Sunday Notes: Shepherds & Magi

• Advent Week 3: Joy
• Shepherds -Luke 2:1-21
  • Recap: Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem
    • 90 miles from home & all alone
    • Jesus is born according to prophecy
    • In a state of extreme poverty, homeless even
  • Shepherds raised sheep
    • The biggest market for sheep was the Jewish sacrificial system
    • Some estimates of 1 million sheep were slaughtered during busy Jewish holidays
  • The shepherds mark nothing special
    • Working guys doing their job out in the field
  • No ordinary night: The sky breaks open
    • The glory of the Lord shines out
      • At first there is the fear of surprise and terror
      • Then of curiosity of what this could be
      • And finally of awe in realizing what has happened
    • Acting on what they have experienced they go to Bethlehem – quickly
      • They wasted no time in finding Jesus
        • We know from last week that King Herod himself could not search out the location of the Messiah
        • How could some shepherds find Him so quickly?

The ____________ ____________

• Having experienced the savior that night tey went away praising God
• The Bible uses the shepherds often
  • Abraham, Moses, David all worked a shepherds
  • Jesus is called a shepherd
  • Elders in the church are told to shepherd the people of God.
• Contrasting
  • The iron hammer of Rome
  • The bloody wake of Herod
  • The rise and fall of human leaders
• Jesus was different
  • He does not need to force anyone
  • He leads in gentleness: My yoke is easy
• He also calls on us to be different.
  • We are His sheep
  • He is our great shepherd
  • As His church we are also to shepherd the people under as we too are guided by Him

• Wisemen – Matthew 2:1-12
  • During the Pax Romana – a time or  peace in the Roman empire
    • Quirinius is governor
      • Calling the census to being around 8BC
    • Herod is King of the Jews 
      • Ruling until his death in 4BC
      • Remember: Herod was Jewish
        • And he ruled a nation of Jews
        • Surely the idea of a coming Messiah – A King of Kings would be familiar to him – Whether he had believed it before or not
        • The appearance of these wisemen from the east shakes the whole thing up.
  • The wisemen are:
    • Not Romans
    • Not Jews
    • They were not supposed to be in Jerusalem or in Bethlehem at all
  • They are:
    • The most powerful
    • The most influential
    • Most well connected men in the world
    • More powerful than kings and rulers
    • Directors of those rulers and kings even
  • When these guys show up something really big is going on.
    • They are everything Herod really is not
    • And everything that could take it all away from him
  • Acts 13:4-12
  • Daniel….
    • Ch 1: Daniel is in this group of young men who will be groomed to join the advisors for the king
    • Daniel especially seems to have a gift like no other
    • 17 defines that for us
      • That gift is directly from God
        • Where did the Magi get their intel?

____________

• Ch 2: The king is going to kill all the wisemen until God gives Daniel the dream and the interpretation
• Ch 3 & 4: Daniel is more and more established as God proves Himself over and over
• Ch 5: Some 20 years later with a new king and shortly a new empire will conquer Babylon: The Medo-Persians.
• Ch 6: Under Medo-Persian King Darius, Daniel is still there acting as a wiseman.
  • We see here the power of the Law of the Medes and Persians
    • Greater than the king himself
    • Yet God is greater still than that
    • Esther 1:12-19 – More powerful then the monarchy
  • It is said that…
    • The Magi were so powerful that no Persian was ever able to become king except under two conditions:
      • He had to master the scientific and religious discipline of the Magi, and
      • He had to be approved of and crowned by the Magi.

• Herod: Client king under the pleasure of the Romans
• Persia is the world superworld that could upset the Roman empire
• The Persian king makers, the wisemen, the Magi show up at Herod’s house looking for the new king – not Herod the current king.
  • And they don’t show up as three dudes on a camel
    • There would have been a few wisemen
      • Maybe a few dozen
    • Along with their aids
      • A number of those for sure
    • And probably some group of soldiers to keep them safe
      • Maybe a few dozen of those.
  • So when these guys descend on Jerusalem in Herod’s town
    • It is a sight to see
    • No wonder Herod is shaken up.

• The Star, briefly
  • Matthew 2:2, Matthew 24:29, Jude 1:3
  • Matthew 2:9-10
  • Luke 2:8-9
    • Acts 7:54-59, Acts 9:1-5, Matthew 17:1-5
  • The Magi knew: Numbers 24:15-19
  • The star seen by the wisemen was the very glory of God
    • Shining out upon them
    • Busting out of creation
      • To reveal to them the glory of the creator
    • This light was the glory of God
      • And they rejoiced in seeing it with great joy
• The gifts, briefly
  • Gold – Wisdom, Kingship
    • Jesus was the King of Kings
  • Frankincense – Deity, Prayer
    • Jesus was fully God
  • Myrrh
    • Humanity, Living Sacrifice
      • Jesus was fully Man
    • An embalming herb  – Signally his eventual death