Matthew 2.1-12 ‘Love so amazing, so divine’

I wonder if when Tony Blair was born the newspapers announced the birth of the future Prime Minister.  When Rowan Williams was born, did people get excited about the birth of the future Archbishop of Canterbury?

Probably not, although I expect their families were quite excited.  But what about Prince William?  His birth was in the newspapers, and everyone knew about it.  But why?  What was the difference?

It’s quite simple, really: people got excited when Prince William was born because of who his Dad is.

Now, I wonder what the Queen would have said if, shortly after Prince William had been born, some astrologers from the Far East arrived at Buckingham Palace and asked to see the new-born King?  For that is what the Wise Men asked Herod: ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?’  They didn’t ask for the new-born prince, they asked for the new-born king.

Jesus was not born to be king, he simply was king of the Jews.

I imagine that even the Queen would have been a bit put out – Herod certainly was.  And all Jerusalem was, with him – presumably the people were scared because they knew what Herod was capable of.  ‘Someone’s claiming Herod’s crown,’ the whisper went round.  ‘But who?’ came the reply, ‘Who would dare such a thing?’

And that is exactly what we are going to be looking at today.  Who was, who is this baby?

The Wise Men went looking for their new-born king in the most logical place – the royal palace.  They had been following an astronomical anomaly – try saying that quickly – which had led them to Israel.

They pay a visit to Herod’s palace, to ask the whereabouts of the new-born king.   Herod doesn’t know, so he asks his own ‘wise men’, the ‘chief priests and scribes of the people’, who examine their Scriptures, and report back to Herod, with the answer ‘in Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah
Are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
For from you shall come a ruler
Who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

The Messiah – this new-born king – has been born in the city of King David, the city of the shepherd king.

So who is this baby, born as king, in the city of the shepherd king?    To find an answer for the Wise Men, Herod asked the chief priests and the scribes where ‘the Messiah’ was to be born.  The Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ means ‘anointed one’, or ‘chosen one’.  This baby, then, has been anointed, has been chosen to shepherd God’s people.  But for what?  And why him? 

The answers to both questions can be found a few verses before our reading today, in Matthew 1.  First, an angel tells Joseph to call the new-born baby ‘Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’  This is the task for which this new-born baby has been chosen.  He has been born as a king, who will save his people… not from their enemies, the Romans, but from their sins.  And he did this, not by riding into Jerusalem on a white battle-horse, leading legions of angels – that is still to come – but by holding his arms of love out upon a Roman cross, enduring agony for the sake of his people.

This baby was born to die.

But lots of kings have died for their people, and in doing so usually lose the battle.  Think of Harold Godwinson, killed in 1066, or Richard III, killed by Henry Tudor.  So what’s the difference?  What makes this king, Jesus, so special?  The second answer from Matthew 1 comes as Matthew quotes Isaiah, who says that Jesus will be called ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘God with us’.  Three little words that changed the world: God… with… us.

This baby was no ordinary baby.  He was God, come to live with his people, as one of them.  And so Jesus’ death for his people was not due to incompetence, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but due to faithful obedience to his Father’s will.

And so the story didn’t end when he died – for lots of kings have died for their people, but only one has come back (and I don’t mean Aslan).  Jesus’ faithfulness was sealed by his death, and it was made powerful to all eternity by his Resurrection from the dead.

We heard that this baby was born to die.  But also, this baby was born to live.

Now that we know a bit more about the baby born as king that the Wise Men were trying to find, let’s move on to the second half of the story.

At this point neither we nor the Wise Men know that Herod is the villain.  So far he has been extremely helpful, so his request would seem natural: ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’  He is pleased that the Wise Men have brought the birth of this new king to his attention, and he’d like to join them in worshipping him.   The Wise Men leave, all smiles, with several firm manly handshakes, saying to one another, ‘What a jolly nice chap.’

Yet we all know the story.  They didn’t go back to Herod because they were warned in a dream not to.  And so in anger and desperation Herod slaughtered all the children in and around Bethlehem under two years of age.  We see that the real reason Herod wanted to know where Jesus was, was so that he could go and kill this ‘rival’ to his throne.

I’m sure we are all shocked by his reaction.  But how many of us would have done the same thing?  The more you have, the more you stand to lose to this shepherd-king from Bethlehem.   After all, if Jesus is in charge, that means we are not.  And we often like to think that we are.  Like Herod, we treat Jesus as a rival, because that’s exactly what he is, if we are determined to cling on to our pride and refuse to let him be king over our life. 

This story shows us that it is simply not enough to realise that Jesus is the king.  Herod saw that much, and he wanted to find Jesus so he could kill him!

The Wise Men however wanted to find Jesus for a different reason.  When they found him at last, ‘they were overwhelmed with joy.  On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him.’

Whereas Herod acted with hostility, out of pride, and saw Jesus as a rival, the Wise Men acted with love and humility, and saw Jesus as their king.  They literally threw themselves to the floor, and worshipped a toddler.  They presented him with their treasures, with ‘gold, frankincense, and myrrh’.  They had travelled hundreds of miles to see a baby boy, born king, not just of the Jews, but as they themselves showed, as king of the whole world.

We heard earlier how this baby was born to die and born to live for his people.  His people are not simply ‘the Jews’ – the Wise Men were certainly not Jews, and he was their king.  His people do not belong to one nation, one colour or one culture.  His people are all people, in all nations, of all colours, of all cultures, all people that have ever lived, that live now, and that will ever live.

Such a king deserves everything.  Think about what this baby grew up to do.  He gave up everything for his people, for the whole world.  As the hymn says:

‘Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.’

I wonder what treasures we here today have to offer our king.  No matter how young or old, God is always giving his people gifts to use in his Church, gifts large and small.  It might be that today, for the first time, you want to offer yourself to Jesus, to start treating him as your king, rather than as your rival.

In a time of silence, I want us all to sit with our eyes closed, asking ourselves this one question: what is the treasure that Jesus has given to me, that I can open up and present to him in loving, humble, worship?

Don’t think about things that need doing when you get home, or what you have to do this week.  Search your heart, listen to what God is saying to you today, right now, asking yourself this one question:

What is the treasure that Jesus has given to me,
that I can open up and present to him in loving, humble worship?

‘Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small.  Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.’ 

King Jesus, we bow our heads before you now in humble submission.  Take your place as king over our lives, and over all the world.

Thank you for all the gifts you give us.  Please help us to recognise what they are and to have the courage to use them for you.  We commit our whole lives, all that we have, to your service.