Well, here we are less than two weeks away from Christmas—so let’s spend a little time focusing on the real reason for the season!

 

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

 

 

The term “wise men” is the Greek word “magoi” from which we get the word “magi” which is just a transliteration of that Greek word. Few biblical stories are as well known, yet so clouded by myth and tradition, as that of the magi, or wise men, mentioned by Matthew.

 

During the Middle Ages legend developed that they were kings, that they were three in number, and that their names were Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior.  Because they were thought to represent the three sons of Noah, one of them is often pictured as an Ethiopian—however, they are never called ‘kings’ in the NT, but rather they are simply called “magi” (magicians).

 

We don’t know how many magi there were—from the three gifts listed in Matthew 2:11 (gold, frankincense, and myrrh), people have assumed there were three of them—and yet, when their caravan arrived in Jerusalem, there were enough of them to trouble the whole city.  So, who were they? Herodotus, the Greek historian, says that they were Medes—the Medes were part of the Persian Empire.

 

These Magi were Persian wise men—scholars, who were skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural science. They were also soothsayers and interpreters of dreams.  Their title connects them with magic, but they were probably more like astrologers—however, their presence in the biblical record is not a divine endorsement of astrology.  

 

They were teachers and instructors of the Persian kings—they were looked upon as men of holiness and wisdom.

 

 

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East…”

 

Actually, they were in the East (Persia) when they saw His star in the west. This is obvious because they traveled west from Persia to Jerusalem.

 

 

There’s been a lot of speculation about this star.  Was it a real star; was it a supernatural star created by God just for these wise men to lead them to Jesus, or was it really an angel (angels are sometimes called ‘stars’ in the Bible)?

 

I personally think that this star was no ordinary star; I believe it was something miraculous created by God for this occasion—but it really doesn’t matter.

 

It doesn’t matter what kind of ‘light bearer’ God uses to lead you to Jesus.

 

It could be a friend or a stranger. He could put into someone’s heart to give you a CD or gospel tract. The gospel could be presented to you by listening to a radio program or by watching a TV show.

 

It’s not important what source of light God uses to bring you the good news of Jesus’ coming to the earth to save you—it’s only important that you follow that light all the way to Jesus.

 

 

 

Remember that these “wise men” were a group of scholars who studied the stars.  But how did they come to associate a star with the coming of the Messiah in the first place? In fact, how did these Persian wise men even know about the Messiah of Israel?

 

Well, if you remember that 600 years earlier Daniel was taken captive to Babylon where he was assigned a place with the wise men of Babylon.  Later Babylon was over thrown by the Medes and the Persians where he once again rose to a place of prominence among the wise men of the Persian court.

 

Because of Daniel’s high position and great respect among them, it seems certain that the magi learned much from him about the one true God, the God of Israel, and about His plan of redemption and the prophecies He had given about His coming King and Savior of mankind. 

 

Because many Jews remained in Babylon after the Exile and intermarried with the people of the east, it is likely that Jewish messianic influence remained strong in that region even until New Testament times.

 

God must have supernaturally revealed to the magi that the star in the western sky was the very star that God had predicted would point to the birth of the Messiah.

 

“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob;  A Scepter shall rise out of Israel…

 

 

…”Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come…”

 

God can give you all the light in the world to point you to Jesus but it will all be for nothing if you don’t respond and come to Him.  This time of year, even though it has been tainted by so much commercialism, Christmas still reflects the message of God sending His Son into the world.

 

Even atheists are confronted with the Christmas story and most of the people in our country celebrate Christmas and yet they don’t come to the Christ of Christmas for salvation.  They’re like the Pharisees to whom Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but they testify of Me and yet you refuse to come to Me that I might give you life.”Now even though tradition says that the wise men arrived at the stable just shortly after Jesus was born to present their gifts to Him—the events described in this passage probably occurred anywhere from 12 to 18 months after Jesus was born.

 

In other words, they didn’t get there at the same time the shepherds did because we see from Matthew 2:11 that Jesus’ family was now staying in a house rather than the stable where He was born (Luke 2:7).   It doesn’t matter that these Wise Men didn’t get there at the same time as the shepherds—it only matters that they came to Jesus!

 

We don’t all come to Christ at the same time, some come to Jesus sooner than others, the important thing is that you do come—before it’s too late!

 

 

…saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

 

Author Warren Wiersbe comments, “These men were… scholars—scientists in their own right. No scholarly person who follows the light God gives him can miss worshiping at the feet of Jesus.”

 

The whole purpose for Jesus coming to the earth the first time was so that God could seek those who would become true worshippers. 

 

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

 

Jesus came to save us, but that was only a necessary prerequisite to God’s ultimate goal which was to gather to Himself a community of people who would worship Him in spirit and in truth.  These wise men from Persia desired to fulfill this purpose when they said, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star…and have come to worship Him”.

 

What about you? As someone has said, “Wise men still seek Him!”

 

—God gave to the world the gift of His Son so that we, in turn, could give to Him the gift of worship.  And listen, true worship isn’t any one activity as so many think such as singing or praying to God and it doesn’t happen in any one given place such as at church.

 

It is the sum total of your whole life—how you think, how you live and what you say and it should happen everywhere you are not just in church—as Paul the apostle admonished:

 

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.

 

This Christmas don’t shut Jesus out of your heart like the innkeeper did from his inn.  Instead come to Him, fall on your knees before Him and say, “Forgive me Lord for my sins, come into my heart. I want to live my life from this moment on to worship You!”

 

If you do this—you too will be considered a wise man or woman!

 

 

Pastor Phil