SERMON: SEARCHING FOR JESUS

9 January 2011

I. Introduction -- The Epiphany
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 2:1-12

1. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
2. and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3. When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6. "`But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
7. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
8. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11. 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 and of incense and of myrrh.
12. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.


-- as I begin the message this morning, there is one thing you need to know about me -- I notice things -- I am what is known in the business as a details-oriented person -- which, as Kim so lovingly points out, means that I sometimes focus too much on the nit-picky things of life
-- I’m in that category on the Myers-Brigg personality test that they call a “sensing” person -- According to this test, I pay attention to “the specifics of what is going on around [me]” -- I am “practical and realistic” -- I “focus on details and may ignore the big picture.” -- and I “tend to be literal in [my] words and would rather do than think.”
-- you know that old saying, “you can’t see the forest for the trees?” -- well, that describes me to a “T” -- I notice things that other people don’t see and I pay attention to the finer points of life that others might miss -- it’s just who I am and how God made me
-- so when the church on the way to Moody put up their nativity display in the church yard before Christmas, I noticed -- I thought about how nice it looked -- it was pure white -- silhouettes of the main characters in the nativity -- Mary and Joseph and Jesus in the manger -- along with the animals -- all standing together in a stable
-- well, I was off a few days over Christmas -- and then when I went back to work on the Monday after Christmas, I noticed something -- there was something new in the church yard -- about fifty yards from the nativity display there was a camel -- actually three camels -- silhouette cut-outs just like the other -- over towards the corner of the church and almost in the bushes -- needless to say, they caught my attention
-- so the next morning, I looked over there at the camels again -- and I swear they had moved -- they had actually gotten closer to the nativity display and now there were three men silhouettes with them
-- the next morning, I looked again -- and, sure enough -- those camels had moved again over night -- day after day after day -- they kept moving -- they kept getting closer and closer to the stable until last Thursday when the camels and the men finally were positioned around the stable and the baby Jesus -- and then it hit me and I knew exactly what was going on

-- you see, last Thursday -- January 6th -- was Epiphany, the day that the church recognizes the coming of the magi to visit the Christ Child based on the passage that we just read from Matthew
-- a lot of people think that the wise men were at the manger when Jesus was born -- we see that idea in the Little Drummer Boy movie -- and so you see the wise men put up in a lot of nativity displays
-- but, the wise men actually weren’t there when Jesus was born -- the Bible tells us that they came much later -- in fact, they may not have come until about two years after the birth of Jesus
-- so with their moving camels, this church was trying to help people understand a truth about Christmas from the Bible and see how the wise men actually searched out Jesus over time and found Him after His birth -- apparently, quite a few people have started doing this with their nativity displays -- I didn’t know it, but a friend of mine at work has been doing the same thing and, so for two weeks, the wise men have been wandering around his yard until they finally showed up at the manger last Thursday on Epiphany

-- the Day of Epiphany isn’t just another Christian holiday -- it’s actually the climax of the Christmas season -- historically, Christmas was not just celebrated on just a single day like we do it -- Christmas was a festival that lasted for a period of almost two weeks -- the church held worship services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then the day after Christmas marked the first day of the celebration of the coming of the Messiah -- everybody here knows the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas," right? -- that song refers to the historical Christmas celebration, with the first day of Christmas occurring on December 26th and the last day -- the 12th Day -- being Epiphany -- January 6th -- it was on Epiphany that carolers would go out and sing and this would be the day that people would exchange gifts with one another -- not December 25th
-- a lot of cultures still do that -- especially the Hispanic cultures with Catholic traditions
-- so, if you happen to see camels and wise men wandering around church yards next year, you’ll know why -- or if you happen to notice that your calendar has a day marked off as “Epiphany,” you’ll know what that means

II. Scripture Lesson (Matthew 2:1-12)
-- but, the word "Epiphany" does have another meaning -- according to the dictionary, the term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal."
-- maybe a better way to explain it is to say an epiphany is one of those "Aha!" moments -- it is one of those moments when you have this flash of inspiration or understanding or insight -- when an idea just jumps out at you -- when all of a sudden you have some great revelation of truth or some great idea that has never occurred to you before

-- so, why do we use the word epiphany to recognize the day the Magi came to visit Jesus?
-- well, as we said, an epiphany occurs when something is made known or revealed -- in this case, we see how the good news of the coming of Christ was revealed to the Gentile world
-- the story of the Old Testament is largely the story of the nation of Israel -- it tells us how God chose Abraham as the patriarch of a great nation from which the Messiah -- the One who would redeem the world of the curse and save us from our sins -- would come -- and so the entire Old Testament concerns the revelation of the coming of the Messiah to the nation of Israel
-- for thousands of years, the Jews had been looking for the Christ to come -- that is why the chief priests and the teachers of the law could answer Herod's question about the site of the birth of Christ so quickly in verses 5-6 -- God had revealed to His prophets where and when and how and why the Messiah would come through over 60 individual and specific prophecies given to the nation of Israel -- but, God didn’t reveal the message of the coming of the Christ to the Gentile world at that time
-- so, when Jesus was born, God sent out divine notices about the birth of His Son -- to the Jewish people He sent angels -- heavenly messengers -- because the Jewish people were the people of the covenant -- this is the way they would expect God to speak to them
-- but, the Gentiles didn’t know God in this way -- they were aware of Him, because of the great things that He had done among the Israelites and the Egyptians and the Babylonians -- but, they were still a pagan people by and large -- they didn’t worship the One God of Israel the way the Jews did
-- if God had sent angels to them, they might have mistaken the angels for gods and tried to worship them -- so God reached down and spoke to them in a way they could understand -- their spiritual leaders were magi -- wise men -- who looked to the heavens for signs in the sky
-- so when God wanted to get the attention of the Gentiles in the east, He created a new star in the sky to announce the birth of Christ, and when the magi saw this star in the western sky, they knew it had to be a sign from God
-- Matthew tells us that when the magi saw the strange star in their western sky, they immediately began looking for the one it heralded -- they left their far off land and journeyed all the way to Israel -- making their way across the Jordan River and crossing over to Jerusalem -- to the area where the star was located -- and they began asking all those they saw, "Where is the king of the Jews? We have come to worship Him."
-- at this time the Magi really didn’t understand the truth of who this baby was -- I think they were a lot like me -- I think they were hung up on the details of the star and the new-born King, but they weren’t looking at the big picture -- they didn’t know why this baby had been born -- they didn’t know that this baby had been born to save them from their sins -- they didn’t know that Jesus had come to die for them and the whole world -- they just knew that a king had been born, and they were coming to bring Him gifts -- their epiphany doesn’t occur until later on their journey

-- look back at verse 9

9. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11. 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 and of incense and of myrrh.
12. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

-- do you know what Matthew is showing us here? -- he’s showing us an epiphany -- the moment that God revealed the true Jesus to these men -- the moment that God gave them the understanding and the knowledge and insight about Jesus and who He really was -- in one moment, these magi have gone from men following a star and seeking a baby to believers worshiping their God and King
-- in verse 12, we read that the Magi left for their own country by another road or another route -- obviously, Matthew is talking about the physical route that the Magi took back to their land -- but this statement is also true in a spiritual sense as well -- when the Magi came seeking the newborn King of the Jews, they came as pagans -- as Gentiles -- unaware of the One God of Israel -- unaware of the role of the Messiah in redeeming the whole world -- unaware of the promise of a King who would save the world from its sins
-- they came searching for the King of the Jews by one road -- but when they left, they left by another road -- the road of faith in the Christ who had been sent to save them -- in John 14:6, Jesus told the disciples that He was the Way and the Truth and the Life -- He described Himself as the narrow way and the only gate -- this was the path that the Magis took when they returned to their country -- this was the epiphany of God that showed them and the entire Gentile world the way of salvation through Christ

III. Closing
-- so, as we think about the epiphany of the Magi -- as we remember the revelation of God that He gave them when they saw Jesus, let me ask you -- "Have you had an epiphany lately?" -- Has God been revealing Himself to you as you have studied His Word and worshiped Him and ministered to others in His name over the past year?
-- Have you learned anything new about Jesus lately? -- Have you experienced Jesus in a new way lately?
-- these are things that we should all be seeking -- these are things that we should all be searching for in our lives
-- so, as we close this sermon and start a new year seeking Christ, let me leave you with a couple of principles that you help you on this journey

-- first, never forget that God is always at work around us -- God's work did not end when the Bible was written -- it did not end when the apostles all passed away -- it did not end when the Magi finally found Jesus -- God continues to work in the world today through the presence of His Holy Spirit in the church
-- one of the signs of a maturing Christian -- of someone who is starting to grow in their faith -- is that they start to notice things -- they don’t just see moving camels or know how many buttons are on their shirt -- but they look at the world and they see the fingerprints of God all around them -- the signs of His presence and His work in the people they come into contact with
-- and when they see these signs of God -- when they see God at work -- they recognize that these are epiphanies -- revelations and insights from God to them and invitations to join Him in His work to make Jesus known to others

-- secondly, never forget that God still speaks to us today -- God still reveals Himself and His ways and His purposes through the Bible, through prayer, through circumstances and through the church
-- 2 Tim 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." -- God continues to reveal Himself and His ways through the Scriptures and through His people
-- God wants us to know Him and to hear Him and to join Him in His work -- and, as 2011 begins in earnest, we need to actively look for God -- we need to actively listen for God -- we need to see where He is working and join Him -- we need to hear His voice and obey Him

-- as Christians, we should be having epiphanies on a regular basis -- we should be like the wise men in this passage -- we should be actively searching for Jesus -- listening for His voice -- looking for His presence -- so that we can learn new truths about Him and be filled with a desire to go forth and share the message of Christ with others
-- not only with our words as we witness to them who Jesus is and what He has done for us -- but also with our hands, as we share the love of Christ with others in tangible ways through our service and love to them
-- when the Magi left home, they didn’t know exactly what they were seeking -- they didn’t know what God was going to do to them or how He wanted to use them -- but when they finally saw Jesus face-to-face, they knew -- they had their epiphany -- and they were never the same
-- my prayer is that each of you have such an epiphany in this new year -- and that 2011 will mark the time when your life and the lives of those around you are forever changed through an epiphany of Christ
-- seek Jesus as the wise men did -- search for Him with your whole heart -- and let Him change you in this new year -- let Him use you as He did the wise men -- and do something great for Him
-- let us pray