Responding to the news of Jesus

The Wise Men

Matthew 2v1-12

In some countries of the world presents are given not on 25 December but on 5/6 January, the 12 th night - the reason for this is that tradition has it that the wise men visited Jesus on the 12 th night - the tradition of giving presents can be traced back to the wise men - so when you get your credit card, you know who to blame - but the difficulty with the wise men is that the story has become so encrusted with traditions, it is hard to distinguish fact from fiction.

In this sermon, I wish to try to separate out fact from fiction - the sermon is divided into four parts - the first three parts can be taken together - they deal with (i) myths, (ii) uncertainties and (iii) certainties. The final section will attempt to draw out a lesson from the story.

Myths

There are a number of myths which surround the story - the principal myths are as follows:

there were three of them - the Bible does not in fact tell us how many there were - verse 1 refers to Magi - we know there was more than one - the source of the number three is probably to be found in the three gifts - we assume that each one had a gift - but there may have been more - verse 3 refers to the disturbance which the wise men caused in Jerusalem and some commentators believe that there may well have been more than three in order to have such an impact
their names were Melchior, Balthasar and Caspar - the Bible does not tell us how many there were, let alone their names - this would appear to be little more than guess-work - similarly, the theory that one was from India, one from Egypt and one from Greece - there is a further story that their remains are now to be found in the cathedral at Cologne - whether it in fact their remains is in large part speculation
they visited Jesus in the manger, shortly after or even at the same time as the shepherds - alternatively, that they visited Jesus on the 12 th night - the likelihood is that they visited Jesus when he was a toddler - under two years of age - the clue is to be found in verse 11 where we are told that the wise men visited Jesus in a 'house' - he is referred to as a child and not as a baby - thus the pictures painted which depict the wise men in the stable with Mary and Joseph would appear to be no more than a myth.

Uncertainties

There are a number of uncertainties or obscurities which surround the story - the principal obscurities are as follows:

the star - we know that there was a star but cannot be sure about what exactly it was - we are told in verse 1 that the star rose in the east - see footnote b to NIV - in some way we do not know, the rising of that star told the wise men that the King of the Jews had been born - but the star did not guide them to Jerusalem - they made their own way there - the star did guide them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem but it is not entirely clear why the star was needed - after all, Herod had already told them to go to Bethlehem on the basis of his consultation with the chief priests and their reference to Micah's prophecy - so the star played a confirmatory role - we are hold that the star stopped over the place where the child was born - not entirely clear what this means - on BBC programme before Christmas an astronomer stated that it was not possible for a star to point out one individual house - what it could do is stop over Bethlehem and, given the low incidence of births in the town, it would not have been difficult for the wise men to find Jesus - personally do not attach much importance to this debate- given the miracle of the virgin birth, does not seem unduly difficult for God to cause the star to pick out the house in which Jesus was living
the wise men - we do not really know who they were or where they were from - we are told they are from the east (verse 1) - they were Gentiles - may have been from Iran - some think Saudi Arabia based on the most likely sources of frankincense and myrrh - the Bible refers to them as Magi and the footnote states that they are 'traditionally wise men' - some think they were kings, many think they were not - they may have been magicians, they may have been astrologers - but, whoever they were, they knew enough to realise that the King of the Jews had been born - their studies, and possibly contact with dispersed Jews, may have led them to look for the promised Messiah - the reality is that we do not know a great deal about the wise men - there are more myths about them than facts
what did Mary and Joseph do with the gifts given by the wise men? - they must have been very valuable but the Bible does not suggest that Mary and Joseph were affluent - on the contrary, they seemed to live a simple life - may well have been the case that the money was used to pay for their flight to Egypt and to pay for the cost of living while in Egypt .

Certainties

What are the certainties in this story? - they all largely relate to Jesus.

that Jesus' birth was foretold - his birth in Bethlehem was no historical accident - the prophet Micah prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem in the land of Judah
that Jesus aroused hostility and hatred from the moment of his birth - Herod was disturbed (v 3) and when he discovered that he had been tricked he was 'furious' (v 16) and gave orders for all boys who were two years and under to be killed
that Jesus was given presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh - what is the significance of these gifts? - have to be careful here because all three products were used for different purposes - but gold is frequently associated with being a king - incense is associated with the temple and myrrh with the anointment of bodies at death - these gifts can be seen as symbols - the gold signifies that Jesus was a King, the frankincense that he was God and the myrrh that he was a man who would die - Matthew Henry states that the wise men offered Jesus gold as king, paying him tribute; frankincense as God, for they honoured God with the smoke of incense, and myrrh, as a Man that should die, for myrrh was used in embalming dead bodies.

The uncertainties thus relate to the star and the wise men - but they are not the focal point of the story - Matthew's emphasis is on Jesus - it is not on astrology, nor is it on wise men - perhaps one of the reasons we focus so much on the stars and the wise men is because, as a society, we place so much emphasis on astrology and wisdom - but the emphasis on the Bible is on Jesus - thus Hendriksen states:

'Everything else is left out of the picture in order that the full emphasis may be placed on this one thing, namely "We have come to worship him." We are not given a detailed description of the star. We are not told how the magi connected this star with the birth. We are not hold how many magi there were, how they dressed, how they died, or where they were buried. All that and much more is purposely left in the shade in order that against this dark background the light may shine forth all the more brilliantly. These wise men, whoever they were, wherever they came from, came to worship him! In the present instance, as is clear from verse 11, this can mean nothing less than that it was their intention to fall down before the Messianic King in humble adoration. Matthew is telling all those who read this story or hear it read that they too must do the same.'

A Lesson

One lesson takes the form of a question: why did the wise men give gifts to Jesus? And what can we learn from this? Of course, we do not know quite why they gave gifts so to some extent this is surmise - but we can nevertheless learn from thinking about the motivations that cause us to give gifts

social convention - this may be behind the myth that there were three wise men - it would have been rude not to have brought a present - but this not necessarily so - the shepherds did not, apparently, bring presents - but it is true that we sometimes give gifts because of conventions - we all do it from time to time - perhaps with family members with whom we have little contact - or at work, or neighbours
what we can get out of it - recently I was given a present at work and it was clear that the donor will want something in return from me in a few months time - while we do not want to admit it, we do sometimes give gifts with a view to what we can get in return
the qualities of the recipient - this would appear to be the motivation of the wise men - they fell down and worshipped Jesus because of who he is - so it seems clear that their motivation for giving gifts was not (i) or (ii) but (iii).

When we come to worship Jesus, what motivates us? - do we come to worship out of social convention (although the convention that we attend church has reduced almost to vanishing point), with a view to what we can get out of it, or because of who Jesus is and what he has done for us? - should be the latter - and if you consult a concordance on gifts you will see that the gifts principally come from God and not from us - God has given us the gift of new life and of salvation - Romans 6 v 23 - the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord - 2 Cor 9 v 15 - thanks be to God for his indescribable gift - Ephesians 2 v 8 - for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - NT also talks extensively about the spiritual gifts that are given to all Christians - the true gift giver is not ourselves but God - our response should be similar to that of the wise men (whoever they were), that is to fall down and worship Jesus for who he is and what he has done for us.

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