Matthew 2:1-12
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem2 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.”
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.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.’”
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.”
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.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, frankincense and myrrh.12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 2:1-12 HAVE WE COME TO WORSHIP JESUS?
Springford Baptist Church: August 1, 2021.
The question we are considering today is such an important one, “Have we come to worship Jesus”? Is that our purpose in gathering for church today or viewing this service online? Is our heart’s desire to recognize Jesus for Who He is and to worship Him?
Let me paint a picture to help us in answering this question honestly.
Imagine that we go to visit someone as I did this week. When we go to visit someone, we are invited into their living room and sink into a comfortable chair. We then begin to look around at the furniture and the décor of the room and pay no attention to the one with whom we came to spend time. Others are there as well and we talk enthusiastically with them and are eager to hear how they have been doing. All the while we pay no attention at all to the one we came to see. Some music plays and we enjoy listening to it, but still our focus is not on the one we had come to be with. After about an hour, we stand up to go home and as we are leaving we again turn to talk to people around us and to wish them a good week ahead. All this time our host has been there and we have not acknowledged or listened for what he might want to say to us.
I know that this would not be the way that we would act when we go to visit someone because we are looking forward to being with that person and hearing what they have to say and we want to share our experiences and thoughts with them.
This description though, can help us to answer the question,”Have we come to worship Jesus”? Simply put, worship will necessitate the effort to come and to be with Jesus and to demonstrate that He is the One who matters most to us.
If when we come to church, we have come to worship Jesus, then He will be our primary focus. We will talk with other people and enjoy hearing how they are and what they have been doing, but our primary reason for being together will be Jesus!
If we are to be wise, then we can learn some things about worshipping Jesus from the wise men.
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem2 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.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
- They were willing to travel a long distance and to expend considerable effort to come and worship Jesus.
They could have grown discouraged by the distance travelled or the length of time it would be before they could return home again, but they did not. Worshipping Jesus mattered more to them than anything else.
Now let me say here that it is easy to say that it is our intention to worship Jesus. These were the words that came out of King Herod’s mouth.
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.”
Herod was only pretending that he wanted to go and worship Jesus. Actually he was much more concerned about himself and holding on to his power and influence as king. If we are more concerned about ourselves than Jesus, then we are not prepared to worship Jesus!
Notice verses 9 and 10.
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.10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
A second thing we can learn from the wise men is that:
- They paid close attention to and trusted God’s leading. They carefully followed the star and that led them to where Jesus was.
The wise men were convinced of the importance of their journey to go and find Jesus so that they could worship Him and they looked to God to guide them on their journey.
We too can trust God to lead and guide us on our journey of wanting to find and to worship Jesus. And it is obvious how eager the wise men were to be led by God and to have opportunity to worship Jesus because when the star reappeared, they were overjoyed! (v. 10)
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, frankincense and myrrh.
When they do discover Jesus, their immediate response is to bow down and to worship Him.
In this we learn:
- The wise men do not lose sight of the whole purpose of their journey which was to worship Jesus.
We do not want to lose sight of the whole purpose of our journey of faith which is to worship Jesus as the only Son of God.
We know that the wise men brought extravagant gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) when they came to worship Jesus. . We’ve already considered a few weeks back what it means to bow down when we worship as an expression of willingly surrendering everything to Jesus. We may be inclined to think that we do not have much to offer Jesus when we come to worship Him. We can be assured that when we bow and bring ourselves to Him that is what He wants most. Giving all of ourselves to Jesus is an extravagant gift.
The wise men do not just listen to God in their act of worshipping Jesus. They demonstrate that they have listened to God in what happens when they rise to their feet after worshipping Jesus.
12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
- Our constant worship of God will also need to result in us listening for and following God’s direction and leading for every decision. This is truly wise.
This significant aspect of the Christmas story from Matthew 2 provides lessons for our everyday lives from these wise men. They came to worship Jesus and so do we.
Let’s review what we can learn from the wise men:
- They were willing to travel a long distance and to expend considerable effort to come and worship Jesus.
- They paid close attention to and trusted God’s leading. They carefully followed the star and that led them to where Jesus was.
- The wise men do not lose sight of the whole purpose of their journey which was to worship Jesus.
- Our constant worship of God will also need to result in us listening for and following God’s direction and leading for every decision. This is truly wise.
We can be so grateful that God does give us reminders of what it means to worship Jesus. The important observance of Communion is a time for us to renew our focus on Jesus and our desire to come and to worship Him. The wise men brought costly gifts when they came to worship Jesus. God’s Son gave us the most costly gift of all when He gave Himself to save us from our sins. We remember this as we share Communion together. Jesus has asked us to remember Him in this way and whenever we do, our hearts are drawn to worship Him!
Have we come to worship Jesus?
Oh yes we have!!