Title: I Came to Worship
Contents
When King Herod was reigning over the Jews, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the land of Judea, the wise men who were studying the stars from the east came to Jerusalem and said to the king and the people, “Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? I have seen his star and have come to worship him.”
As we approach the Christmas season, we have a precious season to rethink the coming of Christ into this world. What is clear is that when people enjoy the Christmas season without a proper understanding of the birth of Jesus, they can never only look at it positively.
They understand the cultural dimension of enjoying Christmas and rather do not engage in acts that demean the birth of Jesus Christ. It is impossible for a Christian author to make it a festival of more depraved secularism.
We would like to celebrate the birth of the Lord on the day of Christ's birth with the theme of the confession that wise men from afar came to Jerusalem to worship him, saying they came to worship him.
1. He came prophetically
People understand Jesus as a person who has a virtuous contribution to society as the head of a religion or a person who has had a cultural and spiritual influence and is considered a saint. That's why I consider such a rare and good person in the world. But Jesus is not the one in the world to compare
The Bible believes that the appearance of Jesus was foretold and recorded about 450 times in the Old Testament. His ancestors, his family, the place of his birth, and the overall contents of his life are promised in advance.
Look at verses 1-3.
“1 When King Herod and all Jerusalem heard it, they were disturbed.
2 The king gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, and asked, Where is the Christ from?
3 Judging from the saying, “Bethlehem, Judea, as it was written by the prophet,” people at that time were not looking for the Messiah in society, but in the prophecies of the Bible, and it was common knowledge of the Jews.
Although it was an evil Herod, he also summoned the chief priests and the scribes to find the area where the king came to Nazir. When the king of Judea was born, he became anxious. Later, when he finally tried to kill Jesus, he accidentally killed all the boys there under the age of two.
This prophecy was given immediately after the fall of Adam.
Genesis 3:15 “I will make you hostile to the woman, and your descendants to her seed and enemies; and the offspring of a woman shall bruise you in the head, and you shall bruise her in the heel.”
Isaiah 11:1 “A shoot shall come forth from the stem of Jesse, and from his roots a branch shall come forth and bear fruit.”
Ezekiel 34:23 “I will set a shepherd over them, and he will feed them, and he will be my servant David; he will feed them and be their shepherd.”
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you as a sign: behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23).
Jeremiah 31:15 “Thus saith the Lord: A voice of mourning and weeping is heard in Ramah, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted because she is childless” (Matthew 2:16-1).
Zechariah 11:12 "I said to them, "If it pleases you, give me my price; if it doesn't, don't, for they gave me my price with thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew 26).
Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? How far away are you from me, and do you not hear my groaning?”
Isaiah 53:9 “He did no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth, but his grave was with the wicked, and his tombs with the rich” (Matthew 27:57-)
Psalm 16:10 “For you will not leave my soul in hell; you will not allow your Holy One to perish” (Luke 26:46).
The date of Jesus' birth is not exact, and in fact, there is no Bible telling us to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. It is a man-made feast in the history of the Church. In 354, Pope Liberius of the Church of Rome officially declared December 25th as Christmas Day.
Our country has been protected since 1885. In the end, it is a Catholic mistake, and it only becomes a tradition after a long time.
The birth of Jesus is not exact, but only an estimate of the time of Jesus' birth based on the year Herod the Great died at that time.
Herod was born in Rome in 750 B.C.E. It is estimated that he died of illness on March 12-13 of the 4th year. He fell ill at the age of 70 and died (19). According to the historian Josephus, "He died because his intestines rotted, worms grew, and the foul odor and convulsions ceased, and the white pill was invalid. His appearance was that of a monster with the face of a cruel person killed," he said.
“The Jews remembered Herod’s death in B.C. Estimated around April 11th, 4th. In any case, the birth date of Jesus is the current year 2006 plus 4 years, so it is highly probable that it was around the end of March or early spring of April of the Passover Feast about 2010.”
We must find the birth of Jesus in the Bible. At the very least, it should be investigated by a sound historian based on the knowledge of the Bible. And above all, we need to know what the meaning of the birth was, and we cannot get information from the culture of the world about the birth of Jesus and the reason for his existence.
We must find it in the accurate Bible that records God's redemptive history. He is God's gift to the global village and he came as a predestined person.
John 5:39 “You search the scriptures, thinking that you have eternal life, and these scriptures testify of me.”
John 5:46 “If you had believed Moses, you would have also believed me, for he wrote about me.”
2 Jesus Came as King
It is the noisy season of Christmas in the world right now, but we need to reflect on ourselves whether this is the attitude we have to treat Jesus, who has come as King. At least we know that wise men from the East came to know Jesus as King.
2“Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star from the east and have come to worship him.”
The East is presumed to be Babylon. Because Babylon was a country with advanced astronomy and medicine, and there were Jewish captives, it is likely that they knew the prophecies of the Messiah.
Here, the doctor (magos, mavgo") is a word used to refer to the priests of Mede. Passana and Babylon, and these people are presumed to be intellectuals who are well versed in astronomy and astrology.
Numbers 24:17 “I look at him, and it is not at this time, and I look at him, but it is not near. A star comes out of Jacob, and a scepter rises out of Israel, and strikes Moab from one side to the other, and destroys Moab, and destroys all the children of turmoil. Hari.”
How we understand Jesus is very important. Perhaps before we can study what we humans are, we need to know who we are, starting with Jesus.
The Lord once asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' How do you view Jesus? Are you just a teacher in the culture of life? Are you a good person? Friend, friend, so is Jesus just a good friend?
Please kneel more humbly and look to the Lord. The Lord is King.
Matthew 21:5 "Say to the daughter of Zion, Your king is coming to you, humble and riding on a donkey, the young of a yoke."
John 18:33 "Then Pilate entered the palace again, and called Jesus, and said, Are you the king of the Jews?
John 18:37 "Pilate said to him, "Aren't you then a king?" Jesus answered, "As you said, I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Anyone who belongs to the truth will hear my voice. You said you hear me.”
John 20:28 “Thomas answered and said, My Lord and my God.”
3. You came as an object of worship
The wise men of the East came to Herod, the old king, who was long in power, and dared to tell him, "Where is he who is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east.
Bethlehem is a small town about 8 kilometers south of Jerusalem, the place where the Messiah was prophesied (Micah 5:2) and the hometown of King David (Micah 5). :2)
And they found the Lord and offered gifts and worshiped him.
Psalm 68:29 “Kings will bring gifts to you for your house in Jerusalem.”
11“When they entered the house, they saw the child and his mother Mary with him, and they fell on their faces and worshiped the child, and opened the treasure chest and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Bitterness and myrrh applied to the corpse, these three are also the inspired gifts of Jesus as King, Priest, and Sacrifice Lord.
How should we know the season of Christmas and celebrate the Christmas of Jesus? We must throw away the social inclinations of unbelievers. Originally, there is no such loud Christmas in the Bible, and the Lord did not want such a thing.
You came to usher in death for us. Let's turn around and remember the meaning. And let's thank The Lord is more than just one sect, He is the King of the world, the Lord of lords, and the eternal King of Kings.