Mat 2:1-12; Become a Part of the Greatest Story Ever Written.
length: 58:17 - taught on Nov, 9 2023
Class Outline:
Thursday November 9, 2023
The beauty in the story is in moral character and humble recognition.
Beauty is by God’s definition the heart of the one who sees the Messiah.
The King, the Son of Man, will prevail in His purpose because it is God’s purpose, and His offspring will go with Him.
His purpose will not end in this earth the way that it is.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw 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 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
6 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshipped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
Matthew goes out of his way to show the magi as perfect worshippers of God, though they be Gentiles.
The story of Jesus’ origins in Matthew is a dense, compact narrative.
There is a separation in chapters 1 and 2, from birth origins and lineages to locations. But the two chapters are together in Matthew’s origin account.
In Matthew 2 we see the same tension between the beauty of the bright, splendid, shining star as it appears in the open sky, the great joy of the magi at it, on the one hand, and the royal estate of Herod as a mask for his abuse of power, his paranoid fear of rivals to the throne, his secret inquiry, (MAT 2:7), his lie (2:8), his intent to murder (2:16-18) on the other hand.
There is real power in an infant who is the true King, and an abuse of power in one who has the title king.
There is truth and there are lies. There is light and darkness. There is goodness and evil.
There are dream warnings, fear, anger, death, deep sorrow, and narrow escape.
Matthew's drama of the birth of Jesus contains three acts and six scenes.
Act 1: (Scene 1) Announcement to Joseph (1:18-25).
Act 2: Magi, star, Herod (2:1-12).
Scene 1: Magi and Herod (1-8).
Scene 2: Magi in Bethlehem (9-12).
Act 3: Flight to Egypt, slaughter, return (2:13-23).
Scene 1: Flight to Egypt (13-15).
Scene 2: Slaughter of babies (16-18).
Scene 3: Death of Herod, return of Jesus and move to Nazareth (19-23).
The drama is lively and agitated and it moves very quickly. All of this happens in 31 verses (48 if we include the whole genealogy). By contrast, Luke’s infancy story has 148 verses.
The total effect of Matthew’s account is dramatic intensity and theological density.
We do not know who the magi were. Three main explanations are that they were Persian Zoroastrian priests, or Babylonian astrologers, or Nabatean merchant princes from Northern Arabia. They are Gentiles who worship the true King and defy the false king Herod. They remind us of the Queen of Sheba coming to king Solomon (1KI 10:1-29).
Two kings: one old and one just born. One will do anything to protect his position and the other is an infant trusting in God for providence.
The star is like the pillar of cloud and fire leading the Israelites through the wilderness.
and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp
Matthew uses fives verbs to describe the behavior of the magi in v. 11: they see, kneel or fall down, adore or pay homage, they open (their treasure chests) and they offer their gifts.
They are portrayed as model worshippers of God.
And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
The three gifts: depicted in Isa 60 and Psa 72.
“A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.”
May he also rule from sea to sea
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let the nomads of the desert bow before him,
And his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be precious in his sight;
15 So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless him all day long.
The contrast to Herod is astounding. Herod murders “him who has no helper.”
Egypt seems like the last place they should flee to.
Herod dies, but his evil son assumes the throne. Evil perpetuates, but God always has a plan for His own.
To Nazareth the family goes and to relative quiet (as far as we know) for around 20 years.
This dense narrative has all the aspects of every Christian life lived in love and obedience to God. Of course, we mean in type and not specifics. Your Christian life is theological, eschatological, analytical. Your Christian life is also a story. If you follow Him you will face antagonists, incidents that begin trials, conflict, and resolution.
If you cover your life with the flesh and the world and do not love and obey your King, you will experience none of the great story, but a predictable boring dime store novel that no one will want to read.
Php 3:13-14
forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Thursday November 9, 2023
The beauty in the story is in moral character and humble recognition.
Beauty is by God’s definition the heart of the one who sees the Messiah.
The King, the Son of Man, will prevail in His purpose because it is God’s purpose, and His offspring will go with Him.
His purpose will not end in this earth the way that it is.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw 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 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
6 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
Matthew goes out of his way to show the magi as perfect worshippers of God, though they be Gentiles.
The story of Jesus’ origins in Matthew is a dense, compact narrative.
There is a separation in chapters 1 and 2, from birth origins and lineages to locations. But the two chapters are together in Matthew’s origin account.
In Matthew 2 we see the same tension between the beauty of the bright, splendid, shining star as it appears in the open sky, the great joy of the magi at it, on the one hand, and the royal estate of Herod as a mask for his abuse of power, his paranoid fear of rivals to the throne, his secret inquiry, (MAT 2:7), his lie (2:8), his intent to murder (2:16-18) on the other hand.
There is real power in an infant who is the true King, and an abuse of power in one who has the title king.
There is truth and there are lies. There is light and darkness. There is goodness and evil.
There are dream warnings, fear, anger, death, deep sorrow, and narrow escape.
Matthew's drama of the birth of Jesus contains three acts and six scenes.
Act 1: (Scene 1) Announcement to Joseph (1:18-25).
Act 2: Magi, star, Herod (2:1-12).
Scene 1: Magi and Herod (1-8).
Scene 2: Magi in Bethlehem (9-12).
Act 3: Flight to Egypt, slaughter, return (2:13-23).
Scene 1: Flight to Egypt (13-15).
Scene 2: Slaughter of babies (16-18).
Scene 3: Death of Herod, return of Jesus and move to Nazareth (19-23).
The drama is lively and agitated and it moves very quickly. All of this happens in 31 verses (48 if we include the whole genealogy). By contrast, Luke’s infancy story has 148 verses.
The total effect of Matthew’s account is dramatic intensity and theological density.
We do not know who the magi were. Three main explanations are that they were Persian Zoroastrian priests, or Babylonian astrologers, or Nabatean merchant princes from Northern Arabia. They are Gentiles who worship the true King and defy the false king Herod. They remind us of the Queen of Sheba coming to king Solomon (1KI 10:1-29).
Two kings: one old and one just born. One will do anything to protect his position and the other is an infant trusting in God for providence.
The star is like the pillar of cloud and fire leading the Israelites through the wilderness.
and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp
Matthew uses fives verbs to describe the behavior of the magi in v. 11: they see, kneel or fall down, adore or pay homage, they open (their treasure chests) and they offer their gifts.
They are portrayed as model worshippers of God.
And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
The three gifts: depicted in Isa 60 and Psa 72.
“A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.”
May he also rule from sea to sea
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let the nomads of the desert bow before him,
And his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be precious in his sight;
15 So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless him all day long.
The contrast to Herod is astounding. Herod murders “him who has no helper.”
Egypt seems like the last place they should flee to.
Herod dies, but his evil son assumes the throne. Evil perpetuates, but God always has a plan for His own.
To Nazareth the family goes and to relative quiet (as far as we know) for around 20 years.
This dense narrative has all the aspects of every Christian life lived in love and obedience to God. Of course, we mean in type and not specifics. Your Christian life is theological, eschatological, analytical. Your Christian life is also a story. If you follow Him you will face antagonists, incidents that begin trials, conflict, and resolution.
If you cover your life with the flesh and the world and do not love and obey your King, you will experience none of the great story, but a predictable boring dime store novel that no one will want to read.
Php 3:13-14
forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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