Didn’t God lead the Israelites through the desert with a pillar of cloud by day and the light of a pillar of fire by night? And didn't that pillar of fire move and then stop at times? Did not the cloud move over the tabernacle upon its completion and settle there until the glory of the Lord filled the place? That a bright light identified as a star would move ahead of the Magi and stop over the place of Jesus birth is not that strange when considered from the perspective of the miracles of the rest of the Bible. It only seems strange to men who are embarrassed to admit to a skeptical world that they believe in a supernatural God who does extraordinary things....

My letter carrier put one over on me the other day. I was out on my morning walk where I encounter him from time to time. He was standing by his mail truck as I rounded the corner of the block. I jokingly asked if his legs were worn off yet with all of the holiday packages he had to deliver. We swapped greetings, then he turned very serious and asked me whether I had heard the latest ruling from Washington DC banning the display of Nativity Scenes in public places in the city. Knowing that this was an issue in the news every year about this time, I responded by saying something like, "No. I haven’t heard. What are they up to now?" Without the slightest break in his sober routine, he responded, "Yeah, they couldn’t find enough wise men in the whole place to make up a display."

Last Sunday morning I brought a message about the Wise Men of the Bible called, "The Visit of the Magi: What was it all About?" Time didn’t allow us to cover the entire issue, so again this morning I’m going to address the topic.

We’re looking at Matthew 2:1-12. Please turn there and follow along as I read it again.

We covered two points last time:

1. The Arrival of the Magi.

We talked about who these remarkable men were and why they were referred to as "Wise Men." I showed you the possible connection to the prophet Daniel and his prophecy of the date of Messiah’s birth, and also explained their question in verse 2, "Where is He who is born king of the Jews?" We then looked at:

2. The Reaction of the King.

The King responded to the news of Christ’s birth in exactly the opposite manner that the Wise Men had. They wanted to find the child so they could bring Him gifts and worship Him. The King considered the baby a threat. He summoned the Magi to ascertain the time they saw the star – with the secret intent of locating and killing the child. Of course, he kept that part to himself and while he did not vent his rage on Jerusalem, Bethlehem would soon feel his paranoid wrath.

I will continue with the same numbering scheme I used last time and according to that we are on point number three, which we can call:

That is all that is said in this context about the interplay with the religious leaders of the day. They gave Herod the answer to his question, which, to many Jews of that time was already common knowledge.(1) Then from Matthew’s perspective, they just faded into the background.

Do you notice anything missing from this passage? Conspicuously missing is any interest whatsoever from the leaders in checking out the validity of the Magi’s story. They knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. That’s what they told Herod. And that the time for his birth was near was widely believed among the people. Surely if these Gentile Magi could ascertain the time of His birth from Scripture, these leaders would know. Yet it appears that not even one of them made any effort to travel the six miles to Bethlehem to see if the story were true. Why the indifference?

I don’t think it can be said that they hadn’t heard the question of the Magi. All of Jerusalem was troubled about it. These leaders knew what had happened since the men from the east had arrived. Surely they must have understood the significance of Herod’s question put to them about the location of Messiah’s birth. So again, why the indifference?

Perhaps they were unconcerned due to the source of the information. After all, the Magi were Gentiles. It may just be that these Jewish leaders were so tuned out to the possibility that God might have any concern for the Gentiles, or might do anything through them, that they didn’t consider it worthy of any effort on their part.

Or perhaps they were just so comfortable in their religiosity that the thought of the Messiah arriving and messing up their positions of power was more than they wanted to deal with.

Whatever may have been the reason for their indifference, they missed their invitation to come and worship the Messiah soon after His arrival – the most significant historical event of their entire history.

It occurred to me as I studied this passage that we have here an illustration of the various ways that people deal with the presence of Jesus Christ today.

Some, like the Jewish leaders described here, just ignore Him. Perhaps He doesn’t fit into their lives as they are, or maybe they aren’t impressed with the messengers who bring them the news about Him. Whatever the reason for their indifference, they just let their opportunity to meet Him and learn about Him pass them by. The tragedy of their indifference will become known to such people only on the Day of Judgment – a day when it will be too late to reverse their course.

Some people today flat out oppose Christ when they hear about Him. Like King Herod in Matthew’s account, the mention of Christ’s Name sets them off. Such people will do anything they can to eradicate His Name from society because they know that if He ever were to become king in their lives, or in the lives of those around them, they would have to confront the way they live and their standing with a righteous Creator. Much of the effort to silence the mention of Christ in the public sector today comes from such people. Perhaps a ready example of this kind of opposition would be the strident members of the ACLU, who seem to come out every year about this time to file their lawsuits over nativity scenes, Christmas trees, and public displays of piety. May their numbers decrease! Better yet, may there be some way that the light of the message of Jesus Christ might penetrate the darkness that blinds their minds and, like the Apostle Paul who was himself a persecutor, they might be converted!

But there is a bright spot in all of this. There will also always be that third kind of people who seek out Jesus Christ just as the Magi did and wish to worship Him. They may not understand all there is to know about Him, but they will humbly act on what they do know, and in time, they will take His yoke upon themselves and begin learn from Him. We dare not allow ourselves to focus only on the first two kinds of people, lest we become discouraged and loose heart. The indifferent and the opposers have been there from the beginning of the gospel and will be with us until the judgment. We need to be on the lookout for the seeking "wise men" (and women) types around us who have seen the bright star of His claims and have come to inquire where and how they might find him. These are the ones for whom God is holds the door of salvation open. That is not to say that He would not accept the others. It is to say that they are not looking.

Let’s move on now to:

Speculation abounds as to what the star of Bethlehem actually was. Some believe that it was the planet Jupiter. Others think it might have been a special alignment of Jupiter and Saturn. The Planetarium in the town where I grew up puts on a presentation every year about this time, which presents their explanation of the "Star of Bethlehem" as the particularly bright alignment of several planets. But before we launch an investigation in that direction, let’s be sure we understand what the Bible actually says.

Look again at verse 2: "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him."

Let’s start by clearing up a bit of directional confusion. Verse 1 says that the Magi came from the east. Palestine was to their west. Had they seen his star to the east of them, they would have headed in the opposite direction from Palestine and ended up in what we today call Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan. It is perhaps better to read this verse, "We saw His star while we were in the east, and have come to worship Him." That makes a lot more sense and is a fair translation. They actually traveled westward.

So is there any mention of a star in prophetic Scripture in connection with Messiah’s birth? Some suggest that the Magi might have been influenced by a literal interpretation of Numbers 24:17 which says,

But this passage is referring metaphorically to Messiah Himself and not the manifestation of a heavenly body that would guide people on His behalf. Besides, if the star in Numbers 24:17 is to be taken as a literal star, then we must also take the scepter literally – which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. In what way would a literal scepter rise from Israel?

There are only two other mentions of a star in the Old Testament and neither refers to Messiah.(2)

It seems more likely to me that perhaps the Wise Men (who spent their lives studying the stars) noticed a particularly bright star that they hadn’t seen before. They then put this together with their knowledge of the date of the Jewish Messiah’s birth and headed toward Jerusalem, figuring that is where He would be born. Or even more likely, perhaps God caused a special, miraculous star that could not be explained by natural means to show up in the heavens meant especially for them to notice.

The star is mentioned again in verses 7-9, where Matthew’s description is more specific.

Until verse 9 there is no mention of the star moving ahead of the Magi to guide them. It simply says they saw His star. But now, after they left King Herod, the star "went on before them until it came and stood over where the child was." Notice a couple of things from that. First, Matthew seems to say this latter manifestation was the same star as they saw in the beginning. He calls it "the star which they had seen in the east." Secondly, notice that there is no way that the actions of the star from this point onward can be explained by natural phenomena. Natural stars and planets do no move ahead, then stop and stand over a given spot on earth.

While we probably don’t have enough information to be too dogmatic, my own conclusion about the star is that it was a miraculous manifestation that cannot be explained naturally. While many people today seem uncomfortable with the possibility of God doing miracles at certain points in man’s history, I think this is the only alternative for us without doing violence to the text of Matthew.

Think about it for a moment. Didn’t God lead the Israelites through the desert with a pillar of cloud by day and the light of a pillar of fire by night?(3) And didn't that pillar of fire move and then stop at times? Did not the cloud move over the tabernacle upon its completion and settle there until the glory of the Lord filled the place?(4) That a bright light identified as a star would move ahead of the Magi and stop over the place of Jesus birth is not that strange when considered from the perspective of the miracles of the rest of the Bible. It only seems strange to men who are embarrassed to admit to a skeptical world that they believe in a supernatural God who does extraordinary things from time to time. I believe the star moved ahead of them, just as Matthew reported, at least as they left Jerusalem and headed for Bethlehem. I admit this without any shame or embarrassment.

Let’s go finally now to:

The intention of the wise men is first mentioned in verse 2:

"For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him."

That same motive is shown again in verses 10 and 11: "And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."

You learn a lot about people by noticing what makes them happy. A hole-in-one makes a golfer extremely happy. A winning touchdown by a favorite team in the Super Bowl makes a football fan cheer. A very large catch makes a fisherman very happy.

What was it that made the wise men happy? It says in verse 10, "when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." One author points out that Matthew’s text "piles up superlatives to emphasize the extent of exhilaration they felt."(5) They were overjoyed to finally find, after their lengthy journey, which may have taken several months to complete, the object of their quest.

What a contrast between their great joy and troubled, murderous spirit of King Herod! What a difference between their happiness at fulfilling their mission of finding the Messiah and that cold, apathetic indifference seen in the religious leaders!

All of us would do well to ask ourselves what gives us great joy in life. Yes, we probably all have earthly things that bring us happiness, and that isn’t wrong. But can we, do we, rejoice at the fulfillment of a spiritual victory as much as the golfer rejoices with his hole-in-one?

The Magi came to worship Him, so when they arrived at the house, Matthew says they "fell down and worshipped him." These were men of great power and renown. They had very high social standing in their day. Yet here they are, on their faces before the baby Jesus in worship.

Note please, that they fell down and worshipped Jesus. They did not worship Mary or Joseph. The worship of human beings other than Christ while He was on the earth is something unsanctioned by the Bible. In those very few times it did happen, it was quickly corrected. Surely the Wise Men were respectful toward Jesus’ earthly parents, but Matthew makes it clear whom they worshipped.

It says also that they gave Him gifts. Giving gifts has always been an expression of worship. But there is more here than that. These men opened their "treasures" to Him. Matthew says, "And opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts." They didn’t pull out their bag of leftovers and cast-offs. It wasn’t the bargain table or the reduced stock that they hauled out. They hadn’t stopped by a rummage sale in Jerusalem to buy a gift. They gave their very best.

King David, the ancestor of Jesus whose throne this child would one day assume, once said, as he contemplated an offering that was acceptable to His God, "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing."(6)

All of us would do well during this holiday season to ask in our heart of hearts, whether our own giving to God consists of that which costs us something or whether we simply give the Lord our picked over remains after we’ve used what we want. It’s a heart-searching question that no one can ask and answer but each individual.

So what do kingmaking Magi offer to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? These men brought three kinds of gifts: Matthew says, "they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."

While these gifts were costly in themselves, they may have carried some symbolic meaning as well. Gold has long been considered the most precious of metals. It is a universal symbol of wealth. It was a gift appropriate for a king, which Jesus was.

Frankincense was a costly, pleasant smelling type of incense that was used only on special occasions. It was used in the temple worship for grain offerings and in certain royal processions. Origen, the early church father, suggested that frankincense was the incense of deity.

Myrrh was a perfume. Though not quite as expensive as Frankincense, it was often associated with mortality. Mixed with other spices, it was used for embalming

Thus, it has been suggested that we have the recognition of royalty in the gold, a thought of deity in the frankincense, and a suggestion of mortality in the myrrh.

Whatever the symbolism was exactly, we have in the visit of the Magi a welcome appropriate for a king. Yet we also have an irony. Here the gift givers come from among those who, historically, had been far away from God. The Magi were Gentiles. Yet now, during the magnificence of His birth, they are the ones who show up to honor and worship Him. This would prove to be the case in the majority of times during Jesus’ earthly ministry. God was about to do a work among the Gentiles that most of the Jews could never have imagined.

Let me close this message with these thoughtful words from an unknown writer:

The Lord Jesus Christ whom we exalt at Christmas is not just a baby in a manger. He is not a character in a children’s story. He is far more.
The first time He came, He came veiled in the form of a child. The next time He comes, and we believe it will be soon, He will come unveiled, and it will be abundantly and immediately clear to all the world just who He really is.
The first time He came, a star marked His arrival. The next time He comes, the whole heavens will roll up like a scroll, and all the stars will fall out of the sky, and He Himself will light it.
The first time He came, wise man and shepherds brought Him gifts. The next time He comes, He will bring gifts, rewards for His own.
The first time He came, there was no room for Him. The next time He comes, the whole world will not be able to contain His glory.
The first time He came, only a few attended His arrival – some shepherds and later, some wise men. The next time He comes, every eye shall see Him, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess Him.
The first time He came as a baby. Soon He will come as Sovereign King and Lord.

We were not present when he came to earth the first time. We surely will be present, because of the resurrection, at His Second Coming. It is important that we be ready.

Footnotes: Please use your back button to return to your place.

1. John 7:42
2. Isaiah 14:12; Amos 5:26
3. Exodus 13:21-22
4. Exodus 40:34-38
5. John MacArthur, Commentary on Matthew.
6. 2 Samuel 24:24

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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