Today let us turn our attention to the Magi, or Wise Men.
A couple points before we do that: We don’t know that there were three Wise Men. We know they gave three gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) but the Bible nowhere mentions how many men there were. There may have been three, or only two, or several dozen.
Nor were they kings. They were Magi, astrologers. Astrology was born in the regions of Babylonia or Persia about 1000 kilometres east of Israel in the area that now straddles the border between Iraq and Iran. Astrologers sought to interpret the movements of the heavenly bodies in terms of events on earth. Kings sought their counsel, and so these astrologers became advisors to the kings. They were the king’s ‘wise men’, men of prestige and influence, but not themselves kings.
Nor were these Magi present at the stable. They found Jesus after considerable time had passed since his birth, as we shall see.
I say all that just to clarify the traditional Christmas imagery of three kings at the manger.
In the gospels, only Matthew records the visit of the Magi. Matthew writes, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem 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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ We don’t know exactly where they were from, only that they were from ‘the east’, and so probably Babylonia or Persia where Magi were an established and honored society, but we don’t know for sure.
But in whatever land they called home, in the course of their observation of the heavens, something appeared in the night sky that they had never seen before. Planets had both geographical and symbolic associations, and their conjunction with other planets in various constellations would have signified different things. And whatever the Magi saw, they ascribed two important meanings to it: a) that it signified the birth of the ‘king of the Jews’ (whatever they understood that to mean) and b) that this was no ordinary king. They certainly didn’t travel around the middle east paying honor every time a royal figure was born in a region, which would have occurred with some regularity. But now they did. Something about this star and how they interpreted its meaning, compelled them to come and see, and pay honor to this newborn king.
So they made plans, packed up what they would need for the return trip, and set out. This was no small undertaking. If they were from Babylon, then they were embarking on a journey of more than 500 miles each way, a journey of many months. They clearly attached enormous significance to the star and traveled, as the song says, ‘over field and fountain, moor and mountain’, an epic journey.
The star did not guide them all the way on their journey, and so they guessed very logically that their destination would be Jerusalem, capital of the Jewish nation. So that is where they went. When they arrived in Jerusalem they began making enquiries. Again: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem 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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’
Of course, they assumed that they were making harmless enquiries about something that was common knowledge. But they meet with blank stares. No king has been born as far as anyone knows, the Magi are informed. (It is amazing how often, even today, God’s people are oblivious to what he is doing!)
Far different from the response they expected, Matthew records: When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
This King Herod is Herod the Great. Not himself a Jew, he had been given the title ‘King of the Jews’ by Marc Anthony around 40 BC, a title later confirmed by Caesar Augustus. History knows Herod the Great as a paranoid and cruel despot. He had his favorite wife and several of his sons executed because he thought they posed a threat to his rule. Just before his death he issued an order that when he died, a number of leading men of the city should be executed, to ensure that there was an attitude of mourning after he died.
So Magi appear in Jerusalem, asking after the one who had been born with Herod’s jealously guarded title ‘king of the Jews’. So, yes, Herod, now in his 70’s and physically ailing, was greatly disturbed and so all Jerusalem with him. When Herod was disturbed by a potential claimant to the throne, paranoid violence was sure to follow, as indeed it did in this case.
Herod immediately begins to explore this threat. Before calling the Magi to him, he first calls all the priests and the Scripture experts of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of 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 shepherd my people Israel”’.
While the public is still speculating about what the Magi mean by ‘King of the Jews’, Herod acts quickly. Maybe Herod considers the birth of a Messiah a possibility. Certainly, if others believe a Messiah has been born, that means trouble for Herod. Either way, he feels that his rule is threatened.
So Herod tries to glean all the information he can, because knowledge is power, and the more information he has, the better able he is to deal with this new threat. The priests go back to an obscure passage from the Old Testament book of Micah, chapter 5, where God speaks of the one who will come to both rule and shepherd God’s people. He will be a king, strong, and good. And he will be born in Bethlehem.
‘All right’, thinks Herod. ‘That’s what I need to know.’ He sends the priests out, and then has the Magi brought to him: Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
‘Secretly’. Herod didn’t want anyone else going to Bethlehem to seek this Messiah, this king. The more things are kept under wraps the better. Herod also finds out from them the exact time the star first appeared and thus, presumably, the exact time of the birth of the king they sought.
All the while, Herod is being very friendly and engaging. He’s a snake, but for all the Magi know, he is genuinely excited and interested in their quest. ‘Go to Bethlehem’, he tells them. ‘and search carefully for the child. When you find him, make sure and let me know, because I want to go and honor him, too.’ Herod is doing two things, of course: he’s hustling the Magi out of town quickly, lest they stir up the people even more, and he is making plans to locate the child and have him killed. He is duping the Magi into doing his detective work for him.
The Magi leave, excited at this new lead: After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star which they had seen went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
After such a long journey, and the initial confusion and disappointment of coming to Jerusalem, only to discover no one knows what they’re talking about, their quest is about to be fulfilled: the star that first inspired their journey, now appears again and leads them right to the place where Jesus is: And going into the house they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
(Notice that they find Jesus in a ‘house’, not in the stable any more. Remember, they’ve journeyed more than 500 miles. Considerable time has gone by since Joseph and Mary first came to Bethlehem and the angels appeared to the shepherds. And Jesus is now a ‘child’, not the ‘baby’ the shepherds found.)
The Magi find Jesus with his mother Mary. (Maybe Joseph was at work). What they do is really remarkable. Remember, these are men of influence and prestige where they come from. They are used to being shown deference and respect themselves. Yet before this little child, born into a humble family in an unimportant village, what do they do? They worship him! Literally, the word means they fell prostrate before him. I cannot help but imagine that Mary catches her breath, as she did in the stable when shepherds came and spoke of angels announcing Jesus birth. She must be reminded again that her little son is no ordinary child. Now, these wealthy and powerful foreigners are lying face down on the floor before this child.
Then, to her even greater astonishment, they call in their servants, who bring in from their pack animals small chests and expensive vials. (So it was not just the Magi who made this journey. There were servants, and so at least a small caravan.) At a nod from their masters, the servants unwrap and open the gifts, and Mary gapes open-mouthed at what she sees: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
These were costly and elegant gifts, and the Bible says that they were given out of the treasure of the Wise Men: Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. For Mary, from little Nazareth, this would represent more wealth than she’d ever seen. Imagine someone living in government subsidized housing, scraping by from paycheque to paycheque, suddenly being visited by a wealthy foreigner and being presented with a small sack of diamonds and a briefcase of bearer bonds worth a million dollars. That’s kind of what is happening to Mary.
And the Magi present these gifts not to Mary, but to Jesus her child, the Bible says.
Did they tell Mary & Joseph about their journey? about their interview with Herod? Probably. But before they can return to Jerusalem to tell Herod they had found the child, they are warned in a dream, presumably by an angel, not to go back to Herod. Accordingly, they take another route out of Bethlehem, swinging wide of Jerusalem.
Shortly after, an angel tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt, because Herod is about to search for Jesus to kill him.
Now the gifts of the Magi make sense. The gold finances the trip, and the myrrh and frankincense, easily portable, will be able to be sold in Egypt for a substantial price, and enable them to establish themselves.
People sometimes take these gifts and assign meanings to them (as in the carol ‘We Three Kings’: gold for his kingship, incense representing prayer and worship to his deity, myrrh was a perfume used in the embalming of someone before burial, so Jesus’ coming death is alluded to by the myrrh, etc.). But we don’t need to import symbolic meaning into these gifts, meanings the Bible never hints at. When we focus on some symbolic meaning, we miss the plain and central meaning of the text, and that is that these Magi recognize that Jesus is king. These gifts are worthy gifts with which to honor a king, and will prove of enormous value to Mary and Joseph in the immediate future.
Sure enough, when Herod realizes the Magi are not coming back – he’s been ‘outwitted’ the Bible says – he is furious. Based on when the Magi had first seen the star, and probably allowing himself a cushion, he orders the execution of every male child two years and younger in Bethlehem and vicinity, probably as many as a couple dozen. Herod shows himself a loathsome man, and this is entirely consistent with his character throughout his life.
But Joseph and Mary escape, and take Jesus safely to Egypt, the Magi are on their long journey home. Within a year, in 4 BC, Herod is dead.
This chapter of the Christmas story in which the Magi are players, is relatively short, only twelve verses. It’s a cameo role. And we usually read it quickly without giving it too much thought. But it’s quite a remarkable story, and the experience of the Wise Men likewise is remarkable.
In looking at a passage of Scripture I always ask: Why is this here?
A baby is born, shepherds come, 8 days later in the temple he is circumcised and Anna & Simeon prophesy about him. Then he is in the temple as a twelve-year-old. Luke records all these things. In between his 8th day and his 12th year the only episode the Gospels record is this one: some foreigners travel far to honor a toddler with their treasure. Have you ever asked: Why is this here?
As you read through the Gospel of Matthew you notice that there are two threads that are woven together: the kingdom of God, and Jesus as King of that Kingdom.
The Old Testament foretold the coming of a king, from the line of King David, a link made in chapter one. That link just sets the stage for what is to come.
Jesus begins his famous Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, which are bookended with references to the Kingdom of Heaven.
The life of Jesus demonstrated his sovereign rule, as he exercised Lordship and authority over disease, nature and demons. He was called “Son of David”, which was a particularly royal name for the expected Messiah, as a descendant of Israel’s greatest king.
His triumphal entry into Jerusalem certainly had all the overtones of a royal coronation, something that was not lost on his enemies: At his trial, the charge they brought against him was one of treason. Pilate asks Jesus, ‘Are you “the King of the Jews?”’. He was mocked for his kingship in his arrest, he is given a crown of thorns to wear. Pontius Pilate fixes a sign the cross over Jesus’ head: ‘This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’.
And when we first meet Jesus in Matthew, he is being worshiped by the ones who came seeking the ‘King of the Jews’.
So the phrase ‘King of the Jews brackets Jesus’ earthly life. Sort of.
Is he just king of the Jews?
Matthew ends his Gospel with Jesus’ declaration that ‘all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me’.
We sing, What Child is this who, laid to rest in Mary’s lap, is sleeping?… This, this is Christ the king!
The child in the manger is the King in whom resides all authority in heaven and on earth. I know that sounds cliched at Christmas time. It gets said and sung multiple times every year. But don’t miss it. It’s worth saying again, so I will. Hear it again for the first time: The child in the manger is the King in whom resides all authority in heaven and on earth.
That word ‘heaven’ by the way is a plural word, often translated ‘the heavens’.
All authority in heaven, and in the heavens, and on earth. What is not included? Nothing. Who is included?
You.
Was Jesus a cute baby? Maybe. Most are. And it’s fine for us to feel a certain tenderness as we kneel at the manger in this season. But we don’t kneel at the manger just to get a closer look. As we come to the manger we are gazing upon our king, so we kneel.
When we get up from the manger on Dec 26, what then?
Well, we live as if Jesus was our king, or we don’t. There is no halfway. Like being pregnant. No one is sort of pregnant. Either you are or you are not. Either Christ is king or he is not. And so you live as if he were, or as if he were not.
Now pause and think of that for a moment: Are you recognizing Jesus’ utter and unqualified authority over you? Are you recognizing Jesus’ utter and unqualified authority over you?
I am not asking: Have you made Jesus king of your life? We don’t decide the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to that question. He is Lord. Period.
Similarly, I’m not asking: Have you invited Jesus to be king of your life? Jesus is not king of your lives only with your permission. He is king whether you like it or not.
Nor am I asking: Is there any part of your life that you need to surrender to Jesus’ kingship? That question may make us think small so we can’t see the forest for the trees. Jesus doesn’t ask for this part or that part. Your life and your very self unconditionally belong to him.
Here is what I am asking: Am you recognizing Jesus’ utter and unqualified authority over you?
Now, you could answer that question in one of two ways:
1. Yes.
2. No.
For many of you, you will be tempted to answer ‘no’ when your answer is ‘yes’. You recognize your weakness and think that is rebellion. Yet you love him and do not dispute his kingship. You are hard on yourself because you think you’re not trying hard enough, without recognizing that it is precisely Jesus’ authority in your life that lifts you up off the ground halfway that you might kneel and kiss his hand again, and then all the way to stand, and walk again. Do not let anyone – including yourself – deceive you. You have surrendered yourself.
For others of you, you will be tempted to answer ‘yes’ when your answer really is ‘no’. You’ve been part of Christian culture for a long time, and have attended church for years. But your life in no way demonstrates any awareness of or desire for Jesus to be master of anything. Church may cross your mind once in a while, but Jesus never does. And if you really understood Jesus’ claim to everything you are, do and own, you would resent it. Don’t let anyone – including yourself – deceive you. You are a rebel.
If you don’t yet realize that this baby in the manger claims as his own your full allegiance, your utter and unreserved devotion, your very life lived for his glory, then you don’t get Christmas.
Coming from the glory of heaven, born to die for the sins of the world, to be raised from the dead, exalted to reign as king forever. As I heard someone say just last week: ‘This is such a great story, but people think, “That’s not a great enough story. Let’s add a Santa Claus and some elves and a tree. Now it’s a great story.” How stupid is that?’
Indeed.
I decorate a tree and sing some Santa songs and give presents. They contribute to my enjoyment of this season. But they add nothing to ‘the story’, and if they were removed, Christmas would still be complete. It would still be an honoring of the most stunning event that has ever happened.
A friend of mine said years ago that it was the incarnation that most amazed him. God as a man dying on the cross he could imagine. God rising from death would not then surprise him. But what he found most incredible was the idea of God becoming human in the first place. Once that happened the rest of it made sense. But the reality is that the maker and supreme master of everything, the one whose glory is so overwhelming that the universe is a cheap mock-up in comparison, became a human, much less a baby born in a stable.
No matter what we sing or say at this time of year, none of us understands really what happened that silent and holy night.
As I typed that last sentence, I was listening to Christmas music and the very line sung as I typed was ‘Jesus, your king, is born’.
Of course, people have tried to do several things with Jesus’ kingship.
They refuse to acknowledge his kingship and so reject him. Get him right out of their lives. Herod was disturbed and said, ‘There’s only one king, and it’s me’. Two millenia later, people say the same thing: ‘No one sits on the throne but me. No one has authority in my life but me.’
People will resort to violence to try to push Jesus’ kingship not only away from themselves but from others: atheists may be verbally violent, writing or speaking venomously and with contempt about people’s belief in Jesus. Many resort to physical violence and imprison or kill anyone who follows Jesus. We call that persecution. The first persecution of people because of Jesus was Herod’s when he had the babies of Bethlehem killed in a failed attempt to deal with the ‘king’. Persecution thrives to this day.
People try to reject his kingship.
Others ignore him. Those in Jerusalem, told that the Messiah king had been born were also disturbed, but there’s no indication that any one of them took it seriously or pressed the Magi for more details, or came to Bethlehem with them.
Of course, even today many do not hate Jesus or oppose him, but they ignore him: ‘If you want to be a Christian that’s fine for you, but that’s not for me.’ I can give you two examples from my own experience: I watched one get baptized and give his testimony. But within a few years he was no longer attending church and when I asked him about his faith he shrugged and said, ‘It’s just not working for me right now.’ I pressed him a little and said, ‘What about your baptism, when you professed to live for him. Is Jesus lord or is he not lord?’ And the only answer he could give was another: ‘It’s just not working for me right now.’
The other example is of a man who attended church with his believing wife. He had no problem coming to church or having his child raised in a church. But he himself was not a Christian. I asked him about it once and his answer was, ‘Christianity might be true, but I’m not going to take the trouble to explore it.’ There is an unimaginably supreme person who created you and for whom you are to live. If you do not acknowledge that reality, you miss out on real life here and risk eternal judgment.
Reject or ignore.
Interestingly, it is the Magi, foreigners, not God’s chosen people, who are models for how to respond to Jesus’ kingship. Look what they do.
They put their lives on hold for several months, perhaps even a year or more, to seek this king. They didn’t fully understand, certainly, but they knew enough to know that this ‘king of the Jews’ was no ordinary king. Why else would they make such a point of traveling such a great distance, at such great expense and inconvenience, to honor him? As I said, they were probably not in the habit of making trips to see every newly born royal figure in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean world. But they made this trip. If Jesus is king, then we order our lives around him, not the other way around.
Then when the Magi saw him, they did two things. We Christians often try to reduce it to one, but you can’t.
First, the Magi worshiped, and, second, they gave him their treasures. We worship, but we are hesitant to surrender our treasures. I am not just talking about money, though in our culture, and for many of us, that’s a real issue. But we have other treasures, too.
What is most important to you? Sports? Leisure? Relationships? Children? Health? Work? And do you acknowledge, ‘These belong to Jesus?’
Your body? Your time? Your life?
Or do you say:
‘I’ll sing my heart out on Sunday, but Jesus gets no more time than that in my every-day life.’
‘I can’t afford to tithe to God’s work, but I’ll keep cable, and I’ll keep buying my toys and equipment.’
‘I’ll keep indulging this little habit, because God understands, and what’s the harm? After all, the rest of my life is pretty good.’
‘I’ll pray regularly and fervently, but I’m not going to forgive so-and-so, and I won’t deal with my habit of talking negatively about people in their absence.’
Acknowledging the kingship of Jesus means saying, ‘Yes, I know these treasures are yours, my habits are your, my resources are yours.’
Without recognizing Jesus’ ownership of our treasures, we have not worshiped. We might sing, but by itself that’s not worship. We might go to church every week, or pray every day. But by itself that’s not worship. Only in the context of a life wholly surrendered can these be considered worship, for they then are part of a life that is in its entirety a life of worship.
Am you recognizing Jesus’ utter and unqualified authority over you?
He is the Son of God, the one who reigns over heaven and earth, eternally. If you don’t yet get that, it is worth the journey of a thousand miles, worth putting everything else on hold, to seek him. Explore. It’s the most important thing you could ever do.
Come to him as ruler and shepherd, for he is both strong and good. Under his Lordship is where fullness of life is experienced.
If you do name Jesus as king, kneel at the manger.
Jesus, your king is born.
Gloria in excelsus Deo: Glory to God in the highest.
Amen.