WHAT MADE THE WISE MEN SO WISE?
Matt. 2:1-14
INTRODUCTION: Today I’ll be talking about the wise men’s part in the Christmas story. You might be wondering why I am doing a Christmas sermon after Christmas. Well, I’m focusing on the wise men specifically after Christmas because they arrived on the scene after Christmas. Contrary to many a depicted nativity scene, the wise men were not there at the manger when Jesus was born. They saw Jesus later, when he was in his home. In regards to this, Janice Webb, Editor for Gages Lake Lighthouse, wrote, “What would’ve happened if it had been wise women instead of Wise Men? They would’ve asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, and made a casserole!” Perhaps, but today we’ll look at what made the wise men so wise.
1) They believed (1-2).
Not much is known about these Magi (traditionally called wise men). Magi is where we get the word "magic" from. Interestingly, in Adam Clarke’s commentary, the “Anglo-Saxon translates the word magoi, which signifies astrologers, from a star or planet, and to know or understand”. In other words, in the Old English, Magi signified a person who knew or understood the stars and planets.
It has been suggested that these men were astrologers but not in the sense that would’ve been forbidden in scripture. The problem with astrology is that one looks to the stars for guidance and answers instead of looking to God. The wise men looked to the stars not as a substitute for God but rather as a tool God used to communicate. It makes sense for God to use his creation to help tell a story and give signs because all of what he created is to be used for his purposes. We don’t look to the things of creation to be our god we look to God and he uses his creation to speak to us in specific ways.
Tradition says the Magi were men of high position from the area near ancient Babylon but they could’ve come from Persia or southern Arabia. They were most likely gentiles (refer to Jesus as king of the Jews). Since they were gentiles and from a land far away how did they know that the star they saw represented the Messiah?
They may have had associations with Jews who remained in Babylon after the Exile who would’ve had copies of the Old Testament. If so then they may have known the O.T. prophecies concerning the timing of the Messiah’s coming like Daniel 9:25-27 talks about. It is also understood that Magi were philosophers who would’ve studied religion so it’s likely they would’ve studied, and in this case became convinced of, the biblical scriptures. It’s also quite conceivable that they simply received a special message from God directing them to the Messiah.
“Seen His star”. What was this special star? Some think it was Halley’s Comet. But that appeared in 11 B.C. So it was too early. Some say it was a supernova, which is kind of like a shooting star. But there is no record of a supernova during that time. Some feel there was a strange occurrence of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn aligning in a very rare conjunction that appears once every 125 years. And it was recorded to have happened in 7 B.C. so none of these events line up with the time of Jesus’ birth.
But even so, how could such a natural event lead the wise men to the precise place in Bethlehem where Jesus was? Matt. 2:9 says the star "went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was". This suggests that this was no ordinary star. First of all, stars travel west and Bethlehem was south of Jerusalem. Second, stars don’t stop over a specific location.
Then we have how the wise men knew to attach this special meaning to a star in the heavens. They knew that the star meant that the King of the Jews had been born. It was likely a unique and special divine star that guided them. Just like God guided the Israelites with a pillar of fire and a cloud, I believe God guided the Magi to His Son. They listened to God who revealed to them that the Messiah was born and that the star they saw was his and that they needed to pack it up and move it out. The wise men believed and followed. They trusted that what God said was true. God revealed to them the way to Jesus and they didn’t dismiss it; they obeyed. They followed God’s lead.
The wise men focused on the star and followed it as it moved along and stopped where Jesus was. It’s like when the Israelites followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night wherever it went. When it stopped they stopped and set up camp and when it moved they pulled up their tent pegs and moved with it. For us, the star, the pillar and the cloud can represent the Holy Spirit. We follow him wherever he leads. Just like the wise men and the Israelites before them, we who are wise follow God’s lead. We stop when he says ‘stop’ and we go when he says ‘go’.
And they had to maintain that trust for the duration of their long journey. This was no hop, skip and a jump. It’s understood that the journey took the wise men many months to complete. This involves dedication and proper planning in order to be able to complete such a journey. So will it be for us who desire to live for Jesus. If we are wise we need to understand that doing God’s will involves being prepared for a lifelong, spiritual journey.
The fact that they believed in what God had said was shown when they asked Herod, “where is the one who has been born”. They didn’t say, “Hey, this might sound crazy but we’ve been following this star and we thought perhaps the messiah might have been born recently. Is it true?” They spoke confidently that it had happened and they were eager to find him. The wise men were wise because they listened to God and obeyed-following his lead.
2) Their source of joy was finding Jesus (3-10).
It’s quite a contrast-where the Magi were overjoyed concerning Jesus we see Herod was disturbed. He was disturbed because in his mind Jesus was a threat to his throne. This wasn’t a reason to celebrate; it was cause for great concern. The chief priests and scribes were not wise. They were knowledgeable but that didn’t make them wise. In fact, in one sense it made them more foolish. They had the knowledge of the scriptures but failed to appropriately act upon them as the wise men had done.
The chief priests didn’t recognize Jesus as king then and they didn’t later either. When Jesus was crucified, Pilate had the sign placed over Jesus’ head that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. The chief priests protested the sign, asking Pilate not to write that but that he only made the claim to be king but Pilate wouldn’t change it.
Here we have these gentile foreigners willing to travel a great distance to see Jesus and yet God’s own people were unwilling to travel a short distance to see Jesus. Think about it-the Magi asked where the king of the Jews was and the chief priests didn’t already know. I’m sure they were surprised and probably perplexed that in the very least the chief priests and scribes couldn’t tell them exactly where the Messiah was because of having been there already to see him. And when the Magi departed you don’t find the chief priests saying “hold on, we want to go with you to see the Messiah”. They didn’t believe. They weren’t eager to go see Jesus.
Vs. 10-when they saw that the star had stopped they were overjoyed that their journey had come to an end and they would now see the Messiah. The wise are overjoyed when they find Christ. Those who are foolish, like Herod, the chief priests and the scribes have the opportunity to find Christ but don’t see the value in going to him. They hold other things to be more valuable. The wise see Jesus as the source of their joy while the foolish try to find joy in worldly things.
3) They were humble (11).
The wise men may have been wise, they may have been high officials, they may have been important people but they were willing to bow down before a toddler. It may have appeared undignified, perhaps even foolish for these prestigious and prominent men to kneel before a baby but they were wise and knew it didn’t matter how it looked because they knew who this babe was.
We don’t read of them bowing before King Herod, only king Jesus. We don’t read of them presenting gifts to Herod, only Jesus. These Magi recognized who the true king was. If we are wise then we will be humble too; fact is you can’t be wise unless you are humble. But if we are not willing to bow our knee and surrender our hearts to Jesus then we are neither humble nor wise.
And note this-Jesus had done no miracles, he hadn’t taught; he hadn’t healed-he hadn’t done anything yet these Magi believed. Their faith was not built on the evidence of miracles but rather on the word and revelation of the Father regarding the birth of his Son-the king of the Jews-the Messiah-the Savior.
They gave Jesus three gifts. Interestingly, along with the misconception that they were there at the manger, another misconception is that there were three of them because of there being three gifts but the fact is we don’t know how many there were. It is supposed that there were many in their entourage, which would make some sense in that it attracted the attention of Herod and it would’ve made more sense as to his interest in speaking to them about the nature of their business.
The significance of the three gifts: The gift of gold was a gift for His majesty as a King. Gold has always been valued as the most precious commodity on Earth. The gift of frankincense was a gift for Jesus as the priest. Hebrews says that Jesus is our great high priest who has sacrificed himself once for all. From Albert Barnes’ commentary: “It was a white resin or gum. It was highly fragrant when burned, and was, therefore, used in worship, where it was burned as a pleasant offering to God.” Myrrh was also a product of Arabia. It was used chiefly in embalming the dead, because it had the property of preserving them from decay. Since Myrrh was a burial and embalming ointment, this gift would’ve been presented in recognition of Jesus sacrificing his life.
So, it seems like these wise men knew more than just the fact that Jesus was king of the Jews. They knew he was to be the great high priest for all people (including gentiles like them) and they knew that Jesus would be sacrificing his very life to save mankind from their sins. They were tokens of respect and homage which they paid to the new-born King of the Jews. They demonstrated their high regard for him, and their belief that he was to be an illustrious prince; and the fact that their deed is recorded with admiration, shows us that we should offer our most valuable possessions, our all, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise men came from far to do him homage, and bowed down and presented their best gifts and offerings. It is right that we give to him our best also: our hearts, our possessions; our all.
4) They listened to God over man (12-14).
King Herod was a vicious, cruel ruler who had his wife and several of his sons put to death because he saw them as threats to his power. Emperor Augustus once said, “It is safer to be Herod’s pig than his son”. God warned the wise men not to go back to Herod and they heeded the warning and went home a different way. If we are wise we will heed God’s warnings when the enemy (wolf in sheep’s clothing like Herod who presented himself as someone who wanted to worship Jesus but really wanted to kill him) tries to trick us. This will ensure us safe travels along the way.
Obeying God over man can involve risks. When the wise men chose to honor God’s instructions over King Herod’s they took a risk. What if Herod got wind of them heading out of town and he sent men after them? If Herod was willing to kill Jesus surely he wouldn’t think twice about killing them. But, they chose to honor God above man-even though it could’ve meant their lives. We might not be risking our lives for following Jesus but we are taking risks. We could lose relationships, opportunities, jobs, etc. for taking a stand for Jesus.
No matter what the risks are, it’s always the wise choice to follow Jesus. If we follow man’s ways and worldly wisdom we will always go in the wrong direction but if we listen to God and seek his ways we will never go wrong. If we cater to man’s desires we will always be disappointed but if we honor God’s instructions and desires we will always be rewarded. It’s always better to listen to God over man.
5) They were spiritual, not religious.
It’s interesting that the religious leaders missed all these signs but these foreigners didn’t. I think it’s because they were really looking while the religious leaders were more focused on looking good. In performing their rituals and traditions they missed the coming of the messiah.
What about Herod? Here is a guy who started the project of rebuilding the temple of God yet he wanted to murder the son of God. Many people probably thought he was a great man for wanting to rebuild the temple yet he was far from it. He was a ruthless, evil man who had killed his own family to stay in power.
Jesus said of some Jews who supposedly believed in him that they were ready to kill him because they had no room for his word (John 8:31-36).
Herod’s deceptive plan: He told the wise men to bring him word about where the child was so he could also come and worship Him. Herod wanted to kill the baby because he perceived anyone recognized as a "king" as a threat to his rule. Herod was the fool and the Magi were wise. The Magi were true worshippers but Herod a false one. If Herod were wise he would’ve been sincere about going to worship Jesus but he was more concerned about his earthly state than his spiritual one. He was focused on solidifying his earthly status and completely dismissed the importance of his spiritual status. He was more concerned about holding onto his own kingship than he was recognizing the true king.
Those who are fools do the same-they are more concerned with maintaining their rule over their lives and fail to see the value and worth in paying homage and worshiping the Lord-the one who should have rule and dominion over their lives. Those who are wise recognize the king is not themselves but Jesus and respond with humility and adoration. King Herod-not wise; the chief priests and scribes-not wise. Only the Magi were truly wise for only they were willing to recognize God’s speaking to them and be obedient to his directives. Only they were willing to make a genuine search for Jesus.
Some people are religious but they’re not spiritual. Some people are believers but they’re not followers. Some people say they’re Christians but their hearts really have no room for his word. If we merely focus on going through the motions of our religious duties we can miss the messiah. Even though he’s right in front of us we won’t see him because we won’t really be looking for him; our focus will be on other things.
Jer. 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The Magi found Jesus because their hearts were in it. They listened to God, sought Jesus with eagerness and rejoiced in his presence. They worshipped him in humility and presented him with valuable gifts. We see that what made the Magi wise are the same things that will make us wise as well.
