Matthew 2:1‑12 Praise and Worship of Christ

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019 Joanne Hagemeyer

Magi: They were students of ancient and sacred lore. Two hundred years before Christ the entire Old Testament had been translated into Greek, making it available to scholars world-wide. They would also have had the original writings of the prophet Daniel, who had lived in Chaldea for most of his life.

They would have had some access to at least the books in Hebrew of the Old Testament written up to the time of the great diaspora described at the end of 2nd Kings, since the Jews would have brought their scriptures with them when they went into exile.

They were not Jews, as the citizens of Jerusalem were, and the scribes and chief priests were, and Herod was (more or less). But they believed God and acted on their belief. They had faith. Think of all the planning, the cost, the time, and the risk that went into this trip. Their plan was to follow this star, for however long it would take, wherever it would take them. They were absolutely committed to seeking God, based on what God had revealed to them, and God brought them to the Messiah.

“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.”

Part of our design, the design God worked into all people, is the propensity to worship. We all worship something. But, our design is to worship God – that’s the fulfillment of our longing.

Their worship was physical. The Bible talks often of falling on your knees, raising up your hands, falling prostrate on the ground before God. Our bodies become expressions of what’s going on in our hearts. Even Jesus prayed on His knees before His Father in heaven.

Their worship was emotional. In spite of their worldly dignity and high standing, they humbled themselves before this tiny king. They delighted in Him and adored Him – we just read how they were filled to overflowing with joy.

Their worship was spiritual, based on truth, They came expectantly into the home Joseph had now found for his family. But it wasn’t until they saw God’s literal fulfillment of His promise, a young girl, a virgin, holding the little baby boy, begotten of God, right there in Bethlehem, the birthplace of kings, that they fell down on their knees.

Their worship was generous, They didn’t come empty-handed. In meditating on this chapter it struck me what you and I are saying to the Lord when we come empty-handed to Him in worship. Essentially we’re saying -God has been a stingy Father. We’re saying, “Well Lord, looks like You didn’t provide very well for me, since I have nothing left to give you.” And we’re also saying, even in hard times when the money’s pretty scarce, “Lord, this time the sacrifice is simply too big. You aren’t worth it this time.”

The Lord says,

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this…if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” (Malachi 3:10)

Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure‑‑pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)

The Magis’ gifts were also prophetic, and an expression of their faith.

The gold spoke of Jesus’ purity and His royalty.

The frankincense spoke of Jesus’ priestly duty, receiving the prayers of believers, and offering up intercession for all those who come to Him.

And the myrrh spoke of Jesus’ sacrificial death to save His people from their sins.

The right response to God is to worship and obey His Son

You hear people say they’re seeking, but what are they really seeking? God says, through the prophet Jeremiah,

“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” (Jeremiah 29:13, The Message)

If a person is really seeking God, they will always find Jesus.

Having, in faith, followed God’s guidance and having accepted and worshiped the Messiah, the wise men gained a deeper sensitivity for God’s voice. God took the Magi into His protection and guided them more directly,

“And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Without questioning, even though it meant having to map out a new, and unknown, route, finding new and unknown oases and connections for their large company on the long trek home, they–unquestioningly and immediately–obeyed and continued to follow God’s guidance.

Worship that does not continue with obedience is not true worship.

All passages taken from the New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

(Thoughts taken from “Adventuring through Matthew, Mark and Luke” by Ray Stedman)

Matthew 2:1‑12 Proclamation of Christ

January 11, 2019 Joanne Hagemeyer

After the scribes and chief priests had presented their case, Herod was convinced.

“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.’”

Herod was of course disguising what he really wanted to do, so he could manipulate these well-meaning foreigners into doing his leg work for him.

The wise men believed 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.”

How were they able to follow a star? Matthew doesn’t tell us, but certainly God was in it, because He makes Himself known to the people who genuinely look for Him.

So let’s stop a minute and think about all the responses Matthew has recorded so far to God’s proclamation that His Son has been born.

The people were bothered, vaguely worried, instead of excited and eager for their promised Messiah. Their ruler was a cruel and capricious king. They didn’t want anything to disturb him because that meant he would, in turn, take it out on them, people would get hurt, there would be upheaval and crackdowns.

Maybe you’re there. You like when the Bible talks about things that already are a part of your life, things that agree with how you view life already. But when you get to a part that doesn’t agree with your views you feel bothered. You feel vaguely worried, sensing this is going to mean upheaval in your life, and it might hurt.

How prepared are you to receive God’s guidance and how willing are you to follow it?

Herod was insanely suspicious, always worried that someone was going to try and take away his power and wealth. For all his good qualities as a ruler, this one trait ruined every good thing he did. Instead of him controlling his life, and ruling his realm, this one trait controlled him and made him a tyrant of his realm.

Is there some trait in your personality that is driving everything else, overshadowing your other good qualities because you are not reigning in the excesses of this one trait? Maybe it’s your short temper. Maybe you are a critical person, always pointing out what’s wrong with other people. Maybe it’s your love of shopping, or your love of gossip.

Maybe it’s your fear of people, or fear of anything new. Maybe it’s your self-consciousness. Maybe you are overly sensitive and see insults and slights in just about everything people say to you. Herod believed God’s word, but instead of rejoicing that God had brought the wise men right to his door with this incredible good news, he felt threatened, slighted, insulted by God. He wanted to destroy the fulfillment of God’s promise.

When do I resist God’s word and see it as a threat to my happiness?

Scribes and chief priest Religion was their work. These were the seminarians, ivory tower academics, deeply religious traditionalists, who considered themselves as perfectly keeping the law, above reproach; they knew it all and observed all the religious mores. Bethlehem was only five miles away, but they made no move to see if the Messiah had really been born there so they could worship Him.

As the teachers and law keepers, they didn’t feel the need to be taught anymore, the need to grow anymore; they considered themselves above all that, and above the people who still needed that.

You might find yourself there, Bible study has become a little ho-hum, it’s your work, you get it done, that makes you feel good, but it isn’t igniting your heart. You’re looking around at the people you feel still need it, so you’re keeping up with your Bible study for someone else.

How closely are you watching for God’s guidance in your own life?

Matthew 1:21-25, Prophetic Heredity

December 25, 2018December 22, 2018 Joanne Hagemeyer

Matthew showed Jesus to be fully qualified as both king and savior, that this had always been God’s plan,

“’She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet”

Whether it was Matthew reminding the reader, or the Holy Spirit guiding Joseph’s thoughts at that moment, Joseph believed this baby was the coming Messiah,

“…the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).”

And Joseph was sensitive to God’s leading, recognized God’s word, and put it immediately into practice in his life,

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

If there was ever any question about the virgin birth, Joseph’s actions should put your doubts to rest. If the baby had been conceived by another man, Joseph would have divorced her. Even if he had married her, he would have had no reason to keep from consummating their marriage bed together. But instead, as soon as Joseph had received God’s word to him, he was ready to be obedient to all God’s commands in three direct ways.

First, he married Mary.

Next, recognizing the fulfillment of prophecy in Mary’s virginity, he made sure she remained a virgin until Messiah was born, so no one would try to dispute fulfillment of God’s word.

Finally, even though the custom was to name the first born after the father, Joseph obeyed the Lord’s command to name God’s Son Jesus.

Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “Jehovah saves.” Jesus’ life’s work was appointed from before time. Paul said in Philippians Jesus humbled Himself to become a man, and you can certainly see it as humbling, to step down from the throne of God to enter into the womb of an ordinary young girl, living in Israel.

Paul went on to say Jesus humbled himself in obedience to His Father, He became obedient even to death on the cross. This was how Jehovah would save His people from their sins, He would die for them, sacrificing Himself in the place of those who are guilty, you and me, every sinner.

The ancient Jew, at this point in the text, would have taken particular note of the name Emmanuel (“God with us”), since this was what God had said to Moses was His desire, to dwell among His people. When the tabernacle was dedicated, and later the temple, God’s presence descended to dwell visibly in the midst of His people. But God had never been so present as to become a human being, living side-by-side with His people. It is an amazing truth.

The Lord understands you and me because He went through every kind of life experience you and I live through, yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Whatever is going on in your life, you can talk to Jesus about it. He will listen with compassion and love, He knows you and loves you, and understands completely what you’re going through.

But the most important name given to Jesus is the one Matthew used in his genealogy, in verse 1, verse 16, verse 17 and verse 18: Christ, Messiah, the anointed one. Messiah is the unique God-Man, the eternal Son of God, Who is also the Son of Man, with two distinct natures in one Person forever – fully God and fully man. Because of Jesus’ humility in obedience, God has exalted Him, giving Him authority over every authority. Jesus is even now actively ruling with God, as Lord over all.

Just as you can’t separate the brilliance of sunshine from the sun itself, Jesus is described as “the radiance of the glory of God.” (Hebrews 1) Not just an image or a reflection of God, He is “the exact imprint of God’s nature,” “He is the image of the invisible God,” Jesus is the absolutely authentic representation of God’s being. God says that all of His fullness – the totality of God’s powers and attributes – rests in the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are two kinds of prophecy about Messiah. The first kind of prophecy points to Christ Who will suffer for the sake of His people, out of love for them. The second kind of prophecy points to the future when Christ has promised He will one day come back to rule the earth in righteousness, and gather His people to Himself forever. How much of your trust have you put in this Christ?

God requires faith in a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ

What has God given you to believe and have faith in Him about? In what ways is your life reflecting your response to God’s word?

Joseph had only one night of instruction with God’s word, and then he immediately responded in practical, real-time ways. He was definitely all in. What has God given you to apply in your life right now, without delay?

Who has God given you to protect—to feed and clothe, to care for and teach, to pray over and tenderly love?

God gives us His presence on earth, He is with us and has promised to live in us when we believe in Him. When was the last time you simply thanked Jesus for His presence with you, and (for those of you who have put your faith in Him) in you?

In just one chapter, Matthew showed that Jesus called Christ is fully qualified to be king and savior by His royal ancestry, His divine conception and birth, and by His credentials through the fulfillment of prophecy in His coming, and His identity.

How fully have you accepted Jesus for Who He is?

Matthew 1:18-20, Divine Heredity

December 22, 2018 Joanne Hagemeyer

God did not only provide a royal lineage for His Son, He provided a miraculous, divine lineage as well.

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”

The virgin birth has been questioned in recent times, but Matthew makes a big deal about it. He was careful to explain each of the names in Jesus’ genealogy were fathered by the name before it: “Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob…” and so on. Until you get to verse 16 in the genealogy, which states,

“Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.”

Because Mary and Joseph were married before Jesus was born, Jesus inherited Joseph’s lineage. But Joseph did not father Jesus. Instead, Matthew said Jesus was conceived in Mary through the Holy Spirit. God fathered Jesus Christ.

It is a pivotal point in Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ story. Why a virgin birth? Was there a biological reason? A moral reason? All we can say is that in Genesis 3:15, God said the deliverer would come from the seed of the woman. This is the way God had always planned to give the world the Messiah.

The ancient Jewish wedding customs were a little different than the way we do things now. Typically, the marriage was arranged between the parents when the future bride and groom were still children.

Everyone in the community would know these two were promised to each other, to be married when they grew up. Up until the betrothal, if the girl became unwilling to go through with the arrangement, she had the option of backing out, and her family could then make a new arrangement with a different family. But once the girl and the boy both came of age, a legal ceremony called “betrothal” would be performed which would have the couple exchange absolutely binding vows, tantamount to a marriage.

During the betrothal time there would not be much contact between the bride and groom, each would live with their parents, and not enter into any of the privileges of marriage. The betrothal period lasted about a year to prove the bride’s virginity and to give the groom time to prepare their new home.

When the time was right – something only the father of the groom would determine – the formal wedding would take place, and the groom would take the bride to his family home to begin their married life together.

It was during this betrothal time that Mary was visited by the angel, and Joseph found himself in the predicament of having a pregnant fiancé.

If the baby had been his, he would not have hesitated to take Mary as his wife. Instead, he was troubled. The only way out of a betrothal was for it to be broken by another legal contract called a divorce, which is what Joseph determined to do, quietly, in order to protect Mary’s dignity and the reputation of her family.

We’re not sure when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant. In the gospel of Luke, chapter 1, it says an angel came to tell Mary what was about to happen. Mary was perplexed since she was not married, and she was a virgin. But the angel explained the child would be fathered by the Holy Spirit. Something unique would take place inside of her that would allow the Son of God to be born from her body.

Somehow, under the direct action of the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, the second person of the Godhead, the Son, was implanted in Mary’s uterus.

Amazingly, Mary said yes. Every woman since Eve had been hoping and praying for this honor. But Mary must have also known that, given the circumstances, this was not going to be easy.

Right after her encounter with the angel, Mary left to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who was experiencing her own miraculous pregnancy, carrying John the Baptist. In Elizabeth, Mary found someone who understood completely what was happening to her. Mary must have used the next three months to think and pray through her feelings about her own circumstances, as she helped Elizabeth, and stayed for the birth of Elizabet’s son John.

So, doing the math, here. Mary received the angel’s astounding message. She must have told her parents soon after. A plan was devised for Mary to see her elderly relatives, the priest Zechariah and his wife, Elisabeth. By this time, Elizabeth was six month’s into her miracle pregnancy, and the story of Zechariah’s own vist by an angel would have been well-known by now. Mary stayed at least three months, and most likely four months, for we know she was there when little John was born, and most likely stayed to help Elizabeth through those first weeks.

When Mary returned home, there is no doubt her own baby bump was showing. In a small town like Bethlehem it would have taken only a few hours for that news to have rippled out to everyone!! Think of the curtains fluttering as neighbors watched Mary come home! Think of all back doors banging as people ran from home to home, spreading their story! (If you’ve ever lived in a small town, you know exactly what I mean.)

Unlike Elizabeth, Mary was just a girl, unmarried and pregnant in a time when that was considered a crime punishable by death. She was willing to obey God, but she didn’t know how God was going to work it out to protect her.

God’s immediate protection came in His wisdom of choosing the right man to be the earthly father of His Son. The ancient Jew would have been horrified and repulsed to find out his betrothed was pregnant. But Joseph was a righteous man, he didn’t want to expose Mary to public disgrace, which would have resulted in her execution by stoning. That Joseph did not want any harm to come to Mary, or the baby, speaks volumes about his godly character, and tender compassion.

This is how righteousness is displayed, in the fruit of the Spirit, where you reach out in love and mercy, instead of having the knee-jerk reaction of saying “I can’t handle this, you’re going down.” He opted for quiet legal action, he would be free to marry someone else, a virgin, and she would be free to raise her child, and possibly even marry the man who had fathered it.

While Joseph was considering a quiet divorce as the most merciful thing to do in the situation, God took the initiative in protecting both Mary and Jesus by sending an angel to speak to Joseph in a dream, reassuring him the child was supernaturally conceived by God Himself.

When I was a young girl, there was an enormous social stigma attached to having a baby when you weren’t married. You got sent away to extended family, had the baby in secret, started another life, or gave the baby up for adoption, very privately. Children raised out of wedlock didn’t have the same legal rights as children born to or adopted by a married couple.

But right around the 1970’s that all changed with abortion laws and the legalizing of all children’s rights, regardless of whether they were raised by a married couple. Today, forty years later, lots of single women actively pursue getting pregnant, there isn’t any stigma at all, it’s actually kind of popular, except in some conservative circles, so it’s harder to imagine what this must have been like.

But try.

Even though they were living in Nazareth, which was not as strong a religious community as Jerusalem, and was actually sort of a cosmopolitan trade center for its day, Jospeh and Mary were both godly people. Try to think how difficult it must have been to face the family pressure, the social pressure, the disapproving stares when they attended synagogue. The father is who?!

They never even had a big wedding, but hurried through a small private affair, just like a shotgun marriage. Yet, both Mary and Joseph were convinced that God knew what He was doing, and would take care of them all along the way.

God often uses difficult circumstance to accomplish His will

God’s will was to have His Son, the Son of God, be born to this little family, and the Lord took care of them.

God’s will today is to make you like Jesus Christ. So, He puts difficult people in your life to shave off your rough edges, to polish you and transform you. His will is to let others know about Him, and His will and His word, so He puts you together with people who need to hear about Him, maybe in your workplace or your neighborhood.

God’s will is to show you His love and His grace, and He can only do that when He has your complete attention, so He often uses difficult circumstances to focus you. What’s the difficulty in your life right now? I’d be surprised if there wasn’t at least one thing going on right now.

How willing are you to trust God, to have faith in Him, that He knows what He is doing, that He is good and loving and powerful enough to take care of you all along the way? How willing are you to lean into the struggle and give it all you’ve got, so you will be cooperating with God as He accomplishes His purposes in you?

James Tissot, “Annunciation” | Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain]