Matthew 2.1-13: Wise Men Meet Jesus

INTRODUCTION

Do you remember when you were a child how fascinating the night sky was?

We slept on a sleeping porch, and I can remember night after night looking out the window above my cot at the Milky Way and the thousands of stars spangling the sky.

I had a book of the constellations and would sometimes go out at night, throw a blanket on the grass, and identify the Big and Little Dippers; Cassiopeia’s Chair; Orion; Leo, the Lion; and Draco, the Serpent.

Ancient people spent a lot of time outdoors, and when it got dark, it got dark.

If there was no moon. the sky was spectacular on a clear night.

So they looked up into the sky a lot and saw the pictures in the sky and made stories about them.

Some of the ancients had the idea the stars were angels shining in the sky. They called the stars “The Host of Heaven.”

In the Book of Job (38:7), God asks Job,

“Were you there when I laid the foundation of the earth?...

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

The “sons of God” was one of the ways they spoke of the stars.

To the ancient people the stars and planets had meanings.

They were sure that whatever important happened on earth, it would be reflected in some way in the heavens.

And if something strange appeared in the sky—a comet, an eclipse, two planets coming together—they were sure it meant that something special was happening—or about to happen—on earth.

Wise men studied the stars. These were the earliest scientists. They studied the stars to try to find out their movements and to trace the movements of the planets among them. They tried to predict the future from the movements of the stars and planets.

They were wrong, of course, about the stars influencing events on earth, but in their studies they learned a great deal about the stars and the planets and the seasons. Babylonians and Chinese astronomers successfully predicted solar eclipses 2500 years before Christ.

We read about some of these men in the second chapter of Matthew. They are called in the Bible “wise men” or more accurately, “magi.”

These magi were members of a priestly caste in the religion of Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion of Persia. There are still Zoroastrians today. Most of them live in India. I don’t know whether modern Zoroastrians study the stars or not.

Near the time when Jesus was born, some of these magi were studying the night sky when they saw something new in the constellation that represented the royal house of Judah.

They saw something that told them that a long-awaited king was coming to that land.

So they set off with their gifts to visit that king.

Through the years story has been embellished with many details not found in the Bible.

The idea that they were kings comes from Psalm 72:

“May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!

May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.”

We don’t know actually how many magi came to Bethlehem.

The Bible tells us that they brought three gifts, so it is commonly supposed that there were three wise men.

We don’t know how they traveled. It’s picturesque to suppose they rode on camels. That makes an impressive picture. But they may have ridden on donkeys. Or maybe they walked.

So now I’ll read the story as it is recorded in Matthew’s gospel:

 Now when 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”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him, “In Bethlehem in Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:

‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who will govern my people Israel.’”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

When they had heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star which they and seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

I think it is remarkable that when God brought the news to humble Jewish shepherds, he sent an angel.

But when God brought the news to sophisticated Gentile scholars, he set a star in the heavens.

God speaks to each in a language he can understand.

I. So the magi traveled, we don’t know how long, and finally they reached Jerusalem

A. They were looking for a newborn king, so they went directly to the capital city of Judah.

We are not to believe that the star guided them the hundreds of miles from Persia to the Holy Land.

They saw the star when they were in the east, and its position in the sky indicated that they were to go to Judah, and so they set out.

Naturally they considered their destination to be Jerusalem, the capital and important city in the country.

No one there had heard about any new king.

But there were scholars who studied their Bible, and they found the prophecy from Micah 5 that told them that a Great Leader would come from Bethlehem, the city of David.

Herod was very interested in this situation.

Herod was the king who ruled Judah under the Romans.

He is called “Herod the Great” because he promoted great building projects, including the magnificent Jerusalem Temple.

Herod was not a Jew but an Idumean, that is a man of Edom, a nation descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother.

The Jews regarded him as a foreigner and resented his rule.

Herod was suspicious and cruel. He had a habit of killing his wives and sons when he got the idea that they were conspiring against him.

So he didn’t welcome the news of a new king and planned to kill him.

We read that “all Jerusalem was troubled with him.” I don’t suppose the people of Jerusalem were afraid of a new baby king. They were afraid of what a murderous Herod might do if he felt threatened.

B. So, after they left Jerusalem, the wise men continued on the six miles to Bethlehem. We read that “the star that they had seen in the east went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.”

I take it that this star that guided them to the house where Jesus was, was a miraculous star. A star several light years away, high in the sky, couldn’t have guided them to a single spot on earth.

We don’t know when they arrived. Tradition has it that it was January 6, which is called The Feast of the Epiphany. Children in some countries open their presents January 6 in honor of the wise men’s visit.

We read, “Going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.” The word now is “child,” not “baby,” as before. And by this time the Holy Family were living in a house. It could have been months or years later.

When Herod sent his troops to kill the babies, he had them kill all the boys two years old and under.

II. Notice that before they presented their gifts, they gave themselves to Jesus. “They fell down and worshiped him.”

A. The wise men are an example to us. All who belong to Jesus must humble themselves before him and worship.

That is one reason why we go to church. But worship should not only be in church. Worship should be in all we do.

Then they presented their gifts.

There is a lesson here for us.

True worship requires more than words and intentions of the heart. True worship requires that we give ourselves to our Christ.

True worship costs—I won’t tell you what it will cost you, but only that it will cost.

It will cost time, possessions, and the effort of honoring God in all we do.

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul writes, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Their gifts were the most precious things they had, gifts suitable to honor a king.

We can guess that they also were practical too, because when Joseph, Mary and the child had to flee to Egypt and live as refugees there, the gold, frankincense, and myrrh could be used to pay some of the expenses.

B. I picture these magi as men of great dignity and wisdom. But they were also humble.

When they didn’t find Jesus among the great and powerful, they followed the star to the little town of Bethlehem, and then to the humble house of a carpenter and his family. And they recognized a most unlikely king lying in his crib—and they worshiped.

Learned as they were, they had simple hearts.

Jesus came for everyone—great and small—but when the great come to him, they come just like everyone else—with faith and love.

C. Then, warned of Herod’s murderous intentions, “they departed to their own country by another way.”

Some see in these words another lesson from the story of the wise men and Jesus.

When we have met Jesus and responded with faith, obedience, and love, we’re never the same again.

Just as the wise men came by one way and went home by another way.

Our life without God takes us on one road, but when we meet Jesus we are directed to another road—God’s road, which ends with Glory.

CONCLUSION

The magi didn’t have any scriptures, but they followed the light they had, and God called them to his Son.

Jesus’s own people had the scriptures and they studied them, but they didn’t come—even the six miles to Bethlehem.

The Magi have a lesson for us. They didn’t just study the star—or admire it—they followed it.

They responded to God’s initiative.

We may not be theologians or scholars of the Bible, but God will nudge us in the right direction. It is up to us to obey those nudgings—to seek God as he calls us to himself.

I heard a preacher say once, “A seeking Savior and a seeking sinner will not long be apart.”

At the end of Matthew’s gospel we read these words of Jesus: “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

So at the beginning of the story and again at the end we have the teaching that Jesus is for the whole world. He came for Jews; he came for Gentiles. He came for the poor. He came for the rich.

He came for you; he came for me.

O come let us adore him;

O come let us adore him;

O come let us adore him,

Christ the Lord.