The story of the Wise men really doesn't belong with the Christmas event, and yet it does. The night of Jesus birth we see and hear angels, we see shepherds. We hear the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep, at least there could very well have been. But the wise men from the east were not there. Even though they have become part of the story, and we see pictures of them worshiping the Christ Child in a manger, they were not there.
And yet they were, and are an integral part of the Christmas story for you see, they did in fact meet the Lord. By the time they did however, Joseph and Mary and the infant Jesus were no longer in the stable, but had found a house in which to live. Some think that this may have been at least two years after the actual birth of Jesus and that, it may have been a two year journey for these wise men to reach Bethlehem, which would mean then that the miraculous star they saw appeared the moment Jesus was born. In this way the story of the Wise men began with Jesus birth.
This morning's passage reveals several things of great significance. We see people looking for a King. We see the cunning of another king who is threatened and upset. In turn, we see an entire city being upset. Then we are reminded of prophetic words written many years before. And finally we see the King found, and a few moments of tenderness as the wise men bow down in worship, and offer their precious gifts.
We learn that Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod, a wicked, mean king. This is an historical fact. The birth of Jesus was an historical event, based on historical facts. It was only later in history that so much legend became part of this historical event, much of which has become part of our Christmas celebrations today. We should remember though, that legend must not supercede actual history. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, "during the time when Herod was king" (vs 1).
Who was this king? He was known as Herod the Great, and was made king of Judea by the Romans. He began his rule from Jerusalem around 40 BC. Herod was an aggressive king and capable general. He founded the city of Caesarea and rebuilt much of Jerusalem, including the Jewish Temple. Most Jews however, resented Herod for this, because he was not a Jew. In fact they feared him because he was notoriously cruel. He had executed three of his sons, his second wife, a brother in law, an uncle, and anyone else whom he perceived to be a threat to his rule. He alone was going to be the king of Palestine, and no one was going to stand in his way.
One of the towns that fell under his rule was Bethlehem, a little town, about five miles south of Jerusalem, a town steeped in history. The name Bethlehem means house of bread, an appropriate name, for all around it were fertile fields which produced large amount of grain to make bread. It was here Jacob of old buried his wife Rachel. Here Boaz, the wealthy land owner grew his grains, and of course we all remember the story of how Ruth gathered grain at her mother-in-law Naomi's urging, and how she met Boaz, and became his wife. Ruth and Boaz were fore parents of King David, who too was born in Bethlehem. And now Jesus, a descendant of David, was born in Bethlehem. These are all historical facts. Bethlehem had figured in God's breaking into human history for many centuries.
"Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem and asked, 'where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him' " (vs 1&2). This sentence is the introduction to the events that take place in these verses. Other versions of the Bible call these people wise men. The Greek word used here is Magos, from which we get the word Magi. Who were these people? They were Eastern astrologers and interpreters of dreams, men considered "wise in the things of God." (The word magic is related to the word Magi.) These Magi were teachers, highly skilled in philosophy and science, and regarded as men of holiness and wisdom. It is in this sense that they became known as the "wise men from the East" who followed the star to Bethlehem to worship the infant Jesus, presenting him with gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh.
The important thing here is that these men were Persians, not Jews. They believed in astrology, and that one's destiny was influenced by the star under which this person was born. If you watch TV or read the want ads, you will have discovered that there seems to be a renewed interest in astrology, and the psychic these days. I don't really know how popular it is, but there seems to be quite a bit of advertizing for it.
In ancient times, whenever some spectacular phenomenon appeared in the skies, astrologers were convinced that the Divine was breaking into the natural order of things, announcing some special event. We do not know what these Magi of the east saw that night, other than it was a miraculous sighting of what the Bible calls a star. This star convinced these astrologers that something very significant had taken place. They were convinced that there had been a divine act which pointed to the birth of some great King.
These men were genuinely interested in finding this Jewish King even though they were non-Jewish people. They believed that there was something divine, and miraculous about the star in the East in three ways. First, we notice that they believed this star was a product of divine intervention in nature; second, we notice that once they heard it, they believed God's word; third, they believed in the divine intervention of their dream.
I believe we may assume that these men knew about the God of Israel, but I doubt that they really believed in him, because the Bible is very clear on God's displeasure with astrologers. "So do not listen to your (false) prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers. . ." it says in Jeremiah 27:9, but this did not seem important to them. Yet God used their false beliefs in a very positive way. These men saw the miraculous star, which appeared the night of Jesus birth, and they immediately knew something very special had taken place. They believed this so strongly that there was nothing they could do but investigate. O how far we have come since those wise men from the east. How many people today seriously investigate the birth of Jesus? We've come a long way from that these days. People flock to malls at Christmas time, to investigate the newest toys, and gadgets which they can buy as presents. I recently heard about a four year old child getting so many presents last Christmas that he could not even stay awake long enough to open them all. Yet never did his parent ever think of investigating the manger, and who might be there! These men loaded their camels, and began a journey into the unknown. They had no idea how long it would take, or where the star would guide them, but they knew they must go, for someone very special was at the end of their journey. Have you begun your journey to the manger yet?
Once they heard it, they believed God's word. The Bible tells us that the wise men came to Jerusalem, and began asking questions. "Where is the baby born to be king of the Jews?" What? A baby? We don't know. Never heard of it. And then God uses these men to get his message out. How? The people of Jerusalem apparently were not aware that Jesus had been born, but they soon would be. All they would need to hear are the words, "King of the Jews," and they would soon begin to pay attention. This news would spread like wild-fire! They knew their Scriptures, just as Mary did, as we heard last week. They know about the promised Messiah. To have these wise men come and ask about the King of the Jews, gave it validity. These people were wise; they knew what they were talking about. I can just sense an air of excitement emerging. For years the Jews have been waiting for this to happen.
Even the king gets word of it, so it must have been the talk of the town. He calls in his experts, and theologians, and they tell him that yes, the prophets of old have said that this king would be born in Bethlehem. They even quote the prophet Micah. Herod then calls in the wise men and tells them this, and they believed it. They might not have known anything at all about Scripture, although being wise men, and well educated they probably did. Even so, knowing and believing are two different things. They believed, and went to Bethlehem to worship the child.
Herod on the other hand believed too, but he was not at all interested in worshiping. He saw this birth as a threat, and wanted to kill the child. He was very upset, it tells us, as was everyone else in Jerusalem. Herod being upset we can understand. This was a threat to his throne, and we already know how he felt about that. So he wants to trick the wise men into telling him where Jesus was, so he could do away with him. But the theologians of that time; why would they be upset? Perhaps they knew that the Messiah would displace them. They too felt threatened. They might lose their jobs! Ironically, Herod did not get to kill Jesus, but those pompous, aristocratic religious leaders did some thirty three years later.
How do we kill Christmas today? I don't need to tell you, you know the answers to that question. But let's take the question little further. We might want to ask, "How is Christianity killed in our day?" An interesting article appears in this month's United Church Observer. A United Church minister was invited to take part in a memorial service in Peggy's Cove, after the Swiss air crash in September, but she, along with a Catholic priest, was specifically told not to make any reference to Christ, and not to read from the New Testament. Now all other religions were allowed to use their Scriptures, which was fine, but no Christian references of any kind were allowed. This was a government order, and I am left to wonder, is Herod of old finally getting his way too?
These wise men believed, and came upon the Lord and worshiped him, bringing him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They knew that this was no ordinary Child, but the Son of the living God, born to set his people free. Free from what? Some say, free from oppression, which is correct. Others say, free from poverty, which is correct. Still others say, free from sin, which is also correct. In fact, if we were add it all up, the total sum would be just that one word; sin. We must remember that Jesus was born a King, who does not "rule by force, but by love, to express his will, not with a crown, but with a cross."
The wise men believed God when he told them in a dream not to return to Jerusalem. They went home, changed men, no doubt. Christmas still have the power to change lives today. Thank God for the night of miracles when he sent his Son into the world "to save their people from their sins" (Matt, 1:21).
