Who Didn't Make It

Who Didn’t Make it

Matthew 2:1-12

            Last week we discussed who was at the original Nativity scene. Let’s review:

            -What does the word “nativity” mean?

            -Who was there?

            -Who is commonly found in all of the traditional nativity scenes but wasn’t there?

            To re-cap…nativity simply means birth event. The only people we know for sure were there were Mary and Jesus. We can assume that Joseph was there, some shepherds that showed up soon after Jesus was born, some angels, and cattle. Tonight we are going to ask the questions 1) Who wasn’t there? and 2) Why were they not there? 

Let’s go back and read Matthew 2:1-12 to follow the story of the three wise men. Maybe we’ll get at least one of the people groups who was not at the nativity scene.

¹Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose^[b] and have come to worship him." ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him,

"In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
 ⁶ "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

 ⁷Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." ⁹After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

            The wise men were gift intellectually and were probably astrologers. They noticed something different in the sky—a new star and felt compelled to follow it. People have been using stars for navigational purposes since the beginning of travel. There are certain stars that seem to be fixed in the sky, and are therefore, great for navigating year round. Other stars, commonly called “wandering stars” in the Bible were considered useless for navigating. This new star was most likely only seen by this particular group of wise men, but it is possible that they were the only ones who were paying attention to the sky, or the only ones who acted on what they saw. Either way, they saw the star and decided to follow it like the yellow brick road.

            We discussed last week that this star was probably some supernatural phenomenon because a star does not sit directly over a planet, let alone a country, let alone a city, let alone a house. But these wise men followed the star all the way to Jerusalem. When they got to Jerusalem, the star vanished.

            Let’s go back 2,000 years and imagine that you are one of the wise men. You had just walked several hundred miles, following a star that was to lead you to the birth place of the King of the Jews, whom you were interested in worshiping. Once you got into the heart of Israel, the nation’s economic and spiritual capitol, the star disappears, no one else saw it or knows anything about it, and worse yet, no one knows or seems to care about the birth of the new King of the Jews. I mean, this was the heart of the Jewish religion and nobody cared about their own king’s birth while they were foreigners who walked several hundred miles to worship him. What is going on? If you were one of the wise men, you would have been tired, frustrated, and confused. Seeking answers they went to King Herod. We don’t have enough time to get into all of the dysfunction surrounding him and his relatives—but we can say that The Jerry Springer Show has nothing on this family.

            Herod was deeply disturbed by the news of the birth of the King of the Jews for one simple reason—he was already the king of the Jews, appointed by the Roman Emperor. He didn’t want anyone coming along and taking his authority from him, or starting an uprising. So he acted like he was interested in worshiping this King of the Jews like they were, and questioned the wise men about the stars appearance and disappearance. He instructed the wise men to go out and search for the newborn King and when they find Him to come back and tell him where He is so he can go and worship Him, too.

            Once they left his palace the star reappeared and they were able to find the house where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were staying. An angel instructed the wise men to return home a different way so as not to run into Herod. Meanwhile Herod waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Then one day Herod said, “Hey! I’ve been tricked!” Still wanting to take out this person he felt was a threat to his kingdom, he ordered all male children two years and younger to be slaughtered. Little did he know, Joseph was acting on a directive from an angel to flee Jerusalem and head to Egypt to preserve the life of the baby boy.

            To answer our questions, Who was not there, and why? We can say confidently that the political leaders were not present at the nativity scene. The simple answer to why, is that they would have misinterpreted Jesus’ role as the King of the Jews, and felt threatened by his presence. Political leaders back then right up until today, in general, seem to be more interested in protecting their job, and keeping the status quo rather than doing what is right. Remember Pontius Pilate? He was the man who sentenced Jesus to death even though he found nothing in which to condemn Him, yet did so anyway. Pilate was not threatened by Jesus’ title of King of the Jews, but he was concerned with job security, and keeping the peace.

            Another group of people mysteriously absent from the Nativity scene was the Jewish religious leaders. These were people who studied the scriptures for a living in order to have a right relationship to God, to teach others to have a right relationship with God, and to recognize the signs of the coming Messiah that had been prophesied about for hundreds of years. But as time passed, these professional religious leaders started to appreciate the status, respect, and money that came with the position, and so they, too, would have been threatened by anyone coming in and upsetting the apple cart, especially one who would later teach that people no longer needed to go through a priest at a Temple to get to God. They would be able to have direct access to God. Remember how Herod assembled his religious experts and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born? He was able to get the correct answer—Bethlehem, from the Book of the Prophet Micah. Later in the time line the Jewish leaders said in John 7:27 that Jesus could not have been the Messiah because they knew where He came from and that the real Messiah would just suddenly appear. How is it that the wicked King Herod could get the right answer and not the religious leaders of the day? Perhaps they didn’t want to know the right answer. Following Jesus would cost them everything.

            What about you? What would it cost you if you became a sold out follower of Christ? Would it cost you your job? Probably not. A place to sleep and food to eat? Probably not. Your life? Maybe. Respect among your peers? Probably. You have to count the cost before you make any decision. If I buy this car, what will it do to make bank account? If I date that guy, how will I be perceived amongst my friends? If you count the cost of becoming a sold out follower of Christ and it seems too much for you, then don’t do it. We have to many fake Christians with one foot in and one foot out of the boat as it is. But if you’ve counted the cost and said, “Jesus did all of this for me, losing the friendship of a handful of idiots is the least I can do for Him.” Then climb aboard. We’d love to have you.