The Search For Joy
Before we get into today’s message, I want to remind you that our Christmas Eve Candlelight service is just around the corner. It’s on the 24th at 5:00, and on your seats are invite cards to invite your friends and family. Like I said last week, you can share those cards on social media, take a picture to text invite some people, or invite them in person. We do this because we know that invitations lead to transformations. So let’s invite, and let’s pray for those we invite.
Now as for today, we’re continuing our teaching series called The Savior We Need, and it’s all about how Jesus is the savior we’re searching for. Both skeptics and believers are often searching for things like hope, peace, joy, and love, and the Christmas season is a reminder that all those things can be found in the incarnate birth of the Savior. They can be found in the arrival of Jesus. In fact the word Advent means to arrive or to come, and each candle on the Advent Wreath represents some of the different gifts Jesus came to give us with his arrival. So far in this series we’ve talked about how the 1st candle represents the gift of hope, the 2nd candle represents the gift of peace, and today we’re talking about how the 3rd candle represents the gift of joy. The topic of joy has been a major focus in our church this year, and we need to talk about it again because it’s a major part of the Christmas narrative. But we also need to talk about it because we often misplace our joy in things that can’t fill the joy void in our hearts. Both skeptics and believers are often search for joy in things like people, possessions, and plans. But we all know people fail us, possessions fade, and plans sometimes fall apart, which exposes that those things can’t fill the joy void in our hearts. The good news of Christmas is that Jesus came to fill the joy void in our hearts. He came to give us the gift of joy, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Let’s turn to Matthew 2 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle and keep turning right, you’ll find Matthew. We’ll be in Matthew 2:1-12, and the title of the message is The Search For Joy. The big idea of the message is Jesus came to fill the joy void in our hearts not with possessions, but with his presence...Jesus came to fill the joy void in our hearts not with possessions, but with his presence...
Context:
Here’s your context. The author of this book in the bible is the Apostle Matthew, and he was a tax collector who at one point was hired by the Roman government to do their bookkeeping. But what we’re studying today is his bookkeeping record of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In Ch. 1 he gives us an accurate record of the genealogy of Jesus, and in Ch. 2 he’s about to give us an accurate record of an event that happened shortly after the birth of Jesus. It’s the record of the wise men who came to visit Jesus after his birth. Now as we study this text we’ll learn the following three things: #1 The Pursuit of Joy, #2 The Presence of Joy, and #3 The Placement of Joy. We’ll learn about the pursuit, the presence, and the placement of joy. So let’s check it out.
The Word:
Matthew 2:1-12 states, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 and they said, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.’” Okay so here’s what we know about these wise men. We know they’re most likely astrologers. It’s because in the original Greek manuscripts, the Greek word for wise men is magi or magos, which means magician or astrologer. Most scholars believe they’re astrologers, because the text mentions the stars instead of magic. But what else do we know about these wise men, about these astrologers? Let’s have some fun and play a little True or False Christmas Game. I’ll ask 3 questions about these wise men, and everyone shouts out True or False. Let’s see how everyone does. Here we go.
Question #1 = There were three wise men. Is that true or false? The answer is _____. It’s false...It’s false, because the text doesn’t say how many wise men there were. It says there were wise men, which is plural, but it doesn’t say how many. The reason we often say there were three is because of the three gifts they bring and because of the Christmas songs we sing. But most scholars agree there were probably more than three, because vs. 3 says Herod and the entire city were deeply disturbed by the wise men. If these were just a few guys riding in on camels, that wouldn’t have captured the attention of Herod and the entire city. So it’s most likely a larger group, an entourage of people, which would have captured their attention. But the truth is we don’t know.
Question #2 = The wise men saw Jesus in the manger. Is that true or false? The answer is ____. It’s false...It’s false, because vs. 11 tells us they saw Jesus in his house. They didn’t see Jesus in the manger; they saw him in his house. Our nativity sets are nice, but they’re a little off when it comes to the wise men. The wise men don’t belong with Jesus in the manger, they belong on the back porch with the smoker and the stars. They saw Jesus in the house, not the manger.
Question #3 = The wise men learned about Jesus when they saw the star? Is that true or false? The answer is ____. It’s false...It’s false, because how did they know the star was pointing them to the birth of the messianic king of the Jews? How did they know the star was pointing them to Jesus? They must have learned some prophetic claims in scripture to connect that specific star with the birth of Jesus. Maybe they learned Numbers 24:17, “A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel.” Maybe they learned Isaiah 60:1-6, “The Lord will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to your shining brightness... 6 They will carry gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praises of the Lord.” Gold and frankincense are two gifts the wise men brought to Jesus. But my point is that the wise men must have learned something about Jesus in scripture, to connect the star with the birth of the messianic king of the Jews. The star helped guide them to Jesus, but it was scripture that taught them about Jesus. It was scripture that taught them to search for Jesus, which leads to our 1st point.
#1 The Pursuit of Joy. = Everyone is on the pursuit of joy, including these wise men. It’s clear that these wise men were searching for something greater in life, because they were willing to leave their country to find what they were searching for. They were willing to leave their country, leave their comforts, travel hundreds of miles, hoping to find a greater joy in the one who was born king of the Jews. But the reality is everyone is searching for joy in something. We keep trying to fill the joy void in our hearts with things like people, possessions, and plans, but none of it can fill the joy void in our hearts. It’s like C. S. Lewis said, “All that we call human history–money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery–is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God, which will make him happy.” It’s like the great 17th-century philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each person that can’t be satisfied by any created thing.” Matthew Ch. 2 is teaching us that even affluent and educated people like these wise men, are still searching for something. They’re still searching, they’re still on the pursuit of joy, and they left everything hoping to find that greater joy in Jesus.
Vs. 2, “They said, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.’ 3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes, and asked them where the Messiah would be born. 5 ‘In Bethlehem of Judea,’ they told him, ‘because this is what was written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”They’re quoting the prophet Micah, who lived 700 yrs before Jesus was born. They’re quoting Micah 5:2, which claims the Messiah, the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. Then 700 yrs later, that prophetic claim was fulfilled when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Vs. 7, “Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.’” Now Herod doesn’t really want to worship him. The wise men want to worship him, but Herod wants to kill him. He wants to kill Jesus because he’s worried about Jesus taking his throne. This is why in vs. 3 he’s deeply disturbed! It’s because the wise men were asking where the king of the Jews was born. Herod’s deeply disturbed because he’s worried about Jesus taking his throne. So he’s acting like he wants to worship Jesus, but he really wants to kill Jesus. See we know Herod is historically known for being a great builder. In fact archaeologists discovered many theaters, cities, and palaces that were built under his leadership. But Herod was also known for being a ruthless, vicious king. I mean at one point he wanted more money, so he killed 45 of his wealthiest citizens, and took all their assets for himself. He killed them for their wealth, and he’d kill anyone who was a threat to his throne. In fact he was so paranoid about losing his throne, that he killed his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, his uncle, his wife, three of his own sons, and every male child under the age of two in the Bethlehem region hoping to kill Jesus. Herod was a murderer, and nobody was safe around him, even his own family. So the last thing Herod wants is to worship Jesus. The wise men want to worship him, but Herod wants to kill him, because he’s worried about Jesus taking his throne.
Vs. 9, “After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there was the star they had seen. It led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.” They were overwhelmed with joy, because they knew the star had finally led them to the Messiah, to the Savior they were searching for. They knew the star had finally led them to Jesus. So we learned about 1st The Pursuit of Joy, and now we’re learning...
#2 The Presence of Joy. = We’re learning about The Presence of Joy, which can be found in Jesus. The key here is the presence of Jesus. The wise men were overwhelmed with joy, because they were finally in the presence of Jesus. They didn’t find their joy by searching for someone else or something else; they found it in Jesus. They were overwhelmed with joy over the presence of Jesus, not from receiving any possessions from Jesus. In fact most scholars agree that when the wise men see Jesus, he’s anywhere between a few months to a few years old, which means he had nothing to give them except for his presence. But the presence of Jesus was more than enough for these wise men to be filled with overwhelming joy. The things we’re searching for joy in will never be enough to fill the joy void in our hearts. We can keep searching for someone else or something else, but it’ll never be enough to fill the joy void in our hearts like the presence of Jesus can. Jesus came to fill the joy void in our hearts not with possessions, but with his presence. Both skeptics and believers can find overwhelming joy in the presence of Jesus, just like the wise men did.
Vs. 11, “Entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” This is the third thing we’re learning about in this text. We’ve learned about 1st The Pursuit of Joy, 2nd The Presence of Joy, and now we’re learning about...
#3 The Placement of Joy. = We’re learning about The Placement of Joy, meaning we need to place our greatest joy in Jesus like the wise men did. The wise men received overwhelming joy from Jesus, and they responded by worshiping Jesus and giving gifts to Jesus. The text says they responded by worshiping him, by giving gifts to him, and it’s because they’re now placing their greatest joy in him. They’re now worshiping and giving their treasures to the one they treasured. The Exalting Jesus Commentary states, “God invites the magi, and he invites you to see his Son, to joyfully offer your life as a worshiper. The people of God, regardless of their personality, should smile, sing, and lift up their hands. They should get excited, for the King has come! Worship involves joyful, affectionate, uninhibited praise. Like these powerful, influential men in Matthew 2, we should be overwhelmed and respond with worship. We should give to Christ the extravagant offering of our lives...and do it joyfully. He is the King, and we should be compelled to shout and sing about his great worth.” City Awakening how much is Jesus worth to you?...How much is Jesus worth to you, and does your worship express his worth to you?...The wise men were willing to sacrifice hours of their time and traveled hundreds of miles to worship Jesus in his house, but many people today aren’t willing to sacrifice an hour of their time and travel just a few miles to worship Jesus in his church. We shouldn’t worship Jesus only when it’s convenient; we should worship Jesus because he’s worthy. We shouldn’t treat our Sunday gatherings as a performance to sit and watch; we should treat it as a worship service to stand and sing! We shouldn’t watch and whisper when we sing; we should participate and joyfully sing praises worthy of our king. Both our worship and our giving are supposed to be a joyful expression of his great worth to us. The wise men joyfully worshipped Jesus, and joyfully gave their gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus, which were extremely valuable, expensive gifts back then. But the reason they gave their treasures, is because they treasured Jesus more than their treasures. It’s because Jesus is a greater joy than their treasures. But what about you? How much is Jesus worth to you, and is he your greatest joy in life?...Is Jesus your greatest joy in life, or has something else taken his place in your life?...We need to remember two things, two primary things, when it comes to placing our joy.
#1 You need to place your greatest joy in Jesus, not people, possessions, or plans. You need to place your greatest joy in Jesus, not people, possessions, or plans, which will eventually fail or lead to disappointment. The wise men found overwhelming joy in the presence of Jesus, and we can too. But skeptics have to put their faith in Jesus to experience joy in Jesus, and believers have to stop misplacing their joy in Jesus. As believers we already have access to this joy, but the problem is we often misplace that joy. That’s why we shouldn’t be so arrogant as to think we don’t need to hear this stuff over and over again. We shouldn’t ever yawn at the gospel, because the truth is we never outgrow our need for the gospel. We never outgrow our need to sit with Jesus, to find our greatest delight and joy in Jesus. As believers we don’t ever lose access to the joy Jesus came to give us, but we can experience joyless days when we misplace our joy. When that happens we need to refocus our hearts on Jesus, spend time with Jesus, and let him fill our hearts with joy again. We need to place our greatest joy in Jesus, not people, possessions, or plans.
#2 The pursuit of joy will keep you running until you run to Jesus. The pursuit of joy, the search for joy, will keep you running until you run to Jesus. This is true even for believers, because like I said we sometimes place our joy in other things like skeptics. So we need to keep going back to Jesus daily to restore our joy, because we keep misplacing our joy. We keep searching for joy in other things, and we keep reaching for the stars, but the wise men teach us that the only star that filled their hearts with overwhelming joy, was the one that led to Jesus. In the words of St. Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” The pursuit of joy will keep you running, until you run to Jesus like the wise men did.
The big idea of the message is that Jesus came to fill the joy void in our hearts not with possessions, but with his presence...The wise men were overwhelmed with joy because of the presence of Jesus, not because they received any possessions from Jesus. Just like the Lord guided the wise men to Jesus, the Lord is guiding us to Jesus. He’s showing us that none of the things we’re searching for joy in are working. That failed relationship, unexpected bill, disappointing diagnosis, disappointing days where life hasn’t gone as we’ve planned. The Lord’s been showing us that one of the people, possessions, or plans we’ve been searching for joy in are working.
But the good news of Christmas, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus is our incarnate God who came to die for our sins on the cross, and his resurrection proves he has the power to bring dead things back to life. His resurrection proves we can have eternal life and eternal joy in heaven with him. The incarnate birth of Jesus is about him coming to give us the gift of eternal hope, peace, joy, and love that we’ve been searching for. It can all be found in having an eternal relationship with him, because Jesus didn’t just die for you, he also rose again to be with you... Jesus didn’t just die for you, he also rose again to be with you, and the more you spend time with Jesus, the more your heart will be filled with the joy of Jesus. The wise men found their joy in Jesus, but the question is will you?...Will you find your joy in Jesus too?...City Awakening Jesus is The Savior We Need, and the search for joy, can be found in him...Let’s Pray...