Wisemen

This musing is a synopsis of the Christmas service we presented Sunday evening, Dec. 26.  From Matthew 2, we considered the wisemen finding Jesus.

The coming of Jesus in the flesh (in the womb) and His birth was pretty veiled until a few hours after the birth when God sent a messenger angel along with a choir of angels to a few shepherds near the village of Bethlehem.  Maybe just earlier, at the precise time of the birth a special star appeared in the Persian sky.  It is possible that the eastern magi were paying special attention to the sky anticipating a confluence or other anomaly but in doing so saw the King’s natal star.  This was a special creation of God for it reappeared south of Jerusalem and directed the seekers to the very house – that is a special creation.

So the magi noted the special star and sought the science of the matter.  To the library and to the round table!  In the scramble to understand, a student of the Bible brought to light a prophecy given 1400 years earlier about a special star marking the birth of a great new King! (Numbers 24:17).  This prophecy came from a God who broke slaves away from the most powerful nation of the time, then destroyed their elite army (Egypt).  Later, this God led those ex-slaves to a successful conquest of a host of greatly fortified city states in the land they then claimed as their own (Palestine).  So maybe, just maybe, this star and the prophecy of a star was legit.

For the next weeks some of the magi were possibly selected or volunteered to travel some 500 miles to bring honor to the new King.  Elite people carrying wealth over a great distance and through much territory that was not highly civilized and was infested with evil and thieves – it was prudent to bring security – maybe a few hundred!  (This idea is in part enforced by the statement in 2:3 that all Jerusalem was troubled by their coming.  Also troubled for a foreign tongue spoken in Jerusalem was a sign of God’s wrath, Isaiah 28:11 – this is why there was an uproar over languages spoken in the temple in Acts 2.)

So, the wisemen embark on a mission to welcome and bless the newborn King.  Upon arriving in Jerusalem, they found no one knew of the birth and it seemed no one cared save the ruler, Herod, who only cared in order to destroy.  They finally learned from some Bible scholars that the birth was prophesied to happen in Bethlehem.  Rather than be discouraged, the wisemen set off the six miles for Bethlehem.  Exiting Jerusalem, the star seen months earlier reappeared to not only bolster their faith but to lead them to the very house of the young child (the word for a toddler, thus maybe a year or more since birth).

There they bowed and worshiped then presented very special, elaborate gifts.  The gifts seem to be of God’s direction for they pointed to Jesus as King, Priest, and Prophet which He fully and precisely fulfilled.  Then God, via a dream, directed them home another way and they complied.

So, what can we glean from this inclusion into the holy writ?  Fact is, there are a host of lessons and principles, but I shall use this story as a template for someone coming to salvation.

1.  First, there is something in their world that rattles them, catches their attention, or causes them to pause.  This type of thing can be a death, cancer, job loss, divorce, or serious accident. Something happens!
2. With their attention, God will bring a Bible story or passage to mind.  This could be from a childhood Sunday School experience, a praying grandma, a billboard, a religious broadcast or a zealous evangelist. 
3. The experience and brush with God’s Word sets the person on a “journey” talking to others, thinking, gathering ideas and maybe even sitting with others in dialogue.  
4. Finally, the person ventures into a church (to Jerusalem and the temple).  There they find a form of godliness, but a denying of the Power.  They find people very busy being “Christian” but woefully uninformed and even indifferent.  However, even in that very cold, high worship “church”, they hear a truth from God’s Word – Micah 5:2.  
5. In faith, they leave to seek a different “church” and find God leading them to the right one.  This church is on the wrong side of the tracks (Bethlehem seen as “least among”) and very poor.  It is not logical, nor worldly successful.  Yet, they knock and enter.  What do they find?  A man fully given to doing all that God says and a woman fully submissive to God despite worldly pain.  But much greater, they find Jesus present!  
6. So, they bow in worship and present their gifts – they bend the knee, openly exalt Him and present to Him their life.  They accept Jesus as their King, their sacrifice and their Truth.  They are born anew!  
7. And finally, they find God’s Word alive and communicating to them and they are given to obeying.