Book: Matthew

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from Matthew 1:18-25 reveals why the birth of Jesus is so wonderful after centuries of waiting. The arrival of the long-promised Savior is not merely a holiday tradition but the fulfillment of God’s ancient promise to rescue humanity from sin and death. Four truths about Jesus make Christmas truly worth celebrating: He is fully human, fully God, the promised King, and the Savior who saves His people from their sins.

Key Lessons:

1. Jesus is both fully human and fully God — conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy of “Emmanuel, God with us.”
2. Humanity’s rebellion against God from the very beginning left us guilty and unable to cover our own sin — no amount of good works, rituals, or religion can make us acceptable to God.
3. God promised a Savior from the earliest moments after the fall, gradually revealing more details through the centuries until Jesus finally arrived at the perfect time.
4. Jesus’ substitutionary death and resurrection accomplished everything needed for salvation — His perfect righteousness is credited to all who believe, and nothing can be added to His finished work.

Application: We are called to repent — turning from sin, self-rule, and self-righteous attempts to earn God’s favor — and to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. True faith will bear fruit in new obedience, desire for God’s Word, commitment to the church, and following Jesus for the rest of our lives.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it important that Jesus is both fully human and fully God, and how does each nature contribute to His ability to save us?
2. In what ways do we still try to cover our guilt with “fig leaves” — our own good works, rituals, or self-justification — rather than trusting in Christ’s finished work?
3. The angel said Jesus would save “His people” from their sins. How does understanding that we become part of Jesus’ people through repentance and faith change how we approach Christmas?

Scripture Focus: Matthew 1:18-25 reveals Jesus as fully human, fully God (Emmanuel), the Messianic King (son of David), and the Savior (Yeshua). Genesis 1-3 provides the backdrop of creation, the fall, and God’s first promise of a savior in Genesis 3:15. Isaiah 7:14 prophesies the virgin birth, and Mark 1:15 records Jesus’ own call to repent and believe.

Outline

• Introduction
• Imagining the Wait for Christmas
• Reading the Passage: Matthew 1:18–25
• Four Observations About Jesus
• 1. Jesus Is Fully Human
• 2. Jesus Is Fully God
• The Prophecy of Emmanuel
• 3. Jesus Is the King
• The Son of David
• 4. Jesus Is the Savior
• We Owe God Complete Love and Obedience
• Created in God’s Image
• The Command and the Choice
• We Have Rebelled and Must Be Judged
• The Universal Reality of Sin
• Inadequate Coverings for Guilt
• The Penalty of Sin Is Death
• God Promised a Savior from Ancient Days
• God’s Hint of Rescue in Genesis 3
• Progressive Revelation of the Coming Savior
• Jesus Saves Believers from All Their Sins
• The Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
• Nothing Can Be Added to Christ’s Work
• Who Are His People?
• You Must Repent and Believe
• The Fruit of True Faith
• The Invitation: Let Christmas Be True for You
• Closing Prayer

Introduction

Let’s pray as we look to hear from God.

As we want to focus on this wonderful moment and event of history.

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son. I pray God that you would remove distractions from us now both externally and internally that we would focus on your word, hear it and be transformed by it. For your people, God, may they be warmed to new worship and obedience.

To those that do not yet know you, may they repent and believe. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.

Well, it’s finally come. Tomorrow is Christmas. One of the most anticipated days in America.

Or at least for America’s children.

I know we have some children here with us tonight. I wonder for the children. Maybe you are right now torn between wanting to go to sleep as soon as possible so you can wake up to Christmas or not being able to go to sleep at all because you’re too excited for tomorrow.

Maybe some of you adults here are also eager for Christmas Day, but not so much for presents as just for sweet time with friends and family.

Maybe there are some adults here who just can’t wait to get Christmas over with. There’s been too much preparation, too much spending, too much hype. Let’s just do it and then move on.

There are many reasons that we Americans anticipate Christmas Day.

Imagining the Wait for Christmas

But imagine if you didn’t know precisely when Christmas Day would come.

You knew that it would come, but you didn’t know when. You knew you were getting closer, but you didn’t know the actual day. Could it be tomorrow? Could it be next week? Could it be next month? Next year, 10 years from now, a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now.

In a way, this was the situation of the whole world before the first Christmas. Knowing Christmas was coming, eager for Christmas to come, yet not sure when it would, and sometimes wondering whether it would.

“This was the situation of the whole world before the first Christmas — knowing Christmas was coming, yet not sure when.”

This Christmas Eve, I’d like us to look at a Christmas passage in God’s Bible and then think about why Jesus being born after centuries of waiting is so wonderful.

Reading the Passage: Matthew 1:18–25

Please pick up a Bible or open your Bible app and find your way to the New Testament book of Matthew. We’re going to look at Matthew 1:18-2 tonight in a message that I’m calling “The First Christmas.”

If you’d like to use the Bibles that we provide here in church, you can open that up and turn to page 957.

This is the Apostle Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus.

“This is the Apostle Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus.”

Please follow along as I now read our passage, Matthew 1:18-2.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

But when you consider this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means God with us.

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus.

Four Observations About Jesus

From this passage, we can make four observations about Jesus that make his Christmas arrival so wonderful.

I want to share these observations with you. The first three are pretty straightforward, but the last one will require some more in-depth explanation.

“Four observations about Jesus that make his Christmas arrival so wonderful.”

1. Jesus Is Fully Human

First observation we can make from this passage is that Jesus is fully human.

Number one, Jesus is fully human.

Jesus is not an angel or a spirit who came to earth and only looked like a human being or temporarily was a human being.

No, we can see from verses 20 and 25 of our text that Jesus began, grew and lived just like any other human being. Jesus was conceived. He was carried in his mother’s womb and he was born as a human baby.

“Jesus was conceived, carried in his mother’s womb, and born as a human baby.”

Thus in verses 20 and 25, Jesus is appropriately called a child and a son because he is human.

2. Jesus Is Fully God

Yet a second observation we should make from this text is Jesus is fully God. He is fully human, but number two, Jesus is fully God.

The unusual circumstances of Jesus’ conception prove that Jesus is more than a mere human. In verse 20, we learn that Jesus was not conceived by a human father, but instead by God’s Holy Spirit.

We also learn in verses 22 to 23 that this resulting virgin birth is not some random kind of cool miracle, but the fulfillment of a striking prophecy given by God through his prophet Isaiah 700 years earlier.

That prophecy, by the way, is Isaiah 7:14. Matthew quotes it in verse 23.

The Prophecy of Emmanuel

Crucially, Isaiah’s prophecy clarifies that the future child born of a virgin will be called Emmanuel, a name which Matthew helpfully translates for us as God with us.

Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:23: “The virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel — God with us.”

Why the name God with us? Because by this Holy Spirit conception, Jesus is literally God with us. He is the second person of the trinity, God the son come to earth in human flesh.

Thus Jesus is fully human and fully God, and he was born on Christmas.

3. Jesus Is the King

A third observation from this passage we should make is Jesus is the king. Number three, Jesus is the king.

In verse 18, we see the title used with Jesus’s name. And that title is Christ.

What does the title Christ mean?

Christ simply means anointed one. And it is the equivalent of the Hebrew Old Testament title Messiah.

Messiah is a title that came to refer to a special God-appointed Jewish king who would one day arrive. This Messiah would then set up a righteous kingdom in Israel from which he will rule the whole world for God. We actually read earlier in the service a prophecy from Isaiah 9 that was talking exactly about that.

Matthew says that Jesus is that promised Messiah King because he calls him Christ.

“Matthew says that Jesus is that promised Messiah King because he calls him Christ.”

More than that, Matthew establishes Jesus’s connection to the proper line of royal inheritance.

The Son of David

In verse 20, you notice the angel refers to Joseph as Joseph, son of David.

Is that descriptor son of David significant?

Absolutely. Because David was the ancient Jewish king to whom God promised that David’s offspring would rule Israel forever.

In other words, to be the rightful king, the coming Messiah had to have a legal claim to Israel’s throne by Davidic descent, by Davidic inheritance.

As Joseph’s legal firstborn son, Jesus had that claim.

“To be the rightful king, the coming Messiah had to have a legal claim to Israel’s throne by Davidic descent.”

Thus, we learn from Matthew that Jesus is the king. He is the king that God sent to rule Israel and the world.

4. Jesus Is the Savior

We can make one more observation from this passage.

Jesus is the savior.

Number four, Jesus is the savior.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus’ name is Jesus?

Verse 21 tells us she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

You see, Jesus is just the English way of saying the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means salvation.

Appropriately named, Jesus is the savior sent from God to save his people from their sins.

“Jesus is just the English way of saying the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means salvation.”

And how long the world waited for such a savior. He finally arrived that first Christmas.

Now, you might ask, “But pastor, what do you mean the world was long waiting for a savior from sin?” Well, to answer that question, we must go back to the beginning.

Literally.

If you like, turn back with me to the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, chapters 1-3.

If you’re not comfortable flipping around the Bible, don’t worry about it.

You can just listen and pay attention as I refer to certain verses and certain subpoints will appear on the screen for this fourth point: Jesus is the savior.

We Owe God Complete Love and Obedience

That first subpoint is we owe God complete love and obedience from the beginning. Mankind, which is all of you, we’re included. Every one of us here has owed God complete love, worship, and obedience. Complete. Nothing left out.

There is only one God and he created us and our whole universe.

“Every one of us have owed God complete love, worship, and obedience. There is only one God and he created us.”

The Bible says that we all know deep down that God created the world. We can tell from the fact of creation’s existence. It had to come from somewhere. We can also tell from the glory of God in creation, its beauty, its order, its complexity.

God made the entire creation and he made it very good and he gave mankind an exalted place in that creation.

Created in God’s Image

Look at or listen to Genesis 1:26-27. Genesis 1:26-27.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female he created them.

God made us in his own image and then gave us dominion over his world as underrulers.

Genesis 1:27: “God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female he created them.”

He also blessed us and provided generously for us.

The Command and the Choice

But he did require of us through our first parents that we depend on him and his words. If you go to Genesis 2:16-17, we see this.

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden, you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.” People sometimes wonder, “What’s with God’s random rule about not eating the forbidden fruit? What’s God against fruit?” It was never about the fruit itself, but about what eating or not eating the fruit represented, what it communicated. Choosing not to eat the forbidden fruit, to obey God’s command, and at the same time choose instead to enjoy the abundance that God has already provided—our parents would be saying to God, “God, I trust you and I always want you and your way.” But in choosing to ignore all the good that God provided and to eat the forbidden fruit instead, our parents would be saying to God, “God, I don’t trust you and I’m going to choose my own way.”

Are we not faced with the same choice every day, multiple times a day? Will we trust God, love him most, obey him as we ought?

“Are we not faced with the same choice every day — will we trust God, love him most, obey him as we ought?”

Or will we doubt God, love ourselves, love the world’s treasures most, and disobey him?

Well, what did our first parents choose? Through them, what did we as mankind choose?

4B.

We Have Rebelled and Must Be Judged

We have rebelled and must be judged. We have rebelled and must be judged.

Encouraged by Satan, our parents pridefully rebelled against God and plunged us, their descendants, into the same revolt.

“Our parents pridefully rebelled against God and plunged us, their descendants, into the same revolt.”

Now look at Genesis 3:6.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

To this day, each person is participating in the war for independence from God our first parents started.

Maybe your rebellion against God has been more obvious than for others, or maybe it has been more secret.

The Universal Reality of Sin

But as the Bible says, all of us, everyone here included, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

In our thinking, in our words, and in our actions, we do not meet God’s standard, but wholly miss the mark.

Romans 3:23: “All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

God commands us to love others, to love even the most difficult people. But we often hate others and angrily judge others.

God commands us to be content with whatever he’s given us. We often lust and covet what does not belong to us.

God commands us to speak only helpful truth, but we often lie and use careless and dirty words.

Fundamentally, against God’s commands and against what our good God deserves, we do not love God with all our hearts and we do not love our neighbors to the same level that we love ourselves.

This missing the mark, this disobedience to God’s character and commands, this rebellion, the Bible calls sin.

When our parents sinned, they became sinners and passed that fallen spiritual nature to us. We too are sinners both in heart and in life. And thus we stand guilty before our creator God.

This also is a truth we all know deep down. The Bible says that God imprinted his law on our hearts via the conscience. Our whole lives are spent trying to quiet our consciences for the wrong that we know we do.

You can say you don’t believe in God. You don’t believe in the Bible. You don’t believe in right or wrong. Yet your conscience will bother you and you will have to try quite hard to quiet it.

Inadequate Coverings for Guilt

Now many people try to remove their sin guilt by works, by prayers, by good deeds, by religious rituals.

But this is to do just like what our parents also did in vain after they sinned. Look at the next verse, Genesis 3:7.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

In their first innocence, our parents had no reason for shame and nakedness.

But after their rebellion, after their minds became polluted with sinfulness, their nakedness became something shameful to cover. A new symbol of their guilty vulnerability.

Yet, how did they try to cover their guilt? With flimsy, quickly decaying fig leaves. Those weren’t going to last. You have to keep on replacing those and those aren’t going to be a very good covering. They were no adequate covering at all.

And neither are the good deeds, the religious works and rituals for any of those who seek them.

When God’s judgment standard is himself, is his own perfection, no heap of flawed works would ever satisfy him, no matter how high that heap could be.

“When God’s judgment standard is his own perfection, no heap of flawed works would ever satisfy him.”

Rather, the Bible says that even the righteous deeds of sinners are like filthy rags before God.

And the Bible says in another place that he who breaks one of the commands of God will be considered guilty of breaking them all. You are no longer perfect.

The Penalty of Sin Is Death

What then is the outcome for the guilty human race?

What is the penalty for our sin?

God warned our parents of that penalty before they had even sinned. Going back to Genesis 2:17, the latter part of it says, “For in the day that you eat from it the forbidden fruit, you will surely die.” Death is one of the most tragic and hateful realities of our current world.

Death is the most obvious sign that we are not okay. The world is broken.

Yet, where did death come from?

It was not from God’s original very good creation design.

But death came as the dreadful penalty for sin.

Death, as another part of the Bible says, is the wages that we sinners have earned. The wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.”

You see, the one true God is infinitely holy, just, and good. Therefore, he could never wink at evil. He could never sweep sin under the rug. No, he hates sin and all who practice it.

Sin makes God infinitely angry. Thus, he has prepared the most severe sentence possible for sinners, which is death. And not just physical death, but eternal death and a place of conscious torment that the Bible calls hell.

The Bible describes hell as a place of darkness and burning and no escape. Hell is not like many people think of it. It is not the party house for rebels, nor is it the luxurious lair of Satan. Hell is where God’s infinite holy anger is poured out on sinners for their infinite offense to him by sin.

Now, at this point, you may say, “Pastor, what you’re describing is just depressing doom. Thought you said Christmas was supposed to be happy.” Oh, Christmas is very happy when you realize the rescue it represents for doomed sinners like us.

We come now to 4C.

God Promised a Savior from Ancient Days

God promised from ancient days a savior.

The account of the fall comprises Genesis 3. The most amazing part of this account is a prophetic word that God says to Satan the serpent in Genesis 3:15.

God says, “And I will put enmity between you, the serpent, Satan, and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” What is this?

This is a promise of God of graciously rescuing the human race from the doom to which Satan led it.

“This is a promise of God graciously rescuing the human race from the doom to which Satan led it.”

How so?

Well, first, God promises that despite the woman’s sin, she would have seed. That is, she would have descendants. God would not immediately judge all humanity with death, but allow the human race to continue.

Second, God promises to put hostility between the seed or the descendants of Satan and the seed or the descendants of the first woman. This is to say, among mankind, there would be those who followed Satan’s ways. They would be his children. And there would be those that God causes to follow his ways in opposition to Satan and in opposition to Satan’s spiritual children.

Third, God promises that one from the woman’s seed would one day crush Satan. Crush Satan himself while suffering only a minor injury in return. A bruise on the head—that’s a mortal blow. Bruise on the heel. It hurts, but you recover.

In other words, from the beginning, God promised a coming human savior to destroy Satan and to destroy all the dreadful works that Satan had wrought against mankind.

In short, God promised a coming rescuer from mankind’s sin.

God’s Hint of Rescue in Genesis 3

Yet, how could mankind be rescued?

How could polluted sinners ever be made clean again?

How can you fix imperfection? You can’t add more to it. It’s still imperfect.

God did not fully explain how this rescue would happen, not in the beginning. But he did give a hint, and something else he did.

Remember those inadequate fig leaves that our first parents made to cover themselves? Well, look down at Genesis 3:21.

It says, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” God did what our parents could not do for themselves.

“God did what our parents could not do for themselves. He made adequate coverings for them.”

He made adequate coverings for them. Adequate coverings for their sin and shame.

And how did God do it? Well, presumably, as these are animal skins, God did it by the sacrifice of an innocent animal. An animal dying for their covering.

So though mankind sinned and fell under the holy punishment of God for sin, God also promised almost in the same moment to send a savior.

But when would this savior arise? When would the divine rescue that we all needed be accomplished? That has been the great question of history. That has been the great longing and expectation of the cosmos.

Progressive Revelation of the Coming Savior

In God’s mysterious wisdom, he did not send the savior right away, but he did gradually reveal more about this coming savior through the centuries. This is chronicled in the Bible. Different words of revelation, different accounts telling us more about the coming savior.

For instance, according to Genesis 12:3, the Savior would come from the seed of Abraham to bless all families of the earth. According to Genesis 49:10, the Savior would come from the seed of Judah to rule the world as king. According to 2 Samuel 7:16, the Savior would come from the seed of David to rule Israel forever. And according to Isaiah 53, the Savior would be rejected by his own people, die for their sins, and rise again.

Now friends and brethren, at last, after the perfect amount of time that God determined, the Savior promised from ancient days and revealed more and more through the centuries of history has come.

“At last, after the perfect amount of time that God determined, the Savior promised from ancient days has come.”

We know that this one is the savior that God promised from ancient days because he identified him as such. Going back to Matthew 1:21, listen again to the words of the angel to Joseph.

“You shall call his name Jesus, salvation, for he will save his people from their sins.”

What does this mean? Dear friends and brethren, we come to point 4 D.

Jesus Saves Believers from All Their Sins

Jesus saves believers from all their sins.

Jesus had to come as a man to intercede for mankind as a new human representative. Yet Jesus had to come as God so that he had the righteousness and the power to overcome sin and death. No mere human could do that, and this is exactly what Jesus did.

“Jesus had to come as a man to intercede for mankind and as God so he had the power to overcome sin and death.”

Jesus came as a human baby. He grew up and lived a perfectly righteous life. He loved God and neighbor perfectly every moment in his heart and in his behavior. None of us could do that, but he did it.

The Substitutionary Death and Resurrection

Then Jesus died a substitutionary death on behalf of his people, for his people.

In a moment of mysterious divine exchange, Jesus took on himself all the sins of his people that they had already done or would ever do.

And in the same moment, he gave Jesus gave his perfectly righteous record to his people. He took on their sins as if he had done them and he gave them his record as if they had done it while dying on the cross. Jesus suffered once and for all the penalty of his people’s sins, which is what we’ve already covered: hell. Eternal hell.

Jesus suffered eternal hell on the cross in place of his own.

“Jesus suffered eternal hell on the cross in place of his own.”

And unlike any mere human being, he could finish an eternal punishment, which is what he did. And when he was finished, he made his people perfectly acceptable to God, his father, clothed in his own righteousness.

Nothing Can Be Added to Christ’s Work

And this means that nothing needed to be added to what Jesus did. No good works, no prayers, no rituals, no baptisms could be added to the perfect life that Jesus had already given to his own to make them acceptable to God.

“Nothing needed to be added to what Jesus did — no good works, no prayers, no rituals, no baptisms.”

Jesus did die. He was buried and he remained in a tomb three days, but then he rose bodily from the dead.

Amen.

He is indeed the seed who crushed the serpent’s head while suffering only a bruised heel. Even if the son of God should be killed, Satan cannot contain him. He rises from the dead.

By rising from the grave, Jesus proved that God accepted Jesus’s substitutionary sacrifice. Furthermore, because he is alive and at God’s right hand today, Jesus also proved that his people have eternal life in him and will be with Jesus forever.

Now, isn’t this wonderful news? Isn’t this what God accomplished? What God lovingly accomplished by sending Jesus? Is that not worth celebrating?

Jesus is the long-awaited savior.

Who Are His People?

But notice one other detail of Matthew 1:21.

In Matthew 1:21, the angel says he will save his people from their sins. The angel does not say that Jesus will save everyone but only his people.

Who are his people? Are his people the Jews? Not ultimately, because many of them, most of them, never turned to accept him.

Rather, the Bible says that you become part of Jesus’ people when you repent and believe in him.

“You become part of Jesus’ people when you repent and believe in him.”

This is the final point of my message today for E.

You Must Repent and Believe

Since this is true, you must repent and believe in Jesus for salvation.

Jesus himself says this in Mark 1:15. Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.”

What does it mean to repent?

When you think repent, think turning. To repent means to turn from your rebellion, to turn from everything that you are or that you do that dishonors God in your heart. If you truly repent, you give up your sin. You give up your self-rule. You give up all self-righteous attempts to earn God’s favor or to earn his salvation, and instead you believe the gospel.

“To repent means to turn from your rebellion — you give up your sin, your self-rule, all self-righteous attempts to earn God’s favor.”

What is the gospel?

The gospel is just a word that means good news. And what’s the good news? It’s everything that I’ve shared with you tonight. It is the true message of Christmas.

Jesus is fully man. Jesus is fully God. Jesus is the king. Jesus is the savior who saves his people from their sins. That is the gospel.

Amazingly, God promises in his Bible that if you simply believe in Jesus as I have explained him and proclaimed him from the scriptures, you will be saved.

Faith alone in Jesus is how God makes you a part of Jesus’ people and therefore part of those who are granted eternal life in him.

The Fruit of True Faith

Now, true faith will have a transformative effect.

Those who truly believe will begin to bear good fruit of that belief in new obedience to God. If you truly believe, you can’t just move on and pursue sin and idols with the rest of your life. No, you pursue Jesus. You pursue God. You want to know God’s word. You want to be with God’s people in church. You want to get baptized. And you want to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior for the rest of your life.

Those are the fruits of true faith, yet it is faith alone that saves.

“Those are the fruits of true faith, yet it is faith alone that saves.”

So friends and brethren, do you have such faith? Have you repented and believed in Jesus? Because if not, tonight is the night. Repent and believe in Jesus. I’m not merely saying that to you. God is saying that to you. Jesus is saying that to you from his word.

Repent of your sin. Turn from your sin and believe in Jesus and you will be saved. Not you might be saved. Not you hopefully will be saved. You will be saved.

The Invitation: Let Christmas Be True for You

The world waited long enough for the first Christmas.

But what about you?

Have you experienced the first Christmas spiritually? Has Jesus come for you as savior?

Let Christmas be true for you this holiday. Let Christmas come for you this holiday by doing as Jesus commands.

“Has Jesus come for you as savior? Repent and believe in the gospel.”

Repent and believe in the gospel.

And then when you do what you can do, you can join the rest of God’s people in that worshipful wonder in what God has accomplished.

Thousands of hundreds of years go by and the Savior we all waited for and needed has finally come.

It is time to celebrate and worship such a savior.

Closing Prayer

Allow me to close in prayer in response to this message.

Lord God, I think now of that scripture that says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Among us humans, it doesn’t make sense to die for wicked people. For a good man, maybe somebody would dare to die. But for a wicked man, for a wicked woman, for a wicked boy, for a wicked girl, who would die for such a one?

Would a holy God die for such a one and not judge such a one? What does your scriptures reveal? Something we couldn’t believe unless we were told. Yes, in love you chose to die for sinners.

The perfect dying for the imperfect. The lovely dying for the unlovable.

And Lord Jesus, this required you taking on human flesh. And that’s what you did. We needed a human to save us and we needed God to save us. And you were both in yourself.

Thank you for coming. Thank you, Father, for sending him. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for applying his work and allowing Jesus’ spirit to reside in your people even now. I pray, God, that for those that know you, they would be filled with greater joy, peace, and zeal for you as they remember this truth. And I pray, God, for those that don’t yet know you that you would open their eyes, shatter their hearts, so that they no longer secretly or overtly say, “I’m sorry, God. I’m the Lord of my life. Back off.” They would instead fall down before you and say, “Please forgive this rebel. I don’t deserve your mercy, but I know you extend it in Jesus Christ.” Oh Lord, for every heart that says such, you promise full forgiveness. I pray that that would happen for any who hear this message and do not yet know you tonight. Thank you for that first Christmas. Amen.

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from Matthew 2:1-12 teaches us that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah King, proven through three significant evidences: His foretold birthplace in Bethlehem, the supernatural guiding star, and the royal gifts of the Gentile magi. We are reminded that even as a toddler, Jesus received the worship and tribute that Old Testament prophets foretold would belong to the Messiah. The magi’s journey and worship previews the day when all nations will bring tribute to King Jesus in His coming kingdom.

Key Lessons:

1. Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem fulfilled Micah’s 700-year-old prophecy, confirming He is the eternal ruler whose “goings forth are from the days of eternity.”
2. God graciously provided a supernatural star not because the magi needed directions, but to put His stamp of authenticity on Jesus as the true Messiah King.
3. The magi’s royal gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh fulfill Old Testament prophecies (Psalm 72, Isaiah 60) that Gentile nations would bring tribute to God’s anointed King.
4. The contrasting responses to Jesus — Herod’s hostility, Jerusalem’s apathy, and the magi’s worship — challenge us to examine our own hearts toward His kingship.

Application: We are called to examine whether we have truly bowed the knee to Jesus as King — not merely acknowledging Him intellectually, but expressing complete dependence and total submission to His authority. Like the magi, we should come to Jesus with worship and surrender everything to Him, rather than fighting His rule like Herod or remaining apathetic like Jerusalem’s leaders.

Discussion Questions:

1. The magi traveled a great distance and brought costly gifts to worship Jesus. What does genuine worship and submission to King Jesus look like in our daily lives?
2. Herod pretended to want to worship Jesus while secretly scheming against Him. In what ways might we outwardly honor Jesus while resisting His authority over certain areas of our lives?
3. The Jewish leaders knew exactly where the Messiah would be born yet showed no interest in going to find Him. How can head knowledge of Scripture fail to translate into genuine faith and action?

Scripture Focus: Matthew 2:1-12 provides the main narrative of the magi’s visit. Micah 5:2 prophesies the Messiah’s birthplace in Bethlehem. Psalm 72 and Isaiah 60:5-6 prophesy Gentile nations bringing royal tribute — including gold and frankincense — to God’s anointed King. Psalm 2:10-12 calls all people to worship the Son and take refuge in Him.

Outline

• Introduction
• Two Christmas Days
• Matthew’s Purpose and the Meaning of Messiah
• Three Proofs That Jesus Is God’s Messiah King
• Proof 1: The Foretold Birthplace
• Setting the Scene: Bethlehem and Herod
• Who Are the Magi?
• Magi in the Old Testament
• Stars and Messianic Prophecy
• The Magi as Gentile Worshipers
• The Meaning of Worship
• Herod’s Troubled Response
• The Scribes Confirm Bethlehem
• Jesus Fulfills Micah’s Prophecy
• Proof 2: The Guiding Star
• Herod’s Secret Scheme
• What Is the Star?
• The Star as Supernatural Guidance
• The Magi’s Exceedingly Great Joy
• Proof 3: The Royal Gifts
• Worshiping the Child Alone
• What Were the Gifts?
• Gifts Fit for a King, Not Symbols
• Old Testament Prophecies of Gentile Tribute
• Have You Bowed the Knee to King Jesus?
• The Futility of Resisting the Messiah
• Jesus Saves Rebels Who Turn to Him
• Closing Prayer

Introduction

Let’s pray together.

Oh, great God, there are just so many wonders related to that original Christmas and the events that took place shortly after. Lord, how can we even keep it all in our minds at once?

Lord, we know that there are many distractions today, even in this service time. God, I pray that you’d free us up from that. Help us to focus. Help us to see. Help us to hear your glory as it is explained from your word. Open my mouth to speak it, God. Open our hearts to believe it and to put it into practice in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Two Christmas Days

Well, only four more days until Christmas. And I don’t know about you, but one Christmas tradition that my family always did growing up was a crèche.

That is a model nativity display.

Maybe some of you have those. You’ve seen them maybe in people’s lawns or inside their houses. But at minimum, a crèche consists of figurines of Mary and Joseph, usually standing by baby Jesus in a manger.

But more elaborate crèches also include some animals and usually some visiting shepherds on one side of the manger and then some visiting magi or wise men on the other side of the manger. And sometimes there’s a star hanging over the whole scene.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with having nativity decorations like this, as long as you remember that these models use a little bit of creative license.

Because what’s the glaring historical inaccuracy of these more elaborate nativity scenes? Maybe multiple, but probably the biggest is the fact that the shepherds and the magi are visiting Jesus at the same time. That’s not accurate. According to the Bible, while the shepherds are indeed there the night that Jesus is born, the magi and their star only arrive at minimum months later.

Actually, I always appreciated this fact growing up because my historicity-committed mother would never put the wise men by the manger in the nativity scene. They were on the other side of the room getting ready to start their journey to Bethlehem now that the child had been born.

So you see, we often combine the shepherds and the wise men for the sake of artistic convenience. But there were, we might say, actually two Christmas days in the Bible. There’s the first in which Jesus is actually born and then visited by the shepherds. And then a second in which an older baby Jesus is visited by magi.

“There were actually two Christmas days in the Bible.”

Now what was this second Christmas day all about? Why did the magi come to visit Jesus? And why did the Holy Spirit move the gospel writer Matthew to tell us about it in the Bible?

Well, I’d like us to find out the answers together this morning. With the Christmas holiday so quickly approaching, we are going to pause our verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of John. And we’re going to turn to Matthew’s account of the magi’s visit to Jesus. So, if you would take your Bibles or take a Bible that we’ve provided here and open to Matthew 2, and we’re going to look at verses 1 to 12, the other Christmas day. Matthew 2:1-12. If you’re using the Bibles that we’ve provided, you can find the passage starting on page 957.

Matthew 2:1-12. Let’s begin simply by reading the account.

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.” When Herod heard this, 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.” 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. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

A seemingly familiar story, familiar account.

Matthew’s Purpose and the Meaning of Messiah

But to better understand, to truly understand and appreciate this specific passage, we need to consider our author’s purpose in writing this gospel, the Gospel of Matthew as a whole.

Our author is indeed Matthew, also known as Levi, a Jew, and one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples. He writes his gospel, his record of Jesus’ life and ministry, primarily to Jewish Christians familiar with the Old Testament to strengthen them in their newfound faith.

And most specifically, Matthew writes to prove that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah King and that despite Jesus’ rejection by his people, Jesus’ messianic kingdom is still coming.

“Matthew writes to prove that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah King and His messianic kingdom is still coming.”

Now, when I say messianic, Messiah, I should take a step back. We Christians often use the terms Messiah and Christ without thinking about the meaning of those terms. It’s useful to define what Messiah and Christ mean.

Both these terms actually mean the same thing. They mean anointed one. Messiah is Hebrew for anointed one and Christ is Greek for anointed one. In the Old Testament, priests, prophets, and kings in Israel would be anointed with holy oil as messiahs, marking his people specially set apart by God for service to him and to his people.

After the Old Testament was finished, however, the Jews often spoke of the Messiah, the most special anointed one who would come to rule over both Israel and the whole world forever.

Matthew in his gospel writes that this long-awaited God-sent Messiah King is Jesus and Jesus’ kingdom as Messiah is still coming.

Three Proofs That Jesus Is God’s Messiah King

Now, in our Christmas passage, which we just read, Matthew 2:1-12, Matthew provides three significant proofs along the lines that I’ve just stated: three significant proofs that Jesus is God’s Messiah King. So that you will believe in him.

Three significant proofs that Jesus is God’s Messiah King so that you will believe. Now, we’re going to look at each of these proofs as we analyze the text more closely. The first significant proof appears in verses 1 to 6. It is number one: the foretold birthplace. The foretold birthplace proves that Jesus is God’s Messiah King.

“Three significant proofs that Jesus is God’s Messiah King so that you will believe.”

Proof 1: The Foretold Birthplace

Let’s reread the beginning of verse one in chapter 2.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. I’m going to stop right there and leave the sentence incomplete.

In this beginning part of verse one, we get a few pieces of information that are going to be very important for the following narrative. Note first the beginning phrase: “Now, after Jesus was born.” This phrase tells us that we are no longer at the first Christmas, but sometime afterwards.

How long afterwards? Hard to say specifically, but we’ll see some clues later in the text that indicate we’re probably looking at about a year later.

Setting the Scene: Bethlehem and Herod

Notice the second phrase, in Bethlehem of Judea.

Bethlehem of Judea was a little town about six miles south of Jerusalem in the ancient tribal territory of Judah.

The town had other titles in the Old Testament including Bethlehem Ephah or Ephrath or even the city of David since Bethlehem was the town or city in which King David was born and grew up.

“Bethlehem was the city in which King David was born and grew up.”

Finally, notice the phrase in the days of Herod the king.

Now, there are a few different Herods in the Bible, but this one mentioned here is Herod the Great. Herod the Great was appointed king of Israel by the Romans, and he ruled from about 37 to 4 BC.

Poignantly, Herod was not Jewish by blood. He was actually Idumean or Edomite as the Old Testament would call it.

Herod nevertheless could claim to be Jewish by religion.

In the intertestamental period, the period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Jews had conquered the Idumeans and forcibly converted them.

Herod’s family was among those Idumeans who agreed to worship Yahweh and keep Moses’ law.

In reality though, Herod lived more like a pagan Roman than a religious Jew.

Rather than worshiping God, Herod was primarily interested in power and pleasure.

Though he is known today as the Great due to his many impressive building projects, Herod was a wicked man who over time grew paranoid about his position as king.

To deal with his fears, Herod often turned to bloodshed, even in his own family. Before Herod’s death, he would execute his favorite wife and three of his own sons for supposed plots against him.

Who Are the Magi?

These three details in the beginning of verse one helpfully set the scene for us. But the end of verse one reveals an unexpected happening to make these beginning details all extremely relevant. If you look at the end of verse one going into verse two, we now read, “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.’” Now, this is a big surprise. Magi from the east have suddenly shown up in Jerusalem.

Actually, if you’re following along in the New American Standard 95 translation, like we’re using here that I’m preaching from, in this translation, there is left untranslated a word from the original Greek in the second part of verse one. You can see it though if you have the ESV or the King James version. And that word is behold.

Behold, it says in the original Greek, magi from the east have arrived. And that word is helpful because the word behold is what the author uses to draw your attention to an unexpected or remarkable happening.

Magi have arrived. Can you believe it?

“Behold — magi have arrived. Can you believe it?”

They say magi?

What are magi? Who are these magi? This is an extremely important question for understanding this text. But the problem is Matthew does not provide us very much information to answer that question. Who are the magi? It is hard to say.

The word magi comes from a Greek word for those who operated as priest wise men in eastern royal courts such as in Babylon, Persia, or in Jesus’ day Parthia. That’s the empire that ruled Babylonia and Persia, the lands at that time.

Magi were considered wise men. That’s another way to think of the term because they could gain knowledge by supernatural means such as through divination, the interpretation of omens, the interpretation of dreams, and astrology.

Now, what’s astrology? Don’t get it confused with astronomy. Astrology is the study of stars and of the stars’ influence on humans and the natural world. So it’s not just like, “Hey, let’s study the constellations.” No, those stars supposedly are affecting what people do on the earth.

Now occult arts, which is basically what it is—occult arts like astrology—they were highly valued by eastern rulers, which meant that the magi, the experts in these arts, they often became quite wealthy and politically influential.

Now, to be clear, magi were not kings themselves, contrary to the carol we all know and love. But magi could serve as king’s counselors or as king’s high officials.

Now hearing that explanation, you might immediately ask, “Doesn’t God in the Old Testament condemn those who like the magi seek and use occult knowledge?” And the answer is yes, definitely in many places.

For example, Deuteronomy 18:9-14. God forbids Israel from imitating the nations in their detestable practices of divination, witchcraft, omen interpretation, and sorcery.

Furthermore, in Isaiah 47:1-15, God mocks Babylon in how none of their wise men with their charms, their spells, or astrological predictions are able to save Babylon from God’s coming holy judgment.

So in that context we would think magi automatically equals bad.

Magi in the Old Testament

But we should remember there were certain godly magi, or wise men, even in the Old Testament.

In Genesis, Joseph functioned like a magus. That’s the singular form of magi. In Pharaoh’s court, he interpreted dreams from Pharaoh and from Pharaoh’s officials and revealed the future.

More notably, Daniel and his three Hebrew friends were categorized among the wise men, or the magi, of Babylon, even excelling the other magi. Daniel 2 notably interpreted dreams and visions for the kings of Babylon to foretell the future.

The crucial difference between the pagan magi and people like Joseph and Daniel is that the Hebrew wise men did not gain their knowledge from the occult but from God himself. They were essentially prophets. Indeed, Joseph and Daniel explicitly told their rulers when they were giving the interpretation and revealing the future: “My interpretation doesn’t come from me. It is God who is the true revealer of mysteries.”

“The Hebrew wise men did not gain their knowledge from the occult but from God himself.”

I’m just reporting what he has revealed to me.

Now, Daniel, we know from the Bible, served in high position in the Babylonian and Persian empires. Those were empires of the east. Might Daniel have left a holy legacy of fearing the one true God among some later Eastern magi? Perhaps, though there is no clear biblical or extra-biblical information to support this.

We can say though that even after Daniel’s time and after the return of the Jews from exile, many Jews continued to live in the east, especially in Babylon and the surrounding area. This means that the Jews and most likely the Jewish scriptures had an influence on the residents of Babylon and the residents nearby. We could even imagine that some eastern magi might have gained special interest in corroborating whatever they were seeing in the stars with what God had already revealed in the Hebrew scriptures.

Stars and Messianic Prophecy

After all, there are some Old Testament prophecies that seem to link the coming of a great Jewish king with a rising star or rising light.

For example, Numbers 24:17.

A star shall come forth from Jacob. A scepter shall rise from Israel.

Numbers 24:17: “A star shall come forth from Jacob. A scepter shall rise from Israel.”

Isaiah 60:1.

Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord, or more literally, the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you.

Malachi 4:2.

God says, “But for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” So then how to understand these magi in Matthew 2?

Their arrival is certainly surprising, but are they pagan magicians or godly wise men? They’ve come after seeing a star, which suggests that they are astrologers, practitioners of the occult. Yet they’ve come a long distance to see the Jewish Messiah and even to worship him.

The Magi as Gentile Worshipers

Understanding the Magi’s background is difficult with the Bible’s scant information.

My guess is that these magi are true God-fearers who haven’t yet discarded all their pagan practices.

While not validating astrology, God apparently accommodates these magi and their study of the stars for his own gracious purpose.

But actually, the fact that Matthew gives few details about these magi is itself instructive.

What’s important here in this passage is not the depth or the genuineness of the magi’s faith.

What’s important is the fact that they are Gentiles who arrive to worship and pay tribute to the one that they identify as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah King.

“What’s important is that they are Gentiles who arrive to worship the one they identify as Israel’s Messiah King.”

Now, I’ll say more about that towards the end of our message, but let’s get back to looking at verse two of the text. We have some idea of who these magi are.

Notice verse two says—I’m sorry, the end of verse one says that these magi come from the east, maybe Babylon. That would make the most sense. But they come to Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem.

Why Jerusalem?

Well, it’s the capital of Israel. If you’re looking for a Jewish king, you would go to Jerusalem.

But notice when they go to Jerusalem, the magi don’t ask to see King Herod. They ask, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” So they’re looking for a new king, a child, a Jewish child who is a legitimate king of Israel.

And there’s the proof they offer for this new king’s arrival. We know the new king has arrived for we saw his star in the east. Or that could also be translated, “For he saw his star when it rose.” The Greek term can mean either of those things.

Now apparently these star experts saw something new and significant appear in the sky. Perhaps linking this with some Jewish scriptures or perhaps merely being providentially moved by God, these men concluded that the great promised Jewish king had been born. That star appearing means that Jewish king, the Messiah King, has been born.

The Meaning of Worship

Now notice in verse two, they also announce their primary goal in visiting this new king and it is to worship him.

The Greek word translated worship here means most literally to kiss toward.

That refers to a particular gesture in which someone falls down before another person to kiss his feet or to kiss the hem of his garments or to kiss the ground that is right before him.

This was an ancient expression of complete dependence and total submission to a high authority.

“An ancient expression of complete dependence and total submission to a high authority.”

And those from the east, they generally did this only to those who were recognized as god kings.

In the eastern Persian tradition, a king was thought to be god also. And so this type of gesture was only appropriate for such a one in that culture.

Herod’s Troubled Response

Well, you can imagine that the one who is very much not a god king, Herod, would be a little disturbed by this announced quest from the magi, which is exactly what verse three says. If you look there now, when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.

Now, this word translated troubled is one we’ve seen several times in our study of the Gospel of John, a notable word. It doesn’t mean like slightly bothered. It means disturbed, shaken together. This is serious turmoil.

At this late point in Herod’s life, he actually doesn’t have much longer to live. Herod is already deeply paranoid about his rule. And now we’ve got some eastern magi showing up to discover the real king of the Jews.

But he’s not the only one troubled. Why is it that the people of Jerusalem, and by that term we would understand this includes the Jewish religious and political leaders, they want to be near the center of power? Why is it that the people of Jerusalem, including the leaders, why are they also troubled by the words of the magi?

Probably the answer is these magi represent a potential disruption to the status quo.

Nobody likes Herod, the Jewish leaders might say, but we figured out how to live with him. Under him, we’ve come to enjoy a degree of power and prosperity, and we don’t want to lose that. Who knows what Herod might do in an episode of violent paranoia? Let’s not poke the bear.

“These magi represent a potential disruption to the status quo.”

Whatever these crazy gentile magi are up to, let’s just get them on their way and out of our hair.

That’s probably Jerusalem’s attitude and the reason for feeling troubled.

The Scribes Confirm Bethlehem

Well, Herod’s going to try and get a better grip on this situation as we see in verse four.

Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

Now remember, Herod is nominally Jewish. He probably has some respect for and knowledge of Jewish scripture. He may even know what the Old Testament says about the coming Messiah’s birthplace, but he wants to make sure he’s not mistaken. So Herod gathers all the nearby religious experts to put the question to them: where is the Messiah to be born?

He asked the chief priests—that would be the families of those who have already served as high priests—and he asked the scribes, the experts in knowing, copying, and applying the law of the Old Testament.

The Jewish religious leaders quickly give Herod the answer that he seeks, which is what we see in verses 5 and 6.

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.’” Notice in their response, there’s no hint of confusion or debate. These leaders, or at least the ones who answer, are totally confident of the Messiah’s birthplace. It is Bethlehem of Judea.

How could they be so confident? Because the scriptures are so clear. The words of the prophet Micah, which were written 700 years earlier, said this exactly. To quote Micah 5:2, that is where the prophecy appears.

“No hint of confusion or debate — the scriptures are so clear.”

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

Now, hearing Micah 5:2 read and comparing it to what you see in Matthew 2, you may notice a little bit of difference. Matthew’s version of the prophecy is a bit of a paraphrase.

But what Matthew records as the Jewish leaders’ answer is the essence of Micah’s prophetic word. Despite Bethlehem’s seemingly humble status—it never became a big city—God promises to exalt the town by causing the future Messiah to be born there.

Jesus Fulfills Micah’s Prophecy

Now, by the end of verse six, Herod, the Jewish leaders, and even the Magi do not yet know that God’s Messiah king indeed has been born in Bethlehem, just as Micah prophesied.

But we the readers do because Matthew has already told us in verse one: Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.

Thus, we see the first significant proof that Jesus really is God’s Messiah king in whom you must believe. Jesus is the one Micah spoke about whose goings forth are from days of eternity. That can only be true because he is God. He is the son of God. Yet the eternal God was born in human flesh in Bethlehem of Judea. He was born as a baby. He is human. He is the promised royal descendant of David.

“Jesus is the one whose goings forth are from days of eternity — because He is God, born in human flesh.”

Fittingly born in David’s same birth city.

Proof 2: The Guiding Star

This is the first proof. Now as Matthew continues the narrative, he reports to us another significant proof, which is what we see in verses 7 to 10—another significant proof that Jesus is God’s Messiah king. It is number two: the guiding star. Number one: the foretold birthplace. Number two: the guiding star proves that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah king.

Let’s reread verses 7 to 8: “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.’”

Notice in these verses that King Herod is up to something.

Herod’s Secret Scheme

After consulting with the chief priests and scribes, Herod has a secret meeting with the magi. Notice the information in verse seven. In verse seven, Herod seeks to extract from the magi: “When exactly did you guys see this Messiah birth announcement star in the sky? When did that happen?”

Learning this information would help Herod know just how old the Messiah child is now. But why would he need to know that? Simple curiosity.

Notice in verse 8 that Herod gives the magi the information they have been seeking. He tells them the Messiah’s birthplace and sends them there. He commands the magi, “Go to Bethlehem, search for the child, and then report back to Herod.” Now, why these orders? It’s so that Herod can come and worship the Messiah child himself.

I mean, wow, what a humble king. What a pious Jew. He’s ready to come off his throne and bow at the feet of the true king of the Jews. Herod just needs to know which child this Messiah is. Good job, Herod.

Except that’s not Herod’s true plan, is it?

We learn later in the verses after our passage that Herod in fact massacres all the boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding region who are two years old and younger. And why those particular boys? Why those ages of male children? Because verse 16 says, Matthew 2:16, this was according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

In other words, Herod’s intent all along is not to worship, but to kill the threatening Messiah.

“Herod’s intent all along is not to worship, but to kill the threatening Messiah.”

He’s just trying to figure out which boy or boys need to be his target.

And by the way, this information in verse 16 suggests that Jesus is between one and two years old when the magi come to visit, so he’s a toddler.

Well, unaware of Herod’s true designs, the magi set out for Bethlehem. But according to verse 9, they also encounter something unexpected along the way.

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.

What Is the Star?

All right, it’s time for us to talk about another important question for understanding this passage. What is the magi star?

They said they saw a new star rising that apparently indicated Messiah’s birth. And now in this verse we see the same star moving and coming to a stop above the very place where the Messiah child is, the house of the Messiah.

So what is the star?

Once again I must unfortunately answer that we cannot say for sure what the star is. We don’t have enough details.

The Greek word for star doesn’t necessarily refer to what we call stars—those burning balls of gas far in the cosmos. The Greek word for star could refer to any shining object in the night sky that is not the moon.

Thus, some interpreters have theorized that what the magi see in the sky is not exactly a star, but perhaps a supernova or a striking conjunction of planets like Jupiter and Saturn aligning, or even Halley’s comet coming for another flyby.

But there are two main problems with these theories. One, from what we can tell, none of these astronomical phenomena occurred during the years of Herod’s life when the magi must have visited. This is at the basically last year or two of Herod, and none of those—at least from what we can tell scientifically today—none of those astronomical phenomena occurred. But an even more basic problem is number two: none of these theories adequately explain how the star can be said to move and then stop and stand over the child’s place.

“None of these theories adequately explain how the star can move and then stop over the child’s place.”

The Star as Supernatural Guidance

Thus, the best understanding of this star is that it was simply a supernatural shining object that God put in the sky.

At first, the miracle star appeared in the heavens like any other star. It rose from one end and then disappeared into the other as the world turned.

But then once the magi were on their way to Bethlehem, the star moved from its previous fixed position in the sky to now stand over the very house in which Jesus resides.

Now, how bright was this star before it moved? How bright was it after it moved? How low did it descend? How did it clearly mark out the place in which Jesus was? We don’t know. Matthew doesn’t tell us, and really, he doesn’t need to.

What we can know is that this star provided miraculous guidance and divine confirmation for the magi.

And if you think about it, the magi didn’t actually need a guiding star to get to Bethlehem. I mean, they already knew that Bethlehem was the place to go. Herod told them, and he probably also provided directions to Bethlehem. And if he didn’t, the magi could easily have asked somebody. And if the magi arrived in Bethlehem without the star, they may again have had to ask around for a little while among the town’s estimated thousand inhabitants before they could find out where Mary and Joseph reside, where Jesus resides. But it wouldn’t have taken them too long.

And not only did the magi not really need the guiding star, but they apparently weren’t expecting it because again, we don’t detect this in our New American Standard 95 translation, but the original Greek text has the word “behold” again in verse 9. Again, you’ll see it in other translations. Verse 9 reads, “And behold, more literally, and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them.” This is another unexpected happening. This is a surprise not just to us as readers, but to the magi. They weren’t expecting the star to come down and do this.

So why this supernaturally guiding star? Again, it simply was God graciously revealing himself to these magi and to us with the star. God was putting his stamp of authenticity on Jesus.

Here is my promised Messiah King. I will make sure you cannot miss him.

“God was putting His stamp of authenticity on Jesus. Here is my promised Messiah King.”

And with the star, God was also putting his stamp of approval on the magi’s mission of worship. What you men are doing is right and I will speed you along your way.

The Magi’s Exceedingly Great Joy

And all this explains the reaction that we see from the magi in verse 10. It says, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” Notice just how emphatic Matthew is in this verse with how joyful seeing the star made the magi.

The magi not only rejoiced or rejoiced with joy or rejoiced with great joy, but they rejoiced, Matthew says, with exceedingly great joy.

That’s like saying seeing the star made me super mega turbo happy.

Dude, guys, calm down. It’s just a star.

Shiny, I know. But why are you all so ridiculously glad?

If asked such a question, surely the magi would reply, because of what this star means.

This star means that God himself is showing us that his promised king has been born.

The star means that God himself is showing us where and who this child king is.

And the star means that God himself is affirming our intent to worship and express submission to this king’s rule.

“This star means God himself is showing us that His promised king has been born.”

Now friends and brethren, we can share in the magi’s same exuberant gladness if we believe by recording the proof of this guiding star. Matthew has made even clearer for us that Jesus, even as a toddler, is God’s promised Messiah king.

Even though we have not seen the star with our own eyes, even if we cannot exactly say what the star is or how it works, we do have a perfect sufficient record of it. Thus, we can see the star with the eyes of faith and thereby know that Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, is God’s king.

We too by faith can journey with the magi to worship at the feet of him over whom God’s star clearly shone.

“We can see the star with the eyes of faith and know that Jesus is God’s King.”

Proof 3: The Royal Gifts

And Matthew has one more significant proof to offer in this passage that Jesus is God’s Messiah king. We see it in the final verses. The third proof: verses 11 to 12. Number three, the royal gifts. The royal gifts prove that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah King. Let’s reread those last two verses.

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. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi left for their own country by another way.

Worshiping the Child Alone

And notice in verse 11 that Jesus is not in a stable, not in a manger, not in a cave. He’s in a house with his mother.

Notice also that the magi immediately fulfilled their originally stated goal. They fall to the ground and worship. They prostrate themselves before toddler Jesus and kiss the ground before him.

Notice specifically whom they’re worshiping. The text says they worshiped him, the child, not the child and his mother, the child only. And the same is true for the gifts. We now learn in verse 11 that these magi did not travel light but they brought various treasures with them. But the text says that they presented the gifts to him, to the child, not to his mother, not to Joseph. Very interestingly, Joseph is not part of the scene at all.

“They worshiped him — the child, not the child and his mother. The child only.”

So both Matthew and the magi are emphatic here as to who really is the royal one. It’s the child.

What Were the Gifts?

Now, what are these magi’s gifted treasures?

Oh, we know them well, right? From the carols and the Sunday school classes.

Or do we?

Traditionally, we think of three magi offering three different gifts, one gift for each magus.

But the text does not say this. The text only says that some number of magi offered three kinds of gifts.

For all we know, there could have been five magi or 10 magi or 20 magi or 30 magi.

Not to mention the many servants that the magi surely brought with them to help transport and guard all these treasures.

And for all we know, each magus could have given Jesus all three kinds of gifts themselves.

“The text only says that some number of magi offered three kinds of gifts.”

So first magus, okay, I’ve got a gift of gold here. I’ve got a gift of myrrh here. I’ve got a gift of frankincense. And then the next guy does the same thing.

Even these gifts could have taken various forms. It’s not like every magi gives gold like here’s a gold bar. Here’s several gold bars. Could have been coins. Could have been jewelry. Could have been bowls. Gold is made into various items. It just says gifts of gold.

Now, are the gifts that the magi bring Jesus truly treasures?

They certainly were considered to be so back then. Gold is kind of self-explanatory, right? Obviously gold has been valued in nearly all times and places for its qualities: its shiny luster, its workability, its imperviousness to rust.

Frankincense is an aromatic tree resin that was sometimes burned as part of incense for its pleasant fragrance or used in perfume, anointing oils, or embalming oils.

Myrrh is another aromatic tree resin. It smells different than frankincense, but it could also be burned as part of incense for fragrance or used in perfume, medicine, or embalming oil.

Gifts Fit for a King, Not Symbols

Now, do these gifts have symbolic significance? Do they themselves serve as prophecies of Jesus and of his life?

Many Christian interpreters have thought so across the centuries. Usually the interpretation goes something like this: Gold symbolizes Jesus’s kingship. Frankincense symbolizes his deity because they burn frankincense as part of incense in temple worship. And myrrh symbolizes his death because myrrh is used in embalming and surely that points to his death.

But I would advise against such allegorizing since, as you may have just noticed, the ancient uses of frankincense and myrrh were very similar. Both could be burned as incense. Both were used as perfumes. Both were used in embalming the dead. So what justification do we have of seeing one as a symbol of worship and one as a symbol of Jesus’s coming death?

Interesting fact: the only other place in the Bible in which frankincense and myrrh are mentioned together is the Song of Solomon. And the context there is neither temple worship nor death, but instead marital love.

So then, rather than speculating about these gifts as prophetic symbols, we ought simply to acknowledge what is plain from the text. These are gifts fit for a king.

“Rather than speculating about prophetic symbols, we ought to acknowledge these are gifts fit for a king.”

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were all luxuries in the ancient world. They were extremely valuable. Yet these Gentile magi lavish such gifts on a Jewish toddler they just met.

So what’s the significance of this? What does this giftgiving prove? It proves that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah King in whom you must believe.

If the Gentile magi were supernaturally led by God to worship Jesus and offer him their treasures, how much more should Jews or any other person who claims to be religious do the same? Come worship Jesus. Come acknowledge him as God’s specially sent Messiah. And come give up everything for him.

Now perhaps someone will say the magi’s gifts don’t prove that Jesus is the Messiah, just that some crazy Gentiles thought he was the Messiah and thus unloaded their valuables on him.

Well, in response to that, I must first say, what are the chances of that?

Old Testament Prophecies of Gentile Tribute

But second, this gift-giving of Gentiles to God’s promised king is not some random surprise.

But according to the Old Testament, this is perfectly appropriate and even expected for the true Messiah.

We read Psalm 72 earlier in the service. And what is that psalm all about? It is a prayer that God’s anointed Davidic king would rule justly, save the oppressed, bring prosperity, exercise wide dominion, and crucially receive the tributary gifts of the gentile nations. Yes, even far-off kings, it says in Psalm 72, are to bring Messiah their treasures.

And Psalm 72 is not the only passage that says this. I mentioned Isaiah 60:1 before, but if you look at the whole chapter, Isaiah 60 says many of the same things as Psalm 72. Isaiah 60 doesn’t just speak about the king of Israel, but more broadly Israel in the restored kingdom of the future, in Messiah’s kingdom.

And Isaiah 60 says, “When the light of God rises to shine on God’s people, not only will Israel be blessed with an age of righteousness, restoration of its scattered peoples and abundant prosperity, but the nations of the world and even the kings of the Gentiles will bring royal gifts to Israel.” I don’t have time to read the entire chapter right now, but listen to a few verses from Isaiah 60. Isaiah 60:5-6, God speaking to Israel: “Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you. A multitude of camels will cover you. The young camels of Midian and Epha. All those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense and will bear good news of the praises of Yahweh.”

Isaiah 60:6: “All those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense and bear good news of the praises of Yahweh.”

Near the end of the chapter, Isaiah 60:19-20 also says: “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light, but you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane. For you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over.”

So, do you see, brethren, the connection between prophecies like these and the royal gifts of the magi?

Jesus is God’s Messiah, King, and his kingdom is coming. But what are Gentiles already doing when Jesus is but a toddler? When his light is just barely risen, they are bringing him royal tribute. They are previewing what will be true in a greater way when Jesus establishes his kingdom on the earth.

This is Matthew’s point in his third proof. You can know that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah king because even shortly after his birth, the Gentiles are already bringing him royal gifts.

Have You Bowed the Knee to King Jesus?

Friends and brethren, now it is time for you to ask yourselves: do you believe that Jesus is the king?

Not just the king of the Jews at that time, not just the king of Israel in the future, but the king of the world, the king of you, the king who deserves your entire worship and obedience.

Because Jesus has long ago ascended to heaven after rising from the dead, we cannot literally do to Jesus now as the magi did. We cannot fall to the floor and kiss the feet of Jesus.

But is that the posture of your heart?

Have you gotten off your throne spiritually to bow at the feet of Jesus, expressing to him from the heart: you are the highest authority. I depend utterly on you and I submit totally to your will.

As we noted in our passage, this was not Herod’s heart attitude, though he pretended it was. He thought he could secretly scheme to destroy the Messiah and thus preserve his own prideful rule.

“Have you gotten off your throne spiritually to bow at the feet of Jesus?”

The Futility of Resisting the Messiah

But verse 12 of our passage shows how easily God thwarts Herod. God warns the magi not to return to Herod and they don’t. They go to their country another way. And then after our passage in verses 13 to 15, God warns Joseph to take the child away from Herod’s murderous grasp.

Even though Herod ends up slaughtering scores of innocents and piles more damning sins to his account, he fails to overthrow the Messiah.

Though Matthew does not record it, Herod then soon dies an agonizing death from illness.

What good did his fighting against Messiah’s rule do for Herod? It did no good. It just ensured his eternal ruin.

“What good did fighting against Messiah’s rule do for Herod? It just ensured his eternal ruin.”

So will it be for each one of us who takes Herod’s road or who takes the road of the Jewish leaders who prefer just to keep things the way they are. It’s not great, but it’s okay. At least I got my own thing.

For his enemies, who resist or for those who merely remain apathetic and who ignore his rule, the Bible says that King Jesus will come and suddenly shatter those persons like an iron rod shatters pots of clay.

I was thinking about the message today. I couldn’t help but remember one of the choruses I had learned as a child from one of the Christian kids songs. I don’t even remember the rest of it. I couldn’t even find it online. But it goes something like this: Jesus is the boss. Jesus is the boss. The trees are his. The hills are his because Jesus is the boss. That’s a theologically true statement.

Jesus is God’s promised Messiah, King whose kingdom is still coming.

Have you bowed your knees to him? Have you acknowledged that Jesus is the boss?

Jesus Saves Rebels Who Turn to Him

Or are you sinfully fighting against his rule? One of the amazing facts about King Jesus, and we learn this from Matthew 1, is that he saves his people from their sins.

For his enemies, they are judged utterly.

But for his own, or more specifically for rebels who turn from their rebellion to seek his mercy, to seek his compassion, who confess, “King Jesus, I have rebelled against your rule to live my own way. I have broken your law again and again. I have a sinful heart and a sinful record. I know that I deserve eternal judgment like the rest, but would you save me? Would you have mercy on me?”

What is Jesus’s answer? What his answer always is to such a hard plea? Yes, I will save you and I already have. I lived the perfect life you should have lived. I died the wretched, wrathful death on the cross that you should have died for your sins. And I rose again to prove that I live forever and I’m coming back soon. If you simply believe in me, recognize me as God and King, you will be saved forever.

Friends and brethren, take King Jesus at his word. He is merciful to any who turn to him in repentance and faith. Any who will drop their rebellion and fall at his feet in worship will be saved, guaranteed forever.

“Any who will drop their rebellion and fall at his feet in worship will be saved, guaranteed forever.”

Psalm 2 gives fitting advice to all people when it comes to God’s Messiah, King. And I think it’s good advice as we close our investigation today. Psalm 2:10-12 says this: “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship Yahweh with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the son, or more literally, kiss the son that he not become angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

Psalm 2:12: “Kiss the son, that he not become angry. How blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

King Jesus, you are the boss.

We’ve only looked at three proofs from Matthew’s gospel, but there are many more. And not just from this gospel, but the other gospels and the prophecies of the Old Testament and the words of the apostles in the New Testament. You are God. You are the King. You are the Messiah.

And you deserve our worship and obedience.

God, we acknowledge that is not what we have given you. Not like we ought to have.

Oh God, before you opened our eyes and saved us, how rebellious we were against your kingship.

And God, we must also confess that even after we turned from our rebellion and acknowledged you to be the king and came to worship you, we still found ourselves sinning against your rule again. Incredibly rebelling against the king that we have acknowledged to be the king.

Yet you have been so gracious to us. You have not counted our sins against us like you could have. You are a merciful, righteous, loving king.

So God, as we behold the proofs of your kingship again this morning, I pray Lord that we would be changed. That those who have not yet bowed the knee would do so today. That you would open their hearts to believe. And they’d say, “Yes, Jesus is the boss. He’s my boss. Only through him can I be saved.”

And for we God who have believed already, I pray God that we would worship you more deeply and obey you more fully.

Jesus, you and your way are always the best. You’re not a cruel king. You’re not a callous king. You’re a good king and all your ways are right and all your commands are good. Yet sometimes we think, “No, I know better.” Or we think, “No, I can do this and things will still be happy for me, joyful for me.” It’s not the way it works.

So Jesus, help us to get on board with your rule and your way. Help us to be more like you. Help us to love you. Help us to obey you, Lord.

As we continue celebrating this Christmas season, I pray, Lord, that it would be with a deeper reverence for you, appreciation of your kingship, and a desire to make that kingship known to others so they too can be reconciled to the king and know his good rule in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Amen. Please stand as we sing our closing song, Christmas.