Matthew Lesson 17: The Birth of Christ

Matthew 1:18-2:12 is the text for this sermon entitled, "The Birth of Christ."

As Christmas approaches, Curtis brings us the old story of Joseph, Mary, and the birth of the Son of God into our world. When we began the study of Matthew, we skipped over this passage to save it for this week when so many around the world think back to the coming of Emmanuel, "God with us." The lesson opens with the reading of the history of Gabriel's announcements to Mary and to Joseph. As they tried to wrap their minds around this astonishing news, in another part of the world a small group of scholars were drawn to the prophecies of a coming king far to the West. They observed a heavenly phenomenon in the form of a wandering star. They began a journey to follow that star and find the birthplace of the Messiah. 

Herod's attention was caught as these wise travelers entered his realm and began asking questions about the star and the baby king. He lies to them and asked for any information they turned up in their search "so he could worship him." Thankfully, God saw to it that the seekers saw through Herod's perfidy and dodged him after they finally found the object of their search. When the star came to a rest where the baby--now a toddler--was living in Bethlehem, they met him, honored him, and presented him with gifts. First, the wise men fell down and worshipped little Jesus. Then, they offered their gifts to Mary and then went on their way.

Here are the seven key take-aways from this narrative.
1. God is with us in each and every moment of our days. 
2. We must constantly seek the Word of God, Jesus.
3. Honesty in worship must be our goal, open to God's revealed truth.
4. Exceeding joy is ours as we know and follow Jesus daily.
5. Our every day lived for him is our constant gift to Him.
6. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh have been replaced by our offering our golden heart to God, our worship as sweet smelling incense and oil.
7. Worship is our reverent daily response to Jesus as God with us.