The Passage
Matthew 2:1-12
KJV
"1 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 have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was
troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief
priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for
thus it is written by the prophet: 6 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.' "
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called
the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent
them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child,
and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship
Him also."
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the
star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood
over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with
exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the
young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when
they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not
return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way."
A Little Background
One of the most
familiar parts of the Christmas story is this account of the visit from the
wise men. These men are also known as Magi (the same root word from which
magic comes). They were pagan
astrologers from the East, probably Persia or modern-day Iraq.
Approximately 600 years earlier, the Israelites had been invaded by the Babylonians.
Most of the youth were taken away including Daniel and his three friends.
These wise men were probably exposed to the Hebrew Scriptures from faithful
Jews who preserved it. Those Scriptures would have recorded the history
of the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness after leaving Israel.
During that time, the wicked king, Balak, called upon a pagan priest named
Balaam to proclaim a curse over the people. Though Balaam tried to curse
the Israelites, he ended up blessing them. Part of that blessing was a
prophecy, “...there shall come a Star out
of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel...” (Num. 24:17).
Balaam was also probably from the area of Persia.
Some Explanation
How many wise men
visited Jesus? When did they visit? Nativity scenes usually show
three wise men worshiping Jesus in the manger. The Bible does not tell us
how many wise men were there, only that they brought three different
gifts.
Luke 2:1-20 does
not record the visit of the wise men on the night of Jesus’ birth, just the
visit of the shepherds. Matthew’s account tells us that the wise men
visited Jesus at a house, not a “stable” where a manger would have been
found. Both accounts tell us that the family was in Bethlehem.
Surely the family would not have stayed in the stable after the birth of a
baby. Joseph would have moved his family to appropriate quarters.
As a devout Jewish woman, Mary went to the priest at the temple 40 days after
birth to present her offering for the birth of her son (Leviticus 12).
She and Joseph would not have made the long journey back to Nazareth with a new
baby only to return to Jerusalem 40 days later. Bethlehem was much closer
so they would likely have stayed there at least until after the days of Mary’s
purification.
When the wise men
arrived in Jerusalem they asked where to find the newborn king. Verse 3 tells us that Herod was deeply troubled and all Jerusalem with him. King
Herod was from a dynasty of Herods. (I will talk more about Herod in the
next entry.) This Herod was known as “Herod the Gread”. He was a
brutal tyrant who had been appointed king. He spent much of his reign
murdering anyone he suspected of usurping his throne including his own
wife. The wise men's inquiry about a new king would surely have set the
city on edge.
Observations and
Insights
“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, 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.’” The first thing that strikes me from this
passage is that the amazing fact that these pagan astrologers travelled such a
great distance with the intent to worship this new king. The
word for worship here is proskyneō. The Greek Lexicon states: “among the
Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with
the forehead as an expression of profound reverence.”* The origin of our English word
for worship is “worth ship”. Both languages express the truth of this
amazing event. A foreign, pagan, group of emissaries bearing very
valuable gifts came to bow in humble adoration to an infant of seemingly low
birth. This act of worship runs counter to our nature. We seek the
powerful, elite, popular, wealthy and beautiful to admire, but our God came to
the least and the lowly to identify with them Himself.
The gifts the Magi
brought were significant. Practically speaking, the value of the
gifts would have been provision for the family when they fled to Egypt.
But the gifts also had symbolic and prophetic meaning. The wise men truly
recognized Jesus as a king by their gift of gold. Frankincense was used
in worship in the tabernacle/temple as a symbol of prayer or intercession. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.
Prayer was to be a sweet smell ascending up to God. Myrrh was also very
valuable. It was used in embalming, and was also mixed with the vinegar
given to Jesus on the cross. The three gifts spoke of who Jesus was and
what His life would be.
The wise men model
obedience for us. They worshiped Jesus as king, and they were quick to
obey God when He warned them not to return to Herod. Jesus is the only
mediator between us and God, and He lives forever to make intercession for the
believer (Hebrews 7:25). His death, burial, and resurrection as atonement
for sin was the purpose for His coming to mankind (John 1:29).
*Greek Lexicon ::
G4352 (KJV). Retrieved from
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4352&t=KJV
Next: Matthew 2:13-23
Next: Matthew 2:13-23
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