Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 173rd episode. In this episode I want to continue our study of the book of Matthew. We are in chapter 2. This chapter tells us about Christ in His infancy and the circumstances He was born into. We learn about the wise men who realize something special has happened and who seek after Jesus. They follow astrological signs which bring them to the location of the infant Lord. As soon as they see Him they are overcome with joy, they fall down and worship Him, and they present Him gifts.
Our King Jesus was born into a world where He was both worshiped and hunted even as a baby. Herod the king of Judea knew the power of Jesus and sought to kill Him. He gave orders to massacre all male infants two years old and younger within the vicinity of Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph took Christ and fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s barbarism. At the end of this chapter Herod dies and Christ returns to the land of Israel. Even as a baby the presence of Christ inspired both worship and hatred. The godless have hated Jesus ever since the incarnation. The faithful have heard His voice and loved Him from the beginning. Jesus is the narrow gate through which we all must walk to reach the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is the choice all of us must make. Let’s begin this study by reading verses 1-8:
Mat 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,
Mat 2:2 “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.”
Mat 2:3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Mat 2:4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
Mat 2:5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
Mat 2:6 ‘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.'”
Mat 2:7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.
Mat 2:8 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.”
When we think about prestige in the Kingdom of God it’s important we realize prestige doesn’t work the way we understand it here on earth. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the desire of all nations – yet His birth went largely unnoticed by humanity. The stars heralded His coming but nearly all people just continued to go about their lives as if nothing happened. That was always one of the stumbling blocks for the Jews when it came to believing in Jesus as their Messiah. They thought the Messiah would be attended by all manner of pomp and circumstance and that mighty rulers from all across the world would bow to Him.
But Scripture says Jesus came into the world and the world knew Him not. This is not a reflection on the glory of God so much as it is a reflection on the sickness of humanity. God came to earth and stood right in front of His people and not only did many fail to recognize Him, but they hated Him and they crucified Him. Despite Christ emptying Himself and lowering Himself in order to pick us up and save us, there remained glimmers of His glory which even the creation could not restrain. That’s why the stars announced His birth and it’s also why when the Pharisees asked Him to quiet His followers He responded by saying if His followers were quiet then even the stones of the earth would shout out praise for Him. The creation knows when it is in the presence of its Creator and it rejoices to be there. I often think that’s how animals will respond when being in the presence of God – they know who He is even better than some of us humans do, and they long for His return.
Some of the first people who took notice of Christ’s birth were the shepherds. This is interesting considering Christ Himself is called the Good Shepherd. And pastors are in the role of shepherds over their congregations. The shepherds didn’t keep it quiet either, they made their discovery known to others and many who heard it were amazed. The Spirit of God used two people named Simeon and Anna to speak of Jesus to those who lived in Jerusalem. The Jews had long expected the Messiah to come and redeem Jerusalem but their spiritual blindness prevented them from seeing Him. They had developed their own understanding of God and held to this idol so tightly they missed the true and living God incarnate. Christians need to be careful of this today. If we are not well-versed in God’s word it can be tempting to imagine God the way we would like Him to be rather than the way He is. One of the problems with doing this is that our own personal version of God can never match up to the glory of God as He is. We are fallen creatures and so when we develop our own understanding of God independent of His word we can’t help but import sin and brokenness into the character of this idol we create. God is who He is and we should have the humility to learn Him and know Him as such, otherwise we risk completely overlooking Him in pursuit of our designs just like many of the Jews who lived in the same generation as Jesus.
Christ was born during the days when Herod was king over Judea. Herod was made king of this region under the Roman authority of Augustus and Antonius. Herod was a liar and a cruel person even though his moniker was Herod the Great. When the wise men, or magi, saw the astrological sign of Christ’s birth they came to Jerusalem asking about Him. When Herod heard about this he was not happy. He viewed Christ as a threat to his established power. When you think about the magi there’s a couple different ways to interpret who they were. One possibility is that they were eastern philosophers. The Persians sometimes called their wise men and their priests magi. Another possibility is that they were practitioners of dark arts. A modern equivalent might be someone who participates in a cult or a false religion. Either way you choose to look at the magi, their pursuit of Christ marks one of the earliest examples of His victory over idolatry and sin. The glory of God was preeminent over the powers of this world even when Christ was an infant. Whether these wise men were eastern philosophers or mystics, they proved their wisdom when they set out to search for Jesus.
We do know that these wise men were Gentiles and not Jews. The fact of the Gentiles seeking Christ while the Jews disregarded Him illustrates the idea that God is no respecter of persons. It also shows us that some people can be very close to religion while at the same time being very distant from God. These wise men would have been scholars – highly educated and well-read for people of their time. Being intelligent is one thing, but true wisdom comes from completing your body of knowledge through the learning of Christ. If Christ is not the foundation of your worldview, then your intelligence will only serve to lead you further astray than the simple-minded might be able to go. It’s likely these wise men were Arabs because Arabia is referenced as the land of the east and Arabs are called men from the east. It’s also the case that the gifts they brought the infant Jesus were products from that land.
When Christ was born a special star hovered over Judea to honor and signify His incarnation. It’s hard to say what this astrological or heavenly sign was, but whatever it was it sparked the interest of the wise men. They had seen nothing like it before. The wise men concluded that such an extraordinary sign must indicate something extraordinary had happened in Judea. Indeed they were right. When we see the glory of God reflected in nature we should use those moments as motivation to inquire after His mind and His will. The beauty and majesty we find in His creation should make us want to know Him more intimately through His word. The shepherds were alerted to the birth of Christ by angels and the wise men were given an astrological sign. God chose to speak to each group of people in a way they would be most familiar with and most likely to understand. There’s been some speculation that the star which the wise men saw at a great distance was light from the angel which revealed the incarnation to the shepherds. But this is difficult to say with certainty because the light stayed in place long enough for the wise men to be guided to the house where Christ rested. Humanity has been looking up at the stars with a sense of awe from the beginning, and this passage shows us that the stars are meant to lead us to Jesus Christ.
Of course human beings have made idols out of the stars since the dawn of man. Many of the stars and constellations were given pagan names which we still hold to today. But when the stars of heaven lead humanity to Jesus this is an example of the heathen gods becoming servants of the true and living God. Among other things it is an expression of God’s absolute sovereignty. Around the time that Christ was born it was not unheard of that a star in heaven would point to the emergence of a great king. Balaam’s prophecy spoke of it in the book of Numbers and other sources outside of the Bible like the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius point to this sort of thing. It’s like the whole world stood with bated breath in anticipation of Christ’s incarnation and the world-transformation it would cause. Even so, the spiritual blindness of humanity prevented them to realizing He is God back then and it still prevents many from seeing He is God now. I think nearly everyone recognizes there’s something wrong with this world and we need a Savior. But many people take this need for a Savior and they try to fill it with all manner of bad habits and idolatry.
But others chase after God in hot pursuit. For the wise men it was logical to seek out Christ, who they believed to be King of the Jews, in the Jewish mother city Jerusalem. They didn’t have to do this. If Christ is who they thought He was surely they could have remained in their homeland and waited for news of Him to come to them. But people who understand their need for Jesus don’t sit back and wait for Him to seek them out. They go after God as if their lives depend on it – because quite literally they do. A person whose spirit is desperate for a Savior will pursue Jesus even at the risk of great peril or persecution. God wants you to seek Him out and He has promised that if you seek Him He will reveal Himself to you. The wise men ask, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” By this question we can tell there’s no doubt in their minds a king has been born. The Messiah was expected to be King of the Jews and indeed He is that and much, much more. Jesus is Ruler and Protector of all – He was born a King.
It might have come as a surprise to the wise men when they arrived and didn’t find all of Jerusalem worshiping this new king. In fact if they had asked around it’s likely no one would have been able to give them any information on Christ’s whereabouts. Just because someone spends a lot of time in church doesn’t mean they can direct you to Christ. They themselves might be strangers to Him. Likewise the people of Jerusalem might have found it odd that wise men from the east would come looking for the King of the Jews. The wise men answer this question by telling them we’ve come to worship Him. Even though the wise men came from a foreign land they knew in their hearts that Jesus would be their King. That’s how it is for all people who allow the Holy Spirit to indwell them. They realize that Jesus is King and the only logical way forward is to worship Him.
When Herod got wind of the wise men and their inquiry he was deeply disturbed. King Herod had a long and successful reign in Jerusalem. Undoubtedly Herod was familiar with the prophecies laid out in Scripture regarding the arrival of Israel’s true King. Even so, when you’re powerful for so long like Herod was it can become tempting to think maybe the prophecies were wrong and Jesus wasn’t coming after all. This had to be on Herod’s mind at some point. He might have even come to a place where he could sleep well at night on the assumption that his reign would extend on in perpetuity. But then the news of Jesus being born was brought to him. You can tell that Herod was evil by the way he reacted to the arrival of Christ. He didn’t want to worship Jesus although he lied and said he did. He wanted to kill Jesus because he thought Jesus was a threat to his power. Wicked people will always be terrified when the word of God is proven true. There are evil people all over the planet right now who scoff at the idea of Christ coming back. Will they still be scoffing when He arrives?
Interestingly most of Jerusalem sided with Herod on this issue and they were also disturbed by the news of Christ’s birth. Perhaps they thought a new king meant war was on the horizon. Or maybe they were worried the birth of Christ would require their own personal repentance. We should learn from the fact that, at least in Jerusalem at this time, the majority of the people preferred serfdom under a wicked king rather than liberty under the Messiah. Maybe that’s because Herod protected them and helped facilitate their own wicked ways. It’s true that many people would happily surrender their freedom and their morals in exchange for safety under the strong arm of a totalitarian. The same is true for those who are enslaved to sin. The easy yoke of Christ is readily available for them but they struggle on under the iron burden of sin because they lack the faith to undergo a spiritual revolution. Herod made the mistake of believing Christ’s kingdom was of this world. The fact that the kingdom of God is a heavenly kingdom was totally lost on him. This confusion probably added to his fear that the arrival of Jesus would threaten the secular powers of his government.
Herod wasted no time in assembling all of his chief priests and scholars. He asked them where Christ was supposed to be born according to the Scriptures. They knew it would be somewhere in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was called the city of David and in this passage it is called Bethlehem of Judea. The name Bethlehem means the house of bread. It’s a fitting name for the birth place of Christ because Christ is called the Bread of Life. This title intimates that Jesus is as necessary for our spiritual sustenance as bread is for our bodies. Bethlehem was a small and rather insignificant city. Even though Bethlehem was unimpressive by worldly standards, it would receive the highest honor of being the birthplace of the King of Kings.
So the Jews knew the location of Christ’s birth from their knowledge of the Scriptures and the Gentiles knew the timing of His birth according to the star. When they communicated with each other each of them received a more complete understanding. We could learn from this today. It’s hard to estimate the value of being able to listen to others and hear what they have to say. Good faith conversation is how we are brought closer to the truth. Each person, no matter how experienced, probably has something unique to offer you that will be profitable to your life right now and in the future. Don’t make the mistake of missing these precious pieces of wisdom because you lack the humility to pay attention to others.
In the dark recesses of Herod’s heart he began to hatch a plan to snuff out the life of the infant Messiah. He was overcome by jealousy and rage – rationality and wisdom had completely departed from him. A wise king would have noticed his own advanced years as well as the length of time it would take Christ to grow up and threaten his power. But Herod was not a wise king. He chose to go to war with God and there is nothing more vain, nothing more foolish, and nothing more dangerous than that. Herod had been in power for thirty five years when he decided he wanted the blood of Christ to be spilled. No doubt all that time spent marinating in power and self-righteousness had fully corrupted Herod’s heart.
Herod concealed his rage and his jealousy from others. He couldn’t allow his followers to see his insecurities and he needed the wise men to trust him enough to discuss the birth of Christ. These kinds of secret fears often torment the souls of unrepentant sinners. Herod asked the wise men when exactly they saw the star appear. He also sent them to Bethlehem and asked them to report back the location of Jesus. Notice how Herod masks his evil intent with the facade of religion. His prying questions concerning Jesus are excused because he claims to want to know where Christ is so he can come and worship him also. Wicked people have been hiding behind religion since the dawn of time. This is unfortunate because it often causes outsiders to be confused about the nature of God. They think the wicked and deceptive types are true followers of Christ and this causes them to make bad assumptions about the character and nature of God. Some of the worst people to have ever walked the earth were also some of the most religious.
It’s kind of odd that Herod trusted the wise men with his little reconnaissance mission. He should have sent his own spies who were actually loyal to him. It’s not like Bethlehem was very far away from the city. But that’s what happens to the minds of people who rebel against God. He scrambles their intelligence and turns their wisdom into folly. It’s not hard for God to preserve the Church from His enemies. Indeed He will do so until His enemies are no more and His perfect Kingdom is established forever. It’s a great deal of responsibility to step out in faith and follow Christ. It requires facing down the evil of this world and being a light in the darkness. This is the world Christ was born into with the incarnation. This is the world He walked through while He worked miracles and ministered to the lost. This is the world that crucified Him despite His total innocence. And this is the world He intends to redeem when He returns.
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