Walk The Way Of The Wise Men

Once again, we must take time to appreciate the fact that God has taken us along the same pathway as the Magi. Nature only takes us so close to God - but then it’s power disappears - leaving us short of knowing who Christ is. I can remember back in college looking for a friend of mine’s house. I knew the general vicinity - it was on a lake. But once I got in the general vicinity, I couldn’t remember where exactly his house was. We drove around for 45 minutes and finally had to give up our search. Imagine how frustrating it would be for us to know there is a God out there - but to have no information about where exactly to find him or who He is.

God doesn’t leave us in the dark. Just as the Wise Men were led to Christ through the Scriptures, so we have also been led to Christ through the Scriptures. God has not left us with a vague idea about our Savior. Jesus isn’t, as Luke Skywalker would say, just some vague “force.” God has given us a clear pathway to salvation through the Gospel of Christ. As John 20:31 says, these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. So as we walk the way of the wise men, we can appreciate the effort God has made to light the way to Christ. He’s made it as clear as can be.

II. Watch out for the obstacles

Even though God gave the Magi a clearly lit path to the Christ child, it wasn’t like there weren’t any potholes along the way. Remember, how far the Magi had to go. They most likely had to travel hundreds of miles on foot to see this baby.

If God was leading them to see this baby from hundreds of miles away, they probably thought they were going to encounter a big party in Jerusalem over the birth of this King. But what happened once they got there? Instead of being excited, Matthew says, When King Herod heard this he was disturbed. The Magi had no clue what kind of a king Herod was. This was the same king who had some of his own children put to death so they couldn’t take over his kingdom. He had to work 30 years to finally stop the Jews from rebelling over his headship. This was the first king that the Jews had who was not a Jew. Instead of being excited at this newborn King, Herod was disturbed. This was another obstacle for the Magi.

Herod wasn’t the only one disturbed. Matthew said that all of Jerusalem was disturbed with him. The Israelites knew that Herod would start shedding some blood once again. So instead of being eager to follow the Magi, all of the Jews stayed home in fear of Herod. They pointed the Magi to the exact spot where Christ was to be born, but they didn’t even go. Think of how depressing this would have been for the Magi. Instead of having the people rejoice over the birth of their prophecied King, they were disturbed. Then they didn’t even come along. But God had the star appear once again and lead them on. So by the grace of God, the Magi went to see the Christ child anyway.

Don’t we have the same kind of obstacles as we approach the King today? We are very influenced by the way others act around us. On Candid Camera they put one student in with a bunch of actors ~ they were all supposed to give basic answers as to how long a line was when compared with other lines. When the actors all gave the wrong answer, the one student went along with them, even though he knew better. In other words, he gave into the pressure of the others. This works the same way within the church. A new prospect expects to see people on fire for the Lord. He comes to church eager to listen to another sermon. He comes eager to grow. And he expects the members to have that same eagerness. But then he gets there, and nobody seems as thrilled as he is. Nobody asks any questions. Hardly anyone sings very loud. Some of the members even seem to have really negative feelings toward their congregation and pastor. You would expect those who have grown up in the Word to be the most excited to come to worship the King every Sunday. You would expect them to be the leaders in coming to Bible class and worship. But those who have the most opportunity, with the fewest obstacles, end up being a stumbling block to the new prospects. When they see those who should be strong - acting weak, it makes them take a step back.