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How do You Celebrate Christmas? | Matthew 2:1-16
Scripture: Matthew 2
INTRODUCTION
Today we are going to see the right approach to Celebrate Christmas based on three personalities surrounding the first Christmas.
When we study through the gospels the Christmas story has many aspects to it: We have the engagement of Joseph and Mary, Mary conceiving in the Holy Spirit, Mary going to Jerusalem to be with Elizabeth, the angel of the Lord talking to Joseph, Joseph accepting Mary in marriage, and together they go to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Then we have the shepherds, King Herod, the star, the wise men, and their gifts.
God put many pieces of history together for the birth of His Son. When we go through life, we just see a part of what God is doing in our lives. We do not know why some things happen in our life. But when we look through God’s perspective, we understand that anything and everything that happens to us will eventually be for our good and will bring glory to His name.
For today’s devotion, we are going to see 3 different people represented in the Christmas story from Matthew 2. With these examples, we will clearly know how to celebrate Christmas in the actual sense.
The Magi Visit the Messiah
Mathew 2:1
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.
The magi or the wise men are the mystery men in the Christmas story. We have heard a lot about these wise men from childhood days, but as we study the scripture, we find that there are many unanswered questions about the wise men.
How many were there? We don’t know.
Where did they come from? We don’t know.
They seem to just show up mysteriously and just as mysteriously they are gone.
Who were these magi?
They came from the east or probably from the land of Babylon. The OT mentions that Daniel was one of the wise men in the Babylonian kingdom who was eventually made head of the wise men.
Daniel 2:48
Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.
The magi were from Babylon and were the descendants of the students of Daniel, so they were familiar with the scripture. The scripture pointed out to a coming king of the Jews called Jesus. Once they knew a Messiah would come, they looked for the signs. Finally, when they saw a star rise up, they left their houses to see the Messiah, king of the Jews.
Mathew 2:1-2
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 when it rose and have come to worship him.
The wise men went straight into Herod’s place looking for the king. King Herod immediately called for a meeting to enquire about this matter.
Matthew 2:3-4
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 Messiah was to be born.
Now I want to introduce the first people group for today’s devotion: The teachers of the law (Chief priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees).
We do not know whether the magi had a chance to talk to the teachers of the law; however, King Herod called a meeting and conveyed the message that the magi had come looking for the King of the Jews. The king enquired as to what the Jewish scripture said about it.
Well, the teachers of the law looked into their scripture and found the exact prophecy regarding the birth of Christ.
Matthew 2:5-6
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 shepherd my people Israel.’”
In those days people were expecting a person would come into the scene and deliver people out of Roman bondage. The thought of a new leader was a worldwide thought because Rome controlled a major part of the world then and people were suppressed by the Roman rules. The Jews were expecting it even more because their scripture directly pointed to an incoming Messiah, the King of the Jews.
King Herod initiated a debate on this subject among the teachers of the law. They spotted scripture concerning Christ. Now listen, the Jews had the scripture, they had a star that was moving around in Jerusalem, and there were these foreigners (Magi) who had come with a great caravan traveling through Jerusalem to see the king. Sadly, the Jews ignored all these signs and ignored the birth of Christ. Real Christmas was happening in their hometown, and God’s people were busy in their ways instead of being part of the first Christmas celebration.
1. Celebrating Christmas with Christ in the Background
We have Christmas decorations, gifts, and parties all going on to celebrate Christmas, but do you recognize the King of Christmas, Jesus Christ? We talk about shopping, vacations, gifts, parties, friends coming over, baking cakes, and Christmas meals but how many of us talk about Jesus? How many of you have talked to your friends and family about Jesus in celebration of true Christmas?
Our minds are full of Christmas talks and Christmas events except for Jesus. We are doing the same thing the people in Jerusalem and Bethlehem did. We are ignoring the important thing of Christmas.
Christmas is about the son of God; it is all about God with us. If we do not realize that then we have missed the whole point of Christmas. Have you been so caught up with all the events around Christmas and put Christ in the background?
This is how the world celebrates Christmas. They have everything going on, but they forget the reason for Christmas. Slowly we are also celebrating Christmas as the world does; everything about Christmas without Jesus Christ. We have to show the world how to celebrate Christ. It is all about him and his incarnation into human flesh.
Celebrate Christmas with the heart of worship like wise men
In the birth of Jesus, the people in Bethlehem were never bothered to find out and see and talk about Christ but here are the men who have come from afar to see Christ born on Christmas. Even after being enlightened by the King and the scripture they never bothered to check out if indeed the king was born.
Keep Jesus in the center of all your celebrations. Christ first.
2. Celebrating Christmas with Self on the throne
Some people feel they are more important than Jesus Christ. Such people are self-centered and destroy the joy of Christmas. The second group of people is the ones like King Herod. They celebrate Christmas for themselves.
King Herod was called Herod the Great as he did some great things as far as Rome was concerned and eventually the Roman emperor gave him rule over all of Palestine.
Matthew 2:3
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
King Herod was powerful and a big ruler and he was fearful that he would lose his power and position now that a new king was born. He was driven by fear that he would lose all that he had gained. King Herod was disturbed.
Why was all of Jerusalem troubled? They knew if Herod was threatened for his power there would be bloodshed in Jerusalem because that was the kind of person he was. They have already seen the bloodshed that happened when there was a threat to his reign. So, the people were afraid, and Jerusalem was disturbed.
Matthew 2:7-8
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 search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
Now we know the story: The star led the Magi to the house where Jesus was. They worshipped him and left home through another route because God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
Matthew 2:16
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
For Herod it did not matter what the cost was, it did not matter whose life was lost. The only thing that mattered was that he remained in absolute profit, control, and power, and nobody rose against him.
Some people behave like this against Christ and his people. Such people would remove everything that would talk about Jesus. Then there are people like Herod in the church who have a selfish attitude as to what they can gain. Can I gain some extra bucks, can I make some profit, can I have some power and position? I want to enjoy life this Christmas. Such people wait for Christmas for selfish gains.
Jesus of Christmas
Look at the Jesus of Christmas. He never took any position. Jesus was born humble, in a stable, he never came to gain power, but he gave up all that he had and took the form of man, a servant. Jesus never harmed anyone, but he loved everyone and prayed for the ones who harmed him, he came only to give you the gift of eternal life. Christmas for God was all about giving and nothing about receiving.
Let us learn to be selfless and learn to give this Christmastime. It is not about me it is about Christ. It is not about receiving something it is giving what I have. There are so many needy people out there. Let us learn to share our money, food, clothing, etc.. this Christmastime. And more than anything let’s learn to give Jesus to this world. He is the reason for the season. Use this season to speak about Christ and not about us.
3. Celebrating with an attitude of worship
Look at the Magi of the Christmas story: Matthew 2:9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
The magi followed the star right from the time it rose until it stopped. This is how we follow Christ, right from the time we see him until all eternity.
The star stopped in front of the house where Jesus was. Which star? I don’t know. But I know one thing it says in Genesis that God made the stars, and He is in control over all the stars. God commanded one star to direct the magi.
God’s Timing
Listen, it takes approximately 4 months to travel from Babylon to Jerusalem. God brought the magi well in advance for the birth of Jesus. Well, they did not know why they were traveling, where they would end up, or how long their journey would take but God knew it perfectly. All they wanted was to see the king and worship him, and they came prepared to worship. See how God guided true worshippers through months of journey and made the pieces of Christmas so perfect that the magi reached the child on time.
It is the same with us. If you follow Christ with an attitude of worship, God will lead you to him and you will see His face. Sometimes when we follow Jesus, we do not know what our tomorrow is, we do not know how to overcome the valleys of our life. God knows exactly where he is leading you. He is arranging pieces for you in the background even though you cannot quite see it.
They came and fell on their face and worshipped him, they had the privilege of bowing down, prostrating before him, and worshipping Jesus, they brought gold fit for a king, frankincense used by priests for sprinkling on the altar of sacrifice, and myrrh which is used to prepare a body for burial and they worshipped Jesus and saw beyond the baby. They saw in Him a King, a high priest, and the sacrificial Lamb of God, and so they worshipped understanding God sent Jesus to save them and stood in awe of him.
CONCLUSION
When was the last time you truly worshipped God? I am not talking about coming on a Sunday and singing, praying, and hearing the word. When was the last time you just got lost in the presence of God, When was the last time you saw the beauty of His face, and stood speechless in awe of Him? When was the last time you wept and wept in His presence understanding he has been patient with you, loving you, and caring for you even when we were in sin?
This Christmas let’s put ourselves self-down and rise to Christ. Let’s bring Jesus to the center of our celebrations. Ask God to cleanse us and let his ways and purposes be established in our lives. Come prepared to worship him this Christmas.
Amen and God Bless You!
For more related sermons,
The Wise Find| Christmas Sermon| Matthew 2: 1 – 12
Celebrations, Worship and Weeping|Christmas Sermon| Matthew 2: 1 – 23