Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 174th episode. In this episode we are continuing our study of the book of Matthew. We are in chapter 2. Since we’re breaking this chapter into several parts I want to review a summary of it in each of these episodes. You can also go back and listen to the episodes in order to further help you with context. 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 read verses 9-12:
Mat 2:9 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.
Mat 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
Mat 2:11 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.
Mat 2:12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
This passage shows us the wise men departing from Jerusalem and traveling to Bethlehem in search of Jesus. It’s providential that they were able to go alone and that Herod didn’t send spies along with them. It’s also telling how these wise men were willing to travel a great distance just to look upon Jesus while the Jews, who were supposed to be God’s own people, were unwilling to go even a short distance from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. We see this same sort of thing happening today. Many people who grow up in societies which are privileged with widely distributed Bibles and readily accessible safe, comfortable places to worship do not know God nor care to know God. But there are others who grow up in countries where reading the Bible can get you into serious trouble. These persecuted Christians go to much greater lengths to demonstrate their faith and become closer with Jesus.
It’s not inherently wrong to live in a free society where worshiping Jesus is safely accepted but we must always guard our hearts against taking these things for granted. Many heroes fought and died for the freedoms some ungrateful westerners are so eager to dispense with. We should remember the wise men who made a long journey just to see Jesus while the self-righteous of Jerusalem scarcely paid attention. Christ came unto His own but His own rejected Him. Was this rejection disheartening to the wise men? Did they expect all of Jerusalem to hail the incarnation of their King? It’s possible, but they persisted in their efforts to know Jesus anyway. That’s what you must do as well even when following Jesus becomes unpopular. Christ remains the truth even when an entire population loses sight of Him. Serving the Lord is still the right thing to do even when you find yourself alone in your efforts to do it.
When the wise men were in the eastern land they saw a star which directed them to Jerusalem. Then it seems as if this star disappeared because they resorted to asking the locals where Jesus was meant to be born. When Herod sent them off to Bethlehem the star reappeared and continued to direct them to the location of Jesus. The lesson here is that sometimes God will not give us miraculous signs to show us the direction we should walk in but that doesn’t mean He’s no longer guiding us. If we can apprehend God’s will for our lives simply by reading the Scriptures then it’s our obligation to do so. And I think when we are faithful with God’s smaller revelations He will show us greater things which confirm His will for us. The wise men had the faith to depart for Jerusalem on the advice of the people and once they did God’s star reappeared for them.
Often God will not show up to provide supernatural help until you’ve pushed yourself beyond your own capacity. The reason He does this is because if He did everything for you then you would just take the credit yourself. It’s in our human nature to do so. But when God accomplishes the impossible through us these kinds of testimonies bring glory to Him. The wise men chose to continue following God even when the star went dark because they had faith God’s light would come through for them. God using the star to guide the wise men is not the only instance of Him using light to guide His people. He also guided the Israelites to the promised land using a pillar of fire. If you pay attention and seek Him God will give rise to a light inside your own heart which He will use to guide you on His path for you.
When the star reappeared to the wise men they rejoiced. The same will happen for you when you walk through the dark seasons of your life by faith and find out God’s light is ready to be revealed to you. You will rejoice. If you walk by faith then throughout your life God will reveal little tokens of His presence to you. Often these things won’t make sense to other people when you communicate them but you will know in your heart it was God. If you know how to look for these things and you have the faith to value them for what they are then they will fill you with a peace which goes beyond comprehension. I think sometimes God leads us through dark places where His presence can’t be felt by us because He wants us to experience the joy which comes with redemption. It’s not until we realize the utter hopelessness of our condition and then experience the reality of our Savior Jesus Christ that we fully understand what it means to be brought back to life from the dead. The light which springs out of the darkness is always brighter and more welcome than had there never been any darkness at all.
Anything which ultimately leads us to Christ we should be glad of and was never a waste. This means even if you had to walk a hard and tumultuous road, if that road led to Jesus then it was by far the best road for you to walk. Sometimes it’s difficult to see these things while you’re in the midst of them though. A big part of being a Christian is having faith that there is always hope for God’s redemption even in the most hopeless of situations. Consider the situation Christ was born into. This is the King of Kings and the wise men found Him in a cottage with nothing but His mother. Who could have blamed the wise men if they were disappointed at the lack of pomp and circumstance attending the baby Jesus. But the wise men knew better. They saw past the veil of worldly poverty and witnessed the divine power of God Almighty in Christ Jesus. As soon as they found Him they fell down and worshiped Him. They didn’t worship Herod when they stood before Herod despite him being in the height of his governmental power. That’s because the wise men knew better than to worship a mere king. They wanted to worship a God. After worshiping the baby Jesus they presented Him with gifts. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and there is nothing more wise than worshiping Jesus Christ.
It was typical of people from eastern nations to express homage to their kings by presenting them with gifts. When we come to Christ we must be willing to give up all we have for Him. This means presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. No amount of gifts or appeasement will work with God if you withhold your own heart from Him. He wants your heart more than anything else. Part of surrendering your heart is letting go of anything and everything which competes with God to be your highest value. This doesn’t mean you have to sell everything and go live under a bridge. It’s basically an illustration of a perspective shift. You can still have nice things and still pursue your own hobbies – but your nice things and your hobbies must never take God’s place in your heart.
The wise men brought frankincense, myrrh, and gold. This major financial contribution was undoubtedly an act of God’s providence to help alleviate Joseph and Mary’s impoverished condition. There’s also symbolic meaning to the gifts presented by the wise men. First of all these gifts are materials from their homeland. The wise men were giving to God that which He had blessed them with. So if you’re particularly wealthy in some area you should consider the fact that God made you that way and this blessing should be reflected in your generosity. The wise men gave Jesus gold because money was given to kings and Jesus is the King of kings. They gave him frankincense because God was frequently honored by the burning of incense. They gave Him myrrh because myrrh was used in the embalming process of a dead person. The myrrh might be foreshadowing of Christ’s crucifixion. Or it might also represent how a person must die to himself before being able to stand in the presence of God.
God warned the wise men not to return to Herod. Sometimes well-meaning people make the mistake of thinking everyone else is well-meaning also. In modern times we call this being naive. It’s not likely the wise men were naive, but even so God provided the means by which they avoided the mistake of revealing Christ’s location to Herod. It’s not a good thing to be naive. It’s better for a person to have repented from dark and evil things than to be relatively innocent and believe dark and evil things don’t exist. If you are naive and you encounter a truly evil person, or if you witness evil inside of yourself, these experiences can cause permanent damage to the way you see the world.
If you’ve never experienced the dark side of humanity then the best way for you to move forward is cautiously and with a desire for God’s counsel. The word of God is sufficient to make you wise. You don’t need to have some crazy story of how you recovered from evil in order to be wise. You need only seek God through His word and take what you learn into your heart. God will show you the way to avoid the snares which would hold you back from Him. After the wise men worshiped and gave gifts to Jesus they returned to their home country by a different route. This willingness to depart another way from which they came once more exemplified their faith in Him as their Good Shepherd and as the Lord of Heaven.
So I’m going to stop right here and continue our study of this chapter in the next episode. I’m trying to keep these episodes short because there is a huge wealth of material in each verse and I want to get these out to you as quickly as I can. Let me know if you like the shorter episodes or if you prefer the longer teachings. I just want to thank you all so much for listening and continuing to support my work. This podcast really is doing a lot to advance the Kingdom of God and transform the lives of those who listen to it. Sometimes following Jesus is very difficult and it can feel like there’s no light left to guide you. It’s in these chaotic and terrifying moments that you must be patient, be still, and know that God is still God. He is still sovereign and in control of this entire universe. The grand design rests in the palm of His hand and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop Him. So keep marching forward with all faithfulness and I can promise you it will be worth it when you see the light of Jesus once again.
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