When the time for Jesus to come to earth arrived, the last time anyone heard anything from God was 400 years prior with the prophet Malachi. As had happened in the past, when God had a message to specific individuals, He would send a prophet or an angel to notify the person of His message. This is how God spoke in the days of old.
When it came time to save the world from its sin and the horrors of it, there was more announcement and setup than for any other person in history. Jesus would have His birth announced by an angel to Mary, primarily to let her know what was about to happen to her and so she could walk in faith, which she did. Jesus would require both of His parents to get a special message from God regarding His birth because His life would be so special and unique.
Jesus is the only person in Scripture to have His path paved by a forerunner. All the other prophets simply went about their business to preach and to give God’s message He told them. John the Baptist was the last of such prophets, but he also had the great privilege of alerting the people that the Messiah had come.
Jesus is also the only person in Scripture or anywhere else in history to have a host of angels announce He had come – to the lowest social rank of society: the shepherds. This announcement to the shepherds indicated who Jesus was coming for – the lost, the sick, the outcast, and those who were sinners and knew of their need for a Savior.
The announcement to shepherds also highlights whom the angels DID NOT announce to: anyone of political or religious affluence. The Magi were looking for the Promised Messiah, and God directed them to come and worship Jesus, just in time for Him to flee to Egypt and survive the massacre from Herod. But angels did not appear to Herod, the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, or any other self-righteous group, but instead to the “dregs” of society. Jesus would be for all types of people, not merely the elite. Magi visited Him as well, so we see Jesus being accessible to the rich and wealthy, though very few would chase after Him.
But the announcement of Jesus was not welcome by everyone. Mary had to go live with Elizabeth for six months of her pregnancy. Elizabeth wasn’t merely a relative; she was the only one who knew and understood the special and precious gift that Mary was carrying. Mary would be tolerated in her community later, but Jesus was always known to be a “bastard” son, and Mary herself was not seen the same ever again. They would be outcasts, tolerated at best their whole lives. This was one of the key arguments used by those in Nazareth to reject Him when He came and declared Himself the Messiah in teaching about Isaiah 61.
Even before this rejection by Jesus’ hometown, we see two types of responses in Matthew’s account to the announcement of Jesus’ birth that I will address: one of total nonchalance by the scribes who reported about where the Messiah would be born when the Magi came, and another from Herod himself who feigned to seek Jesus but had the intention of murdering Him. Herod was so scared of Jesus, because Satan was scared that the One who would crush his head was born, that he had every baby murdered just to try to get that one.
But the scribes’ response is something I want to focus on briefly. They knew the prophecies. They knew what God said, and when the opportunity for it to actually happen had arrived, they totally missed it. The best benefit of the doubt I can give them is that they were just answering another of Herod’s questions about the Jewish faith. There is little in the text that indicates that the scribes and chief priests met the Magi directly because Herod called the Magi secretly to learn of the star’s location. However, he summoned all the scribes and chief priests, and the news disturbed both Herod and the scribes and priests. The King of the Jews had been born. Why were they so nonchalant about it?
The answer is simple: they were not even looking for the Messiah. They knew the Scriptures. They knew what it said, but it was purely intellectual and nothing else. There was no reality to it for them. They knew the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and yet they were never even looking towards that direction for Him. How did they miss that? It’s the same way that we all miss Jesus, too. They had ideas that the Messiah would come as a conquering hero who would defeat Rome. How did they get that idea? Look at their past. All their previous heroes delivered them from physical oppressors. They never got the picture that the real oppressor was sin. They were looking in the wrong places for the wrong person. So, when Jesus was right in front of their eyes, they missed Him.
Which response do we have? When we hear of Jesus, the true Jesus of Nazareth, the one described in the Bible, which are we like? Are we like Mary and Joseph, who, in belief, obeyed their instructions regarding what to do with Jesus? Are we like the Magi who saw the signs and then pursued them so that they might worship the Lord Jesus? Are we like the shepherds who heard the proclamation and left their jobs to go seek after Jesus? Are we like the scribes and priests who heard the news and listed the Scripture but nonchalantly went about their business? Are we like Herod, who declared the intention to worship but held murderous jealousy in his heart, not only not wanting anyone to take his position but didn’t want anyone else following Him either?
This is the ultimate question we must all face and ask ourselves: what will we do with Jesus? In the passages of Matthew 2 and Luke 1-2, we see different answers to how people will respond to Jesus. While there are others that we’ll see throughout this study, the Bible gives us every type of response that can be given. Which one we are will be seen and demonstrated. Let us examine ourselves. Jesus has been announced. He has come, and He is coming again. Will you be ready for Him? Are you not going to care? Are you going to resist Him? The choice is yours, but when Jesus does return, He won’t be coming as a baby but as the warrior-king that the scribes and Pharisees thought was coming before. He will damn, He will slaughter, and He will rescue His people. We will be ready, and will we respond?
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