This evening we turn to Matthew chapter two. Matthew chapter two. The text this evening will be the first 11, although we'll reference verse 12 also. Verses of this chapter. Pay special attention to those first 11, 12 verses. We're gonna read the whole chapter though. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written by the prophet, and thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. And when ye have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, They saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. When they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word. for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath, sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead, which sought the young child's life. And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea, in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee, And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. He shall be called a Nazarene." We read that fire in God's Word. We consider this evening the first 11 verses of this chapter, and These verses, of course, concern that which we considered last week, which is that the account of the birth of Jesus, including the genealogy that we find in Matthew chapter 1, and the events that follow after that concerning Joseph taking Mary as his wife, and these events recorded in the Holy Scriptures only here all pertain to and center around showing that Jesus is the King of the Jews and therefore have to do with the birth and the circumstances surrounding the birth of this King of the Jews. We saw last week how Jesus received through that line and the adoption of him by Joseph his kingship and received it from him, which line would be cut off, showing again that this great king is a king unique. that he comes not as normal earthly kings or one would expect from the line of David, but he comes in God's way, according to God's plan, showing the nature and the power of the salvation that he shall bring as Jesus the Savior from our sins. That also is the importance of this passage here. Of course, it has to do generally with the worship of Jesus by wise men from the East as King of the Jews. And we are going to concentrate this evening from the passage on what that meant. and what's revealed here in this narrative about what it means that Jesus is the King of the Jews. We're going to notice that under three sub-points, that as King of the Jews, He is King of the world, King of the creation. Secondly, that He is King of Gentiles. Not just Jews, but Gentiles in a very special way. Then we'll notice also that He's King of Kings. He is God's Christ. Now in so doing, what we're also going to notice is that this King is King now. He is at birth, the Anointed One. He is there as a babe and young child, this great King of the Jews, and shows already now as a baby and young child that He is the King of the creation, King of the Gentiles, and King of Kings. And especially he shows that in this event, and especially in the faith of these wise men. These wise men are not wise men through their own scholarly studies. They are wise men with the wisdom of faith, which faith this king of the Jews has worked in them. and which faith is operative here and is evident here. Consider with me those things generally as we consider the birth of the King of the Jews once again and that he's worshipped by wise men. We notice in the first place that he is worshipped, he is honored, He is glorified here by these wise men as the king of this creation. This is evident when we read that these wise men come from afar. They come to Jerusalem, and they come because they have seen a special star there in the east from whence they came. And they show that they believed this is a special star. And a special star that is in particular related to the very child they come to see. That this is the star that signifies a great king has been born. Indeed, the king of the Jews which is why they come to Jerusalem. That's where the king of the Jews should be. In this they show that they come because they believe this is, therefore, not just any king of the Jews, but the king of kings with regard to the Jews. The king who is promised by God, who is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the king who has even his own star. They do not come by way of conjecture or out of curiosity. That's evident from the fact that they make this long journey upon seeing the star and they come bearing rather precious and expensive gifts. Simple deduction. indicates that the time from when they first saw the star until the time that they appear in Jerusalem is somewhere between one and two years. For we read that Herod goes on to kill the children of Bethlehem two years and younger. Notice, according to the time, which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Herod did not arbitrarily select that time period, but he did so based upon information from the wise men about when they first saw the star. We read these men are from afar from the east. That's the word that's generally used for the area of Mesopotamia, Persia, Babylon, that area. A hunch, therefore, or conjecture or curiosity does not explain the fact that they would embark on such a long journey bearing such precious gifts. The journey itself indicates that they believe. that they have faith and they believe that this star is of special significance. This journey is not fueled either by their professional scholarship or their scientific knowledge. That's how it's often interpreted. And that might seem to be the case because we read that they are called wise men or magi, which is the root of our word for magician. But in the Old Testament, Greek Old Testament, that's the word that's used to translate the Babylonian word for astrologers. In the Greek Old Testament, when that Hebrew word for astrologer, the Babylonian word for astrologer comes up, then it's translated with this very same word, indicating that these men did have considerable knowledge. They were scholars, and they were scholars who focused on the heavens and the stars. They were astrologists. But this isn't why they come. Their knowledge of astrology, their knowledge of the stars does not itself indicate why they come except that it did enable them out of all the stars of the heavens to take note that this star was special. We don't know why it was special except that it did appear. It was a star that was not there before. It was a star that they saw as new. And somehow that star also indicated to them that it had something to do with the birth of the Christ in Jerusalem. Later on we're going to read something special about that star, which is that it moved. It directed them to the very house in which Jesus is to be found with his mother. But knowledge of stars and astrology itself does not account for their presence in Jesus' home. What accounts for that is faith. And in the first place, as we know faith to be, a certain knowledge, a certain knowledge of what is found in Holy Scripture, that what is found there is true, and especially now, knowledge that the Word of God is the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what accounts for their being there in Bethlehem. They knew the Scriptures. And they knew the Old Testament Scriptures, the only Scripture in existence at this time. And evidently they knew the very prophecy that is being fulfilled here. Numbers 24, verse 17, which reads as follows. I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. Irrelevant to us is how they came to this knowledge. One can speculate, perhaps, that it has something to do with the fact that Israel and the nation of Israel, including believers and the scriptures that they believed in, were at one time, long ago, in Babylon. But that is irrelevant. We are not told how they would have come to this knowledge. What's evident from the passage is that they are here not simply by scientific, earthly knowledge that they could have gained, or their own expertise, but faith. And that faith would have been in the Word of God concerning the star. And that Word of God is found in Numbers 24, verse 17. What's relevant is that somehow, someway, God had spoke to them and given to them the knowledge of the Scripture. The object of their faith is Jesus. the very Jesus that is revealed in these Scriptures to be the King. the scepter that shall rise out of the Israel. He is the object of their journey and their desire. And when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child and fell down and worshipped him. Notice, he is there with his mother and they come. They worship not His mother, there is no mention of His Father, and they worship Him, Jesus the Christ. It's obvious from the passage that they worship Him as King. They see him as king, indeed the king of the Jews, which explains the gifts, the gold, precious metal, and frankincense and myrrh, precious perfume, and gifts for royalty. It's also evident from the passage that they have faith because they do not merely honor him as king. They do not simply come to repay their respects to him as some great king from the line of David perhaps, but we read they worship him. By faith they believe that he is God. By faith they believe he is the proper object of their worship. That's what it means when they come to worship Him as King. Faith is what explains, ultimately then, why they are called wise men. They are wise because God has given them the knowledge of the truth. And on the basis of that knowledge, on the basis of what they know and what God has revealed, they act. They act wisely. They act as they are able to do, journeying to Bethlehem to worship the King of the Jews. This means then that their knowledge of Jesus is much more extensive than simply that He would be signified by a special star and that He would bear a scepter in Israel But it is the knowledge of faith that is a saving knowledge. It is a recognition that Jesus is the Savior from sin, that Jesus is the Savior from death, and that Jesus alone is the long-awaited Christ and Messiah promised in those Scriptures they believed all of the Scriptures. Faith then explains their persistence. It explains their long journey to Jerusalem where they expect this King of Jews at first to be born. It explains why when they find no King, they do not give up and go home, but they spread the Word all over. They're looking for Him. We read, Herod heard these things, and all Jerusalem with him. Their persistence is explained by faith, and in that faith, they spread the gospel. The king, the great king of the Jews, the great king promised in the Holy Scriptures, has been born. Where is he? And all in Jerusalem, including the king on the throne at that time, hears, hears what they're saying. The point of this first point, however, is what does it mean to them that he's king of the Jews? We touched on that somewhat and we'll return to it. But especially with regard to that sign, it shows that they believe that this king is special in that He is Lord and King over the creation, the whole creation. I shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that they bring some earthly gifts, even gold and frankincense and myrrh, that therefore they are only honoring Him as some earthly indeed very great King. We also bring earthly gifts to Jesus Christ. We bring earthly gifts in the collection plate, as we did this evening, that in no wise implies that we do not worship Jesus spiritually. their treasures and presented him, and did so acknowledging that he was the rightful Lord and owner of that gold and frankincense and myrrh, just as we do when we give to our Lord and Savior in the collection plate. We do so not saying, I'm giving now of what I have, but I'm giving now of what I have first received from my great King. that shows that they recognize Him as Lord over material things, Lord over providence, Lord over creation, which is especially emphasized with regard to that star. That star, through faith, spoke to them, spoke loudly to them. Especially that star doing things, that their considerable scientific knowledge told them stars cannot do, that stars aren't supposed to do, which explains in part their joy when that star they first saw in the east after leaving Herod reappears and then moves and ends up over the house. They rejoice when they see that. They recognize this is no ordinary star. And what's special about it? They tell us it is His star. His star. By that they do not mean simply that this is the star that signifies this Christ. but that is his star. He is Lord and King who made the stars, who owns the stars, who made that star. The one who gave that star its light, who makes that star appear at his birth, when he is first born, makes that star appear and guides appear with the very purpose of guiding these wise men to his home. He governs. He rules. He governs all things. He rules all things. Now mind you, the child. They worship Jesus as a babe. as one no more than two years old. They worship Him. They recognize that this one, a child, one who is in the care of his parents, the one who is being cared for by his parents, is in fact King of Kings and Lord of Lords. King over stars, king over their appearance, king over their light, king over their gifts, king over them. That, you see, is faith. Faith alone explains their worship. Another remarkable thing that's pointed out in the passage is that this king of the Jews is king of Gentiles. He is king of the Jews in a very particular sense. In a particular sense that he is king over these very Magi. This too is remarkable. If these Magi knew the Scriptures as they did, they would have known the Scriptures, and they would have known that in the Old Testament, God's promise was with Abraham and his seed. And that God had revealed Himself particularly to the Jews, and that the promise of the Messiah was in particular to the Jews. that He who would be the Messiah, the Christ, would be known as the King of Jews. He would be the occupant of the throne of David, the great ancestor who was King of the Jews. But that makes their worship even more remarkable. It shows again the great, great work of this King in their faith. They do not say to themselves, Now, here we are, Persians, Babylonians. We are not Jews. He will not receive us. We will not receive a warm welcome. Our worship is of no account but know, knowing those very Scriptures, and knowing the Scriptures, realize that He is also King of Gentiles. Now, especially to highlight The great kingship and lordship of Jesus Christ here and the working of faith in these magi from afar, we have to contrast them with Herod and the occupants of Jerusalem. That is, the Jews over which Jesus is king. You see, Herod and the ruling class in Jerusalem And all who heard the word of these wise men show themselves to be fools and unbelievers. While the wise men are spreading the good news of salvation, the good news of the birth of Messiah, the one promised even to Adam and Eve, the king of the kingdom, the king of them, they are troubled. They are unbelieving. That's what we read. They were troubled in their hearts. This good news bothered them. They were not excited. They were not eager, let alone would they travel from afar, a place like Babylon. Herod couldn't even be bothered to get off his throne to go trudge over to nearby Bethlehem. It's unbelief. Now it accentuates that unbelief, and therefore shows us the real nature of unbelief. You see, when we look at unbelief, we like to imagine unbelief is simply ignorance. Ignorance. But that doesn't do justice to our own unbelief. That doesn't do justice to the sinfulness and the wickedness of unbelief. You see, unbelief is deliberate. And it especially shows here. There is no unbelief quite like the unbelief of a Herod or the Jews in Jerusalem. You see, the problem is that they don't know. They don't have the correct information. Herod demonstrates he understands very clearly what the wise men are looking for. They do not mention the Messiah. They do not mention the Christ, simply that they're looking for the King who shall be born. It is Herod who understands very clearly that this must be the Messiah. So he assembles the rulers, the spiritual leaders, those who would know the Scriptures, and he deliberately asks them, where will the Christ be born? The Messiah, he too knew the Scriptures. He knew enough. To know that God had promised the King of the Jews would be the Messiah, the Christ. Yet too, and especially the rulers, the scribes, the educated in the law, New Micah 5 verse 2 that they quote. But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me, he that is ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. But how do they respond? What do they do? And the problem also is that they don't The problem is not that they have this truth now, and they simply are confused. They simply misunderstand. Notice again Herod's response to this information, this thing that the wise men bring. He does not say, well now, you must be mistaken. There's no special star that's going to signify the Messiah. No, he knows. And the others know. Which explains in part why he kicks all the rest of them out while he talks to the wise men privately. And notice, inquires diligently as to when the star appears. That's unbelief. That's deliberate, wicked unbelief. He believes in a very real sense that the Messiah, the Christ, has been born. But it's not faith. It's not faith. It's not true faith. Here it does not say to the wise men, even as many today would do. My good men, my good men, I see now why perhaps you might think there in Messiah there is a Christ, as it's found in these ancient writings, these noble and good ancient writings that we call the Bible and the Scriptures. But you're never going to find Him. That's old thinking. That's not good scientific thinking. There's all kinds of errors. That's simply the word of man, ancient tales, myths, mythology, packaging. Now, Herod knows much more and believes much more, even than the men who rule churches today, in that he at least understands the Scriptures, and he expects that when they go to Bethlehem, they're going to find something. You see, we're learning something here about faith. Faith is no, and never is, a mere intellectual knowledge, or a mere affirmation even, that what is found in Scripture is true. Herod had that. Herod understood as much. But faith is to receive them with love. Faith is to receive them as the truth that one wants and desires Faith is that which receives the Christ as one's own Christ, and is convinced He is one's own Christ. That's faith. True faith. Living faith. But Herod has his unbelief, and he shows that in the many murders that he goes on to commit. Don't forget, beloved, that Herod here represents many, many, many who perhaps even today would speak about the birth of Jesus, or join in a certain celebration of Jesus, but in fact are hateful of Him, who despise Him, or who fear Him in an unbelieving way. It is remarkable that so much does Herod know that he actually is troubled. He fears disinformation. You see, that's what explains much of the unbelief about Jesus. That's what we're going to see time and time in the narratives and the gospel accounts concerning Jesus. Oh, there's many that recognize He's from God. There's many that may recognize that He's the King of the Jews. But they're troubled. They don't want this Christ. They're threatened by this Christ. He exposes their sin. He comes as the light, and they prefer the darkness. Herod shows that he had no intention of worshiping Him as the Christ, even though he ought to. And then goes on to commit murder. You see here, of course, the devil, the devil at work. We see here in narrative form what we read later on in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, about how the devil had been waiting and waiting and waiting for the Christ to be born, and tries to consume Him as soon as He's born. A liar, here it lies. Come tell me so that I may go and worship. He's not going to worship. And then when he's mocked, then he gets angry and he commits murder. That's not one who isn't threatened. That's not merely ignorance. That's deliberate. We need to remember that. That even in our own unbelief, much of it is not ignorance. That when we sin, we sin deliberately. And how much more of that is true of many who even know the Scriptures. Here and here you see represents the false church. He is on the throne of the Jews, but he is not the rightful, not the rightful king, not the son of David. He is an unbeliever. On the other hand, you have to contrast that with what the Magi, the wise men, believe, and they, you see, are Gentiles. They shouldn't know anything. They shouldn't have any understanding of the Christ. They have every reason to doubt, every reason to say, this can't be real. They have every reason when they show up and say, what? Not in Jerusalem? You haven't heard of him? We're going home. Or when they get to his house and they look at the house, undoubtedly, undoubtedly a very small house, the house of a humble carpenter, poor man, very poor man, and say, what? This cannot be the king of the Jews. This cannot be the Messiah, the Christ. But they don't. They worship, and they worship as Gentiles. Again, why? Why? Well, Christ had worked faith, and by faith they also knew the Scriptures. This was not impossible for God. God would, even as the King of the Jews in Christ, bring the Gentiles in to worship Him. Jesus is going to point that out in His ministry to the unbelieving Jews. There were many wizzos at the time of Elijah, but where is he set? To a widow in Baal country, in Zarephath. And with that they got angry and tried kill him, reject him with the same hatred as King Herod, and Jesus himself will go see a Syrophoenician woman in the same area of the world, in a place where believers ought not to be, among the Gentiles and Baal worshipers. So too these wise men. You see, this King of Creation is a worldwide, universal King. He's King of the church. He's King not simply of physical descendants of Abraham, No, His kingship is over the spiritual descendants of Abraham, those who have faith, all who have faith, including, therefore, then Gentiles, Isaiah 60, 3-6. You may see here, even though Matthew does not point it out, the fulfillment of that passage, the Gentiles shall come to thy light. and kings to the brightness of thy rising. The multitudes of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. They shall bring gold and incense and shall show forth the praises of the Lord. No doubt, perhaps they remembered the very prophecy of the star. That this one, this star arising out of Jacob, this one who would be the scepter arising out of Israel would come to destroy Moab and the children of Sheth. That's the Bible's way of saying He's come to destroy all those who belong to the church who hate Him, and all unbelievers in the world. Herod, you see, was a member of Edom, the very nation that it's prophesied Jesus the star will come to destroy. And Sheth represents the unbelieving Gentile. We see here then that Jesus It's the King of Salvation, the King of Kings. He is the Christ. And we need to bring all that to bear. When we look at these wise men, what we have to see here is in a small measure, in an opening measure, at the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus, His salvation, the nature of His salvation. We see here that He saves us by faith, and the object of faith is always the person of Jesus Himself as King. Not simply King of the creation, although He is that. The one who is Lord and King over all things, storms and winds and stars. King of the church. King of the Jews, the spiritual Jews. King of the Gentiles who have faith, like faith, with Abraham. And therefore the King of our salvation, the Christ. That's the amazing thing here. When you read this narrative, it's so obvious, it's set forth here in few words, that these men come, impossibly. They shouldn't be there. They shouldn't have come. And over against them, who had every reason not to come, every reason to question and to doubt why they ought to be there, who ought never to bow the knee, to set forth down in worship before this child, who looks anything but a king, is the unbelief of Herod and Jerusalem, who can't be bothered, who can't be bothered to come out and see him. who even when they hear that news, and who ought to have more knowledge, more understanding, who ought to have been hanging on to every word, who ought to have said, finally, finally, But that's not the birth of Jesus, is it? You see, in His birth, and in every narrative of His birth, whether it's here in Matthew or here in Luke, what's glorified is Jesus and His salvation. And it's got nothing to do with us. In fact, it goes all against what we would expect, what you would expect, what I would expect. who celebrates and worships the night of his birth, lowly shepherds who have been so informed by angels while the rest sleep on, blind, not looking. Who comes? Who comes to worship? Who comes to observe? Who comes to give him gifts? not those who ought to have, but those you would not expect. You see, that's his salvation. He's the king of salvation, and when we say he's the king of salvation, we mean that in every sense. So much is it true that his salvation is completely opposite of what we expect and what we look for. because he teaches us in everything he is king. Even look at him there. There's nothing there that explains why the wise men are there to worship with their gifts, except this young child. There's nothing in the child himself, outwardly, that you can say explains it. But that's what's going on. That's who's working this. That's who accomplishes this. That's what we mean when we say He is Savior. That's true, beloved, not simply when He's on the cross. In the last hours of His life, we tend to recognize that a little easier. We say, there, see, He's Savior. He's atoning for our sins, but we need to go right to the beginning even. And, of course, you go to the beginning, as we are tonight, and we go to His birth, and a year or so after His birth, we need to see Him as Savior there. And, of course, when you go there, you have to go even before there. For who wrote those scriptures? Who spoke those words? Who made the promises that a star, a star would arise? Who said that Gentiles would come and bring their gifts? This Jesus. Their faith is evident all around. It's evident by the joy that they have. We read of that in verse 10. They rejoiced with exceeding great joy. It's evident by their humility. It's evident that they bow down, they bow the knee to a child who is without earthly scepter and without earthly crown, living in a small home in the smallest little town of Judea. You see, this is our salvation, beloved. A salvation, when we say by grace and of grace, we mean that it is by him and for him and unto him in every sense possible. Even the faith by which we believe is his gift. And notice there, too, what we mean when we say he is king. Many may acknowledge he is king and Lord over salvation, but to the extent to the extent that those who can see clearly, can clearly, they heard externally the gospel, the good news of salvation that the King is born, react with outrage and fear and unbelief and murderous thoughts. versus these wise men. You see, he was sovereign in that too. That's what the Jews didn't want to acknowledge. Oh, they would have a savior of their own liking. They would have a savior. They were very interested in a savior that they could manipulate or a savior who would take them as they were without any change. A savior who did not require that they obey him and serve him. They would have a Savior on their terms. A Savior wherein they could say, look, I'm saved because of what I did. No, that's not faith. And that's not His salvation, and here it is for us. So beloved, that's our Lord, that's our Lord Jesus Christ. There He is, presented in the Gospel, even in the narrative of His birth. How do you respond to that? Will you bring him gifts? Will you bring him gifts, recognizing he is the giver of those gifts? How often do we recognize that time of year, do we? We all give gifts. But do we remember to give gifts to the giver of those gifts? that we worship him by faith and through faith, recognizing that the very faith by which we believe in him is his great gift as the king, the great king of the Jews, the great king of creation, the great king of us Gentiles who have been brought from afar to worship, the king in every sense of the word of our salvation. Amen, let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, give us faith and strengthen our faith to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ as our salvation, the God who brings salvation, works salvation, and accomplishes salvation for us and does so in a way that humbles us and brings proud man low, that all honor and glory might belong unto thee who does such wondrous things. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.