Worship the King

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem saying, "Where is He who has been born Kind of the Jews? For we saw His star in the East, and have come to worship Him." And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him...And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, that I too may come and worship Him." And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the East, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. 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 worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."
-Matthew 2:1-3, 8-11

The other day I was in the store doing some Christmas shopping. Nearby there were some women examining the nativity sets. One of the women said to the other, "My nativity scene is a big mix and match and I have two different sets of wise men!" To which the other woman remarked, "What! More than three wise men? What kind of church do you go to?"

In my opinion the wise men are the most misunderstood characters from the nativity. First of all, they were probably not kings. While they may have been royalty, and certainly were wealthy, they were actually religious scholars who specialized in astrology, medicine, and natural sciences. They came from Saudi Arabia, particularly, the areas of Persia and Babylon. This means they likely had copies of the Jewish Scriptures which would have been circulated through this area during the exile. Because of this, they were probably familiar with the Jewish Scripture that says, "A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Num. 24:17). 

The star they saw may have been a comet, meteor, supernova, or a cluster of planets. While, at first, it could have been a natural phenomenon they saw that caused them to journey from the East, the way the star reappears, moves, and settles over a certain house, as it was leading them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, suggest that it was a miraculous star-like manifestation that could have been similar to the Shekinah glory in the wilderness. Whatever the star was is not as important as what it represented- the birth of the King of kings. 

Also, while there were three gifts presented, there was likely a whole caravan of Magi, servants, camels, and other animals. I like to imagine it was something like the caravan from Aladin when prince "Ali Ababua" enters the city, although, that may be a bit overboard. Whatever the extravagance of the caravan, their entrance into Jerusalem was no small thing and it allowed an immediate audience with king Herod. 

The sad thing is that when Jerusalem heard all this news it says they were "troubled." It is understandable that Herod was troubled because he was a foreign king, set up by an outside nation, who was consistently paranoid about someone rising up to take his throne, so much so that he killed members of his own family when he thought they were undermining him. Herod had absolutely no intention of worshipping the Child (Matt. 2:8). Herod does seek out the priests and scribes to find out what is going on, and they rightly quote Micah 5:2 which speaks of a Ruler being born in Bethlehem. However, here were the scholars of Old Testament Scripture and the "wise men" for the Jews. They, of all people, should have understood what was happening and been running to Bethlehem to worship the Christ-child. They should have even recognized the presence of the Magi as a prophetic fulfillment of Isaiah 60- "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you...And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising...The wealth of nations will come to you. A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah [Sinai and Saudi Arabia area]; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord." (Isa. 60:1,3,5b, 6).

Instead of the Jewish priests and scribes going to worship Christ, it was foreign, Gentile astrologers traveling from afar to worship and give gifts. I'm inclined to think that the Jewish religious leaders knew exactly what was going on because of the nature of the gifts the Magi presented to Jesus. Gold symbolizes value, nobility, and royalty. They knew Jesus was a distinguished King. Frankincense was an expensive, sweet-smelling incense used for the most special occasions. It was the traditional incense of deity and in the Old Testament times, Jews stored it in a special chamber in front of the temple and used for sprinkling on offerings as a way to worship God. The Magi were worshipping Jesus as deity. Lastly, Myrrh was a valuable perfume that represented mortality and humanity. It was later used with spices to prepare Christ's body for burial after His death (John 19:39-40). With these three gifts they highlighted significant characteristics of Christ. 

Christmas is an easy time to be distracted by all the festivities, complacent at the same old story and traditions, or it is the chance to be reminded of the birth of the Savior. We should be like the Magi and worship in awe the King of kings, fully God, fully man, who was born to die.


1 Reference material: "God in a Manger" by John MacArthur, "Matthew: MacArthur New Testament Commentary", and NASB marginal notes.
2 One other misunderstanding that should be cleared up is that the wise men are not present at the stable after Christ's birth. By the time the Magi arrived Jesus was likely a year or two old and Joseph and Mary were now living in a house in Bethlehem. 
3 Image taken from en.wikipedia.org