The Story Of The Wise Men

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.