Matthew 2:1-12 Two responses to the promised King

theological

Continuing on from where we left off yesterday on this thread, I'm very much enjoying my time with Matthew and thought these thoughts might be encouraging to others. The first in the series is here.

I'm in Matthew 2:1-12 today, which is the familiar passage about the wise men coming to Jesus that we often hear at Christmas. Here it is:

Matthew 2:1-12 wrote:

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

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And 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.” 9 After 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

I'm trying to leave as much misconceptions aside as I'm trying to read Matthew afresh in context. The major thing that struck out for me this morning is that there are two very different responses to the birth of Jesus in this passage. There is the adoration of the wise men and there is the subtly disguised hostility of Herod.

The adoration of the wise men:
We see from the start that the wise men see this as great news. So much so that they are willing to travel to the place where Jesus was born just to see Him. They even come to Herod to ask where He is (verse 2). The language is very strong, it isn't just that they have come to see Him, they have come to worship Him. We see that as they keep travelling, we see that they "rejoiced exceedingly with great joy" in verse 10. They can't contain their excitement. When they found Him, they "fell down and worshipped Him" verse 11, before sacrificially giving very expensive gifts to give to Him in homage.

The hostility of Herod:
We see on the other hand there is hostility from Herod. Herod knows that this child threatens his existence as the king. We see that he is troubled verse 3, and not only him but the whole of Jerusalem with him. He feigns interest to the wise men to make it look like he wants to worship him too (verse 8), but really he just wants to eliminate any threat that he faces.

God's promises are unstoppable:
Another huge encouragement in this passage is irrespective of the opposition Jesus faces. God will fulfil His promises. We see that Herod asks the scribes for the location where the Messiah is to be born and they quote him Micah 5:2 from the Old Testament prophets to say that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem. But it is odd that Herod doesn't understand that God's promises will be fulfilled with the same certainty as the location of Jesus' birth can be given from the Scriptures. We see that God intervenes with the shepherds through a dream (verse 12) so that they do not return to Herod, ensuring that Jesus is spared.

Some thoughts for prayer:
Thank you God for being faithful to your word.
Please help us to adore your Son in the same way that these wise men did, sacrificially offering ourselves to you.

Please help us to see where in our lives we might be hostile to you, and be willing to change and soften our hearts so that we might worship you.

I'd love to hear more thoughts. Where do you stand in respect to Jesus?