WISE MEN FOUND HIM.....HAVE YOU?
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson;
Ephesians 3:2-12
Old Testament Lesson;
Isaiah 60:1-6
Sermon Text;
Matthew 2:1-12
I absolutely love this manger scene that we have had up here, in front of our church, during the Christmas season! It is a picture of the Wise men coming to Jesus. Although, I should point out, there are probably some things about this manger scene that are not very accurate.
For example, there are three Wise men up here. We really don’t know how many Wise men there were. All that scripture says is, "Magi from the east came." There could have been three. There could have been thirty-three.
One of these Wise men is pictured with a king’s crown on his head. We don’t really know if these Wise men were kings. What we do know is that they were the wise men, the scholars, of their day, who had come from the east.
This scene pictures the Wise men at the manger, in the stable, on the night Jesus was born. Actually, we know that is not when the Wise men came to see Jesus. The Bible says the star stopped over the house where Mary and the baby were. So, we know the Wise men didn’t find Jesus in a manger, in a stable. But rather, Mary had moved into a house, somewhere in Bethlehem. We know it was sometime after Christmas. It may have been days, it may have been weeks, it may have been months, it may have been even a year or two, before the Wise men came and found Jesus. Which is why we celebrate Epiphany. That is the day we celebrate the Wise men coming to find Jesus. We actually celebrate that twelve days after Christmas, the twelfth day of Christmas.
We also don’t know for sure if Joseph was actually there, when the Wise men came. The Bible says the star came and stopped over the house where Mary and the baby were. "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary."
But, there are many things about this scene that are very accurate.
v
The star is what led the Wise men.v
We know the Wise men came and worshipped the baby Jesus.v
We know they gave Him their gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.There is also something else that is very accurate about this picture that I want to point out to you - that is, the people who are noticeably absent, who are not here. There were some people who knew the exact same thing that the Wise men knew. They knew that the baby had been born in Bethlehem. However, they are noticeably not here. I am talking about Herod and I am talking about the people of Jerusalem. They have chosen not to be in this picture and they have chosen not to find the baby Jesus.
Now, there is a reason for that. The reason Herod and the people of Jerusalem did not come to find the baby Jesus is because this baby came to bring huge, massive change. Herod and the people of Jerusalem felt threatened, very threatened, by the change that this baby came to bring. Because they felt threatened by the change this baby came to bring into their lives, they were afraid of Him. They did not come to worship Him.
I want to tell you that is a sad picture of our own sinful nature. Our own sinful nature understands that this baby has come to bring huge change into our lives. Our sinful nature feels threatened by the change that Jesus has come to bring. Our sinful nature doesn’t want to fall down and worship Jesus, either.
First of all, let’s look at Herod. Herod was not a Jew, and yet, he was the king over the Jewish people. Herod knew that the Jews would be just as happy to be rid of him, to have him overthrown, and have some Jew sit on the throne as their king. Herod was very concerned about his position of power. He wanted to remain the king. He was always looking out for some plot against him, trying to make sure that he didn’t get overthrown, because he knew the Jews did not really want him to be their king. In fact, Herod was so paranoid; he even suspected his own wife and three of his sons of coming up with a plot to overthrow him! Do you know what he did? He had his wife and his three sons arrested and executed, because he did not want to lose his position of kingship. He was ruthless, he was very afraid of change, and he didn’t want to lose that position.
And so, the Bible tells us when the Wise men came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
The Bible says, "When King Herod heard this he was disturbed." Herod was greatly troubled. Herod was concerned, very concerned that this child might cause him to come into a big change in his life, where he would lose his position as king. He thought the people of Jerusalem might welcome a king being born in Bethlehem. Herod thought they might flock to that king and overthrow Herod. And so, we know that Herod was very threatened by the change this baby came to bring, and he was afraid of Him. Herod was so arrogant, so arrogant, that even though he knew scripture said this child was to be born in Bethlehem, Herod thought he could thwart God’s plan! He thought he could undo God’s plan! That is like putting a little pop can in the middle of the street and think it is going to be able to stop a snow plow! That just won’t happen.
God’s plans cannot be stopped.
But, Herod thought he could thwart God’s plan. And so, he saw to it that all the babies in the Bethlehem area, all male babies two years and under, were killed, thinking he could do away with this threat to him.
That is a sad picture of our own sinful nature. You know our own sinful nature (I have one and you have one) our own sinful nature wants to be king. Our own sinful nature does not want anybody else to tell us what to do, why to do it, or how to do it. Our sinful nature wants to sit on the throne. Our sinful nature is threatened by the baby Jesus. Our sinful nature knows that the baby Jesus has come to change things in our lives. Our sinful nature knows the baby Jesus has come to be the King. He has come to be the One who tells us what is right and wrong, what to do and what not to do. He is the One who has come to point out our sin.
How many times has your sinful nature had a choice? "Am I going to listen to Jesus, the King, or am I going to do what I know is wrong?" Our sinful nature has sat on the throne. Our sinful nature has chosen to do what is wrong and stay king on the throne. Our sinful nature feels threatened by the baby Jesus and it does not want to give up the sins it loves. It does not want to change. That is a sad picture of what our sinful nature is like.
Now, there were also the people in Jerusalem. The Bible tells us Herod and all Jerusalem were troubled. "When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him." They were troubled when they heard a king had been born. Why were they troubled? The rest of Jerusalem was troubled, because they knew how ruthless Herod was. They knew this baby had been born. They knew He had come to change things. But, they also knew, "If we go to find the baby Jesus, if we follow the baby Jesus, what is Herod going to think of us? After all, Herod killed his own wife. He killed his own three sons. He slaughtered innocent babies, two years old and under. If we go and follow the baby Jesus, what kind of change might that bring into our lives? Might that bring hardship and trouble? Might that even bring death to us?" And so, they were afraid of the change. They were threatened by the change that baby might bring into their own lives. And so, they ignored the baby Jesus.
That also is a very sad picture of our own sinful nature. Our own sinful nature, like the people of Jerusalem, is very short sighted. Our sinful nature only thinks about the ‘here and now’ - today. Our sinful nature doesn’t look out into eternity and weigh the importance of eternity, verses the ‘here and now’. Our sinful nature only thinks about the ‘here and now’, "I want to be happy, here. I want to be happy, now. I want things to be good, now. I want them to be good, here." Our sinful nature knows, "If I follow Jesus, it may bring persecution. It may mean people will turn their back on me. It may mean I will lose my friends. It may mean things won’t go the same at work, as they used to go." And so, our sinful nature, because it is only concerned about the ‘here and now’, wants to reject the baby Jesus, wants to ignore Him and say, "I really don’t want to come and see Him." We all have to understand that is what our sinful nature is like. That is a sad picture of our sinful nature.
Our sinful nature wants to reject Jesus. Jesus said,
"Whoever rejects me,
rejects Him who sent me."
What a tragic thing that is to reject the One who sent Jesus. Jesus once said, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Then He went right on and said, "But whoever does not believe, stands condemned already." Our sinful nature does not want to believe. We deserve to stand condemned.
If that troubles you, as Luther says, "If it causes you to tremble and have a feeling of God’s wrath and a horror of God’s judgment and Hell, then have confidence. God wants to talk to you."
God wants to talk to you!
Consider what the Wise men did. Unlike Herod and the people of Jerusalem, they welcomed the change that this baby brought into their lives. They welcomed it! They left behind their families. They left behind their homes. They left behind their country. They left behind those comforts, and they came and found the baby Jesus. They were willing to kneel down and worship the baby Jesus. They were willing to part with their treasures and give them to the baby Jesus. They welcomed the change that baby had come to bring.
I like how Luther says it, "God came as a baby to show us He didn’t come to hurt us or harm us. What is more harmless than a baby? He came to help us."
Jesus came to help us!
Jesus came to bring a profound change in our lives and to this world, more profound than we can even begin to comprehend. What is the change that Jesus came to bring? I love how one of our Christmas hymns says it! I have a favorite verse in that Christmas hymn. Here is how the verse goes.
"He is the Key and
He, the Door to blessed Paradise.
The angel bars the way no more.
To God our praises rise.
To God our praises rise."
There is one line in that verse that just sends shivers of joy down my spine, whenever I sing it. It is the line, "The angel bars the way no more". What does that mean? The angel bars the way no more. That takes us all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It takes us all the way back to when that angel (after Adam and Eve sinned), held that flaming sword to guard the Garden of Eden, to guard Paradise, so that Adam and Eve could not get back in.
What had happened? Adam and Eve had fallen into sin. And, because they had fallen into sin, that is why you and I have a sinful nature. We have inherited that from generation, to generation, to generation.
After Adam and Eve fell into sin, the Bible tells us God drove them out of the Garden of Eden. Why did He do that? He did it in His mercy. In mercy, He drove them out of the Garden of Eden, because God knew that in the garden was the Tree of Life. God knew if Adam and Eve, who had now fallen into sin, would eat from the Tree of Life, they would live forever, and ever, and ever, in a state of sin. And so, in His mercy, God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. And, He posted an angel with a flaming sword to bar the way to the Tree of Life, so Adam and Eve could not get back into the garden, eat from the tree, and live forever.
Think about what would have happened, if they, as sinners, had gotten back into the Garden of Eden, if they would have gotten back into Paradise? They would still be alive today, 8,000 years later. They would still have that sinful nature that is an enemy of God and opposed to God. They would still have that sinful nature 8,000 years later that fights against God, causing them to hurt and harm other people, say things they didn’t want to say, and do things they didn’t want to do. They would still have that sinful nature that brings pain, trouble, trials, sadness, and all kinds of difficult, terrible things into their lives. And, this would only be the beginning! It would only be the first 8,000 years. It would go on forever. And so, in His mercy, God sent that angel to bar the door to the Tree of Life.
But now, Jesus has come. In that hymn we sing, "The angel bars the way no more." Now that Jesus has come, the angel has dropped his sword. Now sinners are welcomed back into Paradise. They are welcomed back to the Tree of Life, to eat of the Tree of Life, and live forever.
What a profound change Jesus has come to bring!
He has come to change us from sinners, into righteous people.
He has come to change us from people who deserve to be condemned, into people who have salvation.
He has come to change us from mortal people who will die someday, into people who will be immortal and will never die.
He has come to change us from people who are guilty in God’s eyes, to people who have been declared not guilty, for Christ’s sake.
He has come to change us from people who are sad, to people who have joy!
He has come to change us from people who have sorrow, to people who are filled with rejoicing!
Our Savior Jesus has come! What has He done? Our Savior, Jesus, has cast our sins, our sins, into the depths of the sea, to be drowned and never brought up again. It is not us He has cast into the depths of the sea and drown forever, (which is what we deserve), He cast our sins, our sins, into the depths of the sea, to be drowned and never brought up again. When Jesus died on the cross, He took all of our sins with Him. When He went to the grave, He lay in the grave with all of our sins. And, when He burst forth from the grave, He left our sins buried there, buried forever, never to be brought up, again.
God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us, declared us to be His children, and things are so changed. Who of us here should ever feel threatened by that baby Jesus? Who of us here should ever feel threatened by the change He came to bring in our lives? But, must we not, like the Wise men, run to that manger, fall down on our knees, and welcome the change that Jesus has come, repent of our sins, and recognize "Jesus, my sins could condemn me for all eternity, but Jesus, I confess them to you. I know that you have paid for them. They are forgiven. I am your child. Now, I welcome the change you bring into my life. I welcome the change. Now, I don’t have to live in sin, anymore. Now, with the help of the Holy Spirit I can begin to serve you. I welcome that change. I welcome the change that now I can give all that I have to you, to serve you with all that I have. I welcome the change that I am not just focused on this life. I am focused on eternity. It doesn’t matter what people do to me in this life. I have a home in Heaven."
Oh, how we welcome that change! Wise men still seek Him today, don’t they?
He is the key, and
He the door
to blessed Paradise!
The angel bars the way no more!
To God our praises rise.
To God
our praises rise!
Amen.
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