Isaiah 60:1-6 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and well with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. 6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD.
Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means east among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'” 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Wise Men Still Seek Him
I love Christmas, don’t you?! And I love everything that goes with Christmas, too. Decorating the tree and our houses, presents, singing Christmas carols at church. You know what I mean? But, of course, Christmas means so much more than all of those wonderful things. Christmas is about worshiping Christ. Christmas is about worshiping the God who stepped down from heaven and came to us in the little manger of Bethlehem.
Today we will sing “We Three Kings of Orient Are”. I love the song but it’s not historically correct. First, the Bible doesn’t tell us there are three. It mentions three gifts, but it doesn’t tell us how many wise men came. Then the song says they were kings,” but they weren’t kings, they were probably astrologers. Next the song says that they came from “Orient,” and we think of China today, but they weren’t from China, they were probably from Persia. It doesn’t matter though that it’s not historically correct, we can still learn much from this song.
I have a wreath that hangs on my door for Christmas. In the middle of the wreath I hung a sign that says, “Wise Men Still Seek Him”. It’s a simple sign that I got at the Dollar Tree but I think it has so much significance. The wise men sought Jesus 2,000 years ago and wise men and women still seek him today.
So no matter how many wise men there were we can notice three wise things they did and it’s all about worship. Verse 2 tells us that the wise men came “to worship Him.” They came to worship Jesus. So let’s see what they can teach us much this morning about worship.
First, the wise men teach us to seek Him eagerly. These wise men display an enthusiasm, a passion, and a zeal for worshiping Christ. Let’s consider some of the things. The Bible says these wise men came “from the East” to Jerusalem. In the Greek what we translate as wise men is Magi. It is believed that they were astrologers who had come from as far away as Bablyon or Persia. That’s over 900 miles, that’s about the distance from here to Disney Word. So their trip had taken them as long as a year to travel the distance from Persia to Jerusalem. They left their homes and families and set out for an unknown destination.
They were in Persia and they look out to the west and they saw a star, apparently an unusually bright star and they associate it with the birth of the King of the Jews. It says that they saw it at its rising. It doesn’t say the star shone continually. Since they were coming to see the newborn king they went to the capital, Jerusalem and asked, “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.”
Now Herod isn’t pleased because he is king. For nearly 40 years Herod had been called “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate. Herod was king, yet here are these wise men asking, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews, So Herod was troubled “and all Jerusalem with him. So what does Herod do? “And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.”
Who is Herod gathering together? He gathers the religious people, the religious leaders. And Herod asks them the question he had heard the wise men ask, “Where the Messiah to be born?” They answer him by quoting Micah 5:2, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ” ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’ ” This prophecy foretells the coming of the Messiah in Bethlehem 700 years before the event happens.
So what does Herod do with this news? Listen to verses 7 and 8. “Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
Now Herod had no intention of worshiping Jesus. That’s why he called for the wise men “secretly.” There is deception in his heart. He wants to kill this newborn King. So he sends these wise men off to Bethlehem with the instruction to return and give him the exact location so that he may “come and worship Him also.” Herod had no interest in worshiping Christ.
I’ve always been struck by the fact that those who knew the precise location of the Messiah’s birth—the religious leaders,—had no interest in making the trip to Bethlehem with the wise men. Bethlehem is only about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, but the chief priests and the scribes remain in Jerusalem. What a difference! On the one hand you have the eagerness of the wise men and on the other hand the indifference of the religious leaders.
So first the wise men sought him eagerly. We should also be wise and seek him eagerly. Next, the wise men sought him joyfully. Listen to verses 9 and 10. “When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.” Other translations say they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
As the wise men traveled towards Bethlehem they saw the star again, going before them till it came and stood over the house where Jesus was.
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.” That’s a lot of joy! I think Matthew’s trying to make a point, don’t you?
We will find joy when we seek the Lord. The two on the Road to Emmaus who met Jesus after the resurrection said were not our hearts strangely warmed? In seeking Jesus we will find His love and we will rejoice. We will rejoice with exceedingly great joy.
So we seek Him eagerly, we seek Him joyfully and, thirdly: we seek Him selflessly. Think of what the wise men had done. They left their homes and traveled over 900 miles. It may have taken them a year to go that far. They gave up everything to come and find the baby Jesus. When the wise men came into the house Matthew tells us the fell down and worshipped him. . And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Here we see the selfless nature of worship. They gave of their time and they gave of their worship and they gave of their wealth. The wise men fell down. That was a way of saying, “I am low. You are high.” Then they “worshiped Him.” The word worship means, “to ascribe worth.” To worship Christ is to ascribe to Him the worth, dignity, reverence, awe, and respect of which He alone is worthy.
And then the wise men gave gifts to Jesus. There’s been a lot of conjecturing about the symbolism of these gifts, but Matthew’s point seems to be that the gifts were costly. Giving is a means of worshiping God whether it is time, treasure or talent. When we give to God we are saying, “You are the treasure I seek.”
That’s what it means to worship wisely this Christmastime! That each of us would say, “Lord Jesus, You are my treasure. You alone are my treasure above all else.”
Let us pray. Lord help us to be people who worship wisely. Who seek you eagerly, joyfully and selflessly.