“After Shepherds Went Home” Part 2
Pr. Ed Baker
Orchard Hill Church

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Misconceptions of Jesus’ birth and after

• 1. The Wise Men
  • Many of us think that the wise men arrived right after Jesus was born. There w/the shepherds.
  • That’s not how it went down. Let’s take a look at it.
  • We’ve gotta go back to the OT for a bit…Daniel
    • “Wise men” were educated men, could tell dreams, astronomer type.
    • Had an area of the sky that represented ppl. The Israel part of the sky had a bright star and that was when the wise men set out to see in Bethlehem what happened.
  • So, were there just three wise men?
    • Trick question…
    • We tend to think there were 3, simply b/c of the 3 gifts
    • Good point- often times ppl ‘team up’ to get gifts
  • So, just 3… Or more?
    • Matt 2:1-3. “The whole city”
    • Not just 3.
  • When did they get there?
    • Matt 2:11
    • When they got to Jesus, he was in a house. Not the stable.
  • 2 things Herod wants to know
    • Where was he born
    • How long ago was he born
  • Herod ordered that all the boys up to 2 yrs old be killed
    • Ed would guess that Jesus was about a year old when the wise men arrived.
• 2. Herod’s craziness of hanging onto his kingdom
  • Matt 2:13-14 -escape to Egypt
    • Satan tries all through scripture to derail what God is all about
    • Satan, not only Herod, was wanting to keep the throne
    • Oftentimes it is good to think about “What is Satan up to?”
    • Ed believes that Satan put it into Herod’s heart to have the babies killed.
  • Satan doesn’t know the future, but God does
    • God knew that Herod would initiate the killing of all 2 year olds
    • God even sent OT prophecies that babies would be killed in Bethlehem
    • Matt 2:15 -”Out of Egypt I called my son.”
    • It might even be that gold, frank, and myrrh provided the financial means for them to go to Egypt
• 3. The silent yrs of Jesus’ life
  • Jesus begins to grow up in Nazareth
  • Luke 2:40
  • Ed believes that Jesus grew up a normal boy
    • Subject to parents
  • This is important b/c it shows that God knows exactly what it is like to be us. The pains of the body
  • This was also a time that did not have medical advancements
  • Tough time to live in
  • Just like the only way you can understand being hospitalized is actually being hospitalized…God understands our suffering b/c he came to earth and lived among us.
  • Jesus faced all the temptations that we face. And he turned away from them.