(Text only for Ch. 1,2,3 Audio available for most Matthew sermons from Chapter 4-28)
Title: Herrod’s Worries
I’ve actually preached this same passage, verses 1-12 twice before at Heritage, but both times I’ve preached it as a Christmas sermon, so we have the same challenge before us today that we did last week. I must present the text first, without the backdrop of the holiday that we are celebrating, and you must be willing to hear a familiar passage yet again, through fresh eyes and ears.
Now let me say I was extremely impressed with the level of thought and reflection from last week’s teaching so I know we can still draw and learn from this passage, and my prayer is that we’d take the same expectant enthusiasm into today’s sermon, hoping and praying that God would reveal layers to us that we might not have previously considered.
(read/pray)
- The Dating of Jesus’ Birth
Amongst Christians and scholars there has been much talk of how and when we date the birth of Jesus. As I’m sure you know, when Jesus was born, the entire world didn’t just decide that was the appropriate time to change the calendar to 1 A.D.
B.C.= “before Christ”
A.D.- “anno domini” Latin for “In the year of Our Lord”
Well, obviously, a the point that Jesus was born, no on even knew who he was, and only a handful of people: Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and possibly John the Baptist, even knew that Jesus was special, let alone the messiah, that would literally change the dates of history forever.
In fact, the entire B.C. and A.D. calendar system wasn’t even devised until around 525 A.D., and even then, it wasn’t really widely used until after 800 A.D.
Most likely the best clue we have as to the actual date of Christ’s birth comes from Matthew 2:1 “In the days of Herod the King…”
Romans kept very meticulous records and several historical documents have Herod the Great dying in the year 4 B.C. For this reason, most scholars believe that Jesus of Nazareth was born between a year and two years before Herod’s death. And therefore, most date Jesus’ birth in either 5 or 6 B.C.
- Wise Men From the East
So who are these wise men, these Magi, from the East? They were not kings, but rather they served the role of a court advisor, much like we saw both Joseph and Daniel do in the O.T.
And the reason they are in Herod’s court is because they have seen a “star” which they believe signifies the birth of a king to the Jews. Now, first of all, it’s important that we recognize that this was somewhat common in the first century. There were many astrologers, who watched the patterns of the stars and constellations because they believed the stars held clues to the birth of royalty, so it wasn’t totally uncommon for these court advisors to make this claim.
And if you look at Numbers 24:17, there is at least some reference to Christ and a star: “I see Him, but not now; I see Him, but not near; A star shall come our of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy the sons of tumult.”
- Why so worried, Herod?
But I don’t think that’s what really is troubling Herod. What is troubling Herod is that these men, well respected court advisors, have come before the King. A treacherous man, with the full support of Rome, and have said to him, seemingly with no fear at all: “We have come to worship Him.”
So Herod, and all of Jerusalem are troubled by this. They don’t want to have to content with a newborn King, who will lead the Jewish people against Rome, who will re-establish the sovereign state of Israel. This was Rome, they wanted to remain in power, they wanted to remain in control, and here in this region, you have an indigenous people, the Jews who are always grumbling about being “slaves” to the Roman Empire. Furthermore, these Jews often compare their time living under the peace of Rome to their time in captivity to Egypt. And supposedly, they had a great deliver, a man named Moses, who, by the power of God, led his people right out of Egypt and into the desert, after causing massive destruction to Egypt itself.
You can see why Herod would be less than thrilled at the idea of these angry, restless Jews, having a King, having a leader, having a revolutionary.
So what does Herod do? He investigates further.
IV The Investigation and the great Irony
We then read that Herod gathers unto him the chief priest and scribes of the people together (The Jewish Religious Leadership) and asks them to tell him about the prophecy of where this King is to be born.
They then quote Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathath,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel
Whose goings forth are from old
From everlasting”
Now the language here is not so vague. It says clearly that a “ruler” will come out of Bethlehem and will shepherd God’s people.
But what is the great irony? What is so sad about this story?
The chief priests are more than willing to volunteer the information to Herod about where their own prophecies say the Christ will be born, but none of them accompany the Magi to investigate to see if it’s true!
In other words: Herod believed the Jewish prophecy more than the Jewish Chief Priests and Scribes do!
Sadly, this sets the stage for a series of upcoming standoffs between Jesus and the Jewish religious leadership of the day. It is their stubborn unbelief that is their own undoing.
Close:
Imagine you are Jew in the year A.D. 71. And you are reading Matthew for the first time. Last year, in A.D. 70, you just saw the Temple destroyed, an event that this Jesus supposedly predicted. So you decide to get a copy of the life story of Jesus. And you find this “gospel” of a man named Matthew, who supposedly walked with Jesus some 30 years ago when he ministered to the people and proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And here you are just about one page into this story.
And this is what you’ve read:
- An accurate and authentic genealogy showing that Jesus is an ancestor to Abraham and David
- A fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 concerning how Jesus was going to be born
- A fulfillment of Micah 5:2 as to where Jesus was going to be born
I’m not Jewish, but if I was, I’d keep reading.
My point: One of the ways we know that God is God is by the consistent fulfillment of His promises and prophecies. It’s not the only way we know God is God, but it cannot be tossed aside.
One time I was in a heated political debate with a very good friend leading up to our latest Presidential election and he kept throwing information at me and I kept saying, “That’s anecdotal, that’s anecdotal.”
And after several minutes he paused and looked at me and said, “How many anecdotes will it take before it’s not anecdotal?” In other words, How much information, how much proof do you need before you will consider the possibility that what this book says about Jesus is absolutely true?