A Wise Approach to Life (Part 2 of 3)
(Matthew 2: 4-9)
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:
(Genesis 2: 4-5)
Herod knew that the Old Testament scriptures and that they predicted the coming of the Messiah who would be king. So, the wise men came and asked about the new king, and he immediately gathers the chief priests. Notice it’s in the plural. Chief priests. Now the Old Testament law said there’s was to be only one chief priest, and he was to remain chief priest for life, but when the Romans conquered Palestine they changed the system, and if they didn't like the chief priest, they deposed him and put in another one. Later they even added others, so there were several chief priests at this point, and Herod gathered them together in his presence along with the scribes and the teachers of the law. In other words, he assembled all the experts across all the disciplines including the leadership of the Sanhedrin. As we go through the Gospel of Matthew, you’re going to hear a lot about the Sanhedrin, especially toward the end of the book. This was the official religious leadership body in Israel at the time. What he did is he gathered all the theological scholars of the day and he said to them tell me where the Messiah to be born? Look at what they say, I think immediately, without the need for research they say, in Bethlehem in Judea, and then they quote the verse written by the Prophet, which means Micah, which says.
‘“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, the one who will shepherd my people Israel.”
(Matthew 2: 6)
That’s a direct quotation from Micah, chapter five. Look at the last part of the verse, the one who will, “shepherd my people Israel”. That bit at the end isn’t in the original Micah Chapter 5: 9 verse quote. So, why add this extra phrase. Well, remember Matthew is quoting what the wise men said and they quote the verse, but then Matthews says they also added the phrase about him going to be a ruler of Israel. Many Bible experts think that they probably didn’t want to tell this jealous, cruel, suspicious king that a new universal king was coming, so they said he’s going to shepherd the people of Israel. The next verse tells us Herod the when he secretly calls the wise men together and asks them a question.
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
(Matthew 2: 7)
Now why would he ask a question like that? That little verse becomes significant in the next paragraph, which we will pick in a few days, but he wants to know the exact time, the star appeared. Note that and tuck it in the back of your mind. If you’re studying Matthew, that becomes significant, but not just yet.
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.’
(Matthew 2: 8)
Do you think for a second that’s a sincere statement? Not even close. As will later be revealed what he is planning was a campaign of total liquidation. He didn’t want to worship him the Christ child, he wanted to destroy him.
After they had heard the king [The Wise Men], 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.
(Matthew 2: 9)
The star apparently had appeared and then disappeared, before coming to rest over where Jesus was. So interesting, Micah 5: 2 guided them to Bethlehem and then the star directed them to that very house where Jesus was.
All I have tried to do so far is to try and answer the questions that immediately pop up as you work through this passage, up to this point. We’ve talked about who the wise men were, where they were from, the star, the scribes and the chief priests, all the characters involved in the story. What’s the point of all these people being involved in the narrative? However, let me make a simple observation. In the midst of this crowd of very diverse characters, what Matthew wants us to see is the wise men and the path their lives took. Their lives, especially in contrast to these others, involved in the story like the civil experts, the religious leaders, and especially Herod. Men may seek him but wise men seek him to worship him. Herod wanted to seek him to kill him. Have you noticed the religious leader and the Sanhedrin where there, wouldn’t you think maybe the religious leaders might have wanted to go? They are only five miles from where they knew this Messiah was predicted to appear, and they didn’t so much as lift a toe to walk 5 miles down the road to see the promised Messiah.
Matthew also wants us to see what the wise men from the east saw when they came to Jerusalem, and to seek what they were seeking. They left home and travelled hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles just so they could come and seek out the Messiah. From a practical point of view, after answering the questions in the passage, let me make a very simple practical suggestion, and that is that we too should do what the wise men did and seek the Messiah. I think that’s the wise way to live your life, to seek the Lord. Maybe you asking yourself the question, how should I see the Lord, especially if you have never sought the Lord before.How do you seek him? What do you need to do? Well. I think I have a couple of suggestions.
One is that you seek the Lord in the word. That’s where you find him first. How did these guys know where he was, the found out by searching the scriptures. They believed the Lord was coming, that they were seeking to him. But they didn’t believe in the facts of the prophecy about him, they got up off their backsides and followed what the Old Scriptures said, and they want to find him. It’s one thing to go to the Bible and seek information, even information about the Lord. It’s another thing to say I don’t just want to know about him, I want to know him, I want to see him, and I want a to have a relationship with him. Because when you find him, you can begin to have a relationship with him, and the way you begin that relationship is by faith. It’s understanding that Jesus Christ died for your sins arose from the dead and trusting in him for the forgiveness of those sins. It’s not just believing he's born in Bethlehem, Herod believed that, the scribes believed that, Herod even sought him for evil purposes and the scribes and teachers of the law also believed the facts, but were not interested in seeking him out.
Trusting him is the way you begin the relationship with him and that’s also the way you get to know you have internal life. But after that you can take the relationship to a new level, you can grow in that relationship, you’ve got to work at that relationship, but to do that you need to seek the Lord in the word. But it’s not just a matter of going to the word and seeking the Lord and then saying, oh, that’s what the Lord wants me to do. You’re going to discover it and grow in your relationship with him through the application of what you have learnt. It’s not necessarily going to be easy and you may fall along the way. So what you need to do is also seek the Lord and his strength, seek his power to do what he said. Does that sound familiar, it should, it’s constant theme of scripture. That’s the wise way to live your life, seeking the Lord. Seek him spiritually to live a Spirit empowered life. Seek his wisdom to live a life that is honouring to Him. See his justice for the weak and the downtrodden, seek his righteousness, seek humility. If you’re seeking glory, for yourself it is just a dead-end alley.
Seek righteousness, seek justice, and I said so often seek his grace and mercy by seeking his face. This old Bible expression about seeking the face of the Lord is about seeking his favour. So, by seeking his grace, you will at the same time be seeking his favour? Isaiah 55: 6 says, seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. This is the essence of what the Christian life is all about. As the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, we can “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that you might find mercy and grace the health and strength in the very time that you need it. What these wise men are doing are seeking glory, his glory, but they were trying to seek the Lord where he was to be found at that time. We too need to seek the Lord where he may be found today. So let me ask you a question. Are you seeking, Lord? Are you seeking him in his word? I highly recommend that you do that.
We all need to commit to get up every morning and make sure we are committed to seeking the Lord in the coming day. Seeking Him in his word, that’s a good place to start, but also seeking to him in the everyday activities of our lives. That’s living and walking the Christian life. If you walk through the day having sought the Lord in the word and living out you life with that perspective I really believe it is unbelievable the power and the blessing you will see in your life. Saying I really want to know you Lord this day, from the depths of my soul, I really want to know you Lord and I want to know your word, and I want to know your wisdom and to do your will this day. That’s a really wise way to live. Maybe we could stretch this perspective of all to 365 days of the year, by just seeking the Lord
Seek the Lord, seek his face, seek his strength. These wise men were seeking him, not truth about him, and we should settle for nothing less. I'm not gonna settle for anything less than being in his presence and looking at his person because I want to know him, and really know him all my life. So, the first question of how to seek the Lord, well you will find him in his word, and the application of it. But I have another way and we will look at that next time.