To Read: Matthew 2:1-2
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, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
We don’t know when the Wise Men visited Jesus, but we know that it was before his second birthday, as Herod, when trying to destroy the young child after hearing their report, took the lives of all males children two years and under. Though we often conflate the visit of the Wise Men with the manger scene, that is most likely not correct. We also do not know how many men composed the Wise Men – we often think of them as a trio because they brought three gifts, but there is no indication in the text that this is correct. We simply don’t know how many men were in the group.
The word for ‘wise men’ in the text most likely means astrologers, learned men from the Arabian peninsula, who would have been held in the highest esteem in their culture. They traveled from quite a long way, and followed a star to indicate his location. This prophecy of the star comes from Numbers 24:17, which says this –
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
We are not told what compelled them to move at the appearance of the star, how they learned of the prophecy, or why they desired to pay homage to a foreign king – but what we do know is this: this is the work of God in the hearts of people. Nothing could move them except the Lord alone convicting them to do so. And consider this: if they truly followed a physical star in the sky, this would have only been visible at night – during the day, they are traveling by great faith. God thought it was so important to show the inclusion of the Gentiles, that in addition to the worshiping Jewish shepherds, a visit by foreign, Gentile academia would indicate a spread of the family of God to include anyone who would believe. If you continue down to v. 9 in the text, it’s clear that the star itself showed them exactly where to go, and when they saw the presence of the star, they rejoiced, just as the shepherds did. This is the right response to the King – to rejoice at his coming. Their intent is to worship him – this is the fruit of God’s gift of faith for all kinds of people – he changes our hearts, and we respond in worship of him. This can be true of a lowly shepherd or a foreign king. The story of redemption involves a peasant girl Mary and a Babylonian king named Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man in the world at the time. This is the call to you this Christmas – rejoice! Let your whole season be marked by joy.
Song to Sing: Holy, Holy, Holy
Though not an Advent or Christmas song, this song brings to mind the prophecies and vision of Isaiah 6 – another time the angels praised the Lord together in the Bible – to consider the holiness of God is an important thing – and we respond with the same response as Isaiah – to say, Whoa is me, I am unclean – and yet, look at your grace. Because of that grace, Lord, I say, as Isaiah said, ‘send me.’
Prayer: Jesus, we look at you and say, ‘holy, holy, holy.’ You obeyed your Father perfectly in every way and earned righteousness for us. We thank you Jesus for living the life we should have lived and for dying in our place. We rejoice that you came for us. Amen.
Echoes of Eden: Art Museums and Shops. Go see something beautiful.