Sermons
So Close, Yet So Far Away
SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR AWAY
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / December 10, 2017
Last Sunday morning our sermon focused on the latter part of Matthew chapter 2.
Long ago, there was a bright star that shone in Bethlehem, but that star was accompanied by a severe darkness.
King Herod The Terrible ordered the slaughter of the baby boys of Bethlehem (perhaps as many as two-dozen).
It is hard to know exactly was drove him. Was it - - Envy or Jealousy? … Fear? … Madness? … or just Pure Wickedness?
We know that God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to save a sinful world.
The more we study the texts surrounding the birth of Jesus, the more we realize how badly that world needed a Savior.
Yet our 21st-century world, like that world of the first-century, continues to be in desperate need of a Savior.
The dysfunctionality (sinfulness) witnessed in the life of King Herod can also be seen in the lives of other key players.
} Open your Bible to Matthew 2:1-6 |
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jesus? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.’ And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where THE CHRIST was to be born. And they said to him, ‘IN BETHLEHEM OF JUDEA, for so it has been written by the prophet, “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the leaders of Judea; for out of you shall come forth a ruler, who will shepherd Israel ”.’
The nation of Israel was/is quite small in size - - about the size of the state of New Jersey.
Not all, but most of the major happenings of the Bible take place within a 100 mile radius of Jerusalem.
In this instance, Bethlehem is only a two hour walk away - - about 5-6 miles south of Jerusalem.
As we noted last Sunday, and as the Christmas hymn describes it, Bethlehem was a little town.
It was the home of Ruth and her great-grandson David, who later became a king of Israel.
At this time in history Bethlehem was inhabited by about 200 permanent residents.
Although being a stopping-off point on the way to Jerusalem, its size swelled dramatically at times.
Those who traveled to the pilgrimage festivals often lodged in Bethlehem.
On this occasion, the census ordered by Caesar Augustus, in the days when Quirinius was governor of Syria (Lk.2:1-2),
brought with it an large influx of travelers coming to register in the city of their origin. Thus, concerning Joseph
and Mary and the soon-to-be-born baby Jesus, we read in Lk.2:7, “there was no room for them in the inn”.
The text of Matthew chapter two opens by speaking of MAGI, which invites a slew of questions.
Who were these magi? We actually don’t even know how many of them there were.
This word is connected with our English word magician. They were likely wise men from the Babylonian/Persian empire.
“They were a class of the Medes, who exercised priestly functions and who were renown for their learning.” / Wycliffe
Dan.2:2 &10 mentions a group of “magicians” who were consulted to interpret the dreams of the king of Babylon.
Don’t think here of “slight of hand” or “tricksters”, but rather erudite men who keen students of science and astronomy.
From where exactly did they come? Where in the EAST?
How far had they traveled? The ancient city of Babylon was about 500 miles east of Jerusalem.
What STAR guided them and how exactly did it guide them?
How did they know what the Star meant? Had Jehovah God provided them with some form of a special revelation?
Why did these magi from the east travel such a distance to worship THE KING OF THE JEWS?
And last but not least - - Why was Herod and all of Jerusalem troubled or disturbed by their arrival?
We can’t even begin to give definitive answers to all of these questions.
But it is this last question, “Why was Herod and Jerusalem disturbed?” that we want to zero in on this morning.
Why were they disturbed and not overjoyed by the arrival of the Magi with the message inherent in their quest?
With King Herod we might just write off their disturbance as another form of paranoia.
But how does one explain the response and behavior of Jerusalem - - in particular the chief priests and scribes.
Were these leaders among the nation of Israel not eagerly anticipating the arrival of their Messiah?
Were they skeptical of and prejudiced against the Magi? “Who were they to bring this grand announcement?”
As the caretakers of the Holy Scriptures, did these Jewish leaders resent “outsiders” knowing something they didn’t?
These chief priests and scribes were themselves very learned men.
Regarding the sacred writings - - they knew the word…loved the word…revered it…debated it…studied it diligently.
Actually the knew the Scriptures inside and out.
Many made it a point to memorize verbatim the entire Torah (all five book of Moses) and the Psalms.
When Herod quizzed them as to where the Christ was to be born, it was a soft-ball question, easily answered.
The knew that the Messiah was to be born of a woman (Gen.3:15 - - cf. Gal.4:4)
That He would be a descendant of Shem (Gen.9:26) … of the seed of Abraham (Gen.22:18) …
Of the tribe of Judah (Gen.49:10) … and a “son” of David (2Sam.7:11, 12 & 16).
The priests and scribe also knew that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isa.7:14).
And, to hit close to home, that He would be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Mic.5:2).
Isn’t is quite astonishing that the chief priests and scribes did not show more interest?
And isn’t it perplexing that some of them (if not all of them) would choose not to go to Bethlehem themselves?
At the very least we would have expected them to send a go-between or dispatch a team to investigate up close.
The Magi knew so little, but came such a great distance to worship a king unknown to them.
The Jewish teachers of the Law knew so much and were so close, but did so very little.
I have always been a strong proponent of soaking in the beauties around you.
This is partly why I like to lead TerryTours. We have a bunch of good things to see all around us - - thing very close by.
I am dumbfounded when I encounter people living in Warren who have never been to Millcreek Park.
When I lived in Ashtabula, I couldn’t believe the number of people who have never been to Presque Isle.
It baffles me to meet people who will travel great distances far and wide to see some special site,
but they won’t even bother to journey a brief 20 miles to see something quite impressive that’s very close to home.
In this case Bethlehem was just five miles away - - less than a two-hour walk.
How is it that these leaders of Israel could have been so close, yet so far away?
Here again, I don’t know the answer to their apathy?
Why didn’t they go to Bethlehem themselves? Why were they not eager to check things out first hand?
I don’t think it would be correct to accuse them of being intellectually lazy.
We might describe these first-century chief priests and scribes in a variety of ways, but they were not lazy.
Someone has suggested they may have been spiritually indifferent.
We might cut them some slack by noting that they’d been eagerly awaiting the arrival of their Messiah for a long time.
Perhaps it some akin to being a Browns’ fan waiting for the arrival of a Super Bowl champion.
After one disappointment after another one tends to become a bit jaded. This could be the year - - yeah, yeah!
I suspect a large part of the answer to their lack of interest could be attributed to being culturally arrogant.
They were first-century know-it-alls.
Somehow they became convinced that they and they only would be made privy to such revelations.
We see this arrogance in some early-on skepticism of Jesus as an adult teacher.
It had come to infect not only the leaders of Israel, but the entire nation of Israel.
When Philip encounter Jesus he quickly found Nathanael and said to him (Jn.1:45) - -
We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’.
So when these magi from the east rolled into town on their camels their words were troubling (disturbing).
After all, who were these outsiders and what right did they have to be educating us keepers of orthodoxy?
What credibility do they have? We don’t know them. They are not a part of the holy nation of Israel.
In truth, are these men not estranged from the commonwealth of Israel?
Perhaps they were struck with the paralysis of analysis, fearing that they might arouse the anger of Herod.
As we seen in Mt.2:16f, Herod was a powder keg waiting to explode.
It is all too easy to discount people who aren’t like us! (That’s another sermon for another day).
John Calvin writes: “It is truly an instance of base sluggishness, that not one of the Jews offers himself
as an escort to those foreigners, to go and see the King who had been promised to their own nation.”
It might even been viewed as wicked ingratitude. Remember, Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus (Mt.2:13).
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I want to close by appealing to US all.
We can’t answer for what these first-century students failed to do, but we must answer for what we do.
The evidence favoring the real historicity of Jesus is so close.
We all have our Bibles. And others have written so many good books supporting a real historical Jesus.
The Scriptures themselves affirm not just His historical human nature, but His Divine saving power.
Some people travel the world trying to find a reason for being.
Some search here, there and everywhere in trying to find the answer to “why am I here?”.
How can it be that the answer to our searches and quests can be so close, yet so far away?
Perhaps this Christmas season will become for us a time to investigate first-hand.
Was there really a man named Jesus of Nazareth?
Was this Jesus truly the very son of God?
Could this Jesus, indeed, become MY SAVIOR?
And is this Jesus worthy to be THE LORD OF MY LIFE?
We can sit here comfortably in the 21st century and easily criticize those of century one.
The question for us is simply this: Why will I do with Jesus?
If you are not yet a disciple of Jesus, it is time for you to journey to Bethlehem for yourself!
You owe it to yourself and to God to make a personal investigation.
Someone famous once prayed: O Lord, make my heart a manger where the Christ child can be born.
Note: I am indebted to Ray Pritchard (Six Miles From Bethlehem) for many of the ideas and thoughts in this sermon.
