FOLLOW THE STAR, PART 1
MATTHEW 2:1-12
INTRODUCTION
As we begin to focus on the Christmas season, we are going to look at the visit of the Magi, or wise men in Matthew 2. Turn there in your Bible. Now, there is a tremendous amount of background and introductory information that needs to be discovered here; so let’s read the passage up front and then we will answer some questions about it. Matthew 2:1-12 says:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Now this is one of the most well known stories in the entire Bible; and yet I suspect that many people miss the meat and potatoes of the story, if you will. So we are going to attempt to sift through what the text does and does not say about this incident. And we are also going to look at a little history that will help us understand the magnitude of this visit. In doing so we are going to answer five questions: 1) Who were the Magi? 2) Why were they there? 3) How did they find Jesus? 4) What did they bring him? 5) Where did they go? Let’s answer the first question: Who were the Magi?
WHO WERE THE MAGI?
Matthew 2:1 again says:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem…
Wise men, the Greek is mavgoi, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. Now just about everyone who has heard the Christmas story has heard of these mysterious men, who are noted for their wisdom. But who were they? To answer that question we have to take a look at history.
Now, to paint a picture of the political scene during the time of Christ’s birth we are going to go back to the Old Testament. You might remember way back in the beginning of the Old Testament, Moses brings the people of Israel out of Egypt and they eventually enter the Promised Land of Canaan under Joshua. After a period of conquests and a period of judges, Israel sets up its monarchy. Its first king was Saul, and then came the great kings David and Solomon. After Solomon’s rule the nation split into a Northern Kingdom and a Southern Kingdom. This was around 931 B.C. The northern kingdom was known as Israel with its capital of Samaria and the southern kingdom was known as Judah with its capital of Jerusalem. Eventually, the northern kingdom would be overcome by Assyria in 722 B.C. And a little over a century later, in 605 B.C. the Babylonians would begin to invade Jerusalem and would finish the job around 586 B.C. At that time the big world power that controlled Palestine was the Babylonian Empire. The book of Daniel records some of the events that occurred during the time. In Daniel 1 Daniel and his friends are called before King Nebuchadnezzar and Scripture says that the king found them to be wiser and more knowledgeable than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, it says that Daniel and his friends were wiser than all the mavgouV, all the magi that were in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. In the Babylonian empire, the magi were masters of interpreting dreams, and they were the king’s consul. They influenced nearly everything the king did. But empires rise and empires fall. In 539 B.C. the Persians conquered the Babylonians and they ruled for the next 200 years. But the magi did not disappear; in fact the Persian empire had its own wise men. Historically, the magi were a religious caste among the Medes and the Persians – ancient Iranian people – the empire that ruled over Israel from 539 B.C. until 331. Within the Persian empire also, the magi exerted great influence on the religious and political systems. They were powerful men. But the great Persian empire did not last forever, either. Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian empire in Palestine around 331 B.C. and introduced Hellenistic or Greek rule. But the Persian empire would not be completely destroyed. It rose to prominence again around 250 B.C., but only in the east, in what was known as the Parthian empire. And the magi continued to exist in the Parthian empire. In Palestine, the Greeks ruled until around 164 when the Jews revolted against them and took control of their own land – but only for about 100 years as the great Roman empire came and took it back from them around 63 B.C. Now, you may not remember all of that, but just remember that from the days of Daniel the prophet until the time of Christ many empires ruled the land of Israel and two of them in particular were highly influenced by magi – the Babylonian and Persian empires. When we get to the time Jesus is being born, the Roman empire is ruling in Palestine. But off to the east of Palestine the Parthian empire – a Persian empire influenced greatly by the magi – looms.
The ruler of the Jews that Rome had appointed at that time was King Herod the Great. We see Matthew mention him in v.1: in the days of Herod the king. King Herod ruled over the Jews from 37 B.C. until 4 B.C. He was a ruthless man. He murdered his own wife, several of his children and other relatives as well. But Herod was very familiar with the Parthian empire that ruled to his east. In fact, when the Parthian empire invaded Jerusalem around 40 B.C. and took members of Herod’s family who were ruling at the time captive, Herod fled to Rome. And when he was in Rome the senate declared him the king of the Jews and sent him to take back Judea from the Parthian chosen king. So he did. And once he gained control of Judea he never let go. Anyone who was a threat to him was killed, including his own sons. So that’s the political stage. The Roman empire ruling in the west, the Parthian empire in the east, and Herod ruling Palestine in the middle, under the control of the Romans. So now let’s look back at Matthew 2:1:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem…
Matthew is saying, “After Jesus was born, when Herod the Great was reigning, behold, magi from the east came. Behold! Look! Can you believe it?! Magi, from the Parthian empire came to Jerusalem. Now by this time, a magi was any sort of wise man who specialized in dreams, or astrology, or study of sacred writings. But these weren’t just any magi, they were magi from the east. These men came from the enemy empire. These were New York Yankees officials trotting into Boston Red Sox Nation. These men, who still consulted kings, came riding into Herod’s territory and to Herod’s dismay, v.2 says they were:
2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”
And the Bible says that Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Of course Herod was troubled. What was the title that Rome had given to him? He was the king of the Jews. And now, these Persian Magi come into town asking “Where is the new king of the Jews?” Herod was threatened. He had fought ruthlessly for his position and now wise men from the enemy empire to the east were walking around his city asking for the new king. Most of us get that. We understand that Herod was troubled by the threat of a new king of the Jews. But the Bible says that all of Jerusalem was troubled with him, doesn’t it? What did they care? Many of them didn’t like Herod anyway. So what if there is a new king? Why do you think they were troubled? They were troubled because of where the Magi were from. This sounded like a threat of war. Remember, the Parthians had invaded Jerusalem only a few decades earlier, just before Herod took complete control over Palestine. And now here are Parthian wise men going around the city asking for the new king. This could only mean one thing in their minds – the Parthians were going to attack and crown a new king they had chosen over the land. So, Herod and others in Jerusalem were troubled.
Who were the Magi? They were wise men with tremendous kingly influence who came to Jerusalem looking for a new king of the Jews – wise men from the Roman enemy empire – the Parthian empire in the east. Now let’s answer the second question: why were they there?
WHY WERE THEY THERE?
The inhabitants of Jerusalem probably thought they might be there to start a war. But let’s look at the end of v.2: “…For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” The Bible says that they had come to worship the new king. Now some commentators think that the wise men were there just to pay homage to the new king – not worship him in the sense that one worships God. And, in fact, the word translated “worship” here does have a variety of meanings in different contexts. But I think “worship” is the right word here and we’ll see why when we look at how they found Jesus. But for now, let’s assume that their purpose in coming was to worship the baby king.
Now when Herod heard their purpose in coming he inquired of the religious leaders where the Messiah, the Christ, was to be born. He wanted to know where this king they were searching for could be found. But the interesting thing is: he should have already known this. Turn in your Bible to John 7:40:
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. 45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
In this text we see that both the Pharisees, who were masters of the law; and the common people who were listening to Jesus knew exactly where the Messiah was supposed to be born. They simply weren’t aware that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and then grew up in Nazareth. So it was common knowledge that the Deliverer from God was to come from the city of David: Bethlehem in Judea. But Herod either doesn’t know this for some strange reason or he simply wants to hear the experts say it because he asks them where the Messiah is supposed to be born.
And there is no indication that the scribes even flinched in their answer. It doesn’t say that they went to search the Scriptures and came back to him with an answer. The Bible says:
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
That’s a quote from Micah 5:2. They knew. Everybody knew. And now Herod knew too. Now, remember what kind of man Herod was. Remember how ruthless he was. He murdered his own wife and family. There was no way this guy was going to put up with Persian Magi marching into his city and threatening his rule by looking for a new king of the Jews. Not on his watch! So what does he do? He devises a plan. He calls the magi back to him; v.7:
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
He called them back by themselves; with no one around. And the text says he “ascertained” from them what time the star had appeared. He made absolutely sure he knew exactly when they saw that thing. He wasn’t taking any chances. This guy was serious about his throne. And when they had given him the information, v. 8 says:
8 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.”
He sends the Magi to Bethlehem to find the child. And he lies to them. He tells them he wishes to worship him also. But we know he doesn’t. The story will quickly reveal that Herod has no interest in handing over his throne. He has no interest in worshipping anyone. So he devises a plot to rid himself of this new threat – a plot that will result in bloodshed. And we’ll return to that plot shortly. But before we do, let’s answer our third question: how did the Magi find Jesus?
HOW DID THEY FIND JESUS?
How did the wise men find Jesus when they left Herod’s palace? Well, the Bible says in v.9:
9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
The star that had led them to Judea reappeared and pointed them to the very house where Jesus was. Now, we haven’t said much about the star. What was the star? Some people think it was a comet. Others think it was a conjunction of stars or planets that came together in the night sky and let off extraordinary bright light. Do you want to know what I think the star was? I think the star was a supernatural light that was put in the sky by God for the specific purpose of leading these magi to the birth of the King. If that’s not scientific enough for you, you have my apologies, but listen to Luke 2:8-14:
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
God’s glory shone around these shepherds and they were afraid. Whenever God’s glory shows up in Scripture it is always revealed as light. In the Old Testament, God’s Shekinah glory filled the tabernacle and temple. When Moses went in to speak with God, he came out with his face glowing. When Jesus is transfigured on the mountain in front of Peter, James, and John his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light. In Revelation we are told that in Heaven there will be no light from the sun because we won’t need it – God himself will be the light. So God has no problem producing light – and if the magi saw this light in the sky they would naturally have called it a star.
I think the text supports this understanding for a few reasons. The first reason is that the wise men are there in the first place. What do I mean by that? The magi were probably experts in astrology. They knew the night sky very well. Why travel across the desert into Roman territory simply because of a special display in the heavens that they probably predicted anyway. There had to be something especially peculiar about this star. I think it was unlike anything they had ever seen or heard of before.
But let’s think about this a little more. How in the world did they know that this supernatural star had anything to do with a new king of the Jews? Remember they said that they had seen his star and had come to worship him. I think these magi were at the very least familiar with Jewish prophecy – maybe even Gentile Jews themselves. And I think they had studied Jewish Scripture that was transmitted to them way back in the time of Daniel. In fact, Daniel 5 the Bible says that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon had made Daniel the chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. Daniel was the head magi. He was the chief wise man. And he had a similar position when the Persians took over. There is no doubt in my mind, knowing the kind of person Daniel was, that he shared the truth of the Scriptures with the magi who were under him and evidently some of that truth remained on until Christ was born and there was a group of magi in the Parthian empire who knew the Jews expected a Messiah from God and when they say this strange star in the sky they thought of Numbers 23:17:
17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…
And when these wise men put all of their knowledge about the Jewish Messiah together, they were compelled to follow that star to the west and find the king that its appearing had announced.
The second reason I think that this star was a supernatural occurrence is that when it reappears to the wise men as they head for Bethlehem, it came to rest over the specific house where Jesus was. Now, some try to explain this away by saying that whatever the star was simply appeared to point the way to Jesus’ location. I don’t think that’s necessary. Whatever this thing was, it was peculiar enough to draw the magi across the desert into enemy territory, it disappears, and then reappears as they are heading to Bethlehem and rests over the house where Jesus is – I’m going to go ahead and call that a supernatural star from the hand of God.
So how did they find Jesus? They followed the star. The followed the supernatural light in the sky that, because of their knowledge of Jewish prophecy, they knew was the sign that the king of the Jews had been born. And they came seeking to worship him; not only to pay homage to a king, but to bow down before the Messiah of Israel.
And so they arrive at the house where Jesus is. The shepherds are not there anymore. They had already come and gone. Jesus was no longer in manger, he was in a house. I love nativity scenes just as much as you, but they weren’t all there at the same time. The shepherds had already visited, and Mary and Joseph had already been to the temple in Jerusalem; now they were back in Bethlehem preparing to head back home to Nazareth. So let’s answer question 4: what did the magi bring to Jesus?
WHAT DID THEY BRING HIM?
The Bible says they gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now many people have found symbolic meaning in these gifts: gold for Christ’s royalty, frankincense for his divinity, and myrrh for his sacrificial death. They find this, of course, because gold is almost always associated with royalty, incense was used in the worship of God, and the perfume myrrh was used in burial. Such symbolism does add some brilliancy to the story, but it is probable that these wise men were simply giving expensive gifts to the newborn king. All three of these items were common gifts for the wealthy. In fact, it’s safe to assume that if the disciples didn’t even understand that Christ would die sacrificially, these wise men were unaware as well. But they knew he was the ruler of the Jews prophesied of old. So they brought him gifts fit for a ruler. And these gifts probably financed the young family’s trip to Egypt before returning to Nazareth; which we’ll see next time. So we move to our last question: where did the magi go?
WHERE DID THEY GO?
V. 12:
12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
They went home. It’s as simple as that. They went back to their homeland in the east. But what’s notable about their return home is that they did not return to Herod as he requested. They went back by another way. They had been warned in a dream that something was not right with Herod and so they decide not to return to him to tell him where Jesus is. And this agitates Herod’s wrath. When we return to our text we’ll look at Herod’s response and how God overrules Herod’s wicked plans.
CONCLUSION
As we close, there is really one point of application that I want to highlight. And it stems from the identity of the Magi. The wise men, even if they were familiar with Jewish prophecy, and even if by some chance they had converted to Judaism, were not ethnic Jews. They were Gentiles. And the irony of this story is that the people who should have been waiting on their Messiah totally missed his coming. All of the religious experts in Jerusalem were callous to the fact that the Son of God had just been born 6 miles to their south. And God brings Gentile wise men from another country to worship the newborn King. So the question I have for us all is this: will we be like the religious leaders or will we be like the wise men? Will you completely miss the magnitude of this season and the event it celebrates? Or will you come like the magi saying, “I have come to worship him.”? I trust we will all take care to grasp this moment, this season, when we celebrate the birth of the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
