The Wise Men

The Wise Men

Reading: Matthew chapter 12 verses 1-12.

Ill:

• Story told of a retired man who bought a top of the range BMW as a present for himself.

• It was of course a convertible and boy did it go!

• As he took it for a spin on a dual carriageway, and his foot hit the floor and whoosh!

• Off it took, and within second he was soon doing over a ton!

• Then when he looked in the mirror, he saw a blue flashing light;

• Something came over him and instead of slowing down and pulling over,

• He decided to press the accelerator even harder;

• And he soon started to leave the police car behind.

• Then he came to his senses and thought; “What are you doing?”

• So he pulled over.

• When the police officer arrived on the scene, the man was red faced and very apologetic.

• The policeman said;

• “Listen, I am about to go off duty, if I write you a ticket,

• I am going to have to go back to the station and complete a load of paperwork.

• If you can give me one good reason why you were going so fast,

• A reason I have never heard before, I will let you off with a ticket”

• The man thought for a moment and said;

• “Well, years ago my wife ran off with a policeman….

• And just for a few minutes I thought you might be bringing her back!”

Note:

• The story of the wise men & their gifts is a story that is shrouded in mystery.

• From tradition we seem to know all the facts and details.

• But as we study the Bible we find that there are a lot of questions;

• That we cannot answer about the wise men from the Biblical text.

Ill: For example:

• How many were there? We don’t know.

• Where did they come from? We don’t know.

• What were there names? We don’t know (5th century they were called Caspar, Melchior, & Balthasar)

• How long did their journey take? We don’t know.

• They seem to just show up mysteriously;

• And just as mysteriously they are gone!

Note:

• From the Greek word translated in English as “wise men” or “Magi”,

• We get our English word “magician”.

• But these ‘Magi’ are not magicians as we would think of today;

• They were not experts at slight of hand, and they pulled no rabbit out of their hats.

• The word “Magi” in Bible times;

• Referred to those who were experts in philosophy, medicine and natural science.

• In Bible days you didn’t ‘Google’ for an answer;

• You looked to the Magi (specially trained wise men) to come up with an answer.

• These Magi (Wise Men) were literally walking encyclopaedias.

• Their one job in life was to learn, learn, learn;

• Then when called upon by their king or queen.

• They were required to give an appropriate answer or solution to the problem.

ill:

• Biblical example of wise men or ‘Magi’ was Daniel (of the Lion’s den fame);

• He was captured and taken to Babylon with his three friends;

• Shadrach; Meshach and Abednego (ill: my shack, your shack and a bungalow)

• And we are told they were chosen because they were…..

“Selected only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,”

“Those that were well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace.

Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon”.

Note:

• Someone has suggested that if the Magi existed today;

• They would be called “astronomers”:

• Note: astronomers not astrologers!

• There is of course a big difference!

• Astrologers are those who claim to read the future buy looking at the stars.

• e.g. horoscopes, zodiac signs, astrologers believe the stars guide & influence us in life.

Ill:

Story of anxious frog who was worried he would never find a partner in life;

• Decided to go see a Fortune-teller,

• Gazing into his crystal ball, the fortune-teller said to the frog:

“You are going to meet a beautiful young woman.

From the moment she sets eyes on you she will have an insatiable desire to know all about you. She will be compelled to get close to you—you’ll fascinate her.”

• The Frog excitedly asked: “Where am I? At a singles club?”

• Fortune-teller: “No in a biology class!”

• Astrologers are those who claim to read the future buy looking at the stars.

• e.g. horoscopes, zodiac signs, astrologers believe the stars guide & influence us in life.