Jesus is born; get the memo? (Matthew 2:1-11)
Gary McManus, 12/18/2016Part of the Christmas series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
Fourth Sunday in Advent December 18, 2016
December 18, 2016 The Fourth Sunday in Advent
Matthew 2:1-12 ( p.956 / p. 966)
At DCC we are celebrating Jesus’ birthday.
JESUS WAS BORN. (which day doesn’t matter)
Still, many people prepare for Christmas.
Did anyone prepare for Jesus’ birth?
The wise men come with gifts to seal
their allegiance to the King born.
Gifts? Gifts is the common translation.
However the word can be translated
“offering.”
Some translations say that the wise men
OFFERED gold, frankincense and myrrh.
They opened their “thesauruses”!
The wise men come asking
a very specific question.
NO ONE at the palace in Jerusalem knew!
Notice: the wise men ask about the King
of the Jews. . .Herod inquires about the
Messiah. They are the same.
Would Messiah be a king?
He is to be from David’s line.
But Jesus has to say
“my kingdom is not of this world.”
( John 18:36)
Messiah=anointed one
The King is also an anointed one!
Confusion is natural about the Messiah.
Bethlehem, the town of David (from the prophets:
Micah 5:2 and spoken of in 2 Samuel 5:1-3
(anointed)
Judah. . .a descendant of Abraham: the promise
that all the nations of the world would be blessed
through him (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 22:18).
To receive your Messiah, you need to know that you want and
need a Messiah.
Jesus came-- he told us-- so that we would
not perish (John 3:16, Colossians 1:20)
The magi were prepared.
Simeon was prepared.
King Herod and his household were NOT prepared.
The shepherds were not prepared but
hurried to go see their Savior.
How you respond to Jesus makes
all the difference in the world.
Celebrate the birth of your savior this Christmas.
Amen
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