The Nativity Story: The Hope Of The Wise Men

One thing that the Bible clearly declares is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the hope of all people. He forgives our sins and grants eternal life to all who believe in Him.

JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF HOPE

WHEN THE MAGI FOUND THE KING, THEY JESUS!

Mt 2:9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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.

The Star Guided The Magi To Jesus’ House!

Bethlehem is about four miles south of Jerusalem. Up until now the star had led the magi from the east to the west. Now it seems like it took a left turn and headed south! Some think it was a reappearance of the Shekinah glory of God that had led the children of Israel through the wilderness and that it even may have emitted a beam of light to reveal the house.

What is more likely is that the star did not move but became visible again as the Magi left Jerusalem and headed toward Bethlehem. Then it faded from visibility when the Magi came to the house where Jesus and his family lived.

The Magi did not find Jesus until some months after he was born and found him in a house not the stable. A clue to this fact is that Herod asked the Wise Men when they had first seen the star and then sent his soldiers to kill every Jewish boy under the age of two years. This doesn’t mean that Jesus was two years old but that Herod allowed enough room for error to be certain that he killed this challenger to his throne.

In a moment we are going to watch a film clip from the movie The Nativity Story which shows the Wise Men arriving at the manger. Nativity Scenes usually include the Wise Men around the manger because they present a synopsis of the whole Christmas story. The makers of the movie The Nativity Story chose to portray the Wise Men at the manger for the same reason – they wanted to keep viewers focused on the beauty of the whole birth narrative.

The Magi Worshipped The Child With Gifts That Foreshadowed The Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

The Magi bowed down and worshipped the child! They had not come just to satisfy their curiosity but to worship Him as they would worship God.

They then presented their gifts as an act of worship of the child (the Greek word for presented indicates an offering made to God). The fact that they gave three gifts does not mean that there were only three wise men. There could have been just two or many more than three.

The three gifts the Magi brought foreshadowed the person and ministry of Jesus.

Gold for His royalty. In the Scriptures gold was a symbol for royalty and also signified the glory and deity of God. It and was thus an appropriate gift to give to God the Son.

Frankincense for His deity. This was a sweet incense that was used in connection with some of the offerings in the Temple, it’s aroma rising to God as a prayer.