The Four “M’s” of Christmas
Part 2 - The Majesty
Matthew 2:1-12
December 7, 2008
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE.
Me: One of the things I find this time of year is that not only does the time go faster between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and not only do the days get shorter, and temps get colder, but also that I find myself under a whole lot more pressure.
I’ve got Christmas presents to buy, Christmas sermons to write, a Christmas tree to watch my family put up, and all sorts of stuff.
And in the midst of all that, it’s very hard for me to sit back and just reflect on Christmas.
I’m so busy doing Christmas that I don’t have the time to really appreciate everything about it.
And one of the things that I find myself really working hard to reflect on during this particular Christmas season is the majesty of Christmas.
The prophets of old said that the King of the Jews would come to earth. And they weren’t talking about King David or King Solomon.
They were talking about Jesus.
We: Here in America I think that we have a lesser appreciation for majesty.
We don’t have a king or queen who lives in a huge palace and wears splendid robes, and is addressed as “Your Majesty.”
So we go through life and go through Christmas with what I believe to maybe be a deficient idea of what majesty is all about.
Scripture describes the majesty of God in a number of places, but I wonder if we really get it.
I don’t think I get it.
When it comes to Christmas, majesty seems to get lost in the smells of the stable where Jesus was born.
Kings aren’t born in stables – they’re born in palaces, right?
Usually. But God chose unusual place for His Son to be born.
Yet there is a majesty to it. And my hope is that when you leave today, you’ll have a deeper appreciation of it for yourself, just as God is giving me a deeper appreciation for it.
God: Our passage for today is one of the more familiar passages that are traditionally looked at during the Christmas season.
Just a head’s up before I begin reading this passage: the first blanks in your note-taking guide happen right at the beginning, okay?
Matthew 2:1-11 (pp. 681-682) –
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’"
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
This Scripture passage is a bit longer than we usually look at, and that’s okay.
This message I’m giving today is a bit shorter than I usually give. And that’s okay, too, right?
Because we’re sharing in communion this morning, I wanted to keep my remarks sort of brief. I didn’t want us to rush through that sacred time around the Lord’s table.
Let me summarize this very quickly: three pagan guys from a place we don’t know, know enough about the Jewish Scriptures to know that a King would be born. And they’ve come to worship Him.
And they give us an idea of the majesty of Christmas. The majesty of Christmas is this:
The baby of Christmas is a King!
The magi had it figured out, even if the king of Israel was ignorant of it. His ignorance and rejection of it didn’t change that fact.
Jesus was born a king.
Let’s look very briefly at ways that Jesus is described as a King in Scripture:
> He is the King of Creation.
> He is the King of the Jews.
> He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And He was all of these things BEFORE He came to earth as a baby. He didn’t BECOME these things – He always was these things. He has always been them and He always will be.
During Christmas I often like to stress, like I did last week, that God came in the flesh, and that He wrapped Himself in the body of a helpless baby.
And as amazing as that is, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that this baby was a king.
From before time began He was a king.
Oh yeah there’s one other way that Scripture says Jesus is a King:
> If you call yourself a Christian, then ultimately, He is your King.
Did you understand that that was part of the deal?
Jesus doesn’t just want to be your Savior – He wants to be your King. He wants to control your life in every area.
And since He bought you with His own blood, then that’s the least you owe Him, isn’t it?
You: I hope that you will have at least one of two responses to this idea of the King coming down for you.
1. Worship.
Notice the two reactions of Herod and the magi.
The thought of a baby being the King of the Jews drove Herod to trickery, and later to murdering innocent babies.
But it drove the magi to what? Worship Him.
They came to offer their gifts and praise to this child.
Jesus wants our worship. And He doesn’t mean just our attendance on Sunday mornings and our singing and putting up with the message.
Well, He wants that too, but what He really wants is for you to worship Him with your life. Do everything out of your love for Him. That’s worship. And He loves it when you worship Him that way.
The second response I’d hope for is…
2. Submission.
He is the King. And as I mentioned earlier, if you call yourself a Christian, He is YOUR King.
Now in a Kingdom, the King is the boss, and well, everybody else isn’t, right?
Then how come so many Christians – including myself at times – live like we’re the boss and Jesus is the one who’s supposed to live for our convenience?
It’s not supposed to be that way. He is the king. He is owed our allegiance and obedience.
Not because He’s some weird supernatural dictator, but because His love drove Him to come and die for you.
Our submission should be in response to His love for us.
One of the great Christmas carols is Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus.
Listen to the second verse of that hymn, which I’ve put up on the screens.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King.
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
Is that your prayer?
Or is it more along the lines of “Lord, this season can’t get over soon enough. I’m tired of the hassle of the holiday. I’m tired of trying to find gifts I can’t afford for my loved ones. I’m tired of trying to act like I’m excited about Christmas, and it’s wearing me out.”
I believe that living a life of worship and submission, all year long, will give you the heart of the hymnwriter.
We: Folks, I really hope that as you go through these next couple weeks, that you will find God impressing on your hearts that this baby was a king.
And that you need to live with Him as your king today.
We live in a world that tells us that we are our own kings, and no one has a right to run our lives.
And yet they’ve never met the one who not only has the right to run our lives, but does so out of what’s best for us – because He loves us.
Will they see Him in you? Will they see that Jesus – the King – rules in your life, or will they simply see one more person struggling to get through the season one more time?
I hope they’ll see Jesus ruling in your life.
Let’s pray.
