What Will You Bring Him . . . Today?
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-18
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men
from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For
we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had
gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ
was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star
appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child,
and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went
before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young
Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their
treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their
own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word;
for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and
was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he
sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from
two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then
was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 “ A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”
This story begins after Jesus has been born for a while. Here come the wise men from
the east looking for Him, but why? They weren’t Jews, so why would they come looking
for the King of the Jews? They mentioned that they saw His star, but why would they
even have been looking for a specific star?
If you look back to the book of Daniel 9:24-end you’ll see that Daniel prophesied a
period of 70 sevens that would be calculated from the time the order was given for
Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Which happened during the fifth century BC. Now Daniel says
there will be 69 of those sevens and Messiah will come. Scholars are agreed that those
sevens he spoke were not 7 day periods (weeks), but 7 year period which would mean
that Messiah would come around 483 years after the order to rebuild Jerusalem.
Evidently, their fathers fathers had thought enough of Daniel and his God to teach their
children of the prophecy.
So, they were wise enough to see that the time had arrived and they began to search
the skies for a sign and they found it. When you come into town looking for the king,
you go to the palace. It makes sense that they would go to Herod’s palace first. So why
weren’t the Jewish leadership looking? If these pagans could see His coming why
couldn’t they? Because they weren’t looking. They had become content with the status
quo. What did they need Messiah for? They had wealth. They had power. But Herod
in his greed couldn’t have another king in his territory. So he finds out from the wise
men when they first saw the star. Innocently, they had no idea of his motives, they told
him.
So they go find the Child and bring Him gifts. They bring Him gifts! These are the first
gifts that we see in the story. The gold, frankincense, and myrrh are very valuable
gifts. Gifts befitting a king, but they’re not the most valuable gifts we’ll see in this story.
That comes later.
Next in the story are two very important dreams. The first warns the wise men not to go
back to Herod. The second warns Joseph that it’s time to go to Egypt, which will fulfill
another Messianic prophecy.
Now, Herod is furious. The wise men double-crossed him before he could double-cross
them. Before we finish this story, I’d like to take you back. Do you remember ever
reading or hearing about a bunch of shepherds that got a visit from a host of angels?
They got an amazing treat, right? (Read Luke 2:8-18) Wonderful story, huh? Here’s
where the really valuable gifts come in.
Herod, again in his greed, decides that if he can’t know specifically the one born King of
the Jews, he’ll get all the boys under 2 years old. Remember the wise men told him
when they’d first seen the star. This gift you rarely hear about when you here the story
of Jesus' birth. They gave their young sons. Every family in Bethlehem with sons of
that age. Sons of the inn keeper, the merchants, the farmers, and yes the shepherds.
Maybe this is why God chose to give them such an awesome show.
As we go through this weekend with so many people remembering the story of Jesus’
birth, let’s not forget what the gifts are really for. Who they’re really for. Just as Jesus
tells us in the Lord’s Prayer, we need to ask for our daily bread. He could have said
give us our lifetime of bread but He specifically say daily. That’s the kind of relationship
we should have with our Savior; a daily one. Just as we must die to self daily; crucify
our flesh daily. We must celebrate the wonder of His birth daily; bring our best gift to
Him daily. What will you bring Him…today?
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: December 23, 2005