“We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star”.
How familiar these words are and how natural it seems to refer to the Wise Men as three kings who came to visit the baby Jesus in the stable.
But when we look at what is written in Matthew’s Gospel we get something quite different. So many of our ideas of the birth of Jesus are based on the traditional Nativity Scene, with ox and ass standing by, and the Three Kings visiting the stable. But in the Gospel account you will find no mention of ox and ass, no little donkey on which Mary rode, not even any mention of a stable! (All it says is that he was placed in a manger because there was no room in the inn.) There is no mention of three kings riding on camels and arriving at the stable. We don’t even know haw many Wise Men there were – simply that they brought three gifts with them. All these other details have been supplied by the imagination of pious people down the ages. They have now become traditional and they may, or may not, be true!
Now, I’m a great believer in going back to the Bible. I like to think my faith is based on the Word of God, rather than made-up human stories.
So let’s look at the story of the Magi, or Wise Men, as we read it in Matthew, chapter two – what one commentator has referred to as “the first Star Trek”! ( NIV New Testament Commentary)
Wise Men
v1 – After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
After Jesus was born – not just before he was born. We might have an image of the Wise Men arriving at the stable on the very night Jesus was born, but Matthew tells us it was later. (In a moment we shall see just how much later it was.)
“Magi” or “Wise Men” – who or what were they? In the ancient world “magus” was a word used often for a magician, a sorcerer. But the word could also refer to the members of a certain caste of Zoroastrian priests. These men, who worshipped one true God, lived in Persia and Babylonia at the time of Jesus. They were, if you like, the scientists of their day. They studied the stars as they tried to chart the fate of kings and nations. They studied the world of nature and were experts in herbs and medicines. Even though they were not kings they were still powerful and wealthy men, with gold at their command.
v2 – and [they]asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.
These Magi came looking for “the King of the Jews”. This was a special title – not just any “King of the Jews” but the King of the Jews. It was the Messiah, the one the Jews had been anticipating for centuries. These men had surely studied ancient writings and they knew that the Jews were waiting for a King and a Redeemer. They had seen a new star in the sky and their studies indicated to them that this was a sign of the Messiah. And as worshippers of he One God they had come to Jerusalem to give homage to him. For where would the King of the Jews be found but at the royal palace in Jerusalem?
v3 – When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Herod said to himself, “I am the King of the Jews. Who is this child? I don’t want any usurper claiming Messianic status and pushing me off my throne!” He was disturbed, and so was everyone else who heard of this birth.
The birthplace of the Messiah
v 4 – When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
Herod called together his wise men to find where this King would be born. Now, anyone who knew the Jewish scriptures could have told him that the Messiah was to be a descendent of King David and that he was going to be born in King David’s town of Bethlehem. But obviously Herod was not such a keen Biblical scholar.
v5 – 6 – In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’
v 7- Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Why did he want to know the exact time the Star has appeared? Was it not so he could know the age of the child? (Presumably the Star had appeared on the day Jesus was born.) That must have been many months previous to this interview with Herod. The Magi would have taken quite a long time getting everything ready and then undergoing their long journey.
v 8 – He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.
Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus – he wanted to destroy him. He knew how old this child was and roughly where he had been born. Now he wanted to get the Magi to find out the exact location for him. Once Herod knew where the Child was it would be easy to get rid of him – or so he thought.
The Star guided them
v 9-10 – After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
Obviously the Magi hadn’t seen the Star for some time. Either the skies had been cloudy or the star itself had vanished. We tend to think of them following the Star on their journey across the desert to Jerusalem, but that would not have be necessary. Everyone knew how to get to Jerusalem and to Herod’s palace. Unfortunately for them it was the wrong place.
So they needed further guidance. And that is what they got from the chief priests and teachers of the Law who referred them to the ancient prophecies. That put them on the road to Bethlehem – just few miles from Jerusalem.
When the Star reappeared Wise Men rejoiced with great joy because it was confirmation to them that they were on the right road. What is more, it actually seemed to move ahead of them and to rest over the very place where the Child was.
Worship and gifts
v 11 – On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
Notice, it was a house and not a stable. some people have difficulty with this. I don’t know why. I can not imagine that Joseph and Mary would stay one hour longer in a stable than they needed to. And they would not keep baby Jesus in a manger when there was a nice cradle for him in a room in an inn. It was only at the time of his birth that they lived in a stable. We are now many months after the birth of Jesus and they have found a house to live in.
When the Magi entered, Jesus was there with his mother Mary. (Joseph was not to be seen. I suppose he was out working as a carpenter or looking for work – he had a family to support.)
The Wise Men bowed down and worshipped Jesus. They didn’t bow down and worship Mary. It was the Child they worshipped. They brought out their gifts of precious ointments, spices and gold.
v 12 – And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
So Herod was not going to find out where the child was.
The flight into Egypt
v13 – 15 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: Out of Egypt I called my son.
Jesus was safe, preserved from Herod’s murderous wrath. But others were to suffer from that wrath.
Slaughter of the Innocents
v16 – When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Herod had worked out (from the information given by the Wise Men about the time the Star had first appeared) that the Child was about a year old. So, to be on the safe side, he ordered that all boys under two should be killed.
Some have said it is unlikely that Herod would have killed all the baby boys in this way, but historians say otherwise. This man Herod the Great was capable of killing his own wife and two of his sons, as well as perpetrating many other acts of brutality. It is entirely in character that he would kill all the baby boys. In the area of Bethlehem at that time there might have been 20 or 30 boys of that age. Herod brutally had them killed. Presumably soldiers just went up to the houses, snatched the children from their mothers’ arms and put them to the sword. How horrendous! Matthew saw it as a fulfilment of certain words of the prophet Jeremiah which were originally written about the Exile.
We might question why these families had to suffer so that Jesus could be saved. But Jesus had to be saved in order to grow up to become the man who would save the whole world by his death on the cross. You might consider those children and their parents to be the very first martyrs of the Christian faith. Their suffering is part of the great problem of suffering in the world. Why does God allow brutal tyrants to bring suffering on innocent people? No doubt the Christians of North Korea are asking the same question. There is no easy answer to it.
Conclusion
After Herod the Great died Joseph was guided in a dream to bring Mary and Jesus back to the Land of Israel. They settled in Nazareth, where they had previously lived.
v 23 – and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: He will be called a Nazarene.
(The name Nazareth sound like the Hebrew word for “branch” and Matthew sees this as a fulfillment of such prophecies as Isaiah 4:2 and Jeremiah 23:4 .)
So we have here a wonderful story of God’s guidance and providence when he brought his Son into the world.
No Three Kings, bowing down in the stable. No mention of Ox and Ass bowing down. No camels. None of the usual trimmings we associate with the Nativity Scene. But what a wonderful story it is in Matthew’s Gospel!
Lessons
And what does it teach us? Well here are a few points:
- Guidance: the Magi were guided by the Star and by the words of Scripture. The prophecy told them the Child was to be born in Bethlehem. It gave general guidance. The star, on the other hand, took them to the very place where the Child was.
In life we also might need guidance. We can take Scripture for our general guide. But sometimes we need more specific guidance and we look for some sign. Such signs can be a great encouragement – as the Star was to the Wise Men. But the guidance of such signs (if they are truly of God) will always agree with Scripture. God will never guide us in a way contrary to his revealed Word. The Scripture led to Bethlehem and the Star led to Bethlehem. Both agreed.
- Disturbance: when Herod heard of the birth of this Child he was deeply disturbed and so were many other people. Jesus comes into the world, not just to bring salvation to those who are seeking peace with God, but also to disturb those who don’t want to go God’s way.
He is a challenge to the powerful oppressors and rulers of this world. And his Church today also is a challenge to all that is anti-God.
- Worship:“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him.” They worshipped him , not her.
We make a great error if we offer worship to Mary and not to Jesus. Mary is to be honoured above all women, but not to be worshipped.
- Gifts: Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
Gold, the royal metal, is for a King.
Frankincense is used in worship. It proclaims he is the Son of God.
Myrrh was used to anoint the bodies of the dead. Thirty years or so later the crucified body of Jesus was to be anointed with myrrh. It points us forward to his sacrifice on the cross.
Jesus is our King , Jesus is our God, Jesus is our Saviour.
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