But you, Bethlehem!

Matthew 2:1-12

Key Verse 2:11

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 

Today we would like to embark on a journey called “Discovery 2010”. One of my favorite TV channels is the Discovery Channel. To find things of the universe, NASA developed a space shuttle named Discovery. Mr. Hubble developed a Hubble Telescope. Using these devices we were able to ‘discover’ truths such as the universe still expanding. 

But for his children, the Lord came up with a better means to find out the truths of God’s creation, that is, the Bible. One of the amazing features of the Bible in regard to the way it got all the truths organized is that in order to make the search easier, God incorporated all the truths we need to know for life in one person named Jesus. In addition, in the Bible we can meet many truth seekers such as Daniel, Peter, John, or the Apostle Paul. 

In the passage for today we meet the Magi who are also prominent truth seekers. So we are going to see what they discovered. These guys are mysterious. Like scientists working at the Space Center at NASA, they devoted themselves to finding the TRUTH using the means available especially the stars. Finally their “discovery” efforts paid off. And the Apostle Matthew recorded their discovery in Chapter 2:1-12. 

What did they discover? Their discovery is reducible to four points: 1) Jesus, the King of Jews; 2) Jesus, the Christ; 3) Jesus, the Shepherd; and 4) Jesus, the Immanuel (God with us). 

First, Jesus, the king of the Jews

The first discovery was that Jesus is the King of the Jews. Before their arrival they had already figured this out. So upon arrival in Jerusalem they asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” Let us stop for a moment and think about the title “King of the Jews”. What is so special about the king of the Jews? 

We can find the answer to this question in Matthew’s gospel. When we study Matthew’s gospel it is not difficult to see that the arrival of the king of the Jews is significant in that he came to build the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of heaven) in the hearts of men. In Matthew’s gospel the expression “Kingdom of heaven” is repeated 31 times. John the Baptist used it first saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near”. Then after Jesus began public ministry he used it thirty times. For example, like John the Baptist, Jesus too began his ministry by saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Then he finished his ministry by giving the parable on the Kingdom of heaven saying, “[T]he kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet their bridegroom.” 

When you examine the usage of the term “Kingdom of heaven”, you can easily see that God sent Jesus, the King of the Jews, to build God’s kingdom first in the hearts of men, then in the world to come. 

Again the Magi asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” They asked the question to the people living in Jerusalem about 20 centuries ago. They found the question quite disturbing. If the Magi came and asked the same question to you right now, what would be your answer? “I don’t know?” or “I don’t care”? Or  “He is in my heart”? 

Second, Jesus the Christ

The Magi learned that Jesus is not only the king of the Jews, but also the Savior of the world. Note that the Magi asked about the king of the Jews, but Herod asked about the Christ (which means the Anointed or simply the Savior as we call it). He asked the chief priests and teachers of the law where the Christ was to be born. Let us read Matthew 2:3-4. “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.” Obviously, Herod understood that the new born king must be the Christ. Then the religious leaders said the Christ should be born in Bethlehem.  Indeed as the Prophet Micah prophesied about 4 centuries before the Christ, God sent the Savior of the world to a small town Bethlehem! Speaking of this transaction, The Apostle Luke says, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David [i.e., Bethlehem] a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).

Why then is the birth of the Savior good news of great joy? I think we can clearly understand why, when we think about what Jesus will do for you and me as the Christ. As the Savior, Jesus came to save his people from their sins, making them compatible with the life in His kingdom. 

We can easily understand this concept when we think about our day to day experience, that is, before you go to bed at 9 or 10 p.m., you first take a shower. Then as you get into bed with clean linens, you feel good. Or think about another example. Imagine that you worked hard and made a lot of money. You then bought a nice mansion in a nice spot such as Beverly Hills. Finally, you have enough of everything, so you can retire; you’re ready to enjoy your life in a mansion with a private swimming pool, a private tennis court, etc. But by the time you closed the deal and received the key to your mansion in Beverly Hills and are about to move in, you felt something wrong with your body. So you checked with your doctor and the doctor says that you got cancer; you are terminally ill. Would you be able to move into the mansion with peace of mind? My point is that for a better life, we must work on not just the environment (or place or dwelling) to live in, but also the person. 

Jesus came to prepare both: he came to make both the environment and person (or resident) wholesome, made perfect for the life in His kingdom! Does this news sounds too good to believe? Then consider what Jesus said in John 6:40: ‘[M]y Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).  Thank and praise be to God who sent His one and Only Son Jesus, the Savior of the world!

Third, Jesus, the shepherd for his people

The third discovery the Magi bumped into was to find Jesus as the shepherd. Look at verse 6, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Take a look at the pictures on the screen. A shepherd leads sheep in and out of a sheep pen. In the Old Testament Scriptures, Moses described the Savior to come, as shepherd, for it is written: “‘May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.’ So the LORD said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him’ ” (Numbers 27:16-18). Here Joshua (who was commissioned to lead people to the Promised Land) is a type of Jesus the Shepherd commissioned to lead people to His kingdom.  

The Bible says we came from the Father (Psalm 139:13-19) and are to go back to the Father. But due to sin, fallen men cannot go back to God (Genesis 3:23). The Bible compares them to “lost sheep”.  Imagine a sheep that has gone astray and stuck in a remote place. Will they be safe? Sooner or later they will run into harms and dangers. Ferocious animals like wolves may come and eat them up. 

Jesus’ life here on earth fulfilled Moses’ prophecy. Jesus lived here for a little over thirty years. During that short period of time he did many things. But all the good works he did are reducible to this: go out and come in; lead them out and bring them in.   

The Bible was written primarily from God’s point of view. From our own view point, Jesus came to this world. But from God’s point of view, Jesus went out from his Father’s house into this world by being born in a manger in Bethlehem. After a little over thirty years of mission life, he “came in” to God’s house, that is, he died on a tree, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and is seated with God. He then is going to come back to this world to lead his Bride out of this world and bring them into his house. During the interim, he sends His Holy Spirit to be with his children, while he himself works with his servants such as shepherds or missionaries. Finally, at God’s appointed time, he will come back to this world again to set aside earthly kingdoms and build the rule of God for good.  

Thanks and praise be to God for Jesus the good shepherd. 

Fourth, Jesus, the Immanuel (they bowed down and worshiped him)

The last discovery is that Jesus is the right object of worship. 

Whether people acknowledge or not imbedded in each person’s heart is the desire to worship God.  I heard two missionaries talking to each other at one of the Asian Directors’ Conference. One missionary who works in Japan said, “Japanese people worship too many gods.” “How many?” the other missionary asked. “Three hundred and thirty thousand,” he answered. The other missionary who works in New Delhi, India said, “You are kidding. In India we have 330 million gods.” 

I suppose it might be frustrating to worship so many gods. But thank God for the Magi. They save us from frustration. They lead us to the true object of worship. 

Let us look at verse 11a, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” They saw “the child” [with his mother Mary]. They did not worship Mary. They worshiped only “him” the child. We do not know what happened to Joseph. Perhaps he might have gone to a super market to buy something, or he might have been standing outside as a security guard for the new born King! 

After worship, what did they do? Look at v. 11b, “Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” Their gifts tell us why Jesus is the treasure of all treasures, the one worthy of our full devotion. Let us stop for a moment and think about the gifts.  They offered the gift of gold, the gift of incense, and the gift of myrrh. 

Gold is for a king. Regarding Jesus’ kingship, Zechariah says, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! … See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey…” Have you ever seen a king, as powerful as Jesus, yet as gentle and kind as he is? Have you ever seen any king who is as righteous as He is? Have you met any king who comes with salvation under his wings? 

Incense symbolizes prayer. There is a hymn entitled, “Did you think to pray?” It goes like this, “Ere you left this morning, did you think to pray? In the name of Christ, our Savior, did you sue for loving favor?...” I like this song very much. Let me put up on the screen the lyrics, so we could sing together. As the song goes we want to pray as much as we need. But we end up not praying as much. Often times, I do think to pray, but do not really pray. But it was not so with Jesus. And he prayed even while hanging on a tree, bleeding, praying for not himself but for those who were driving nails through his body! Can you do that?

Myrrh is symbolic of Jesus’ sacrifice on a tree. He did not sin at all. Yet, in order to pay the penalty for the sins of the world, he offered himself as an atoning sacrifice. No gods ever did this or will ever be able to do that. But our Lord Jesus did this. Surely, he is the only true God worthy of our worship.  

In conclusion, we thank God for sending Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea in fulfillment of the Prophet Micah’s prophecy. In Hebrew, Micah means, “Who is similar?” Or “Who is like our Lord?” Thank God for sending Jesus our Savior, the only true God! 

One word: We have come to worship him 

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