Jesus Was Recognized as a King
Book of Matthew Chapter 2
It will become clearer to us as we study the life and times of Jesus Christ, that we will see a great number of prophecies that were directly fulfilled in His birth, in His life, in His ministry, and in His death.
This cannot be said of any human being in all of time! Remembering the Jesus the Christ was 100% human and 100% God.
We will see some events in this chapter of Matthew that are not recorded in any of the other Gospels, considering the Gospels to be the first four books of the New Testament.
The Devil had been waiting for the Messiah to be proclaimed and He had finally come, and we will see where Satan did do all he could to kill Christ Jesus while He was still a baby.
God would not allow this to take place!
We must understand Joseph did not flee with the child of the virgin Mary to keep him from being killed, God would not have allowed this to happen.
The prophecies must be fulfilled in order for us to trust the Word of God!
God will do according to His Word and God does not have to change His plan according to what the world does!
God already knows what will happen in this world in any given moment!
God is not sitting in Heaven wondering what He will have to change today!
All the power of God was packaged inside this Babe born in Bethlehem!
Just as the "Wise Men" found out, if you are seeking Jesus for salvation you will always be able to find Him, at least during the Church Age, which may soon come to an end.
The coming of the Magi.
Magi were high priests or wise men, maybe even kings themselves, who probably lived amongst the Persians.
Some would say magicians, and medicine men, and astrologers and the occult.
Others would say they were interpreters of dreams and omens, necromancers and such people who deal with falseness of Satan.
Many of them were seekers of the truth but not able to accept the truth of God!
Even today such people exist and thrive in this lost world.
Seeking the truth is one thing but ignoring the truth is dangerous to your soul! The Word of God is 100% true!
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
What we should think on, is the fact that the occult world knew of the Messiah while He was ignored in Jerusalem by so-called high priests of Judaism.
*****Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
King Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as prophesied!
Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
There was more than one Bethlehem so the prophet many years before Jesus was born called the right one at Ephratah.
Bethlehem Ephratah was the city where most all the sacrificial lambs were raised for the services at the Temple in Jerusalem.
This Bethlehem was only six miles from Jerusalem.
It was the birth home of King David:
1Sa 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
It was prophesied to be the birth site of the Messiah: Micah 5:2
Joh 7:42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
All Jews knew these facts.
All Scribes knew these facts.
All Pharisees knew these facts.
All Jewish scholars knew these facts.
This Herod was also known as Herod the Great.
Herod was not a Jew but an Idumaean and appointed King by Rome.
Herod was not Jewish by birth, but he was Jewish in his faith.
Herod made Judaism to be the state religion to keep out Greek mythology.
These wise men were from the East, probably Persia.
We cannot claim to be wise if we are not seeking the truth!
They were probably influential men of learning and authority and most probably the skilled scientist of their day.
It is thought they were some priestly order of Persia, the ministers and advisors to the Persian rulers.
At this time Persia would be the remnants of Iraq and Iran that great empire had fallen to Alexander the Great and then Rome.
They were seeking King Jesus!
*****Mat 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Notice they had seen "His Star". The star of the King who was born of the Jews.
The Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew in His flesh.
We should not believe that these Magi did not know the politics of the world at this time, they had witnessed the Greek Empire how it had destroyed the Persian rule and how Rome now ruled the world.
We could say that they were more familiar with the prophecies of Daniel than were the rulers of Jerusalem.
They knew this star had nothing to do with Herod and Herod nor his family were Jews.
King Jesus would not be born in Jerusalem but only according to the prophecies of God! The Prophecies of God are the Promises of God!
It is evident that they had lost track of the star that they had seen.
The city of Jerusalem at that time had many religious institutions and also the Temple which Herod was trying to showcase to the world.
There was the priesthood of Aaron that had also been taken over by outsiders by the politics of Rome so that government could interfere with religion.
This is what governments do, they interfere when that religion is Christianity!
There was no room for Jesus in Jerusalem alive or dead! By God's providence it was not yet time for Jesus to be King!
Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Any mention of a Jewish King did cause Herod sleepless nights.
*****Mat 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Herod was never born to be king. Herod was appointed to be king and he was a puppet king under the control of Rome.
Herod was always in fear for his throne and the news of a Jew who was born to be the King of the Jews did not set very well with him.
Any uprising by the Jewish people could certainly cost him his puppet throne!
The Jewish people also knew that any fear Herod had, meant more cruelty, more bloodshed, and more rebellion and more suffering for them.
A suffering people under a corrupt government is not good for anyone, but especially the innocent as we are beginning to see under the government we now have.
I hope those who put this government in office will feel the full force of corrupt leaders. It is the only way things will change!
Those Jews who did know the truth were praying for the Messiah who would be as King David and set Israel free, but this was not God's plan at this time.
They were only a few in number.
These Magi were not Jews, not Israelites, but were Gentiles and we get to see the beginning of Gentiles who will accept the truth of God.
We should understand that this Herod had already slain five of the Maccabean princes and princesses including his favorite wife Mariamne eliminating any claim they had to the throne and then also two sons of Mariamne which were his own sons.
This Herod was a wicked man, and the people of Jerusalem did not want to see any more of his cruelty.
This Herod was also without the knowledge of the Scriptures.
Sounds like those in power in America today.
*****Mat 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
This foolish and corrupt and wicked puppet king could not have ruled this religious people for he did not care to learn anything about Judaism.
He believed the only way he could control this people was by tyranny, when it would have been far better to get to know the way they think.
He had to gather together, he had to find some Bible (Scriptural) scholars, who good search out the truth for him.
It was these same people who hated the truth of the Messiah and would hate the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
The religious leaders of that day hated the Lord Jesus just as they do today.
Herod called only those religious leaders who were on his side. This is the same thing our own government does today, most of them being false.
Herod then demanded an answer to his question and notice that even the false religious leaders know about the Messiah who they hated.
All of them so afraid they would lose the prestige of their position and the riches they exploited from the people.
*****Mat 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
Mat 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
They all understood the details of the "Coming of the Messiah" as if they had been researching because of the prophecies of Daniel.
Notice they had head knowledge, but they were not moved by the truth of this Scriptural Prophecy.
We will see that none of these so-called religious leaders were interested enough to go to Bethlehem to see if these things were true.
We could believe that this star that led these wise men from the east to Christ had been burning brightly for at least a year and had gone unnoticed by all religious circles.
God's plan does not ever take a day off, but continues to move toward its climax!
The one thing we can see is that the words of the prophets had been preserved even though this may have a been Chaldean version of the Scriptures.
Look what Isaiah wrote by the Holy Spirit:
Isa 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
Isa 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isa 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
These priests and scholars were only five miles from Bethlehem, and they would not even take the time to go see if the Messiah had been born even though some men from the East had traveled many hundreds of miles to see if the true King of the Jews had been born!
That sneaky, crafty, murderous Herod put his own plan together.
*****Mat 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
This question was only important to Herod and not anyone else!
What we have learned over the many years is that wicked and corrupt leaders try to cloak their evil designs, and this will be one the greatest traits of the Antichrist.
The new stimulus packaged is open for viewing but it has almost 600 pages of twisted and turned words to camouflage what is hidden in it.
At least one man is trying to force it to be read. Try to read it and you will see what I mean, as these corrupt politicians try to deceive those who are trying to do good.
Herod put his plan together in an attempt to deceive these men from the East, wise or not wise.
I do not trust that wicked Pelosi no more that these wise men should have trusted Herod.
The truth is God cannot be deceived, whether you believe on Him or not!
God will not be mocked!
We sometimes believe that these wise men arrived at the birth of Christ, but this is not true.
These wise men did not realize they would have to search for baby Jesus, thinking all of Israel would be happy at this event.
Jesus had been born in Bethlehem according to the Scriptures, and now his parents, Joseph and Mary had found a place to live in Bethlehem.
They had found a house and lived there.
The message that the wise men gave to Herod was that the Star of Jesus had appeared as much as one year but no more than two years before their arrival in Jerusalem.
How do we relate this today?
For instance we would love to find Jesus in all of our government rulers, but search as we can and He is not found but in a few though most all of them claim salvation, including our President and most all Senators and Congress. They are liars because the Bible says we will know them by their works and their works go against the Word of God.
It is the same for many a so-called Churches today. You can go seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and you will not be able to find Him. Not in the building and not in the church members.
If there is no proof of the Holy Spirit working in the church members, then you will not find the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Why do the Democrats hate Christians? 1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? "Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous".
Because the platform of the Democrats is wicked and corrupt, and the "TRUE" church is "Righteous"!
It was the same with Herod. He was determined to kill the Lord Jesus Christ!
He told these travelers from the East to seek out this babe born to be King and send him word of his location.
*****Mat 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Mat 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
This is the same message that needs to be preached today.
We all need to be diligently seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and He is not hard to find!
Notice now the Star of Jesus reappears and leads them to the home of Joseph and Mary and Jesus who will one day be King of kings and Lord of lords.
1Ti_6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
Rev_17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Rev_19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
These wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem and not Nazareth, but he would not be there for very long as other prophecies had to be fulfilled.
Again we see that only these wise men went in search for Jesus, the religious leaders in Jerusalem did not have faith in the Word of God.
There is a whole lot of typology here about the Gentiles.
Act_9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
These wise men were Gentiles seeking diligently the Lord Jesus Christ and God led them to Him with a Star.
What do we know?
We God know will meet the need of anyone who faithfully searches for Jesus.
We know that God will bless those who continue to seek the Lord Jesus without quitting.
Not many are seeking the Lord today and time is running out in the Church Age!
2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
When they saw that God was leading them, they rejoiced.
*****Mat 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Today we have allowed a plague to cause us to stop seeking the Lord.
Today we have allowed a plague to take our Christian joy away from us.
Today we have allowed a plague to come between us and our God.
This makes this plague an "idol"!
We should be more like these wise men!
Rom 15:9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
Rom 15:10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.
Rom 15:11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
Rom 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
And then they finally found who they were seeking.
*****Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Is obvious that some time had passed since baby Jesus was laid in a manger.
We will learn that Jesus was at least one year old but not more than two years old.
Joseph had found a house where Mary could recover, and Jesus could grow to be well enough to travel.
This the place that the star had led these visitors from the East.
Notice as soon as they saw Jesus, they fell down to worship Him.
If you ever meet Jesus, you will know you have met the Savior who will soon be King of this world.
All the power of God was in that toddler!
It was customary to bring gifts when meeting eminent persons who were visited.
**Gold for a King
Gold is obvious. It has been the store of value for thousands of years. It is rare and difficult to accumulate. It is easy to work into shapes or very thin sheets. And it does not rust or corrode. All of these recommend it as a store of value and its use is all over the Old Testament books of the Bible, especially in the description given for building the temple and the Ark of the Covenant.
Solomon’s vast wealth is described in the amount of gold he accumulated. If you want a real eye-opener, here is a little research on just how much wealth Solomon collected each year in gold: $1.2 billion dollars!
It is no wonder that gold was the Old Testament symbol of kings. Thus, when the magi brought gold to honor Jesus, they were proclaiming him king.
More, they were proclaiming him to be the ultimate king, in their eastern tradition, the “King of kings.”
It could have been used by Joseph and Mary to buy their escape into Egypt? Perhaps Jesus gave it to the poor. We simply do not know.
**Frankincense for a High Priest
The high priest of Israel burned incense in the Temple on the Day of Atonement.
The smoke of the incense was intended to fill the Holy of Holies and hide God who dwelt on the mercy seat between the cherubim in order that the high priest might be there in the presence of God without dying.
To see God was to die. The incense was intended to save the high priest from death. Even the formulation of the incense had to be exact (Exodus 30:34). To burn anything else or to use a proscribed source of flame was “strange fire” and was punishable by death (Leviticus 10:1).
Therefore, when the magi brought frankincense to Jesus, they proclaimed him to be their high priest. The importance of this second gift is difficult to overstate. In the Old Testament tradition, the kings came from the tribe of Judah, while the priests came from the tribe of Levi. Thus, the two powers were to be kept separate.
Yet, in the birth of Jesus, the two powers were combined and the presence of the two gifts together foreshadows Jesus’s role as both king and priest for the people.
This is explained more fully in the New Testament book of Hebrews when the author claims that Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek, who was both priest and king to his people.
**Myrrh for a Sacrifice
The last gift of the magi, myrrh, is the most solemn, but no less prophetic. An embalming oil, Myrrh symbolized the Christ’s mortality as a man. Imagine bringing a gift to the Messiah proclaiming his suffering and death.
It would seem unethical to bring the gift myrrh to the reigning King and High Priest of all creation!?
There are two interesting connections to myrrh to be found within the New Testament. The first is that the name Mary has myrrh as its root.
Her name also turns out to be prophetic. When she presented Jesus at the temple, Simeon prophesies over Jesus and tells Mary that a sword will pierce her own heart as well.
A second use of the word myrrh is found in the Book of Revelation. When John is given the seven letters to seven churches, there is one church whose letter tells of suffering and persecution even to the point of death. The church is Smyrna, whose name comes from the root word myrrh.
With this last gift, the magi proclaimed that all three powers God had ordained in the Old Testament had come together in the birth and person of Jesus Christ and would be fulfilled.
1) Gold proclaimed Him to be our king, the one who would rule over his people, and indeed the whole of creation, forever and ever.
2) Frankincense announced that He would be our high priest, intervening with God, Himself, on our behalf, offering prayers and intercessions for us.
3) Myrrh reveals to us that our King and Priest, God forever, was somehow a mortal man would also serve as our prophet, a man who would die in the place of his people.
We all need to take the time to study of the gifts of the magi, it is a study without end! (Much of this borrowed from a short study)
God first warns these men from the East who may have been kings themselves.
*****Mat 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
We should understand that no one upon this earth had or has the power to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a babe.
For our Heavenly Father, the Scriptures and the Prophecies of the Bible had to all come to be true just as they are written in order for us to trust all the Bible.
We must also understand that Satan, the prince of this world who guides all wicked and corrupt governments and all leaders in high places, did everything he could to kill Jesus all the days of His life!
God would not let this happen because the Lord Jesus came to die, but He came to die of His own will and by His own circumstances.
There was a cross waiting for our Savior, and He would be there when the time was right.
Herod had been plotting to find and kill Jesus since he had first met with these "wise men" from the East.
Herod would not allow anyone to make any attempt, to take his throne.
He would try to add the Lord Jesus to the names of all those he had already murdered.
It is a terrible thing when governments will do anything to try to keep what they believe is power.
We see this in the USA today as the Democrats write laws and do all they can, to try to remain in power whether it be legal or not, whether it brings harm to others or not. We know Satan is behind it because they also insist on stopping the Church from speaking the Word of God.
These things are so obvious, yet they do not try to hide it. They have become very bold!
These so-called wise were wise enough not to defy the warnings of God, but they did defy the words of Herod and Herod was not a happy ruler.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
It was time also to warn Joseph.
*****Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
God would not allow Herod to kill Jesus so it was best for Joseph to take his family and flee and because of prophecy Egypt would be the place to flee to.
God always does according to His written word!
We know that our God knows the thoughts of all people and He certainly knows the thoughts of wicked and corrupt leaders such as this Herod.
God knew this Herod would not give up his search for Jesus so Joseph would keep his family hidden until this Herod was dead.
Many Jews had fled from tyranny and Joseph would have found help in Egypt and carpenters could always find work.
We should remember many Jews had been scattered around the world since before the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
The sad part of this is that this Herod sent his army to Bethlehem and slew all the children from two years and under according to the information he had gotten from those visitors from the East, which fulfilled still yet another prophecy.
Jer 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
We should be amazed by the accuracy of the written Word of God.
When Herod was dead, an angel came to Joseph and told it was time to leave Egypt.
Joseph still afraid for the life of his adopted son Jesus instead of going back home, He went to Nazareth.
The Lord Jesus Christ grew from babe to manhood in Nazareth.
We should be able to see the great love Joseph had for his family and his adopted son.
We should also know the Jesus was a Nazarene not because of some vow but because He came from Nazareth even though from a babe in a manger till the day of His cross, the Lord Jesus Christ had no sin in His life.
Jesus did not have to make a vow to have no sin, Jesus just refused to allow sin in His life.
Those wise men recognized the Lord Jesus as King.
Herod was afraid the Lord Jesus would become King and sought to kill Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ is King of kings and the entire world will one day see the truth of King Jesus!
Amen
