Matthew 2:1-12 Jesus Christ is Our Ruler
Trying to answer the question, "How is Jesus Christ our All-in-all?
The Text
Matthew 2:1–12 (CSB)
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod,wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem,2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.
5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:
6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”
9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.
11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
The Devotion
People want a king and not the King
1 Samuel 8:4-7 (CSB) So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the LORD. But the LORD told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.
A line of sinful kings yet God establishes
The satanic worship of the wise men
The madness of Herod & the madness of the pharaoh Romans 9
The reserved worship for God
To the Jew first (Mary & Joseph) and to the Greek (Gentiles of the Wise Men)
2 Samuel 7:16 (CSB) Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.
God promises this through will be established forever before David rapes Bathsheba and murders Uriah.
Jesus is born and he is King of kings
Jesus was born under the grotesquely evil King Herod. That was not a mistake.
Who set King Herod to rule?
Daniel 2:19-21 (CSB) The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of the heavens and declared:
May the name of God
be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him.
He changes the times and seasons;
he removes kings and establishes kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those
who have understanding.
Jesus Christ, son of God, who is God, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and he is ruling and reigning over all creation--born to a poor, working class, family under the tyranny of a evil king.
God established the throne of David. Despite the brokenness of our world, God stopped at nothing to save his people from their sins.
And it starts with completing what he promised to David so many centuries before.
The three strange gifts
Gold A gift for a king. Jesus is our king.
Frankincense - used in Jewish worship. The frankincense was used in the temple worship. It was a gift for a priest. The aroma and fragrance of the prayers of His people to God. Jesus is our great high priest.
Myrrh - used in burial. Jesus is our sacrifice.