Sermon snippet – Hope at Christmas
INTRODUCTION – The last of our Hallmark Channel series of messages is entitled “Hope at Christmas.” The Christmas account does not use the word “hope,” but it does give an excellent example of hope in action. The story of the wisemen in Matthew 2:1-12 provides a clear contrast between Biblical hope and the hopelessness of a world that will not welcome the Savior, Jesus Christ.
- THE WISEMEN WERE MOTIVATED BY HOPE
Nowhere in Scripture are we told that there were three magi (only three gifts: “gold, and frankincense, and myrrh” – verse 11). Nor were they kings, and they were likely not from the Orient but from Persia (modern-day Iraq); the original Greek word for “wise men” (verse 1) refers not to royalty but to intellectuals and is used in the Greek Septuagint translation of Daniel of a group of scholarly Persian priests. Note also that these magi did not follow the supernatural star, for its sudden and miraculous reappearance surprised them and evoked enthusiastic rejoicing (verses 9-10). Historically, it is unlikely that they traveled by camel; wealthy Persians used horses. Of course, we do not know their names, despite their traditional monikers of Melchior, Balthasar, and Casper (the friendly wiseman). What we are certain of is what they said in verse 2: “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.” Their language here echoes the prophecy of Numbers 24:17: “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.” The Jewish people had been in captivity in Persia (also called Babylon) centuries before, and a remnant still lived there at the time of Jesus’ birth. This one small segment of Scripture was enough to cause these men to traverse hundreds of miles. Their urgent seeking was motivated by God’s unchanging Word, which mirrors His immutable character. Their arrival, sometime after Christmas, shows us that Gentiles (non-Jewish people) were already being drawn to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Our hope, then, is a certainty because it is based on the Bible, God’s Word to us.
- THE WORLD REFUSES THIS HOPE
The wisemen did not know Micah 5:2, which accurately foretold that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. The religious leaders in Jerusalem knew this prophecy by heart (verses 4-6), but they did not take it to heart. There is no indication in Scripture that even one person other than the wisemen walked the mere five miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Five miles! From where we are here in our church, that would be closer than the village of South Berwick or Route 1 in Wells or Ogunquit. Why didn’t they pursue these peregrinating Persian polymaths? Why weren’t they at least intrigued by the startling arrival of these sage strangers? Why weren’t they motivated to join these journeying Gentiles? One answer is that these powerful people placed their hope in their own power. Such worldly hope is doomed to failure (see, for example, verse 19) in this life … and does not even consider the terrible eternal consequences. This hope is hopeless.
CONCLUSION – The contrast in this passage is stark and unequivocal. Hope in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ is misplaced, everlastingly misplaced. As He did with the wisemen, Jesus draws all of us to Himself. Like those magi, we are called to trust in the Savior and worship Him (verses 2 and 11). May this certain, Biblical hope that we find in Jesus sustain us and motivate us to fully follow Him.