No Longer Foreigners (Matthew 2:1-12)
Gary McManus, 01/03/2016Part of the Christmas series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
Matthew 2:1-12 (p. 956 / 966)
“Three Kings Day” = “Three” “Kings” Day
Bible word= magi = wise men or wise persons
There were women magi written of.
Three? Bible doesn’t say. Only three gifts are
mentioned: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The so called “three kings” are still celebrated
January 5th and/or 6th as Three Kings Day.
The tagline for the film “The Nativity Story”:
“A message foretold in the heavens; a prophecy
that would threaten an empire; a miracle that
would change the world; this is the nativity story."
These prophecies DID threaten an empire.
Jesus’ birth WAS foretold in the heavens.
Who were these magi?
Zoroastrian priests? Ever heard of Zoroastrianism?
These magi saw something in the sky.
The magi know what it means.
HOW to read a sign is essential to knowing
the meaning of the sign you are seeing. True?
They say, “We saw his star when it rose and
have come to worship him.”
“It is impossible to read about the King in the
Old Testament without seeing the idea of Messiah.”
(p.122, Sigmund Mowinkle)
“King of the Jews.”?
The meaning of the gifts:
expensive, royal and fitting to bring to an
important person.
But MORE importantly, the ancient meaning of bringing
gifts to a royal person was
SUBMISSION and ALLEGIANCE!
The magi are not kind or generous in their gifts,
they are submitting to the Lord’s annointed and
their gifts are a sign that they so accept and proclaim
this new relationship between Messiah and magi.
The magi were NOT Jewish, they were foreigners.
We today here at DCC are NOT Jewish,
we are foreigners. But we, like the magi,
have pledged OUR allegiance to the Messiah.
And so our statement of faith today:
(Ephesians 2:17-19):
. . .Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and
strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people
and also members of his household.”
We BELONG to God, through Jesus born
the Messiah. We are God’s children.
We are in God’s Kingdom because of Jesus.
Praise be to God, OUR Messiah is born. Amen.
Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
---|---|---|
« Opened Your Christmas Gift Yet? | None | New Year's Resolutions » |