Word of Salvation – Vol.41 No.47 - December 1996

 

Christ Made Known To The Magi

 

A Christmas Sermon by Rev M P Geluk on Matthew 2:1-12

Scripture Reading: Psalm 72, Matthew 2:1-12

Suggested Hymns:

BoW 255; 269; 72A; 283; 284

 

Congregation,

We can ask three questions concerning the Magi, and when we have the answers, then it is possible that you will you know everything about them.

First, who were they?

Second, where did they come from?

And third, what did they know?

The frustrating thing is – we don't have the complete answers.  Very little is known about the Magi.  There is not enough concrete evidence available to be able to answer any of the three questions satisfactorily.  So we really don't know.

Oh yes, there are plenty of theories around and a lot of fanciful speculation.  But unfortunately, that's all they are – mere theories and opinions.  Neither Matthew's gospel, nor the Scriptures elsewhere, say anything about the Magi other than what is said here in chapter 2.

For example, the belief that there were three wise men is purely tradition.  It is an assumption that rests on the three kinds of gifts that were given to the Child Jesus – gold, incense and myrrh.  Nor were they kings.  The Christmas hymn, 'We three kings of Orient are' – which thankfully is not in our Book of Worship, but played repeatedly in the shopping malls – is as fanciful as 'But the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.'  And the supposed names of the Magi – Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar – were given to them long after they were dead and is nothing more than myth.

Can nothing be said, then, about these Magi?  Well generally speaking, the Magi were priests in the ancient religions of the East.  They studied the heavenly bodies, the stars and the planets, and interpreted dreams and other secret arts,

The word Magi is from the same root from which the word magician comes and in the book of Acts (8:9, 11) we have a Simon, an unsavoury character who practised sorcery or magic arts in Samaria, and he was severely rebuked by the apostle Peter.  And then there is also a mention in Acts (13:6, 8] of a certain Bar-Jesus, known also by his other name Elymas, on Cyprus, who also was a practitioner of magic arts.  He was called a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right, by the apostle Paul.

But it is most unlikely that the Magi mentioned in Matthew 2 were that kind of people.  Most say that these Magi were much like the astrologers who are mentioned in the book Daniel and functioned as advisers to king Nebuchadnezzar.  Every pagan king of ancient times had such Magi in his courts.  The kings consulted them for they were the nation's wise men and counsellors.  They specialised in astrology, medicine and natural science.  As to where the Magi of Matthew 2 came from – probably from either Persia or Babylon, which is today's Iran or Iraq.

However, all this is just background information.  What must be emphasized is that these Magi were pagans, notwithstanding that they were knowledgeable.  Whatever belief they had of God was based on what God has revealed of Himself in nature and which is available to everyone.  Romans 1 vs 20 teaches us that from the things in nature God's eternal power and divine nature can be known.  From this light of nature people also have a knowledge of right and wrong.

And so there is the light of conscience as well.  But because of the fall into sin, men everywhere suppress this light of nature and of conscience.  What God has revealed about Himself in the works of His creation has become dark and vague in men's minds.  And so these Magi had bred into them, no doubt, a lot of superstition, customs and traditions, as was common to their culture and history.

So again we say that, wise men though they may have been, they were pagan and their religion was heathen.  They did not have the Scriptures -- for God had mainly revealed Himself to Israel – and therefore they had no definite knowledge of God's covenant nor of His promises of the Saviour Jesus Christ, and therefore, no idea about of God's grace and mercy,

After those introductory comments let us now move on and see why these Magi appear in the pages of Scripture and what meaning that has.  From Matthew 2:1-12 we learn that

CHRIST WAS MADE KNOWN TO THE MAGI, and

            firstly we note that God revealed Himself in the Magi's heathen science;
            secondly, God changed the Magi's line of reasoning;
            and thirdly, God brought the Magi to worship Jesus.

1.

In the first place, we note that  The Word of God says here that after Jesus was born the Magi came from the east to Jerusalem.  It was during the reign of King Herod and this could mean that Jesus was already more than a year old.  And Joseph, Mary and Jesus were no longer in the stable; verse 11 says they were in a house.

The questions that come to mind here are; how did the Magi know that Jesus had been born?  They came to Jerusalem because they saw His star in the east.  Did Jesus have a special star?  And how did the Magi come to connect the star they saw with the birth of Jesus?

Some of you may recall that way back in Israel's history there was this heathen prophet called Balaam.  The king of Moab, Balak, had employed this charlatan to pronounce curses over the Lord's covenant people who were on their way to Canaan and had asked if they could pass through Moab.  Balak had heard of the mighty works God had done for Israel in Egypt and in the wilderness and was afraid, and so he paid the prophet Balaam well to curse Israel off the face of the earth.  Balaam was happy to do this.

But the sovereign Lord controls even the mouths of pagan prophets and Balaam was made to bless Israel instead.  And in one of his oracles over Israel God made Balaam point to Christ who was to come.  Balaam, who probably had no idea of what he was saying, was made to say this: "I see him, but not now; ! behold him, but not near.  A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17).

Now was this the star the Magi saw?  The answer is, no, because the reference here to Christ as a star and a sceptre is figurative.  Balaam had spoken in a poetic way about Christ as King.  The star the Magi saw was real and physical.  They saw it rise in the sky at night.

There can't be any doubt that the Magi saw an unusual star.  The heavenly bodies belong to God.  He is the Creator of all things.  He made this star appear at the time of the birth of Christ, and in His divine providence He then also caused these wise men, schooled in the study of astronomy, to pick up this star they had not seen before.

But how did they know that this star was connected to Jesus' birth?  Well, it is possible that from the Jews who were dispersed with the exile into Babylon, the people there learnt from them about the coming of the Messiah who would be King.  The woman from Samaria, for example, whom Jesus met at the well, said that she and her people were expecting the Messiah to come (Jn.4:25).

Old Testament prophets did not only speak to Israel.  God also sent them to prophesy to the nations round about His people.  The hopes and expectations of God's covenant people must have been known by many outside Israel.  Just like non-Christians today know of Christians expecting the second coming of the Lord.

So, unknown to the Magi from the east where the star appeared, God was directing the thoughts of these men and would lead them to Jesus.  But don't think of the Magi as people who were expecting the Christ and were looking to Him as the Saviour through whom they could have their sins forgiven and be made right with God.  Such knowledge and such hopes can only be known by those who have been privileged to hear the teachings of God's Word.

The Magi merely came to Jerusalem asking: "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” That's all they knew from their star-gazing.  And without being aware of it, God was busy with them.  God had brought them to Jerusalem.  But they merely wanted to pay their respects to this new king.  However, the God of all grace had a much more wonderful purpose for them in mind.

2.

And so, in the second place, we see God changing the Magi's line of reasoning.

That a change must have come over the Magi is seen from the fact that after God had led them to the Child Jesus, they worshipped Him.  It's true, they came to Jerusalem enquiring where the new king was, for they said "we have come to worship him."

But the word used for worship is a general word that can mean to bow down before someone important, to curtsy and show reverence as you would to royalty.  In ancient times people prostrated themselves before high ranking persons, kissing their feet or the hem of their garments, yes, even the ground where such nobility had stood or walked.  The Magi just wanted to show that kind of respect to whoever this king of the Jews was..

But later on, when the star again appeared to them just outside Jerusalem, they were overjoyed and on coming to the house where Jesus was with his mother Mary, they bowed down and truly worshipped the holy Child.  À change must have come over them for such joy and worship is only with those who see more than just a special Child but realise that this Child is God come in the flesh, the Immanuel – God with us.  Without the help of God's Spirit no one can see that and acknowledge it from the heart.

But let's look at the Magi as they entered Jerusalem.  They came seeking confirmation of their studies as astrologers, as learned men who followed the courses of planets and stars, yes, as those well versed in natural science.  But as other knowledgeable people have found out, Christ cannot be found by proud human wisdom, or men's learning.  For anyone to see that Christ is God and that He came to save people from their sin, that requires faith.  And faith that saves is a gift from God.  And how could the Magi have that faith when they only knew of God in the stars.  Saving faith can only come through the Word of God, the Scriptures.

To their surprise nobody in Jerusalem knew of the birth of a king.  The Magi must have enquired here and there but blank looks was all the response they received.  Well, important strangers from far away can only be around for so long before it's a news item.  And thus it was that King Herod heard of the Magi and what they seeking to know.  A new king!  Of the Jews!  Herod was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau, a terrible cruel man and suspicious of anyone he might suspect to be after his throne.

Now he knew a great deal more about Jewish history than the Magi.  He knew that the Old Testament foretold a Messiah, and Herod also knew who had the clear facts about this.  He went straight to the chief priests and teachers of the law.  And yes, they knew from the writings of the prophet Micah that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, in Judea.

Herod then had to plan a strategy by which he could kill this Child and secure his throne.  He called the Magi secretly and got them to tell him what they knew.  The king then sent them to Bethlehem to find the Child and upon doing so to come back and inform him, so he, too, could worship Him.  We know Herod was devious about all this because later when the Magi had returned home directly without telling him that they had found the Child, the evil king killed all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity, hoping to also catch the Christ-Child in his murderous net.  But God had already made Joseph, Mary and Jesus escape to Egypt,

Why was Herod so afraid of Christ?  Why did the news of His birth so disturb him?  Because Herod's life was evil.  Even the people of Jerusalem were disturbed with the king.  Maybe their lives were not right with God either, otherwise they would have rejoiced in the coming of the Messiah.

So, the arrival of the Magi threw them all in an uproar.  And it will be so again when Christ comes for the second time, then not as the Saviour but as Judge.  The wicked will want to hide from Him.  The believers will then see what they have believed and the unbelievers will see what they never could believe.

The reaction the Magi witnessed in Jerusalem must have affected them deeply.  How strange that these people were so troubled by the announcement of a king of the Jews.  Strange that they did not expect this King, that they were not waiting for Him with eager anticipation.

Things began to change in the thinking of the wise men.  King Herod obtained his information from the Jewish priests and religious teachers.  Now if they knew about this King and the exact place of His birth, then why were they so indifferent about it?  Why did they not immediately go to Bethlehem themselves as soon as they heard what the Magi were enquiring about?

We, of course, know from the New Testament that the priests and teachers of the law regarded themselves very highly and expected to be the first to hear from God of the birth of the Messiah.  But God does not come to the proud, He reveals Himself to the humble, He comes to the poor in spirit, like Joseph and Mary, Zechariah and Elisabeth.  And to the low and despised, like the shepherds.  They were told in marvellous ways of the birth of Christ.

The Magi left for Bethlehem – all by themselves.  Nobody from Jerusalem went with them.  They didn't believe the Magi.  And Herod – well, he had no faith either.  He only knew fear.

We ourselves are all too familiar with the ways different people react to the preaching of Christ as Saviour and King.  Nothing has changed as regards people's reaction to the Redeemer.  Indifference, lack of faith, wrong ideas about Christ – it’s all around us.  It's even in the church, just like it was with God's covenant people back then in Jerusalem.  We know that no one is capable of receiving the gospel of salvation.  God Himself must always show it to us.  And God had been telling His Old Testament covenant people a long time about the coming Saviour and King.  Their history was full of it.  But by and large they no longer cared.  The same danger is present with us.  Let us not neglect to respond to the preaching of God's Word to us.

As regards the Magi, God went outside His covenant circle and He appeared to these men from the east.  If the children of the covenant will not come to enter the kingdom, then God will go to the heathen and bring them in.

3.

And so, in the third place, we see God bringing the Magi to Jesus and worshipping Him.

The Magi left Jerusalem that evening.  They had been left wondering more and more about the king they were trying to find.  Their own wisdom and reasoning had led them to Jerusalem.  But now they were going to Bethlehem on the basis of what the Old Testament had predicted.  They were now going forwards with faith in that Word.

However, faith is never perfect and struggles come with faith.  Were they right in believing what Herod heard the priests and teachers of the law had told him?  Perhaps they should have called the whole thing off?  What were they actually doing here?

But God never leaves a person struggling in faith all by themselves.  The Magi received confirmation of what the Word of God had said when the star they had seen rising in the east reappeared again in the night sky in Judea.  Their joy was wonderfully deep.  They immediately recognised their star and this time it went before them and led them to the place where Jesus was.  How God made the star do this we don't know.  But that's how Matthew reports it.

No one in his right mind would ever acknowledge a child, so humble and plain as Jesus was, as a king.  And Mary and Joseph were such an ordinary couple.  But God made the Magi, heathen scholars, recognise that this Child was Christ the King and the Saviour of the world.  They knelt before the Child as they would kneel before no other king.

In their worship of this Child they saw the gift of God's grace to the world.  Yes, to the world!  For why would God have alerted them by a star of the birth of a king in Israel, and led them along such a surprising route all the way from the east to this humble house, if the gift of salvation had been for Israel alone?

Yes, joy to the world, the Lord has come!  Hundreds and hundreds of years ago Jacob had already heard in his dream that night at Bethel, where God's angels were on that stairway to heaven, that all the peoples on the earth would be blessed in his offspring.

But not in the Jews as such.  As a nation they rejected Christ.  But all peoples of the earth are blessed in Christ who came both from heaven and from Jacob's offspring.  And during Christ's ministry, there were Samaritans, Romans and Greeks, who believed and were saved.  And at Pentecost the Gospel went to all nations and the number of Gentile believers became a flood.

But the Magi from the east were among the first of these.  As they worshipped they gave gifts from their treasures they had brought with them.  The worship of Christ from the heart comes with adoration.  But greater by far was the gift of God's grace to them.

And there is no doubt that God wanted these Magi to return home safely – to tell this good news to their part of the world.  Herod was not allowed to prevent it.  Therefore God warned them in a dream not to report to Herod but to go straight home, which they did.  And so Herod, and Satan behind him, were defeated.

While faith in Christ went along with the Magi back to the east,

No, God does not forsake His covenant people and many in Israel came to believe and worship the Christ.

But many found the Saviour a stumbling block and they closed their hearts to Him.  And the Bible tells us that at Jesus' coming again there will be many among the covenant members who will find the door to the kingdom closed in their faces, whilst people from the east and west, from the north and south, will come in and receive life everlasting.

We are not from the old covenant.  Our background is from among the Gentiles.  But like the Magi, God has appeared to us, too.  No, there is no need to study the stars in order to know the destiny of your life.  Leave that to those superstitious silly people who can't quit consulting their horoscopes.

Neither do we need to look for a Word of God in dreams.  It went that way with the Magi because they did not have the Word.  You and I today have the whole Word of God and in that Word there is everything about Christ that we need to know in order to be saved and to follow and obey Him as our King.

In these last days God has revealed Himself fully in Christ and it is the Scriptures that speak of Him.  And God Himself has said in His Word that the Scriptures are sufficient.

But do not become blasé about what God has revealed to you in His Word.  It has happened many times before – church members becoming indifferent about Christ, losing their faith, and no longer adoring the Saviour.  And people from outside the church coming into God's church with great joy and child-like faith.  They bow before the Christ and truly worship Him.

Therefore, if your faith in Christ has become indifferent, or you are afraid of Christ's judgment at the end, then bow again before the Almighty King and commit yourself to His grace and mercy, and obey Him as the Lord of all.  For outside of Christ and away from Him there is no salvation.  But with Him there is life and it gives you joy and peace.

Amen.