So, here we are on the first Sunday of January. What makes this Sunday in January a little different from other years is that it falls on January 6th. This date on the church calendar is Epiphany and traditionally the church has celebrated the wise men coming to see Jesus in Bethlehem. We are told the story of the wise men in Matthew chapter 2. Again, we have to put the pieces together. You have to wonder why these wise men ended up in Herod’s palace anyway. Did they really lose the star and go to the local wise men to try to figure it out? My guess is that they went to Jerusalem and Herod’s palace out of respect for the current ruler, since the wise men really thought they were coming to worship the new king of the Jews. It would only be right for them to do so. In retrospect, it’s interesting that the gospel writers gave us so little information regarding the birth of Jesus.
Here’s what we do know — that a group of wise men (scholars or astronomers) had been studying the skies and discovered a new star. There must have been something special about the star for them to leave the comfort of where ever they were from and journey at least a couple of months across the desert to Jerusalem. Not only did they traverse across the desert to worship this baby, but they brought him gifts and not your ordinary baby gifts – these gifts were special and in a way they foretold who this baby really was. Let’s look at what we can discover this morning.
First, let’s go back to the prophet Isaiah. He declares the Word of God in chapter 60.
1 “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. 2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you. 3 All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.
4 “Look and see, for everyone is coming home! Your sons are coming from distant lands; your little daughters will be carried home. 5 Your eyes will shine, and your heart will thrill with joy, for merchants from around the world will come to you. They will bring you the wealth of many lands. 6 Vast caravans of camels will converge on you, the camels of Midian and Ephah. The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense and will come worshiping the Lord.
Here we have an answer in part as to why the wise men may have gone to Jerusalem. Those who would have been familiar with the Hebrew writings knew the center of Israel was Jerusalem as we see here. Jerusalem is to arise and it’s light should shine for the whole world to see. The glory of the Lord refers to the presence of God. We have seen over the past few weeks that Israel in the first century was a dark place, but here and now is the fulfillment of the prophecy. Jesus Christ had come. Jesus Christ the light of the world had come. Isaiah writes that “all nations will come to your light…and the people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense and will come worshiping the Lord.” The prophecies are being fulfilled.
It’s interesting to note here that the wise men were not locals, like the shepherds – they were not of Hebrew or Jewish descent – but they were out-of-towners and foreigners, and yet the scriptures record that they came to Jesus to worship Him. There is yet more symbolism in Jerusalem or Zion. This city represented the people of God, and it represented God’s chosen people. This baby came to break down barriers as Paul writes in Ephesians 2:14,
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”
Matthew Henry writes, “Those who live at the greatest distance from the means of grace often use most diligence, and learn to know the most of Christ and his salvation. But no curious arts, or mere human learning, can direct men unto him. We must learn of Christ by attending to the word of God, as a light that shineth in a dark place, and by seeking the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And those in whose hearts the day-star is risen, to give them any thing of the knowledge of Christ, make it their business to worship him. Though Herod was very old, and never had shown affection for his family, and was not himself likely to live till a new-born infant had grown up to manhood, he began to be troubled with the dread of a rival. He understood not the spiritual nature of the Messiah’s kingdom. Let us beware of a dead faith. A man may be persuaded of many truths, and yet may hate them, because they interfere with his ambition, or sinful indulgences. Such a belief will make him uneasy, and the more resolved to oppose the truth and the cause of God; and he may be foolish enough to hope for success therein.”
I find it interesting that the wise men who were far from the birth physically and even far from the birth spiritually (they lived in another land, and were not part of the Jewish heritage) would take the time to search out the Christ. They followed the light (the star) to the Christ. Here we are already given a glimpse of whom this Jesus would be. He would come to break down the barriers. He came to break down the barrier between the Jew and the Gentile and I believe that instead of using Christ to build barriers, the church needs to use Christ to break down the barriers of hostility.
They came to Bethlehem to worship the Christ child. The gospel writers don’t tell us this, but we don’t see the wise men bowing to Herod, even though bowing would be the proper protocol for visiting a king. They wise men only bowed to Jesus. The position of bowing is a position of total surrender. When you come to worship Jesus, do you put yourself in a position of total and complete surrender to Him, or do you hold something back. In reality, either you are completely surrendered to Christ or you are not surrendered at all. There is only one way to worship Christ and that is with everything we have. There is no room for half-hearted worship in the Kingdom of Christ. Remember Paul’s words in Romans (12:1), “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” We are to worship God and worship him only – there are to be no other gods before us. “You must love the Lord your God will all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) There is no other way to worship the Christ.
We also see that the wise men brought some unique gifts to the table. They brought gold – this was an expensive gift. We also need to note that all of these gifts were brought from their home country. I’m sure the gold came in handy to the couple who was about to flee the country. Gold was significant – it was a gift that you brought a king – to show him tribute. They were honoring Jesus as the King – the King of all Kings. Next they brought him frankincense – incense was burned for the gods. If we look at the tabernacle and temple worship of the Old Testament, we will see that they used incense. Frankincense signified that Christ was a God. We are told that he was. Instead of using the word (Word), let me substitute Jesus in the first chapter of John’s gospel. “In the beginning Jesus already existed. Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. Jesus existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Jesus and nothing was created except through Jesus. Jesus gave life to everything that was created, and Jesus brought light to everyone. The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it…(v. 14) so Jesus became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
The last gift they brought was myrrh. What is myrrh? It is a burial ointment. Even in the old times they prepared bodies for burial – to preserve them. Myrrh is a perfume (appropriately a bitter perfume—for death is always a bitter thing) used after a person dies. This signified Christ’s coming death. It seems that our word wise men applies. Think about all they got right about this baby, and yet those who were the closest missed it.
I pray all the time that we his people who are closest to Christ, don’t miss out on the beauty of worshiping Christ and bringing him our gifts. Paul writes in Ephesians 3:3-12, “As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. 4 As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.
6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.[b] 7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
8 Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.”
Today is known as Epiphany. The word Epiphany simply means revelation or manifestation. In the visit of the wise men to Jesus – who Jesus was, was revealed to us. Perhaps you are here this morning and would really like to explore more in depth who this Jesus really is and what it means to follow him. Well, that’s what we are going to do over the next few weeks, especially as it relates to the church. Paul wrote, “God’s purpose in (bringing Christ to earth and united Jews and Gentiles) was to use the church (the body of Christ) to display God’s wisdom in all of its variety to the world…because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.”
We have a challenge as we leave here this morning – if you are not a Christ follower – I encourage you to become one this morning – if you are a Christ follower – I encourage you to worship him in everything you do and say – I encourage you to give him the glory at all times – I encourage you to worship him with everything you have – with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. This is how we take Christ’s light from here and take it to the world outside our four walls to a world that desperately needs it.
