Read Matthew 2:1–11
Questions from the Scripture text: What event does this passage follow (Matthew 2:1)? Where was Jesus born? In what days? Who came from where to where? What did they ask (Matthew 2:2)? What had they seen where? What have they come to do? Who heard this (Matthew 2:3)? How did he respond? Who else was stirred up? Whom did Herod gather (Matthew 2:4)? What did he ask them? What did they answer (Matthew 2:5)? Why? What had Micah 5:2 said (Matthew 2:6)? Whom did Herod then call (Matthew 2:7)? In what manner? What did he determine from them? Where did he send them (Matthew 2:8)? What did he tell them to do? And what if they found the child? What reason did Herod give for wanting to know where the child was? Whom had they heard (Matthew 2:9)? What did they see when they departed? Where did it go? Where did it stop? When they saw where it had stopped, how did they respond (Matthew 2:10)? Where did they go (Matthew 2:11)? Whom did they see? With whom? And what did they do to the child? What did they open? What did they present?
How should one respond to Jesus coming as King? Matthew 2:1–11 looks forward to the morning sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eleven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the right response to the Lord Jesus is to have our life disrupted by Him, to rejoice over Him, to worship Him, even with all our treasure.
His people who are being saved from their sins. Who are Jesus’s people, whom He is saving from their sins? Among them are magoi from the East (not unlikely spiritual descendants of Daniel, who prophesied the coming of this King. They knew Daniel’s prophecy, and they knew astronomy. And when the time came, something in the sky didn’t line up (Matthew 2:2). These learned men go to someone who should have been excited about the promised King… current king Herod. They assume that he knows where the King is (verse 2), and he hurries up to save face by gathering all the people who might know (Matthew 2:4). Here are all the people who should have wanted to worship Jesus, but they were all just troubled (Matthew 2:3).
Get our lives disrupted. Herod and all Jerusalem are troubled, but they are not the only ones whose lives are disrupted. How much Joseph and Mary’s life has been disrupted! How much the lives of these men from the east have been disrupted! But they are glad for the disruption. They are glad to have their ordinary life interrupted in order to make responding rightly to the Lord Jesus their new top priority. This is what the Lord does in the lives of those whom He is saving by Jesus Christ!
Rejoice. The wise men know where they are going, but the Lord sends the star in front of them anyway. No longer is it just an anomaly in the sky; now it is moving. And it keeps going in exactly the direction that they were going to go. When it stops, they rejoice. The living God has come to save them, and He is giving signs to confirm this salvation. Jesus is the real deal. God with us. Yahweh Who saves. And He is lovingly declaring this to them. O what cause for joy! You, too, ought to rejoice, dear Christian! Behold the Word, the signs, and the providence that brought them to you. Rejoice over God Who loves to save you and loves to show you that salvation!
Worship. It would be weird for Herod not to want to worship the Christ, right? Surely, he should want to know where Jesus is, in order to worship Him. He says as much, too, in Matthew 2:8. The odd thing is the secrecy in Matthew 2:7. Of course, we know that Herod wants to murder the child. But the magoi have it right. They are eager to worship Him. In truth, there’s only those two options: worshipers or enemies. You can’t be neutral on submission to the King. Lack of submission is rejection of His kingship. And you can’t be neutral on worship of God. Lack of worship is rejection of His divinity. Worshiper or enemy. Those are the only two options.
And the worship goes to the whole of life. Bowing in joy and reverence is one thing. But the gold, frankincense, and myrrh indicate more. They are treasures for a king and offerings unto God. And they represent the wealth and life’s work of these men. But it is all offered to the child, their King, their God Who has come to save them. This is the right response of worship to the Lord Jesus Christ.
How has Jesus interrupted your life and become its center? When and how do you rejoice over Him? In what way do you worship Him in worship times? In what way do you worship Him with the rest of your life?
Sample prayer: Lord, we thank You and praise You for coming to save us. Thank You for granting unto us to know You—for making Yourself the center of our lives. Grant that, by Your Spirit, we would worship You with all our heart, and to offer to You all of our lives, we ask in Your own Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP24 “The Earth and the Riches” or TPH2B “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage”
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