This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Matthew 2:13-23” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 24, 1995.

We are reading this morning from Matthew chapter 1, beginning our reading with the first chapter of Matthew. We are starting at verse 18. Matthew 1, verse 18. I give you attention now to God’s holy word. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wine. when, as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make a public example of her, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son. and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. And Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife. And he knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the King had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, He demanded of them where Christ should be born, and they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written, By the prophet and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. And when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

And when they heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Let’s pray together. Father, we pray for your church through the world and that Lord, the message that his sounding forth from the pulpits of your church would reverberate with the truth of your gospel. Father, may your people, even at this time of year, when our thoughts are somewhat filled with other things besides the truth of your word and gospel. May it be that your servants are powerful and effective through the Holy Spirit in proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ. We pray, Father, therefore, that in this season there would be many who are rescued from darkness and brought into the light. And Father, we pray that we would look expectantly to that day in which your assembly will be filled and there will not be one seat left. We ask, Lord, that you would prepare us for that day, we ourselves here, through the proclamation of your word. For surely, Lord, we would give our attention to what you have to say. These things we ask in the name of Jesus, the Living Word. Amen.

The birth of Jesus, our Savior, proclaimed to us by Matthew, preaches a hidden glory, a hidden glory. The birth is glorious to be sure, beyond what we can take in, in its totality. It is luminous, it is radiant, It is as luminous and radiant as the star in the heavens of which Matthew 2 speaks. Yet at the same time, the glory is hidden and obscure, as hidden and as obscure as that star itself, seemingly seen, or at least noticed, only by the wise men, the Magi from the East. But strangely, the message of Christ’s birth, although wrapped in secrecy, will, as if it were the most public of events, generate suspicion and even murderous hostility. But it is particularly with this consideration that the hidden glory begins to appear all the more wonderful. For it shines forth even in and despite the child’s threatened situation. It shines forth even in and despite the sufferings to which the child and his family and those connected with them are subject.

I trust by this simple introduction that you notice the pattern of the gospel in the things that I have said. That pattern in which the marvels of eternal glory are discerned, yes, throughout the entirety of Jesus’ life, from the cradle, through his ministry, and then at the cross, specifically there as he gives up his life for our sins. But I trust further that you noticed, hidden though the glory be the pattern for your own life, due to and because of the gospel, specifically that your own sufferings and those of the true Christian community, the true assembly of the Lord, have laid over them as if superimposed the most remarkable glory, even the glory of the kingdom of heaven, that has come to you and abides with you in Jesus Christ. The message, then, is eloquent and profound.

As Matthew communicates to us the message of the gospel, He is pressing home the fact that it is not just exaltation after humiliation, it is exaltation in humiliation. It is specifically in the condition of suffering and persecution and distress that the saints perceive the glory that is given to them. And it is this which sustains us.

In all of this, we are standing then at the very epicenter of what Matthew is telling us about Jesus and about ourselves. For Matthew’s gospel is not approached as some have suggested by assuming it to be the Jewish gospel par excellence written to Jewish Christians in first century Palestine. No, Matthew’s gospel is above all else the Immanuel gospel, the God-with-us gospel in which we are presented, the one whose glory lies hidden in obscurity and in suffering. even in the sacrificial service that he performs for us, who by his resurrection confers upon us a glory that similarly lies hidden in obscurity, suffering, and is worked out and seen in our sacrificial service. Matthew’s gospel, therefore, as I have already said, is not written contrary to what many have taught to Jewish Christians in the first century, but to all Christians in every century, whose lives conceal the hidden glory of Him who is Emmanuel, God with us even to the close of the age to the ends of the earth. The story of the Magi in Matthew 2 serves to introduce us to all of this. Now, it could have been that the news about the secret event in Bethlehem had reached Jerusalem and Herod’s court because of the tales borne by Judean shepherds previously, or those who had come in contact with those shepherds.

But those tales or rumors as they undoubtedly were treated, were not enough to stop the mills of government or interrupt business as usual. It wasn’t until the magicians or magi from the East showed up at Perrott’s front door that the mills of the government grounded to a halt.

They had seen a star, they said, which for them was a sign announcing the birth of Jewish royalty, one no less described as the King of the Jews. And they had come now to pay him homage.” They had Herod’s attention now. Amidst all of the normal, or we might say abnormal, intrigues of Herod’s court, He hesitated. He lost a step or two, if not a day or two, from his usual political prattling. His concentration had been broken, and now his thoughts were filled with reflections on these strangers, the star of which they spoke and the child. He had reason to worry, for was not the child called by these strangers the King of the Jews?

He had reason to worry because he felt he was threatened. He was threatened because, as you probably know, Herod was no Jew himself. The Jews were descendants of Jacob. The Herod was of the line of Esau. He was, in actual fact, an Edomite, from the line described in Jesus’ time as the Idumean line. But you might step back in amazement or you might ponder that particular truth. For as Matthew tells the story, there is no hint that Herod is anything less than a purebred Jew.

Is this because Matthew didn’t know any better? If he knew it, why would he not reveal it? Why would he not tell it? In revealing it, certainly he would place Herod in an even more damaging light. The reason why Matthew does not tell us that Herod is of Edomite descent is because Matthew wants his readers to think of Herod as a Jew. He wants them even to think of him as the king of the Jews. He is the appropriate king of these people. The Jews, in their corruption, deserve Herod in his. And why? Because they are of the same order. They are committed to the same things. For them, political and religious ambitions serve the same common goal.

They prize the world of assertive self-importance, the world of the obvious. the world of the practically expedient and religiously opportune. There is nothing hidden about the glory that they seek and serve, nothing whatsoever. how appropriately then Herod and the Jews scratch each other’s back and gush over their respective expansionist fantasies. Herod always securing for himself a place, he polishes up the Jews, making sure they’re in his corner, but he’s also a revered and respected visitor in the courts of Caesar. He knows how to play the game. The chief priests and the scribes have their own aspirations, subtle territories, and in keeping with the prophecies given to them in ancient times, assured as they are in the interpretation of those prophecies, worldwide dominion at some time in the future. The chief priests and scribes are flattered, or taking the opportunity of Herod’s need of them when he makes requests concerning the birthplace of the King of the Jews.

The chief priests and the scribes rush to him, and together in this mutual admiration society, in this conspiracy overseen by and baptized with the water of civil religion, These serve the kingdom of this world, and as they do, they remain blind to God’s true purposes and the hidden glory of the heavenly kingdom and the heavenly child.

They haven’t a clue. And how thorough the blindness. It’s as if not even a flicker of light can penetrate. Consider the chief priests and the scribes. These are the ones who are presiding over the law and with the law in hand. Thus the irony of the chief priest and scribe’s audience before Herod. They know the Scriptures very well. They know the Scriptures well enough to quote the passage from Micah’s prophecy concerning Bethlehem. That’s the text, Micah 5, 2. You find it at the top of your bulletin this morning as our call to worship. who know the law and the prophecies, the scriptures so well, fail to comprehend the prophecy’s magnificent intention.

For its focus, you see, is obviously and deliberately upon the unpretentious, the hidden, the obscure character of the Messiah’s origin. He comes out of nowhere, as it were. The Micah prophecy and the little town of Bethlehem, in actual fact, stand so utterly contrary to everything Herod, the priests, and the scribes, and even the people of Jerusalem hold dear. We, after all, are not in the business of giving up our lives. We are in the business of saving our lives. The Messiah, like David before him, whose son the Messiah is, comes from a nowhere place.

Confounding everyone who thinks that somewhere places in the world are so important. to those for whom the somewhere places of this world have become all-important. The ultimate glowing place in the heavens, the unseen glory, the hidden glory of the heavens and of eternity, has lost all attraction.

You couldn’t care less. It’s a comforting thought for death. It’s helpful. You do go to the funeral. You listen to the rhetoric. But the hidden glory of heaven and eternity has lost all It is uncompelling. It doesn’t even move you. So it is. Ironically, strangely, these leaders in Israel are scandalized, nothing less than scandalized, by the nowhere places of this world. And that’s specifically by the little town of Bethlehem, and by the obscure star that stands over the place where the child, yes, the child, the obscure, hidden child, lays. That star itself drawing attention heavenward, and to the even more inscrutable nowhere, than the lowliness of even little Bethlehem can preach. But the amazing ironies in Matthew’s account continue to proclaim the hidden glory of Christ’s birth. The Magi’s journey to the nowhere town of Bethlehem ends in the unparalleled joy of Consider this.

Have you ever thought deeply or long about the presence of these Gentiles at Christ’s birth? And that in deference to the absence of the well-informed, theologically schooled Jews from Jerusalem. Have you ever thought about this? Have you ever considered? Have you reflected on it and its significance? Would the Jews have been there? That is, the well-informed and theologically astute Jews.

Would they have come and would they have performed such service as you see these Magi performing? Consider the irony. would never have fallen down before a child to worship that child, for in their judgment that would have been a breach of, a violation of, their law. They would be worshiping a mere creature. But these Gentiles, who come out of a corrupt background, who have been used to worshiping human beings, babies and otherwise, are now brought by the sovereign intention of God, the plan of God, as if this plan has been in place for eons, as if the entirety of the corruption of pagan worship is now being brought captive to the obedience of that sovereignty, and these Gentiles are now come to an end in the worship of this day of Bethlehem.

Even this prepares for God’s purposes. Even their paganism and their corrupt practices prepares for what God is doing. He will have his praise, and he will have his worship, even if that worship comes from Gentiles. And thus we are prepared for the gospel proclamation and also the affirmation of the church. Here is true God and true man and truly Emmanuel Godness.

But note also that in this homage which these pagans pay, they themselves are, as it were, transformed. That is, you are seeing something in them that takes them far beyond themselves. For, you see, they are the servants of God’s sovereignty, and he is the one who is assigning meaning and destiny. I say this because of what is hidden in them and with respect to them.

For it is difficult, it is difficult to listen to the marvelous story about the Magi and not think about Psalm 72, which we have read together this morning. And particularly the passage in it that speaks about the king’s coming, bearing gifts. But you say to me, these magi are no kings. They’re magicians.

It’s the hidden glory, once more, that asserts itself, that is preached. For in them is hidden the splendor of kings. the splendor of those who are greatest in the earth. Hidden in the Magi through their act of worship is a glory given by the kings of the earth to one greater than them all.

As the psalm says, the kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.” Do you see it? Where are the kings? Where are the nations? They are in the man. It’s hidden.

And the only way you can see it is if you have faith. The worship, therefore, of the Magi is prophetic. It anticipates Jesus Christ’s universal acknowledgment. But now, as then, such acknowledgment does not discount the secret journey that many must take because of the opposition of this world. It is true.

Those who love this world, those who belong to it, those who can see no further, those who want to see no further, conspire against God, His Christ, and His reign. They hate Christ’s lowliness, they hate His world-denying posture, They hate those who would fall down before Him and worship Him in complete devotion and adoration. And if you do not know that and you do not understand it, you are a fool. And I do not hesitate to say that.

It seems that the very offering up of their treasures is a means by which to incite this hostility and hatred. And as it is for them so also for us, the sacrifice of ourselves, the offering up of our treasures with exceeding great joy, oh, in the world’s estimation, the absurdity of all The absolute stupidity of it all, that you would offer up these treasures, even yourself, with exceeding great joy, knowing all the time that it’s going to cost you your life, is specifically this, that is a threat to all that would absent themselves from the house of Bethlehem and the service rendered to the child.

We who, for the sake of the hidden glory, forsake the obvious glory of this world, do, by revelation, make our way home by another way. A way not sanctioned by the world. A way that the world itself does not comprehend, does not understand. And before this gospel, the gospel of Matthew, reaches its end, we will be made very much aware of just what that other way is. It is the way that Jesus traveled. It is the way of the cross. It is precisely here at the cross that the commitment of all who would worship Jesus, of their ability to perceive the hidden glory in Him, is put to the test.

And in this regard, what about you? What about yourself? Do you see and love the hidden glory in the Babe of Bethlehem? Do you see and accept the hidden glory resident in the form of a broken body on a cross? Are you then those who come and worship, depositing your all before this Christ, preparing as you do to go home to your true destination by the way of the cross? It is my hope and prayer that you are among those who do just this. And this being true, I assure you, yes, this being true for you, I assure you that when the hidden glory is hidden no more, you will be neither disappointed nor ashamed. And won’t that be wonderful?

Father, left of ourselves, we would never see it. If we were to put ourselves in the primary seat, we most definitely will not see it. For even our exegesis and interpretation of Scripture will become a sign of our judgment. Therefore, O God, we pray that we might live by the illumination of your Spirit, who works by your word. that we, perceiving the hidden glory, would live faithfully by the way of the cross until the day when that glory is no longer hidden. And in that day, O God, our Savior shall stand forth radiant and glorious, and all the nations and all the kings whether they want to or not. We’ll bow. Prepare us, O God. We ask you in his name. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.