sun and the moon—influence human affairs and determine
the course of events.”
In contrast, when the Bible refers to the
celestial objects, sometimes it refers to them as showing us signs from
God Almighty. But the Bible likewise prohibits worshipping the stars,
planets, moons, comets or anything like that.
For example, we read in the Book of Job,
“
if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in
splendour, 27 so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered
them a kiss of homage, 28 then these also would be sins to be judged,
for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”— Job 31:26–28
The Old Testament even decrees the death penalty for star worship in
(Deut. 17:2-7)
Yet the Bible does make a surprising number
of references to signs in the heavens in both the Old and New
Testament. Even Jesus Himself made mention of the fact in Luke 21:25
that there would be signs given in the sun, moon, and stars before
certain events occurred.
And that brings me to our lesson today. The
Magi, in our opening story, were they practicing Astrology? A quick
answer is simply, NO!
Astrology holds the stars
exert forces on men and our affairs and that’s not what happened here.
This story of the star which appeared is only seen here in Matthew,
chapter 2. We’re told that “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and
asked
‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’” Matthew 2:1-2
And that “…
the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” Matthew 2:9
I believe this is an example of the Bible giving us a sign in the heavens, from God, that something special had taken place. .
Now, scholars disagree about what type of
star the magi saw. Some claim it was something supernatural from God.
Others claim that the star was result of 3 or more heavenly bodies,
probably Jupiter, a bright star named Regulus, and maybe more celestial
bodies all lining up to form one bright light. I guess this happens
about every 1000 years, and would likely have happened around the time
of the birth of Christ. Their collective brightness would have lit up
the night. And their apparent movement and alignment would have even
answered the problem of a “star” appearing to move and then stop.
The text says that it
“stopped over the place where the child was.”
Now I’m not a great theologian or star gazer, and I really don’t care what that star was. But
this much I know: There was a star, or at least something unnatural and
bright. And it led those men to the place where Jesus was.
And I also know that this star was unlike any that the wise men had
ever seen before. These men were men who studied the stars. They knew
the stars by names and they knew which constellations had what stars.
But this star was different. This star didn’t belong. This star had a
radiance all of its own and the Magi knew it had to be something
special and it signified something special. There was something about
this star that drew them… to worship a new and special king. Somehow
they knew that’s why it appeared.
Who are these magi? The word,
‘magi,’ which is sometimes translated ‘wise men,’ is the root from which
we get our word ‘magic.’ This doesn’t make them all magicians, in the
present sense of the word.
Some of them were very educated and learned
men who studied the physical world and were knowledgeable about many
things, including the stars. Magi were often court astronomers who
were consulted by the rulers of the day for guidance in affairs of
state. This was also true in much earlier times. For example, during the
Babylonian captivity of the Jews, some 500 years earlier, King
Nebuchadnezzar kept a stable of court magi. Nebuchadnezzar made the
Jewish prophet Daniel Chief Magus of his court when Daniel was able to
interpret a dream the other magi could not.
There were also different schools of magi as
well, and some were more respected than others. We know something of
one particularly prestigious school of magi from the writings of Philo.
Philo was a Jewish philosopher and contemporary of Jesus who lived in
the large Jewish community of Alexandria, Egypt. In his writings Philo
praised an Eastern school of magi for their great learning and
understanding of the natural world. This school may have descended from
the Babylonian magi of Daniel’s day. Matthew does report that the Wise
Men were from the East, and Babylon is east of Judea. It was at one time
part of the Persian Empire, which ties in with Philo. So it is possible
the Wise Men were from this prestigious Eastern school. This would
account for Herod giving them an audience, and for his strong reaction
to the news they brought.
Especially whey they asked,
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews” 2:2a
The motive of the Magi in coming to Jerusalem tells us a great deal more about them. They wanted to worship a new Jewish king.
It can’t be proven from the text, but it is quite possible that some of
the Magi were of Jewish descent, perhaps a Jewish remnant from Daniel’s
day. This would help explain why the Jewish philosopher, Philo, admired
them, and why they were watching the sky for things Jewish, and why
they wanted to worship a Jewish king, and why they were taken so
seriously by Herod and Jewish chief priests.
In my heart of hearts, I can’t help but
believe that this was a lifelong dreams for these men. This past year my
wife and I watched the movie, The Bucket List. In it couple of old guys made up a list of things they really, really wanted to do before they died, or kicked the bucket.
I can’t help but believe that finding and
meeting the new king of the Jews, the King of kings, the much foretold
Messiah, was on the top of their list for these men as well as a few
which we read about in the NT. Those guys spared no time, expense or
hardship to find and worship Him…… But there were others who had also
waited to see this special one who was to be born.
Read: Luke 2:25-30 (click on the verse to read) The account of Simeon
Read: Luke 2:36-38 Anna
Have you ever wanted something so bad that
it didn’t matter what it cost, or what you had to do if you only get the
chance to see or get it. Maybe not.
But that’s how these people felt about
wanting to meet baby Jesus. These magi traveled a great distance over
land and mountains, deserts and rivers just to lay eyes on Jesus and
have an up front personal opportunity to worship Him.
And I also can’t help but believe that they
had a real skip in their step as they walked away knowing that their
dream had been fulfilled.
Why, because I believe they knew who He
really was and what He meant to the world, for them and for us. Just as
Simeon and Anna said, they recognized baby Jesus as ‘the Messiah’, our
salvation, our redeemer, the one who would bring light unto this dark
world.
Without Him there would be no hope of heaven for anyone, anyone! Jesus is the greatest gift God has ever given to mankind.
I don’t believe that Jesus was literally born on December 25th, actually I don’t believe anyone living today knows the exact date He was born on. But December 25th
has been the day that was been set aside for generation to remember and
celebrate His birth. Just like it was for those Wise men, Simeon, and
Anna who honored and worshipped Him that day and were filled with joy, I
pray that you can find the same feelings of peace and joy knowing who
came into the world to save us. God Himself took on flesh to live among
us, and then died to save us. And so I say, may the peace of God fill
your heart …
For, as the song goes… “Why did my Savior
come to earth and to the humble go. Why did He choose a lowly birth?
Because He loved me so.”
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566