PART 1: INTRODUCTION
People have been intrigued by the story of the wise men who visited the infant Jesus from the earliest days of the church.
Long ago, people carefully kept the bones of the wise men. They’re now in a huge, gilded shrine in Cologne Cathedral.
Some of the greatest painters in history painted the wise men visiting Jesus. The artists paint the magi, the wise men, gazing at Jesus. They’re lost in wonder, not at a star, but AT JESUS. HE is the entire focus of their attention.
Today, we continue to take a great interest in the story of the wise men. One of our most common Christmas card images is of the wise men on their camels, crossing the Syrian desert.
We have special celebrations. Peter is in Poland at the moment. He sent us some pictures of a feast they have on the 6th of January called ‘The Feast of the Three Kings.’ In some countries, the celebrations start of 5th January. Here’s a picture of a parade in Spain, and another of a parade in Newark, New Jersey.
Scientists write books about the star the wise men saw. They’re fascinated to know what the star was.
The story of the wise men has it all! In the Greek, the wise men are ‘magoi’, which means magician. In our Bibles ‘magoi’ is written as ‘magi’. Are the ‘magi’ scientists or magicians? They certainly seem to be strange men, possessing a knowledge of the stars which few in their day had. They see a star. It means something! They decide to set out on a quest for truth. Have you ever gone on a journey not knowing what you’d find? The wise men did, and the found the greatest star of all – the light of the world!
Today, we’re going to reflect on the story of the wise men.
PART 2: THE SEEKERS
How ever did a group of astrologers in Babylon travel across hundreds of miles of semi-desert and arrive at a specific house in Bethlehem where a very special baby had been born? It seems amazing, almost unbelievable!
Matthew tells us some of the story. But we can guess at some other parts of the story.
It goes back many hundreds of years. About 600 years before Jesus was born, the Babylonians invaded Judea. They carried many Jews off to Babylon and they lived in Babylon for fifty or so years. During that time, the Jews told the Babylonians about their hope for a messiah. We know this because there was a Roman historian called Suetonius who lived shortly after Jesus who wrote about how Jews had spread all around the eastern part of the Roman empire, and had passed on their beliefs, including their belief that a ruler would come from the Jews.
There is also a prophecy in the Old Testament about a star. A prophet called Balaam had a vision. He said:
‘I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel’ [Numbers 24:17].
What is Balaam saying? In the first line, Balaam says, ‘I see him.’ Balaam sees a person.
In the second line, Balaam says, ‘I behold him, but not near.’ This means that the person Balaam sees isn’t near in time.
In the third line, Balaam says, ‘a star shall come out of Jacob.’ The person Balaam sees is like a star – a light in a dark place. It’s a good description of Jesus. On one occasion Jesus says, ‘I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star’ [Revelation 22:16].
In the fourth line, Balaam says, ‘and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.’ A sceptre is a rod which is a symbol of power and authority. Kings often carry sceptres. In other words, the person Balaam sees is a king.
When Balaam was making this prophecy, Israel didn’t have a king. But Balaam sees a future king, who would be like a star.
Did the wise men in Babylon know that the Jews were expecting a king? It seems very likely that they did.
Did they know about Balaam’s prophecy? It’s possible.
If the wise men knew these things, then when they saw a strange star, they might have put two and two together and said to themselves: ‘This strange star means that the king who the Jews have been expecting has been born!’
Did those wise men really see a star? I believe they did. The ‘star’ the wise men saw was probably a comet. The nearest star to us is 25 trillion miles away. True stars can’t move around the night sky!
Jesus was born while Herod the Great was alive. Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. That means that Jesus was born before 4 B.C.
Ancient Chinese astronomers kept detailed records of things they saw in the night sky, including comets. They have a record of a comet which appeared in 5 B.C. and could be seen for about 70 days.
Have any of you ever seen a comet? I have, once. In 1986, I was working in Botswana. A famous comet called Halley’s Comet came close to earth and I saw it over several days. Halley’s Comet comes past the earth once every 75 or so years. But many comets don’t come by very often. Some only come once in about 70,000 years. Perhaps the comet the Chinese astronomers saw was one of those.
If the Bible says that the wise men saw a star, I take it to mean that they saw a bright light in the sky which could have been all sorts of things. It could have been a comet. I don’t need to know that Chinese astronomers saw a comet in 5 B.C. to believe that the wise men really saw something. But the fact that Chinese astronomers saw a comet at that time gives me added encouragement that the account in the Bible is true.
In the Greek, these men are ‘magi.’ But for hundreds of years, Bibles have called them ‘wise men’. Bible translators probably wanted to emphasise that the magi were learned men, scholars, rather than magicians. But the Bible translators also saw what the magi did as wise. Think what they did!
• They understood what the star meant.
• They set off on a quest to find the newborn king.
• They presented Jesus with very symbolic gifts.
• They didn’t go back to Herod.
The wise men really were wise!
The comet, if that is what it was, led the magi to Jerusalem, the capital of Judea. But it didn’t lead them to Bethlehem. For that, they needed more help. They went to King Herod. They told him they were aware that the king of the Jews had been born and asked Herod where he was! I’m sure Herod was VERY surprised! I’m sure he thought HE was the king of the Jews.
In Matthew 2, Herod’s name comes up ten times. The first two times, Matthew calls him ‘Herod the king.’ But after that, Matthew just calls him ‘Herod.’ I like that. There was now another king of the Jews.
King Herod was a Jew, and I expect he knew the prophecies about a messiah. He called the chief priests and scribes – experts in Jewish scripture – and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea’. That was what a prophet called Micah had written:
‘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’ [Matthew 2:6 / Micah 5:2].
The wise men now had the information they needed. They set off for Bethlehem, which wasn’t far away.
The chief priests and scribes, however, did nothing. They couldn’t be bothered to travel five or six miles to Jerusalem to see if Micah’s prophecy had been fulfilled.
There is a powerful lesson in this for us. There are far MORE signs today which point to Jesus than the magi and the chief priests and scribes had, and they are far CLEARER. And yet, most people today are like the chief priests and scribes. They aren’t willing to make the slightest effort to seek.
Before I finish this section, I want to clarify something.
Normally when we talk about seeking it means we look for someone. That’s what we mean when we play hide and seek. We seek someone who’s hidden. But when the Bible talks about seeking God, it doesn’t mean looking for him behind the curtain! In the Bible, seeking God means drawing close to God.
God definitely wants us to seek him in this sense of drawing close to him. That’s the whole point of why Jesus entered our world! The Bible is full of commands to seek the Lord – and seek him seriously. God told the prophet Jeremiah, ‘You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart’ [Jeremiah 29:13].
So, what about us? Will we be like the chief priests and scribes and say to ourselves, ‘I really can’t be bothered’? Or will we, like the magi, be seekers?
PART 3: THE WORSHIPPERS
The priests and scribes knew the prophecies that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was just five or six miles from Jerusalem. The magi had come many hundreds of miles to find the new king. But there is no record of anyone from Jerusalem bothering to investigate, let alone of anyone from Jerusalem finding Jesus and worshipping him. Did those chief priests and scribes really believe the prophecy? It doesn’t look like it. They’re just not interested. The only person who actually does anything is Herod. He tries to kill Jesus.
Perhaps that’s one reason Matthew wanted to present this story to us. He wants to ask us who we will be like. Will we be like the citizens of Jerusalem? Will we be like Herod? Or will we be like the magi?
Most English versions of the Bible say that the magi worshipped Jesus. We don’t worship human beings, or we shouldn’t, anyway! Stars don’t appear to announce the arrival of a human king. I think that when the magi set off on their quest, they were expecting to find someone who was much greater than a human king, someone for whom the proper response is worship.
What about us? Will we be like the magi? Will we recognize Jesus not just as a king, but as Emmanuel, God with us? Will we, like the magi, be worshippers?
PART 4: THE REBELS
Herod tells the wise men that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem. He then tells them to come back so he can worship the newborn king too. But Herod is lying. He intends to kill this new king.
Somehow, the wise men sense that Herod can’t be trusted. They go back another way. They don’t do what Herod asked them to. Those wise men are a great example to us. There are times when we MUST disobey people.
In the Bible there are many examples of people who disobeyed authority.
In the time of Moses, Pharaoh told the Hebrew midwives to kill newborn boys. The midwives refused to do so. If they hadn’t, Moses wouldn’t have lasted long!
In the time of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered everyone to bow down to an image he had put up. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused. They were thrown into a furnace.
After Jesus was raised to life, Peter and the other apostles started to tell everyone about him. The Jewish authorities told them to stop. They kept on. Most of them were eventually killed.
There are many other examples in the Bible of people disobeying authority – and doing the right thing. For example, Rahab, Esther and Obadiah all disobeyed, but they were right to do so.
Paul wrote a letter in which he urges people to obey authorities. But that’s the general principle. There are times when we MUST disobey and such times come along more often than you might think.
Here are some examples that apply to children.
What if other kids tell you to not do something? Perhaps a kid steals something from another kid’s lunchbox. ‘Don’t tell anyone’, he tells everyone. A kid climbs up on a roof which is out of bounds. Some others join in. ‘Come on, climb up’, they call out. Some kids gang up on another kid, and they want you to join in.
Just because other kids tell you to do something or not do something doesn't mean you have to.
What if someone in authority tells you not do something? In 1990, a group of Christian students in Texas started to meet together to pray before classes began. They met at the school’s flagpole. Other students all over America started to do the same. In some schools, school administrators and teachers told them to stop. But the students continued to meet to pray. They said they had the right to. Eventually the whole thing went to court and the court decided that they had the right to meet to pray outside class time.
Just because someone in authority tells you not to do something doesn't mean you have to.
What if your father tells you not do something? Two Sundays ago, I told a story about a young Yemeni woman called Rasha. Rasha became a Christian. She told her mother, Laila, and her younger teenage sister, Asman, of her new faith, and Laila and Asman also became Christians. They decided to read the Bible together. Then, in August last year, Rasha’s father discovered Rasha’s Bible. He demanded that Rasha give up her faith. She wouldn’t, so he beat her and later threw his wife and daughters out of their home.
Just because your mother or father tells you not to do something doesn't mean you have to.
Normally, we have to obey people in authority. And normally, we have to obey our parents. But if what they want us to do goes against what God clearly wants us to do, then what God wants comes first.
For children – assuming that it isn’t your mum or dad who is telling you to do something wrong – if you have doubt about something, talk to your mum or dad about it.
Many people today simply do what they’re told. But what about us? Will we be like the magi? Will we know the time when we MUSTN’T do what we’re told? Are we willing, like the magi, to be rebels, if the situation demands it?
FINAL THOUGHTS
The New Year has just started. People often set goals at the start of a year, and it’s a good thing to do. We get much more done when we set goals and work steadily towards them.
The wise men who we’ve thought about were impressively goal oriented. They were determined to seek. They came all prepared to worship. I don’t suppose they planned to rebel against King Herod. But they had no doubt in their mind who came first.
If we haven’t yet set goals for 2026, we could take the wise men’s goals. We make it our goal to seek God, in the sense of drawing close to him. We make it our goal to worship Jesus, in the sense of showing him what he is worth to us. And we make it our goal to make him first in our lives, no matter what anyone else may want.
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus, may we seek you as the magi, who followed the star, sought you. May we worship you as they worshipped you and presented you with their gifts. And may we be willing to be rebels and reject any authority which stands against you, as they did. We ask this in your name, Amen.
TALK GIVEN AT ROSEBERY PARK BAPTIST CHURCH, BOURNEMOUTH, UK, 11TH JANUARY, 2026.
