I. God Can Speak Through His Creation 00:01
Looking to see your face, looking to be in your presence, I pray that you’d open the eyes of our hearts, that we may see you today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
So today we get to talk about one of the strangest stories in Scripture. We get to talk about the time when the columnist told everybody what Jesus’ sign was. You know: is he a Scorpio, or is he a… Well, okay, maybe that didn’t actually happen. But maybe from our lens we get this idea of these people, these astrologers, astronomers, these people who are looking to the sky to tell them about the world, and looking to the sky to figure out where to go and to be guided and led. We might come to that with a little bit of trepidation, when you look at the world and you see how people misuse the information that can be gleaned from God’s creation. Let me just say right now: the Magi did not care what your astrological sign was. That wasn’t the point. As a Scorpio, the most hated of the signs, I want to make it clear that the signs don’t matter.
All joking aside, it’s such a fascinating story. In the middle of angelic visitations, in the middle of a virgin birth, in the middle of a prophet, an unborn baby, who’s declaring the goodness of Jesus in the womb, all this crazy stuff is happening. Now we get, coming to the scene, what we like to think of as the three wise men, the three Magi, who are following a star to find the king of the Jews. What an odd story. I don’t know if you’ve looked at the sky, but there are a lot of stars. How did they know to follow this star?
Well, let me just say that there’s actually something real in this story that you might miss in the overwhelming amount of information about the occult and the magic today and all the crazy things. You might miss the fact that, guess what, God can speak to you through his creation. He can speak to you through the stars. These Magi: why did they see what God was saying? Because they were paying attention, because they were looking for him to speak. They didn’t know the God of Israel, but they knew that whatever God made this place is speaking to us, and they followed that. If you take nothing else away from today, I want you to know that God can speak to you.
If he can use a star in the sky… Okay, blow your mind just a little bit more. The stars you see in the sky are hundreds of millions of light years away. So what does that mean? That means hundreds of millions of years before Jesus was born, God put a star in the sky so that the light from that star would show up on earth at this time and lead these people to the birth of his Son. It’s impossible to comprehend. It’s absolutely bonkers. And yet, if that God can speak that way, how much more so can he speak to you, who have the Holy Spirit within you? He wants your attention. He wants your devotion. He wants you to be committed to his word and his way. That’s the story of the Magi. That’s what’s going on here. People who were paying attention followed God’s prompting and got to see the face of God. Praise God. Let’s be like them.
II. Wise Men From the East 03:47
Let’s read about this story, because so much goes on in here that is fascinating. In Matthew chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, it says:
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 saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matt 2.1–2
First question for you. I know we’ve got a really fun song that we love, but are they kings? Are they “We Three Kings of Orient Are”? Probably not. In fact, most likely they are kings’ advisors, a coterie of wise men. We see that in the Old Testament, like Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and all these people who were wise men, who would tell the kings, “Oh, this is what the signs are saying,” or, “This is what you should do.” And are there three of them? Well, also probably not. There are three gifts, but it’s probably a whole troupe of them, with their camels and their servants and the whole thing. It’s a whole group of them coming before King Herod saying, “Where is this king of the Jews? And we followed a star to get here, by the way.”
III. The Wealth and Wisdom of Kings 05:02
Now, why do we like to call them kings? Because, if you were paying attention to our earlier readings, they symbolize what was prophesied in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 60:3 it says:
3 And nations shall come to your light, Isa 60.3
Like the light of a star.
and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isa 60.3
This is a symbol of the wealth and wisdom of kings coming to worship Jesus, a baby in a subjugated kingdom. What an insane proposal. These are the most powerful people in their respective kingdoms, aside from their kings. They’re advisors. They’re wise men. They’re probably very wealthy, considering the gifts that they brought. And they came to Israel, which nobody in the world cared about. It was some Roman-occupied territory that sometimes had some rebellion stirred up, and they had to get smacked down by the Roman government. That was what they were known for at this time: “Oh, that rebellious backwater town, Jerusalem, Israel.” And yet the wealth and wisdom of kings is coming to bow down and worship the new king of the Jews. And in Psalm 72 it continues:
9 May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! 11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! Ps 72.9–11
And in the Christmas story we get all of these symbols that are going to last through the ages. We get images, when God became a baby, of all of the world bowing down before him. That’s what this image is meant to symbolize. Because, I don’t know if you know the secret, but at the end of the Bible, the entire world bows down before our God. It’s an amazing story. And so we need to think about our faith not as something that supplements our life. But like the star, we need to guide our life around the kingdom of God. It’s our guiding point, our focal point, because the entire world, beginning, middle, end, is revolving around this baby, Jesus Christ.
IV. They Went to the Scriptures 07:37
And so you see a symbol of that as these wise men come to Herod. But guess what? No matter how wise they are, they couldn’t find the baby Jesus. They went to Jerusalem, and the star wasn’t there. They’re like, “What do we do next?” Where did they have to go? To the Scriptures, to God’s special revelation to his chosen people, Israel. They went to Herod. Where did Herod go? To the Bible. He said, “Bring me all those people who know what the Bible says, and they’ll tell me where to look for this baby.” So yes, God will speak to anybody, anywhere. But do you know where he speaks to the world about his plan for salvation? In the Bible, in the stories we read every Sunday. This is where the secret plan that has been made known to the world is unfolded, and we get to be a part of that.
V. Herod Was Troubled 08:55
And so at this point, let’s see what Herod does with this information. In verse 3, when Herod the king heard that they were looking for the king of the Jews, “he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matt 2.3). What a tragic line. Not only was the king troubled, but the people around him were like, “Hey, you’ve got to take care of this. You’ve got to take care of this baby. We don’t want a rival for the throne.” They were happy with being a subjugated people with their little slice of power in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, he assembled the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born (Matt 2.4). Wait, hold on. So he knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ, God’s own chosen Savior. And yet we know he’s looking for a way to kill him. That is a level of evil that you rarely encounter, even in the Scriptures. He knew who this baby was. Immediately he goes, “Tell me where the Christ is.” He had wisdom and insight to see that, and yet he was blind to what that meant. He thought in his little kingdom and his power he could squash God’s purposes to save the entire world.
And you might think, “Man, that Herod. Thank God I’m not like Herod. I’m so great. I would never try and kill baby Jesus.” Yeah, okay, fine. But it reminds me of some other stories in Scripture, like maybe Jonah, where God said, “Hey, I want you to go save these people, or I’m going to have to kill them. I want you to be my message of salvation.” And he runs the opposite way. And then God says, “Hey Jesse, I want you to go do this job over here and comfort that person.” And I go, “I’d rather go this way.” I want to just collapse the distance between big bad evil Herod and the wickedness that we can find in our own heart. Because, you know, the line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man. The question every day is: are you going to submit to one or the other? Are you going to follow the star of God’s kingdom, or are you going to aim downwards today, trying to protect your own kingdom? That’s what Herod’s doing. He got threatened. He’s going to protect what’s his by right: “It’s mine. Even if Jesus shows up, I’m going to keep my thing.” Such a tragedy.
And it’s so fascinating, because these wise men, we know that they’re wise, because out of the entire world they’re the only people who showed up to Jesus’ birthplace. The star in the sky, people can see it. They showed up. They’re pretty darn wise. And yet God gave Herod and the chief priests of Jerusalem their opportunity: “What are you going to do? You weren’t paying attention to the star that’s been shining in the sky, my broadcast, my spotlight, telling you that the Christ is being born. Will you listen?” And yet they choose the other way. What a tragedy.
VI. O Bethlehem 11:22
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘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.’” Matt 2.5–6
Bethlehem was a backwater. Bethlehem was not a popular town. In fact, Mary and Joseph, born in Bethlehem, had left to find better lodging elsewhere. It was the place you wanted to leave. The only significance in Bethlehem was that David was born there. But why was it significant that David was born in Bethlehem? Because he was just some shepherd boy. He wasn’t important. Bethlehem wasn’t important. God makes a habit of using the foolish things to confound the wise (1 Cor 1.27). What did I say last time I talked about Mary? What was special about her? She was humble and obedient. And so when we look at Bethlehem, it’s the same type of thing. It’s a humble town, nothing special. And yet the prophets heard God’s voice and said, “No, this is the spot where the Christ will be born.”
One more wrinkle here. Mary and Joseph weren’t in Bethlehem when Mary got the word that she was going to have the baby Jesus. So we know the scribes and Pharisees knew the Christ, the Savior, is going to be born in Bethlehem. But the angel shows up in Nazareth and tells some random girl that she’s going to have Jesus, the baby, the Savior. By our calculations, the angel is wrong. How many times have you gotten a word from the Lord, like, “You’re going to do this,” and “But God, I’m way over here. I can’t do that. It can’t be me. It’s got to be somebody else.” We always think that God’s plans have to fit our designs.
And yet an imperial proclamation comes down, all the way from Rome, way more than a cell phone call away at this time. Somebody wrote an order and said, “Hey, all those people in Israel have got to go to wherever their hometown is, so that we can get more money out of them. We can tax them better with our census.” And the guy in Rome, Caesar Augustus, is feeling pretty good about himself, and God in heaven is steering his heart wherever he wills. That’s what we’re told in Proverbs: the heart of the king is like water in the hands of the Lord; he guides it wherever he wills (Prov 21.1). He’s like, “I’ve got a star that I set up hundreds of millions of years ago. Changing your heart is no problem, guiding you to bring my Savior to be born in Bethlehem in Judah.”
I just want to say one more thing. He made all these people in his vast empire go back to their hometown so that they could get counted, and on a certain day: “You have to be here by this day, or you’re going to be outlawed, killed, imprisoned, whatever.” Talk about government overreach. And yet God’s up there saying, “That’s what I want.” So be careful, us freedom-loving people, that you don’t mistake it for government overreach and abuse and tyranny when it’s God’s will to put you in a spot. I’m not saying you don’t fight against tyranny. I’m not saying you don’t fight for your freedom. But I am saying we have a God who is above all of this. Let’s get his wisdom on how to proceed.
VII. Herod Summoned the Wise Men 15:03
Okay, verse 7:
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” Matt 2.7–8
This one’s hard. Why does he want to know when the star appeared? So he can murder all the babies. I just can’t imagine. And yet that same wickedness can be in our own hearts. We need to stay sensitive to the realities of the world, to the darkness that can exist. We get so flooded with images and reports of bad things happening around the world. But when you stay close with God, he softens your heart towards the tragedy of those around you. Don’t become cynical or dismissive when you hear of difficulties and tragedies in the world, because that hardens your heart. Herod never had to look at any of those mothers or any of those babies when he ends up declaring, “Go kill them all.” His heart was hard to the tragedies in the world, and it allowed him to abuse his power. So when the wise men told him, “Yeah, the star showed up a couple of years ago, and we’ve been finding our way here all that time,” he goes, “That’s how many babies I need to kill: everyone below two years old.”
And yet, in the midst of that, God’s mercy and grace was working. In fact, that very act of evil God had prepared for hundreds of years before in the prophecies, and they say, “No, there’s comfort coming to Israel.” All these tyrants, the Roman occupiers, King Herod, all of them will be dealt with by this little baby Jesus, by this miraculous event where God entered into our suffering and thus transformed the world. In fact, he took on himself all of that suffering in his crucifixion and said, “I will bear it.” And the infinite, eternal, timeless God became limited and mortal and died, that he might embrace everything and dry those tears, take that death and make it into resurrection. All of that is in this little baby story about Christmas, about God becoming flesh and being among us.
VIII. The Star Went Before Them 17:30
Verse 9:
9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. Matt 2.9
So they couldn’t figure out how to find the child. They followed the star, and they made it to Jerusalem. But as soon as they got the word of the Lord from the Scriptures about where Jesus was to be born, the star reappeared. When you’re following God, remember to check in every once in a while. Sometimes we get a word and we just go for it, or we get a vision and we just go for it and go for it and go for it. And even when the revelation has evaporated, even when we think we’ve arrived, we just stay there: “Oh, Jerusalem. He’ll be here eventually.” No. God had more. He kept leading them step by step. And so now he brings them to this wonderful place, this little town of Bethlehem.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Matt 2.10–11
If you needed a confirmation of their wisdom, it’s right here. Not only did they see a baby, but they fell down and worshiped that baby. That takes a revelation. You don’t see old men who’ve been doing their thing, the wisest, the counselors of kings, falling down and worshiping babies very often. I’ve never heard the like. But they were wise enough to recognize this baby is not just the king of the Jews. They’re going to tell us exactly who they think he is with their gifts.
But I wanted to highlight here: they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. They’ve been journeying for up to two years to find this baby. When it talks about them following a star, what does a star represent? We say things like “wish upon a star.” It’s talking about putting the highest thing in the highest place. It’s talking about following that which is the most important. It’s talking about “Seek first the kingdom of God.” They put their entire lives on hold to follow that star, and they found the center of the universe. They found Christ the Lord. They found Jesus and worshiped at his feet.
IX. The Mystery Made Known 21:16
And that’s what Paul was talking about in Ephesians. He says this thing about what’s going on in this moment of revelation, where he says:
3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery Ephes 3.3
And like Paul does, he writes three other verses, and then he tells you the mystery way over here. So if you were reading it this morning and you’re like, “What was the mystery?” so was I. But I skipped all those verses, and we got to the point. Here it is:
6 that the Gentiles (all of us, or most of us) should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel Ephes 3.6
In a world which for thousands of years has been obsessed with drawing borderlines around the chosen people, the master race, the most important people, the mystery of Christ and the mystery of the Magi is that this gift is for the whole world. God came to erase all distinctions. Every human being is his treasured people. Every human being is invited to participate, to be not just his chosen servants but fellow heirs with Jesus. What does Jesus get? Everything. There’s nothing Jesus doesn’t get: all authority, all power, all dominion. What do you get? What he gets. That’s mind-blowing. And it doesn’t matter who you are. I could say this same sermon anywhere in the world. Everybody listening is invited into that promise. That’s the mystery.
X. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh 22:38
Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matt 2.11
And I’m going to use our wonderful song to illustrate. I won’t sing it; I will read it. I know everybody got a little scared there. I will read it, and you’ll see what these three gifts represent. It says:
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain; Gold I bring to crown Him again; King for ever, ceasing never; Over us all to reign
Gold. I love that line: “to crown him again.” What’s the point? He’s already king. The King of the universe, the Creator of everything that is, became a baby to suffer and die, so that his crown would not just be one of gold but one of thorns, because he wants us to share in his kingdom. That’s it. God didn’t need to do this. If we weren’t here, I dare say God wouldn’t have done this. But he came that you might participate. He already had all the glory. He already had all the dominion. He laid it aside that you could share in it. And so, “Gold I bring” to this baby, “to crown him again.” He’s already king of the world. “Over us all to reign.” What a revelation these wise men had.
Frankincense to offer have I; Incense owns a Deity nigh; Prayer and praising; All men raising; Worship Him, God most high
That line is saying that incense represents that there’s a God here. Who do you burn incense to? You burn incense to your gods. “Prayer and praising, all men raising, worship him, God most high.” The baby, the toddler. I like to imagine he’s the Creator of the universe, and they show up, and he’s playing with clay, and he’s just forming little toys. The Creator of the universe, a baby. And yet these wise men recognize his deity.
And then:
Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes; A life of gathering gloom; Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying; Sealed in the stone cold tomb
And we’re told later that Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloes when Jesus died, and that’s what they anointed his body with (John 19.39). Once again, the revelation is amazing, that these wise men had the symbols, as God led them not only to declare him God and King but to prophesy through their gifts that he would lay down his life.
And so you might be sitting there thinking, “Okay, so what do we do now that we have this revelation, now that we have this story?” Well, you’ve got to bring him your gold. You’ve got to make him your king. And guess what? You’ve got to bring him your incense. Don’t pray to any other god. Don’t worship any other god. Don’t serve any other god: the god of money, the god of your job, the god of your fulfillment, the god of your family, the god of whatever it is. Don’t serve them. Bring it to this Jesus. And you’ve got to bring him your myrrh. You’ve got to join him as the sacrifice. Every one of us is called to die with Christ. He tells us, “Take up your cross and follow me” (Matt 16.24).
The question that we have this morning is: are you one of these wise men, wise women? Are you going to participate with them? Are you going to recognize this God? It’s a lot easier to recognize him now, in the light of two thousand years of revelation and the fullness of his story and his resurrection, than it was back then, when he was a toddler. We’re invited to have faith, to open the eyes of our hearts, to see Jesus as our King, our God, and to join him in his death and resurrection. And in the last confirmation that these kings knew what they were doing, it says in verse 12:
12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Matt 2.12
They were paying attention. Open your eyes. Open your ears. God is speaking to you today. Recognize who Jesus is, not just back then, but today, tomorrow, and forever. Amen.