Matthew2:1-11 A Visit By the Wise Men to the Christ
Child
Introduction: Being familiar with this record as a
Christmas story should aid in understanding it.
It is an amazing thing that men of power would seek out the child of
obscure parents and pay Him a visit.
I.
A. Matthew tells
first where Jesus was born,
(All Jews should have known this in
advance. Micah 5:2)
B. It did not seem
likely that God would select parents in
C. Matthew does
not even tell us how God got Joseph and Mary to
II. Herod the King. Verse 1
A. Matthew informs
us that Herod was King at the time.
B. This was Herod
Antipater.
1. He
was not a Jew; he was an Idumean, (of Esau).
2. He was the first of several Herods to hold
office in
3. Ironically, he is known as Herod the Great.
4. He
was appointed as King by the Romans.
III. The wise men or magi. Verse 1
A. These wise men
were from the east. (
B. “Wise men” here
does not refer to intellect but to their office.
1. It
was common practice for the kings of the east to select princes and give them special
training for the King’s court and
for government office.
2.
Daniel was an example. (He and others
were “wise men.”)
3.
They were trained in customs, laws, economy, agriculture, military,
science, math and
religion.
C. Since they had
Jews among them, they were familiar with the older Jewish scriptures and thus
with
the older prophecies of the coming of the
Messiah. (They did not have the newer
Old Testament
books that were written since the Jewish
captivity ended. They did not know of
Micah’s
prophecy in Micah 5:2.)
IV. The meeting with Herod. Verse 2
A. The very
appearance of visitors of such wealth, rank, and power would cause no small
stir.
B. They wanted to
know where is he that is born king?
1. Herod
was King, but he was appointed.
2. The
Messiah would be born the king of David’s lineage.
C. Herod did not
know the answer to their question, but he was determined to find the answer.
V. The purpose of their visit. Verse 2
A. They had come
to worship the new King.
1. The
word means “to kiss the hands toward.”
2.
Usually it was accompanied by bowing.
B. The question, “Did
they bow in recognition of Him as God, or in recognition of Him as King?
1.
Probably both.
2.
Matthew recorded this event for the purpose of showing the Jews that
Jesus is the Messiah.
(Even Gentiles recognized Him as
such.)
VI. Herod troubled. Verse 3
A. Herod could not
bear the thought of loosing his throne even to the Messiah. Thus he was troubled.
B. The people of
suspected his throne was in danger.)
C. He sought the
answer by calling in the priests and scribes. Verses 4-8
VII. The Star. Verses 9-10
A. The star had
appeared as a sign of the Messiah’s birth.
B. It had gone
before them to
C. It reappeared
and led them to the very house where Jesus lay.
VIII. In the presence of the Christ. Verse
11
A. His being a
child made no difference to them; the thing that mattered was that He was sent
from God
to be the Messiah King. (He was the promised Seed of Abraham through
whom all families of
the earth would be blessed.)
B. From them we learn:
1. That men should be willing to seek the Lord.
2. That men should recognize Jesus as the Christ.
3. That men should bow before Him as the might God.
4. That men ought to trust Him as Savior.
5. That men should give Jesus their best.
Conclusion: If the Magi were here they would come down the
isle.
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