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2023 GTA Christmas WS December 17, 2023

Worship The King

Matthew 2:1-12

Key Verse: 2

“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Welcome to our 2023 GTA United Christmas worship service! We’re all gathered here finally as one big church community to celebrate. As you know, Humber college is located on the westside of GTA. Most of you are from the east. You are like the Magi from the East who came worship the King! To start, let me ask you all a question. What comes into your mind when you think about Christmas? Is it the shopping malls full of decorations, lights and Christmas music? Is it the family gatherings we have with the exchange of gifts? What is it? Today, we’ll see a wonderful display of Christmas and what it's truly about through our passage. Christmas is about Jesus. May God open our eyes and hearts to see that the true meaning of Christmas as a time for us to worship the newborn King Jesus.

The beginning of our passage tells us in verse 1, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi Came from the east to Jerusalem...” The events of our passage happened sometime after Jesus was born over 2000 years ago. During the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, the region was under Roman rule. This time period was full of political instability, power struggles, killing for power and social issues. The people of Israel relied on corrupt religious leaders who sided with Kings to make decisions for them. The people of Israel were oppressed, had their properties taken and were taxed heavily by the Romans. The anticipation of a messianic king to liberate the Jewish people from foreign oppression was widespread. The coming of Jesus, the newborn King into the world happened in perfect timing, like a glorious light shining at the darkest time!

During this time, we learn that Magi came from the east to Jerusalem. Who were these Magi? Magi are also known as wisemen as mentioned in other Bible translations. They may have come from ancient Iraq or Iran which were east of Israel. These men spent their time looking for the meaning of life, studying and analyzing everything they could. They were also historically known as astrologers who analyzed patterns in the stars in the sky. One night as they analyzed the stars, they saw a very special star that wasn’t there before. It must have hit them like nothing they have ever seen!

They had to go to the place where it was by any means. They traveled far and wide, leaving behind their families, enduring the hot weather and possibly encountering danger in the wild. All to witness the coming of God’s promised King into the world! For them, this would very exciting, since most of their life's work and study was about to take a dramatic turn. They thought, “Oh, its coming from the west. Close to where Jerusalem is. Is that the King of the Jew?.” “Yes, it is! Let’s go.”

They came all the way to Jerusalem, with a question. What was their question? Verse 2 tells us “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” The Magi asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” People always ask where something is because we are curious and in need of direction. For the Magi, there was no internet or car navigation systems back then, they didn’t have the Bible like we do, although they might have known some Jewish scripture. It only makes sense that the Magi went to the city of Jerusalem to find him. That’s where King Herod was. It was a very Kingly place that one would expect. What people visualize when they think about a king, is someone who has a wonderful throne prepared, in a rich and luxurious setting. In a fancy castle or mansion-like estate, with guards and with servants all around. This is what the king was living like in Jerusalem. But the place was not Jerusalem where Jesus was. He wasn't born in a palace, but the small humble town of Bethlehem. Jerusalem was the wrong place. How could they have gone to the wrong place? Also, what made the Magi come all the way from east? What was the purpose of their coming?

The second part of verse 2 says, “We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” The answer is “To worship the King of the Jews.” Let’s think about worship for a moment. What does it mean to worship? According to the dictionary, the word “worship” means “the expression of reverence and adoration for a deity or God.” In Christianity, the deity is our Creator God. Through worship, sinful people and a holy God can meet together. Through worship, God is honoured as God. Through worship, people draw closer to God and are restored in him. The Magi came with a sincere desire to find this promised king and to worship him. The Magi’s worship counted from the beginning of their journey because their heart was set to worship the new king for their lives.

St. Augustine, a Christian theologian and philosopher explained it well. He said that worship begins in our hearts and that our hearts are a dwelling place for God. People may think that worship can only happen at a physical place like a church, but worship begins in our hearts. (together) St. Augustine also said, “Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us.” So regardless of what goes on around us, we can worship and have Christ within us. Our deepest inner hearts can long for and worship Jesus like the Magi. He will come to us, make himself known to us and fill us with true joy, heavenly peace and everything that our souls long for.

Through worship we can have fulfillment. But the problem is, we worship all the wrong things in our hearts. People can worship their girlfriends or boyfriends. Their jobs and the money that they chase after. They can worship many other idols and things of the world that can’t ever fill our empty hearts with. Worshiping Jesus, our Lord, is our life purpose because he is our creator and reigns over us. Psalm 95:6 proclaims, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!" Whether we think King Jesus is worthy of worship reveals a lot. It shows who we are. It directs our lives and what we do, how we live and what we think about our own lives.

How about King Herod? How did he respond to the Magi’s questions? Verses 3 tells us, “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” When the Magi appeared asking, “Where is the King of the Jews? We want to worship him.” It caused a great disturbance for him. When the Magi asked this, he must have thought to himself or said out loud, “what are they asking!?” “I am the king of the Jews! And the only king around here.” The truth though is, Herod was an Edomite and could not be a legitimate king of Israel. He was insecure about his throne. He also killed his son to maintain power. When he spoke, he was sadly mistaken. He must have known like many other people that he was not a legitimate king. According to the Romans, Herod was supposed to be the political King of the Jews. But there was another king out there. One promised to the people of Israel long before Herod’s time.

Matthew, the author of our passage, presents Jesus Christ as a King. He starts his account of Jesus’ life back in Chapter 1, tracing things back very carefully to show Jesus’ royal genealogy and family line. There is a special emphasis on Jesus being the King. Jesus had every right to be the reigning king of Israel. His life was a perfect fulfillment of the one true promised king to Israel who is called the Messiah. The Magi came to worship this King.

What kind of king is the King of the Jews? The second part of verse 6 says, “…for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Here, the word ruler means “King.” This king will shepherd his people. The characteristic of the Messiah is the combination of the two words, “King” plus “Shepherd.” In other words, Jesus is a “Shepherd King.” Jesus is the king of the Jews and is the one true shepherd king born on Christmas.

As a Shepherd King, his ruling is different from worldly kings who rule by exercising political or military power. If we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t like the idea of having a king. We’ve been disappointed too many times and let down by the kingly figures in our lives. They have hurt us, oppressed us and let us down. Our Shepherd King, Jesus, is different. He rules our hearts with love and holiness. He forgives our sins and makes God’s children. He takes care of us and guides us and even laid down his life for us as the Good Shepherd.

When I think about my life as a Christian in our UBF ministry until now. I can truly say that Jesus has been my personal shepherd king for the past 13 years. Through my shepherd Jesus and his work in my life through his word. Trusting my shepherd king, I held on to my life key verse Ephesians 2:10 which says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Before I accepted Jesus Christ as my shepherd king, I worshipped things that would bring me temporary comfort like alcohol, excessive amounts of food, cigarettes, drugs and girlfriends. Many girlfriends, specifically Korean girls. I wanted a girl that was like a K-pop star, like from girls' generation. When I was in Korea before I met Jesus, I secretly wanted to see them one night when they performed close to where I was, but was I was unlucky.

During this time period, I worshipped myself, the people around me and the pleasures of the world. When I worshiped the things of this world there was nothing that could satisfy me. I thank God for his saving grace upon me. If there was not a true king to worship, I might have remained a very bitter and selfish man. But God has changed my life, he led me into his good works and has raised me to be a shepherd for Humber College students even as a Full-time employee. Also, God has given me a beautiful wife M. Anna! I met a wife that is more beautiful than those K-pop girls in the past and loves Jesus. God also gave us a beautiful son Joshua and we serve the campus together. We serve and worship God as a family, which is a wonderful thing. When we change the object of our worship to Jesus Christ our shepherd king everything in our life changes. He is the shepherd that leads us through everything in our lives and lifts us up to live for his glory.

Jesus is the Shepherd King! Doesn’t this sound like the kind of king we want in our life? If so, then what should our response be to him? We can put our trust in him. We can place our future into his hands. We can follow him with full trust knowing that he will take care of us. Jesus our shepherd has hope for each of us. We should follow in his footsteps so that we can also be shepherds for God’s flock. Our lives can be filled with heavenly joy and we can truly know Jesus personally! Amen.

What about the Magi? Do you think they experienced joy when they found Jesus the king? Verse 10 says, “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” The star guided them directly to the place where Jesus was. Their encounter with the star filled them with an overwhelming sense of joy, a joy that surpassed all previous levels, as their hearts overflowed with delight. This joy, as described in the King James Version as "exceedingly great joy." All forms of joy whether in relationships, career achievements, material possessions, or temporary pleasures, are fleeting and unable to satisfy us. The Magi show us the secret to lasting joy - the discovery of Jesus! Do you have this type of joy?

What did the Magi do when they found Jesus? Verse 11 says, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Upon finding Jesus, the Magi worshiped him and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold, is a gift for a king, incense shows that Jesus is the high priest and the myrrh shows that Jesus would die for our sins. They brought their best gifts and were thankful that they were able to present what they had. We can do the same with thankful hearts ready to present God with our lives starting with our hearts. This is our act of worship. God wants us to worship him. It is why he made us, to know him as God and have a loving relationship with him.

May God grant this to all of us this Christmas. Let’s not miss the true meaning of Christmas. Instead, as the Magi came to worship the shepherd King Jesus, may we also worship him. Let’s receive our shepherd king into our hearts. Let’s acknowledge him as Lord and King, which will change the course of our lives. Let us give him our time, energy and adoration to Him. Let’s leave this place with a new direction and hope for the future. May God bless us all as we decide to live for Him! Amen.

Read together verse 2: "...where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

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• Mt02a_Msg_2312_GTAChristmas_JosephMinielli.docx