Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Yeah, the title is When Christmas Was Christmas. I don't know how many of you have actually heard this phrase A lot, especially from the older folk, which I just discovered I'm one of, is this idea that Christmas, along the way, or along as life has gone on, has lost its meaning. You know, I hadn't actually had a picture for this while you prepare that.
[00:00:32] So for me, it struck me that we have that idea that Christmas no longer is Christmas.
[00:00:40] Like the meaning of Christmas has actually changed when it actually hasn't. You know, when. When we were growing up, Christmas was, you know, simple stuff, rice and chicken, a Code Fanta in a bottle. Not the plastic ones back then, right? There was loud music, people dancing.
[00:01:01] I don't know if this. But, you know, in our culture, our fathers used to wear the trousers in here. So they'd expect us to be smartly dressed on Christmas, and our trousers would be here. They call it the Wingy, funny enough.
[00:01:14] But what many of us don't realize is that some.
[00:01:17] What the world has done is condition us to think Christmas is about everything else but the birth of Christ.
[00:01:24] It's about the fireworks, it's about the lights, it's about the food, it's about the music, it's about all these other things. And very rarely do you hear Jesus being mentioned in celebration of Christmas. You know, for some, it's looking forward to a holiday that they arrest from their labors.
[00:01:43] For some it's, oh, I get to see my uncle one last time like I did last year. It's just that one check in meeting.
[00:01:50] So today we're going to go down a short trip from history and hopefully we can learn something meaningful about Christmas.
[00:02:00] Our opening verse is Matthew 2, verse 1 to 12.
[00:02:11] The Bible reads, now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east and came to Jerusalem, saying, where is he who has been born, King of the Jews?
[00:02:27] For we saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him.
[00:02:33] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, and assembling all the chief priests and the scribes and the people, he inquired of them where this Christ was to be born.
[00:02:46] They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it's written by the prophets.
[00:02:52] And you of Bethlehem in the land of Judea, are by no means the least amongst the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
[00:03:05] Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
[00:03:14] And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.
[00:03:26] After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose, went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
[00:03:38] When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
[00:03:44] And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
[00:03:50] Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
[00:03:57] And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
[00:04:08] There are many lessons we can get from Matthew 2, but today I want to focus on the three groups of people that we find mentioned in Matthew 2, which are the Magi, Herod and the people.
[00:04:24] So the first question would ask is who were the Magi? Or the Magi, depending on what you ate for breakfast, your pronunciation.
[00:04:33] They sort of appear to be scholars and men who actually knew a lot. And from what it seems is like they actually studied the stars of astronomy. They were well vested, but let's not interesting part about them. What's interesting is that they are outsiders that actually traveled a great distance to come and behold the king.
[00:04:58] I'm led to believe that what made them wise wasn't how much they knew about the stars or the knowledge that they knew, or everything they carried with them, but it was their obedience at the point at which they realized that the king was born.
[00:05:15] We see them coming from a distance from what it sounds like. These guys don't look like they were just idle guys who sat looking at the stars day in, day out.
[00:05:26] But picture them to be actually tradesmen, people in business, people with professions and stuff to do.
[00:05:34] But the moment they saw that the king was born, they made room for him to the point that they actually traveled to go behold this king.
[00:05:45] You might ask the question that I asked, like, how did they know about this star being outside this? But where does this star appear in scripture that they looked to and said, this is actually the sign that the king was going to be born?
[00:06:03] I don't know. Many of you are familiar with the story of Balam in Numbers.
[00:06:09] Does anyone remember him?
[00:06:12] For those that only know him by folklore, he's the guy that the donkey spoke to.
[00:06:20] What's interesting is that Balam is actually the guy that prophesied the coming of Christ. And this is where these guys got the information in Numbers 24:17.
[00:06:32] Here's a prophecy that I'll start it from. 16. There's a prophecy that Balaam gives about the birth of Christ, the oracle of him who hears the word of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes and covered.
[00:06:51] I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near.
[00:06:56] A star shall come out of Jacob and and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. It shall crush the fork the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.
[00:07:09] It's interesting that these guys who are outsiders, held on to this truth about the coming king and they looked forward to the coming of the king.
[00:07:21] One thing you also see is that these guys didn't come empty handed.
[00:07:27] They brought gold, which was to signify and acknowledge that Jesus was king.
[00:07:33] They brought frankincense, which symbolizes holiness and that as well acknowledges his priesthood.
[00:07:40] And they brought myrrh, which was a bitter spice that was used in embalming, pointing to the suffering and death of Christ for our sin.
[00:07:53] In the second place, we find Herod.
[00:07:56] Herod is an interesting guy when amongst all these people for him, because Herod killed three of his sons and his wife to hold on to that throne.
[00:08:09] He's the guy that was king and nobody doubted it.
[00:08:14] I'm sure if Herod walked around was like, who's that? Like everybody knew that Herod was king without question. Herod was wicked, right?
[00:08:26] But he says to them, saying, find me this child that I may come and worship him too.
[00:08:33] I tried to imagine how Herod felt after all that he went through to keep his kingdom and his kingship. To hear a king has been born. I imagine him like a child just stomping his feet like, no, I'm the king. And the third group of people we see here, or the third, the third part we see are the people.
[00:08:58] For me, I feel like the people are the most tragic on the whole story because these are people that should have been most excited about Christ's coming.
[00:09:08] They were his people according to what they believed, they were the Jews and from them a messiah was going to come.
[00:09:16] But what we see is that they, just like Herod, were troubled that Jesus was born.
[00:09:23] You'd imagine your whole life you're pursuing Christ and then in here Jesus is coming and you're troubled instead of being excited. That's weird.
[00:09:32] These are the people that had the knowledge of Christ. I knew about Christ. I knew about God, but they never practiced it.
[00:09:40] These were the people that knew about God, but they were actually busier about other things than God. And the coming of Christ was like stop to their fun.
[00:09:55] The aspect of them being troubled at the coming of the King leaves us with much to wonder as to why you'd be troubled when you have actually been looking forward to the coming of the King.
[00:10:09] What this text reveals to us is actually the three kinds of hearts that are not just among us, but in us.
[00:10:17] The Magi. The Magi represent those who truly acknowledge Christ, outsiders, as it were, people who are not hearing from the fold that by the power of the Holy Spirit, behold this king and lay down their lives for him, and see him as king, priest and savior and willingly submit their lives.
[00:10:40] It shouldn't shock us that when people come from outside and they come into our congregation and they get served, saved, and they know Christ and they grow in their love for Christ that it becomes evident.
[00:10:51] These are the ones that you might see, even come in the church way after you've come in.
[00:10:56] But by their growth and by their obedience, you begin to see them even in certain things, like preaching, teaching, things that you may never have done. And the key part is the heart that they have, which is they behold Jesus as king, and their lives are very reflective of it.
[00:11:14] The Herods are those amongst us whose hearts are hard. We've never known God. We don't intend to know God. We are king of our lives.
[00:11:22] We love to be in control. We love to dictate how our lives should go.
[00:11:27] I'm sure some of us even have a list of how we intend 2026 to go on.
[00:11:32] Say, okay, 2025 didn't go according to my plans, but 2026 is my year and I'm going to do A, B, C, D.
[00:11:40] These are the ones amongst us, or it might be us actually who the idea of Christmas actually disturbs them because you get to hear that a king is born, someone whom you are supposed to bow to, someone who you're supposed to acknowledge and honor, and it bothers you. And when you see people celebrating Christmas, you are reminded why you should continue to live in denial rather than surrender.
[00:12:08] The religious people, these, for me, I feel, are the ones in the most dangerous position because they are the ones that tick all the boxes.
[00:12:20] I come to church, I sing, I tithe.
[00:12:24] The list is endless, right?
[00:12:27] They come to church, they come to services, they come for everything.
[00:12:33] But these are the ones that miss Jesus entirely.
[00:12:37] What keeps them preoccupied is the idea of what it means or them defining what it means to be God's people.
[00:12:43] But they are actually not submitted.
[00:12:48] They forget what it means to follow Him.
[00:12:51] For some, they have tested grace, but grace has not changed them. It has actually given them a license to continue sinning.
[00:12:58] And that could be a lot of us here. We've been saved for years and years and years. And our lives are not always showing that we are actually fully submitted. We are the ones that are quick to show out or call people for certain things, oh, this is a sin. They shouldn't be. This is. And then. But when people really look deep into our lives, they don't see Jesus because we have missed Him. And for the most part, we're trying to draw people to the same belief system we have.
[00:13:32] So who's this Jesus that we're we are remembering today?
[00:13:37] First, John 1, verse 3 to 6.
[00:13:50] Sorry. John 1, verse 3.
[00:13:53] Dwell on verse 3 to 6.
[00:14:01] The Bible reads, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God.
[00:14:08] He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him. And without him was not anything made that was made.
[00:14:20] In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
[00:14:26] The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
[00:14:33] Skip to 10 to 13.
[00:14:36] He was in the world and the world was made through Him. And yet the world did not know Him.
[00:14:42] He came to his own and his own did not receive him.
[00:14:46] But to all who did receive him, all who believed in his name, he gave them the right to become children of God.
[00:14:56] Why is it important that we remember this Jesus is Because the world has also changed. Who this Jesus is.
[00:15:04] We have a Jesus who loves us so much, but we can love him without changing our lives, without transforming our lives.
[00:15:12] That is what the Bible says, that the world, he was in the world and the world did not know Him.
[00:15:18] Our lives many times don't reflect how well we know God or how we know Jesus.
[00:15:24] We've picked up systems, we've picked up approaches that have been taught to us by men. None of us, many of us actually don't know Jesus personally, away from everything else has been told about him.
[00:15:37] So if you're that kind, the message is this. Get to know the Savior that you celebrate.
[00:15:44] Get to know this Savior who existed way before time. Get to know this Savior who came from heaven for me and you.
[00:15:52] This Savior who's personal, this Savior who's a friend. This. This Savior who you can know in him is life.
[00:16:02] There's nothing Outside him that we find life in. In him is life.
[00:16:08] And we cannot become the children of God without Him.
[00:16:15] For me or for us, what the message of Christmas must be is John 3:16 to 21.
[00:16:28] I know. A lot of us know it. We can even recite it in our sleep.
[00:16:33] For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting, have eternal life. You see? It's perfect. I knew it. As everlasting life right now.
[00:16:50] For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
[00:16:58] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
[00:17:11] And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and the people love the darkness rather than the light because of the. Because their works are evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
[00:17:30] But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.
[00:17:42] The message of Christmas is that there is a God that loves us to a point, that he sent his only son to meet the mark that we could never have met, to do what we would have never done.
[00:18:00] Loving you to a point of coming into your life, to give you life.
[00:18:06] It's strange to say you think you're alive, but you're actually dead. Most people would feel like, what do you mean by that?
[00:18:13] But we realize from creation or from the fall of Adam and Eve that life, or what death is, was not actually just ceasing to exist.
[00:18:22] It was a separation from God.
[00:18:24] And Christ comes to fix that, to help us meet the mark, that we might actually enjoy what it means to be God's children and live in that reality.
[00:18:38] The message of Christmas is also an invitation to those that do not know God. The light has come into the world.
[00:18:46] The question is, are we going to be like Herod the Magi or the people?
[00:18:52] Will our hearts be submitted to the fact that a king has come and the king has given us what we call a green leaf or an olive branch to extend an olive branch to us.
[00:19:06] First, John 2, verse 1 to 2 says, and I'd love us to read this together.
[00:19:23] You can read.
[00:19:54] Him.
[00:20:00] This is an invitation not just to those who are outside.
[00:20:06] Many times we feel like the only people that need Jesus are the people who are outside. But this is a re. Invitation. Uncle Gordon said something as he was praying. I was like, oh, what this guy really mean? It's.
[00:20:16] It's those of us who have been in Christ, who have been Christians for a long time, who have forgotten the wonder and lost the wonder. And to a point where when we hear Jesus, nothing in our heart moves anymore. Because, like, it's been the same old song for 20 years. You know, a lot of us have lost that wonder. And in many seasons of our lives, we lose that wonder.
[00:20:38] This reminds us that we need to keep our eyes on that wonder. Because that wonder is all we ever need.
[00:20:46] For those of you that don't know Jesus, that's the Jesus that loves. The Jesus who came, laid down his life for you, that you might know him. It's not about perfection.
[00:20:57] Because if we were perfect, we would not need him to be the appropriation for our sins.
[00:21:03] And that's the invite he gives to you if you feel unworthy, if you feel that you're not deserving. That's what Jesus has called on you.
[00:21:13] Your hope, the Savior of the world.
[00:21:17] As we celebrate Christmas this year, may we not miss Jesus.
[00:21:23] May we remember why we celebrate, not why the world celebrates.
[00:21:29] So whether you don't get fireworks, you don't get the rice and chicken. Godfather would be nice.
[00:21:35] Christmas is still Christmas because Jesus is king.
[00:21:39] Christmas is too Christmas because Jesus actually paid the price.
