September 24, 2023
He Is Our King!
Matthew 2:1-17
Reverend Yongchoel Woo
Last Saturday evening, I received a text message from Kathey Cushman that her husband, Ward, had passed away. When he was admitted to a hospital downstate to remove the necrotic skin on the sole of his right foot caused by diabetes, he looked well, but since the surgery, his health condition deteriorated and several of his organs began to stop working properly due to diabetic complications. While he was hospitalized at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, his condition improved and then worsened repeatedly, so I had to wait for the right time to visit him, but that time never happened. Although I, like many of you, have continued to pray for his recovery, I now regret not being able to meet with him in person and pray for him. (Slide 1) Nevertheless, we believe that our God has accompanied him throughout his ordeal, even when he was in critical situations, and has now taken him in peace into his heavenly kingdom.
Our God is always with us and working for us, especially when we are enduring times of trial or hardship, even if we are not fully conscious of His presence in our lives. As we share today’s scripture, I would like all of us to encounter our God, who comes into our lives of pain, sorrow, and suffering and works to make beautiful things happen in our lives, and in doing so, discover what spiritual wisdom and challenges we can practice in our lives.
By the way, some of you may be wondering why I chose today’s scripture, thinking that we are still several weeks away from the Advent season and Christmas. The reason is that, starting today, (slide 2) I will be preaching a series of sermons from selected passages in the Gospel of Matthew.
Every year around Christmas, we read or hear today’s scripture that shows what was going on at the first Christmas. The Magi from the East followed the star and arrived in Bethlehem of Judea, and asked King Herod where the baby, who was born to be the king of Judea, was. They probably assumed that the baby would be born into the royal family of the king or that the Jews, including King Herod, at least knew where the baby was born. But their visit brought unexpected and unwanted consequences. Herod wanted to eliminate any potential threats to his kingship by killing innocent babies who were born before and after the magi’s visit.
Many years ago, I was struggling with possible answers to several questions I had regarding today’s scripture. (slide 3) Why should so many innocent children have to be killed by King Herod? Why did Almighty God allow him to do such cruel things? Could His son Jesus have come into the world in a different way and at a different time so that those innocent children would not be politically victimized by King Herod? I was unable to find some possible answers to these questions on my own.
However, as I studied at a seminary, I came to know what was wrong with my approach to this story. I was trying to understand the scriptures within my own knowledge, thoughts, and perspectives. I should have gone beyond that and tried to understand what the authors of the Bible really wanted to say. In other words, (slide 4) I had to listen to what the Bible itself says to me, and not reshape the Bible to fit into my own frame of thoughts, understanding and perspective.
And it is true for us as we approach today’s scripture. We should listen to what Matthew wants us to pay attention to, and then we need to find out what it means for us today.
The Magi story is described only in the Gospel of Matthew. It is certain that Matthew, the gospel’s author, (slide 5) recorded this story because he wanted to say something about Jesus through the story of the Magi. If that is true, what did he want to say?
First, using what the Magi said to Herod, Matthew wants to witness to the Jewish readers, who would read Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus was born to be the king of Judea and that God’s kingdom on earth had begun in Christ(v.2, slide 6, “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”)
We easily(or habitually) confess and proclaim that Jesus is our king, but for the first century Jews, the birth of their king was a big surprise. In 586 BC, the southern kingdom of Judah collapsed due to the Babylonian attacks. From that year forward, for nearly 600 years, the Israelites had suffered from the harsh rule of powerful empires such as Babylon, Persia, and Rome. Throughout these centuries of persecution, the Israelites held fast to their belief in the prophecies that God would one day send a king (Messiah) who would establish and restore their kingdom, both politically and militarily. (slide 7) Because they had longed for and expected a political and military Messiah, in that very narrow sense, it would have been impossible for them to imagine that their promised Messiah would be born in a stable to commoners in Bethlehem, Judea, or to recognize and welcome a baby Jesus, born under those circumstances, as their Messiah.
By including the story of the Magi in his gospel, (slide 8) Matthew challenges the Jewish readers to better understand that their anticipation and expectations of the promised Messiah is being accomplished in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Regardless of their total ignorance of His coming, God gave them a second chance to know that their Messiah had finally come into the world. By continuously explaining the various ministries Jesus would be performing in other chapters in the Gospel of Matthew, he strives to make the Jewish readers know that Jesus is the King, the Messiah, for the Jews and all of His people across the world, and that He is building up His kingdom here on earth where His children could live a new life in Christ.
Second, there is something we need to keep an eye on. That is, Matthew quotes some prophecies of the Old Testament. In verse 6, he quotes Micah 5:2, (slide 9) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” In verses 14 and 15, he uses what God spoke through Hosea, (slide 10) “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son”(Hosea 11:1) In addition, in verse 18, he also quotes Jeremiah 31:15, (slide 11) “ This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
All these Old Testament references are related to the coming of the Messiah. (slide 12) Matthew relates those prophecies to the birth of Jesus in order to say that the Messianic prophecies are being fulfilled in Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the promised Messiah and God faithfully keeps His promise to send the Messiah to His people in His time and in His way.
Third, we need to think about the historical time when Jesus was born. (v 1, slide 13, “during the time of King Herod) At that time the Jews were suffering from the reign of the Roman Empire that elected local kings to rule over the many colonies of the Roman Empire. For the Jews, to recognize Herod, who came from Idumea, as their king was a shameful betrayal of their loyalty to God. They were being oppressed politically and exploited economically by the Roman Empire. They were experiencing spiritual decline, thinking that God had not responded to their prayers for political independence and the reestablishment of the Davidic Kingdom.
Matthew wants to say to the Jews, (slide 14) that during that time of darkness as His children were suffering from political, economic, and spiritual oppression, God intervened into the His people’s lives of sufferings to begin His new salvation through the ministries of His son Jesus. In this regard, Matthew wants to say that God is Emmanuel, who is with His people, amid their sufferings. (Emmanuel).
To summarize, (slide 15) we can see that Matthew wants to makes sure that the Jews know Jesus is the King(Messiah) they had anticipated coming for hundreds of years. And that Jesus, as the promised Messiah, came into their lives to accomplish their salvation as they were getting through the times of suffering and darkness under the rule of the Roman Empire.
What spiritual wisdom and challenges can we apply to our lives from today’s scripture?
First, (slide 16) we need to examine to what extent we acknowledge Jesus as our King, who reigns over our lives. We are accustomed to saying that He is our King, or our Lord, but do we fully comprehend the impact of what that admonition should have on our lives? Because we have never experienced living in a country where a king reigns over the entire population, demanding unquestioning loyalty to him, we may not fully understand what it means to confess that Jesus the Christ is our king. (slide 17) Our confession that He is our king should result in lives of total obedience to and unwavering trust in His words, plan, will, and vision for our lives.
We need to move forward toward attaining those goals by asking ourselves these questions: (slide 18) “How willing are we to accept Jesus as our King, walk with Him, and live our lives in accordance with His words, plans, and will for our lives?” “ What prevents us from serving our Lord with total obedience and trust?”
Second, (slide 19) we should remember that God is faithful in keeping His promise. His people had anticipated the Messiah coming for nearly 600 years. When they were in spiritual decline because of the delay of His coming, God sent Jesus, the Christ, the promised Messiah, and began His new salvation through Christ.
We are given many promises. In Christ, we are promised to be forgiven and are given new lives. We have His promise of the Holy Spirit, who will be poured out on us in order that we can bear much spiritual fruit and build up His kingdom here on earth. As we accomplish our faith journey, we are promised eternal life. (slide 20) Our Lord is faithful in working to fulfill all of these promises for us.
As we live this week, let’s go forward trusting in His loving faithfulness, answering our prayers and caring for us.
Finally, (slide 21) we should be reminded that Jesus, the promised Messiah, came to His people as they were suffering in darkness. God does not turn away from His children when they are struggling in pain, oppression, sorrow, or despair, but intervenes in their lives and does His best for His people.
This is also true for us 2000 years later. No matter what difficulties and sufferings we are facing in our lives, (slide 22) we should be reminded that God is always with us and helps us to get through our times of trial and affliction. He surely will care for us with His compelling love. He will guide us with His wisdom so that we can testify to His presence and power in our lives, especially in our times of suffering. When we experience hurt and feel pain, He is sympathetic towards us and heals our wounds and hurts.
I pray that this coming week, we will not feel overwhelmed by our current troubles and, instead, rely on His love, help, power, and wisdom.
Matthew 2:1-17 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 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.”When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 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. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:“‘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.]”Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 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.”
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. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
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. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: