Matthew 2:1-12 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Those of us who have heard the Christmas story dozens of times often forget what it might be like to hear it for the very first time. Listen to the reaction of the Herdman children the first time they hear about the Wise Men. This is from the marvelous little book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever:
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"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea," my Mother went on reading, "behold there came Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem, saying---"
"What does it mean, Wise Men?" Ollie Herdman wanted to know. "Were they like schoolteachers?"
"No, dumbbell," his brother Claude said. "It means like President of the United States."
Mother looked surprised, and a little pleased. "Why, that's very close, Claude," she said. "Actually, they were kings."
"Well, it's about time," their sister Imogene muttered. "Maybe they'll tell the innkeeper where to get off, and get the baby out of the barn."
They saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him, and presented unto him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
"What's that stuff?" Leroy Herdman wanted to know.
"Precious oils," Mother said, "and fragrant resins."
"Oil!" Imogene hollered. "What kind of a cheap king hands out oil for a present? You get better presents from the firemen!"
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We laugh at their misunderstanding of the story, but perhaps our familiarity has caused us to miss the drama and the power it contains. After I ended up being a Wise Man for about six straight years as I was growing up, I figured I knew everything there was to know about those travelers from the east. Yet, in recent years, as I have studied Matthew 2, I have realized more clearly how the Wise Men really do give Christians today an important model to follow. Let's pray the Lord will give us a fresh understanding into this portion of His Word, so that we might grow as worshipers of the King born in Bethlehem that first Christmas.
Let's start with three questions that often seem to come up about the Wise Men. #1) What was the star they followed? I heard an hour-long lecture on this topic once, but my answer is very short. Some suggest it was a spectacular alignment of Jupiter and Saturn; others say it was probably a super nova, or maybe even Halley's Comet, which would have appeared in 12 B.C. I tend to think it was a supernatural phenomenon. God caused what looked like a star to appear in the sky and go ahead of them, leading the Wise Men to the Baby Jesus.
Question #2) Who were these Wise Men, or Magi? Tradition tells us their names were Melchior, Balthasar and Kaspar. It was not, however, until 600 years after Jesus' birth that these names first appeared in any writings. We also usually think of them as being three Wise Men, but again that comes from a much later tradition, not the Bible. Some say the fact there are three gifts listed implies there were three Wise Men, but there is certainly no reason, for example, why five or six of them could have brought gold to the Baby Jesus. Another inaccuracy which has crept into the Christmas tradition is the idea that these men were kings. In the prophet Daniel's time, 500 years earlier, Magi were astrologers and interpreters of dreams. In Daniel, Chapters 1 and 2, we see they were advisers in the king's court. By the time of the New Testament, the term Magi seems to refer to a broad class of astronomers and astrologers, some of them frauds and others serious scholars. We sometimes sing a carol titled, "We Three Kings of Orient Are." However, these men were not kings, there probably were not three of them, and they were not from what we would think of as the Orient. Maybe that will take the fun out of singing the song, but that is the way it is. The Magi came from the east, but not from China or Japan. They came from the Middle East, probably Persia, which is now Iran, or Babylon, which is now Iraq. Wherever they are from, they had encountered Jews who told them of Old Testament prophecies concerning a Messiah. The strange star they saw compelled them to make a journey to Palestine.
A third question I have sometimes been asked is: When did the Magi arrive in Bethlehem? Verse 11 says that they find Jesus in a house, not a stable. Some say it would take the Wise Men many weeks or months to make their journey, so it is no surprise that Jesus has moved from the stable to a house by the time they arrive. Yet, Joseph, Mary and Jesus may have moved to a house within a couple of days after the birth. There is no reason to suppose the Magi waited until Jesus was born before they began their journey. Historians think Herod died shortly after Jesus' birth, and the fact that Luke 2:39 implies the family returns to Nazareth when Jesus is still a baby indicates that the Wise Men probably came soon after the Child was born. I would say it's most likely that they arrived within a few weeks, or even days, of Jesus' birth, though apparently they did not gather around the manger with the shepherds as most nativity scenes depict.
OK, these are all fine questions to ask, but as we read this story, I encourage you to focus not on what we wish Matthew would have told us, but on what he does tell us. I believe Matthew wrote his gospel under the inspiration of God's Spirit. His account is just what God desired. We may be curious about the names of the Wise Men or the nature of the star, but those are not the things God decided we need to know. It seems what is really important is that these were men who had come to worship the newborn King. That is Matthew's focus. These men were worshipers, and I think there are some important lessons we can learn from them.
First, we learn that anyone and everyone is called to worship Jesus Christ. The Wise Men are not exactly likely candidates to come and worship the infant Messiah. They are from a pagan culture, with a limited knowledge of the Bible. Yet, what Matthew seems to be stressing, as he reports that the non-Jewish Magi came to worship Jesus, is that He is not just the Messiah of the Jews. Jesus had not come just to save Jewish people. Thus, it is not just Jews who ought to worship Him. Now, that seems very obvious to us, but it was pretty radical stuff in Matthew's day. To tell a 1st Century Jew that the Messiah was to be the Savior for both Jews and Gentiles was a pretty shocking statement. But, as we go through the rest of the New Testament, it is clearly spelled out. The gospel is for everyone, no matter who they are. It is for everyone, no matter what color their skin is, or what language they speak. It is for everyone, no matter if they are male or female, young or old, short or tall, poor or rich, Republican or Democrat, Viking fan or Packer fan. And, friends, Jesus can be our Messiah and Savior, if only you will receive Him as that. No matter who we are, Christmas is for us. All of us, each of us, is called to worship Jesus the Messiah.
This includes religious people. There is an interesting contrast between the Magi and Herod's advisers. Herod, of course, is a wicked king. As soon as he hears about another king, he starts to plot how he can eliminate his rival. We'll talk more about him next Sunday. But, certainly some of Herod's advisers must have been religious men. They knew Scripture; they knew what the prophets said, and I'm sure they went to the synagogue at least on occasion. Yet, they apparently had no interest in going to see the newborn Messiah. I would think even if they were skeptical of the Magi's claims, they would still be interested enough to check it out, and go to Bethlehem and see what was going on there. Why did they not do that? My guess is that these folks probably had heard talk about the promised Messiah so often that their interest had been dulled. They were practicing their religion out of habit. They had experienced what I call a "religious inoculation." They had just enough religion to guarantee they would never get the real thing.
That is, of course, what a smallpox or flu inoculation does. It gives you just a little bit of a disease so you become immune and will not catch the real thing. Friends, I think this is one of the big problems facing the Christian church today. In the pews of a lot of churches sit people who have been inoculated with Christianity. They are people who are religious, but they are people who really don't know, and have no experience in, the love of God which is found through Jesus Christ. Christmas is for folks who, like the Magi, come from a pagan background and are hearing the story for the first time; and Christmas is also for religious people like many of us in this room who have heard the story dozens and dozens of times, but who still do not experience its wonder and power in our lives. Friends, ask the Lord to help you realize that worshiping Jesus Christ is something that you are specifically being called to do.
The second lesson we learn from the Wise Men is that true worship requires commitment. What if someone asked you this question: Do you worship God? Many of us would probably answer, "Yes, I do that every week. Most Sundays I spend from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in church, and that is when I worship God." But, is worship really something we can do just once a week, like grocery shopping? Is it really something we can turn on and off like a water faucet? I don't think so. True worship is much more than that. It involves committing our lives to honoring God. When we look at the Magi, we see people who were true worshipers. They were willing to commit themselves to worshiping the Lord. That is evident as they make their journey to Bethlehem. Wherever their home was exactly, it was a long journey from there to find Mary, Joseph and the Baby. It took a long time. It probably interrupted their lives for a number of months. It was not convenient to follow the star. Can any of us imagine spending five to six months traveling so that we could worship the Lord? I can get from my house to the church in six minutes. But true worship is not always the convenient thing to do. Sometimes we have to interrupt our agenda and our schedules so we can turn our focus toward Jesus. In all the activity of this next week, I hope you are committed to doing that.
The Magi's commitment to worship is also evident in their willingness to risk their safety. Historians say the journey to Bethlehem was a dangerous one. Outlaws and robbers were plentiful along the paths the Magi traveled. They would probably have been safer in taking the New York subway. The Magi, however, seem to have no fear about physical safety. They demonstrate that when they deal with Herod. He was a ruthless king. He had executed three of his sons because he thought they were a threat to his political power. The Magi must have known something of his reputation and they probably guessed that Herod would not be excited about their quest to find a new king. But, they are not afraid of him. Being able to express their worship to the Messiah was so important that they were willing to sacrifice months of their lives and risk their own personal safety. Again, that is quite a contrast to many folks today. We are interested in worship that fits into our lives and into our schedules. We will go to church as long as we can get home in time for the kickoff. But, true worship involves commitment. If we are only interested in worshiping the Lord when it is the convenient and easy thing to do, are we really true worshipers? We need to make sure we take time for both individual and corporate worship. Each day we need to set aside time to express our praise and adoration to the Lord. We can do that through prayer, reading the Psalms out loud or even singing hymns in the shower. We also need to be committed to joining God's people for corporate worship on a regular basis. Now, I know some of you have work schedules and other commitments that make that difficult. But, it is important. Ask God to help you be a committed worshiper.
The third lesson we learn from the Wise Men is that worship needs to be from the heart. Listen again to what Matthew says happened when they arrived in Bethlehem. Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. When they arrived at the house, the Magi may have been a little surprised. Would not a king be staying in a palace? But they go in and fall down. These grown, Gentile men, fall down before this little Jewish Baby. What humility! Today people like to stand up and clap for someone they admire. But, the Wise Men fell down and worshiped Him, literally, "kissed toward Him." They adored this little Baby and loved Him. Their actions were not just religious rituals, they came from the heart. Now, I don't know what these Magi knew about Jesus. Did they understand that He was the Eternal Son of God? Probably not, but by God's grace they did recognize that He was worthy of worship. Friends, many of us have had the privilege to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ many, many times. We know all about the wonderful things that Jesus did when He was on earth and about His death and resurrection. Our worship of the Lord Jesus really should be much more enthusiastic and full than that of the Magi. But, often it seems we just go through the motions. We sing the songs, but our hearts are unmoved. It is not supposed to be that way. The Wise Men remind us that true worship comes from the heart. Friends, ask the Lord to fill your heart with love for Him so that you can be a true worshiper.
#4) Worshipers give to the Lord. After they fell down and worshiped, the Magi gave the Baby Jesus gifts. Matthew mentions gold, incense and myrrh. Not typical presents for a baby. We would give an infant a stuffed animal or a little hat and mittens, not precious metals and perfumes. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Typical men, they could not pick out an appropriate gift if their lives depended on it." The Magi, however, gave Jesus gifts that were fit for a King. Remember, that is why they had come, to worship a King. And I also suspect that they gave the best that they had. In doing that, they expressed their love and devotion to King Jesus. The Herdmans understood that part of the story:
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We got a little rest then, while the boys sang "We Three Kings of Orient Are," and everybody in the audience shifted around to watch the Wise Men march up the aisle.
"What have they got?" Alice whispered.
I didn't know, but whatever it was, it was heavy -- Leroy almost dropped it. He didn't have his frankincense jar either, and Claude and Ollie didn't have anything although they were supposed to bring the gold and the myrrh.
"I knew this would happen," Alice said for the second time. "I bet it's something awful."
"Like what?"
"Like . . . a burnt offering. You know the Herdmans."
Well, they did burn things, but they hadn't burned this yet. It was a ham -- and right away I knew where it came from. My father was on the church charitable works committee -- they give away food baskets at Christmas, and this was the Herdman's food-basket ham. It still had the ribbon around it, saying Merry Christmas.
"I'll bet they stole that!" Alice said.
"They did not. It came from their food basket, and if they want to give away their own ham I guess they can do it." But even if the Herdmans didn't like ham (that was Alice's next idea) they had never before in their lives given anything away except lumps on the head. So you had to be impressed.
Leroy dropped the ham in front of the manger. It looked funny to see a ham there instead of the fancy bath-salts jars we always used for the myrrh and the frankincense. And then they went and sat down in the only space that was left.
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Friends, we always need to remember that Christianity is not about what we can give God, but about what He has given us, His Son Jesus Christ. Yet, the Wise Men remind us that part of worship is giving back some of what God has given to us. What kind of gifts are appropriate for us to give to the Lord? Probably not gold, frankincense, myrrh or even a ham. What God really desires is ourselves. Listen to 1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." Obeying God is something we can give to the Lord. Then listen to what Paul says in Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship. Friends, as we approach the beginning of a new year, a new decade, a new century, a new millennium, I challenge you to make a living sacrifice, committing your life to Jesus Christ; committing yourself to living in a way that will honor Him. That is the ultimate expression of true worship. Friends, ask the Lord to help you not be afraid to give of yourself for His glory.
Friends, will you join the Wise Men in worshiping King Jesus? The story of the Magi is one which most of us have heard many times. But, I hope that today we have heard it in a fresh way. And most of all, I hope that you realize that God is also calling you to be committed to heartfelt, sacrificial worship. The Magi devoted themselves to worshiping King Jesus. May God help us to do the same thing in our lives.
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