Matthew tells a rather masculine Christmas story. His focus is on the male descendants of Abraham, on Joseph, the wise men and Herod. But that is not to say that he gives an account that portrays men as superior. He portrays men in their true light. He tells us of Herod, the King whom the Romans allowed to govern Judea at the time and his evil murder of the children of Bethlehem. Matthew portrays the fact that men are capable or the most abhorrent evil, as well as being capable of the noblest and most profound acts of devotion and worship. And what is true of men is true of women too. Our story this morning is relevant for all of us.

First of all, there are foolish men. There are people who live by violence like Herod. Not only did he have the babies of Bethlehem killed in an attempt to eliminate a potential rival king, the historians tell us he also had several of his own relatives murdered for the same reasons. The most important thing for Herod was power; he wanted to dominate others.

At its simplest, Herod was a bully. There are bullies around today. There are playground bullies whom our schools have to contend with. It is not uncommon to have bullying in the work place. Violent crime is just a more extreme form of bullying. On the world stage we see continuing examples of oppressive bullying. There was the Talibahn in Afghanistan; there are militias today in Darfur who have driven hundreds of thousands from their homes to live in refugee camps in Sudan.

The bully is foolish, because in the end they will not prosper from their activities. The bible quite consistently teaches the principle that God appoints government authorities to call bullies to account. It is so in all walks of life. One task of teachers in our schools is to hold bullies to account. It is the task of the police to hold the violent criminal to account. It is the task of government to use force if necessary to curtail the activities of any group that seeks to bully or oppress others. It is the task of parents to teach their children from a young age that tantrums and violence are not the way to live.

But ultimately, even when the bully like Herod is in a position of authority, even when he gets away with his evil behaviour unchallenged, he will have to answer to God. Herod was dead within a couple of years of his encounter with the wise men. All his lies and his violence could not save him. In the end the bully is a foolish man or woman.

Then there were other foolish men who feature in the story. There are the chief priests and teachers of the law, as well as the general population of Jerusalem. Matthew comments that when the visitors from the east arrived in town asking for the one who had been born king of the Jews, all Jerusalem was troubled. You would have thought that the people would have been excited to hear that the Messiah had been born. The people of Jerusalem, and especially the priests and teachers of the law knew that God had promised through the prophets to send the Messiah into the world. He would be a descendant of King David.

The Chief priests and teachers of the law even knew where he was to be born. It was to be in Bethlehem, that’s what the prophet had foretold. So why the worry; why not go to Bethlehem themselves to pay homage? Even old Herod knew that would have been the right thing to do.

One reason could have been fear. They most likely knew the sort of person that Herod was. They would have known that he would ruthlessly punish any opposition to his authority. It could have been because they felt they had a lot to loose. The religious authorities had prospered with the help of Herod. He had built the magnificent temple to curry favour with them. Its splendour was known throughout the world, and the chief priests had grown rich through the temple taxes and tributes brought by all who came to worship there.

If the Messiah had come, wouldn’t it mean he would have a right to the authority they now enjoyed? There are so many reasons why people want to keep Christ at a distance, so many reasons why they are troubled, rather than joyful at the good news. Or perhaps for the people of Jerusalem it was the fear of change. They liked things the way they were. They were quite happy to go to their temple every Sabbath. They didn’t want to go chasing off to Bethlehem, even if the Messiah had been born.

If you like, the idea of worshipping baby Jesus seemed as outlandish a suggestion to the people of Jerusalem as if you suggested to some people today that they should not have turkey and brussel sprouts on Christmas Day. Many people are like the people of Jerusalem; They are tied into their habits, their customs and their routines. They are not eager to encounter the living God, even when he is only a few miles down the road. And that too is foolish.

The people of Jerusalem would not go to Jesus, but in due time Jesus would come to them. He would bring the good news of God’s love and grace to Jerusalem. He would eventually use his authority to cleanse the temple and teach God’s truth there. Most people, like the people of Jerusalem are slow to respond to Jesus. But God is patient. He holds out his love and truth to them in Jesus. Eventually many of the people of Jerusalem became believers. In Acts chapter 6 we are told that even many of the priests came to believe. But it is a very foolish person who continues to put off their response to God, because one day it will be too late.

Then of course, lastly we come to the wise men from the east. Matthew calls them Magi. The word comes from the same word that we get the word magician. It would seem that they were astrologers, people who watch the stars, and whose worship was tied up with astrology. This was perhaps the dominating religion of Babylonia and other areas to the east.

How did they know about the Messiah? Why did they come? We do know that the worship of the God of Israel was well established in the East. In the book of Acts we read of people from Mesopotamia, Medes and Elamites who all came to Jerusalem to worship. Besides that, it was in Babylon that the Jews had been in captivity in the exile. The book of Daniel tells us of how even King Nebuchadnezzar came to believe in the most High, the King of Heaven. It seems most likely that the Magi would have come from Babylon, or somewhere in that vicinity. They would most likely have learned of the Jewish prophecies and hopes of a Messiah from Jewish believers. Perhaps like Nebuchadnezzar they too, with limited knowledge worshipped the King of Heaven.

They came because they had in some way heard good news. That is true for us this morning. We are here because we have heard good news. I believe they had received this news at two levels. First of all they had received it through human communication. They had probably heard of the coming Messiah through believers, through the Jewish scriptures in their homeland. We cannot be certain about that, but we do know that they were only able to find the baby Jesus through their enquiries in Jerusalem, through asking people.

Good news comes through people. That is how it came to each one of us, through friends, parents, Sunday school teachers, ministers. God ordained that the gospel be passed on through people. But that is not all. These wise men had also come because God had spoken to them in a way beyond human ability. It was not humans who put that star in the sky. As well as the human messengers, God had spoken to them and called them to the journey in his wisdom and by his power.

I believe God always works at these two levels with human beings when he calls people to himself. He speaks through people, but he also speaks through his Holy Spirit. We hear the gospel preached, and God speaks through that. We hear people’s testimonies, and God can speak to us through them, through the words of people. But I believe that God also at some point speaks to us directly. The problem is that if we have to rely on people alone, we can never be sure. Some people tell lies. Some people just preach their own ideas.

Some people are not very committed. That doesn’t necessarily mean what they say is not true, the chief priests were not very committed, but they were right about it being Bethlehem where the Messiah was born. But when people are seriously looking for God as the wise men were, then God encounters them directly by his Holy Spirit. Some people speak of their conversion by simply saying, ‘I met Jesus’. Countless Christian testimonies bear this out.

I want to quote you Hopeful’s testimony from the Pilgrim’s Progress, though there countless others that would show the same truth. Hopeful says:
‘One day I was very sad, I think sadder than at any one time in my life; and this sadness was through a fresh sight of the greatness and vileness of my sins: and as I was then looking for nothing but Hell and the everlasting damnation of my soul, suddenly, as I thought, I saw the Lord Jesus look down from Heaven upon me and saying, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ But I replied, ‘Lord, I am a great, a very great sinner’; and he answered, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’

The living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit encounter those who seek him. When we know the reality of that living encounter, we draw near in worship and joy, and we give him of our best.

Wise men still seek him.

Amen.

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