Opening and Introduction
When I think of looking for something, a book designed for kids comes to mind. It’s a book with pictures called “Where’s Waldo”. Did anyone see any of those books? The idea was to look for this guy with a red and white stripped shirt that always seemed to blend-in really well with the background.
I think this book is an interesting way to view life. We often know what we’re looking for, but sometimes, it sure is hard to find. Has anyone found Waldo yet? If you’re still looking for him, he’s in the lower left corner.
Tonight, our text talks about some interesting people, all with different motives and all searching for something. The magi, sometimes called the wise men, King Herod, and his chief priests and scribes all in search of the King of the Jews. But none of them were searching for the same reason. All of them didn’t have good motives.
Tonight, we’re going to take a closer look at the visit of the wise men and see what they were looking for.
We’ll also look at King Herod and see what he was trying to find. And finally, we’ll look at what we’re searching for, and how we can improve what we seek.
Magi seeking a king
Scripture tells us that the magi were from the East which would have been away from the tribes of Israel. In the world at that time, they would have most likely been from Persia, or modern-day Iraq or Iran. Given their likely home, they would have had a different culture and religion from Israel.
Later in Matthew, we learn a little bit more about these magi as the apostle describes the gifts that they brought. They brought Frankincense and Myrrh which might hint at an Arab influence because they typically came from regions southeast such as Yemen and Ethiopia.
They were academics who studied the stars, and studied prophecies as well, including Hebrew scripture with its promises from old. Their research would have taught them a lot about the world, appreciate different cultures, and be wise and sophisticated in many ways.
They likely would have read prophecies that pointed to the new king.
In Numbers, a prophecy said that the King of Israel would come, mentioning symbols of royalty of a star, and a scepter, which indicated God’s authority to rule. I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; (Numbers 24:17, ESV)
In another passage, a ruler of Israel is said to come from the tribe of Judah, in a little suburb of Jerusalem called Bethlehem.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2, ESV)
The magi studied stars, and with these prophecies known, when they saw a star overhead that didn’t match anything else, they knew, they must have connected the dots, and followed it in search of a new king.
They showed a willingness to seek out the source of true wisdom. Not wisdom in their Eastern religion, not among religions leaders who should have joined in their quest to find Jesus, and not in Jerusalem where they asked Herod where the new King might be. They didn’t find wisdom in any of those places.
They knew the star didn’t point to Herod. The prophecies told them that they were looking for someone from the line of David, and that was no king today.
So, they continued to seek out the new King of the Jews. When they found Him, they didn’t find a young king on a throne surrounded by servants, but a poor family in an otherwise quiet neighborhood.
The magi didn’t know what to expect. But when they found who they were looking for, they presented their gifts, honored His family, and worshiped this child named Jesus, who was probably 2 years old. The wise men sought out a king, and instead, they found their Lord, their savior, their messiah.
Herod seeking a rival
But it seems like so many Christmas stories have a villain. The movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” has the greedy businessman, Mr. Potter. In “Home Alone” it was the thieves Harry and Marv. And in the story of the magi its King Herod.
But who was Herod? He was the Roman appointed governor of Judea who took office around 40 BC. He was known as Herod the great because of the great public works projects that he instituted, including some very impressive aqueducts in the area, and the rebuilding of Solomon’s temple.
But he didn’t rise to power because of his great generosity. He was a ruthless and paranoid leader who chose to rule with fear. He executed many members of the Jewish Sanhedrin. He slaughtered members of his own family including his wife, his mother-in-law, and three of his own sons.
As he approached his deathbed, he tried to have all elite leaders in Jerusalem killed upon his death by ordering them to be herded into an arena and killed the moment he passed. He wanted many people in the city to cry at his death. So, the leaders were placed in the hippodrome, but when Herod died, they were released. It seems not every Roman was as evil as Herod.
These are some of the horrible stories of Herod, that should give you an idea of what this man’s personality was like. He was going to maintain his rule through any means necessary. To keep stability in his kingdom, he too wanted to seek the King of the Jews… but not to honor Him.
The news that the magi brought to him was not like the news he received from his own advisors. He saw a threat to his power.
When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3, CSB)
The evil king couldn’t tolerate a threat to his power, and those around him understood what he was capable of doing. So, Jerusalem was fearful and worried of what would happen next.
Herod sought to kill him. He summoned his own wise men, chief priests, and scribes of the people to find Him. He used seemingly respectful, spiritual language. But his intention was anything but honorable.
Not everyone who seeks Jesus is doing it to praise and worship Him.
What are we seeking?
But what about us? What do we seek? When I look at the news, social media, and even YouTube, I’ve often seen stories about those who were looking for fame, fortune, happiness and sometimes even love.
A lot of these goals can be honorable things that can do a lot of good for us, and for those around us. But sometimes, what we seek can be distractions that pull us away from God.
How do we know we’re seeking the right things? When confronted by Jesus, we may feel different. We might feel like the magi in adoration of our Lord and king. We might feel like Herod, angry that things haven’t gone our way. We might even feel like the scribes and priest who were searching for the messiah, and missed him in a feeling of apathy, and just not caring.
No matter how we feel, God is always there waiting for us to seek Him out, even when our faith, or our heart, isn’t fully following him.
So, in the time that we have remaining, I’d like to look at three ways that we be a bit more successful in our search for God.
First, you don’t have to have perfect faith to follow God. Throughout scripture we can find stories about people with little or no faith, who seek, and find God.
The magi weren’t seeking God. But that’s what they eventually found. They weren’t Hebrew. They weren’t from Israel. They didn’t go to the temple to help them find the King of the Jews. They didn’t have perfect faith when they were seeking Jesus.
In other parts of the Bible we hear of folks who struggled with their faith too. One of the more interesting stories is of a father of a sick boy who sought Jesus to get his son healed. The man said:
If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’? Everything is possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24, CSB)
Jesus helped this father and his son, not because his faith was the best it could ever be, but because he was seeking God, even when he knew his faith needed help.
God isn’t there only for those with the strongest faith, but even for those who struggle with their faith. If we don’t have pure motives, if our beliefs are uncertain, if we don’t understand what God is all about… even then
God is still there for us.
Second, God knows that sometimes, we’ll take the wrong path. The magi took a detour stopping by Jerusalem and informing Herod. But there are many others who went the wrong way too.
One man who took the wrong path was a prophet named Jonah. God told him to preach to the city of Nineveh because those people were doing all sorts of bad things and God wanted them to repent. But Jonah runs away from the job that God gave him, and instead, he buys a ticket on a ship heading far away from Nineveh.
As the boat travels, God sent a large storm that threatened the safety of the ship. So, the men on the boat cast lots and figured that Jonah was the cause of this storm. Jonah is thrown into the water and is swallowed by a great fish and for 3 days he remains there. Time to think. Time to pray. Time to change the path that he’s on.
We might get distracted too, might take a turn away from God before we get going in the right direction. Are we pursuing worldly desires, or perhaps running away from something? Are we following the path that God has chosen for us? Or are we pulling away from Him.
No matter what path we follow, God is still there when we might stray away from Him.
1st – God is there for us no matter how strong or weak our faith is.
2nd – God is waiting for us if we might stray away from Him
Third, we don’t always seek God in a way that He wants us to.
God has a pretty simple standard. John the Baptist called people to do it. The Apostle Peter called people to do it. And Jesus Christ called us to do it.
Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17, ESV)
Repenting means to turn around and go the other way. Being sinners, all of us struggle with something that we should turn away from, but we have such a hard time with our sins of choice. Just like drugs, alcohol and gambling can be addictions, so is sin.
Turning completely away from sin is really hard to do. We continue to do bad things when we know that they’re wrong. We continue to put our selfish desires first, and sometimes God ends up last. Repent. It’s not as easy to do as it sounds.
If we can’t completely turn away, perhaps we can try to course-correct ourselves. Maybe we can take small steps and try to get there. Pick a sin that we struggle with and set a goal to get through today without that sin. That’s how some turn away from their problems by taking it one day at a time. We might still stumble. But each step towards God is a step in the right direction. Perhaps we can do that, and avoid that one sin, for one day, and work at seeking the things of God, rather than the path of sin.
Conclusion
The Christmas celebration from last week has shown us that God leveraged the entire universe, to shout to you His message of love, and to draw you to Himself.
He knows that we struggle with seeking Him. We get caught up in the world around us and chase those things that might pull us away from Him. What are you seeking? Where is God in what you’re searching for?
Sometimes we seek God in all the wrong ways. Sometimes, we find it really hard to stay on the path that He’s set out for us.
But no matter how strong or weak our faith is, no matter what path we follow in life, and no matter how well we follow His directions, God still loves us, and He’s ready for us to seek Him just a little bit better.
