The Deadly, The Dead, The Diseased, and The Devoted

The four groups of people we can find in Matthew 2:1-6 are the spiritually deadly, dead, diseased and devoted.

I. The Spiritually Deadly 1a, 3a

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,…”

“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled,…”

Physical death is one of the results of Adam’s willful disobedience as is spiritual death. Sadly, beginning with Cain, there have been some that are so spiritually dead they either directly or indirectly see to it others die, whether spiritually, physically or both.

Among those killed by Herod the Great{1} included 45 main Sadducee leaders, his two sons by his wife Mariamne, Mariamne herself, Mariamne’s mother, and Antipater (a son by another wife was definitely trying to overthrow his father). Additionally, depending upon which historian you read, he had arranged the death of a grandson by drowning, or, in the least, was suspected of doing so. Caesar Augustus had said of Herod that he would rather be Herod’s pig than his son{2}.

So it is no wonder that upon hearing the King of the Jews had been born that he had put to death baby boys up to two years of age at Bethlehem and its districts (16-18). In doing research for this message I came across a web site that claimed Matthew’s account was probably not true concerning the slaughter of the babies since there is no other record of it in history (currently to our knowledge). I can list at least three reasons why this attack on the credibility of the Holy Bible is unfounded but since that is not scope of this message I will mention only one point: Thousands of babies are ab-or-t-ed{3} each day in the U.S.A., but the only place you will hear about it is from a godly source or a near godly source. For many in our very “adult” world, then and now, babies do not really matter. They cannot speak for themselves, earn no money, and pay no taxes. So, they are quite disposable and their memory easily buried in the sludge of sinful godless living due to those ungodly in heart.

Herod was very afraid someone would overthrow him. In his earlier years he was nominated by the Roman Senate as King of the Jews. Imagine how endangered he felt when the Magi came to look for the one BORN the King of the Jews.

One does not have to read much of the news to realize that the deadly still exist. If they do not physically kill someone, they destroy them mentally, socially, or by whatever means. Some of today’s Herods can be found in churches and other religious institutions.

II. The Spiritually Dead 4-6

“And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.”5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

Herod summoned the Jewish scribes and chief priests to find out where the Messiah was to be born. They rightfully said Bethlehem, easily quoting the prophecy of Micah 5:2. However, as Pastor Bill Randles of Believers In Grace Fellowship points out, the Holy Scriptures do not record any effort they made to personally discover what the Magi reported. These religious leaders could have gone on foot to Bethlehem within two hours and in less time by donkey. 

Christ told the Church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1), “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” Many think they are alive unto God because they practice a religion. Practicing religion will grant no one eternal life, but an ongoing relationship with God through Christ will. The Holy Scriptures are clear (Philippians 2:12-13) that salvation goes beyond sincerely praying the sinner’s prayer. It is daily, moment by moment, surrender to God through Christ.

III. The Spiritually Diseased 3b 

“…and all Jerusalem with him.”

Sin is contagious (Haggai 2:11-14), so in between the deadly and the dead were the spiritually diseased. Many feared Herod the Great but there were a few that sought his favor. Most Jews had disdain for him since he was not of David’s lineage as well as not a full blooded Jew. 

On the religious side, many of the religious leaders left much to be desired. A sense of that can be seen in verses like Mattjew 7:29, (For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes), when the Messiah some thirty years later taught among His people. Many of the scribes taught without authority, for they did not obey the authority of God that would have them turn from their sins and follow Him wholeheartedly. Additionally, although such leaders were well versed in the Holy Scriptures they could not discern the signs of their times, missing the fact the Messiah had been born.

So between being pestered with the politics of the day and the lack of spiritual leadership that was blind to the advent of Christ, we see Jerusalem was troubled at the thought the King of the Jews had been born. Instead of rejoicing, there was fear and worry.

IV. The Spiritually Devoted 1b-2

“…behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

The Magi are a stark contrast to the three groups just mentioned which, in itself, is an obvious rebuke to most of the Jews at that time that should have known and rejoiced over the fact their Messiah had been born. While the scribes and chief priests could have troubled themselves to travel those few miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to worship their King, these Magi, gentiles, non-Jews, traveled hundreds of miles over the course of many weeks to worship the Messiah.

How about today, when some who name the Name of Christ have trouble rolling out of bed on the Lord’s Day so they can gather with others as directed by the Holy Scriptures (Hebrews 10:25) and doing whatever the Holy Spirit bids if they can possibly hear Him?

Unlike the insecure Herod, tormented with the idea he just might be overthrown, these men actually wanted to worship Christ. Herod would only bring grief. These men brought gifts.

And, unlike the general population crippled by fear and ladened with sin, the Magi rejoiced when they saw the star appointed to lead them to The King, Who is not just the King of the Jews, but is King of all would make Him King of their lives.

Notes:

This article is a form of a message (sermon) outline. God willing, you will find links to the actual message (sermon) sometime hopefully before January 15, 2013 at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M226 .

{1} Menzies, William W.: Understanding The Times Of Christ (The Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, MO.: 1969), pp. 18-21

{2} Ellison, H.L.: From Babylon To Bethlehem (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI.: 1984), p. 112

{3} This word is purposely broken to avoid unwanted advertisements with this article.

Also consulted was New Testament History by F. F. Bruce, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1969.

Holy Scripture, unless otherwise noted, is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The NKJV text was copied from http://www.biblegateway.com.

The author may have modified any text of Holy Scripture from any version  to update spelling and / or rightfully replace “The LORD” with YHWH.

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