Wise Men Shall Follow the Star

Matthew 2:1-18

Magi from the East Visited Jesus

Christmas is the only festival celebrated by all people throughout the world. Generally, many people have heard the name of Jesus and his deeds. However, the challenge of the Christian faith is not “who is Jesus?” but rather “How would you respond to Jesus?”

The birth of Jesus actually caused a commotion in the community. Everyone had different reactions towards the birth of Jesus. These reactions can be grouped into three categories.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, about the year 4BC, during the time of King Herod, the Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Magi were not Jews; they were Persian wise men, nobles, or astronomers from Mesopotamia, East of Jerusalem.

When King Herod heard what the Magi said, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

King Herod then summoned all the chief priests and teachers of the law, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied.

The priests and teachers of the law were the leaders and scholars of the Jewish community at that time. They were very familiar with the birth of the Messiah. This is recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible about 700 years’ ago, prophet Micah prophesized that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

The Jews were under the rule of the Roman Empire. God had promised a Messiah who was a descendant of David. He would come to save the people of God from their sins. This Messiah would revive Israel and become her king.

It is sad to see that, other than giving professional advice and opinion to King Herod, this group of priests and teachers of the law did not have any other reactions! They missed out on welcoming and worshipping the Saviour who was going to be born.

They did not recognize him. This was a huge insult! The wise had become the foolish. They treated the Messiah with contempt because they were too familiar with it. They were not convicted by what they used to teach.

Today, there are many among us who have been celebrating Christmas year after year and are very familiar with the stories of Jesus. These people might have friends and relatives who are Christians, or even family members who are Christians.

Through these relations, these people think that they are familiar with Jesus. However, being familiar with Jesus is one thing. The point is that how do you respond to Jesus?

Christians themselves may also neglect the main character – Jesus – of Christmas because of familiarity, especially those who follow the tradition of their parents or long-time Christians.

Jesus is the Son of God who came down to this earth and died in the place of sinners on the cross. He came to save the world. No one can obtain salvation through familiarity or relations with other Christians. Everyone has to come to Jesus personally and confess their sins, accepting him to be the Lord of their lives and worship Him with sincerity.

And we also need to continuously dwell in Christ through worshipping and serving Him. For faith without action is dead! Through abiding in Christ, we would be blessed with abundant life. If it so happens that we leave this earth today, God will accept us into His rest eternally.

Let us come to the presence of Christ humbly today, trusting him to save us in every aspects of life. Christ says, “abide in me and I in you; do not be worried or anxious over anything for I shall give you rest”.

Rejecting Jesus for Fear of Being Threatened

The response that King Herod and the Jews in Jerusalem had represents a second kind of attitude towards Jesus, and that is they rejected Him because they felt threatened by Him.

King Herod was a half Jewish Edomite. He did not ascend the throne through the bloodline of King David. Most Jews viewed him as a usurper and thus hated him. He was afraid that Jesus would replace him as king.

Although King Herod had the political power, wealth and the whole of Jerusalem as his backing, he could not accommodate a fragile and little Jesus. When King Herod failed in his plan to use the wise men to eliminate Jesus, he ruthlessly ordered all boys under the age of two in Bethlehem and its vicinity to be killed! King Herod went insane.

But how about the disturbance of the Jews in Jerusalem?

Even the Jews were disturbed, for they fully understood in their hearts that Herod would not allow anyone to be called the King of Jews, and he would definitely stir a bloody storm for this. The subsequent event that took place proved them right. A massacre of the innocents had caused many infants to be killed.

The Jews in Jerusalem wanted to maintain stability at the cost of forsaking their rightful Jewish King.

The Jews thought that, faith was certainly precious but life was even more important than faith! Though the new king was honourable, Herod was definitely someone not to be offended!

Jerusalem is about 8 km away from Bethlehem. It takes two hours of walking distance to reach Bethlehem. But there was no one traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to visit the new born king then.

The Jews in Jerusalem backed down when confronted with challenges and a price to pay.  They were afraid of losing certain comforts of their lifestyles. They were meticulous, calculative and self-serving when confronted with faith challenges.

Many Christians may think this way: Jesus has to meet my needs and He is not supposed to change my way of living. I welcome Jesus to solve my problems but I forbid Him to disrupt my life.

However, Jesus did not come to take over the throne of King Herod. Jesus also did not come to rob the people of their life. Instead, Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26)

The blessings and happiness in life that we are looking for are also the blessings and happiness that Jesus wants to give to us.

Jesus wants to release us from the shackles of sin; and to offer us freedom, peace, meaning and direction in life from the frustration and hopelessness of life. Jesus wants to give us abundant and joyful life! Do not be afraid of Jesus; receive Him to be the king of your life!

Today, there are many witnesses seated in the church. Their lives are a witness to how Jesus has saved them from sin. In the past, they were chained by bad habits, drugs, empty thoughts, bitterness and hate, hurt and depression. Today, they are already released, and their lives have experienced transformation.

Come and Worship Jesus with a Heart of Adoration

The final category is the kind of attitude the wise men have towards Jesus. They came from afar. Jesus was not born in their homeland, they were not familiar with Jesus, and they did not feel that Jesus was any threat to them.

They longed for Jesus because they saw the star of a Jewish King. They knew very well that they were not Messiah’s own people. But they did not mind the long journey to search for Jesus.

They persisted on undertaking the journey of thousand miles despite the high prices they had to pay, the length of time they had to spend and the high risk they had to take, simply because they recognized the greatness and excellency of the new born king and they adored him!

Yes, they adored Jesus! It is a kind of selfless and genuine worship. A worship that goes all out and does not hesitate to lay down one’s own life for God. It is something that every Christian should imitate.

God loved us, while we were yet sinners, he sent his Son—Jesus to die for us on the cross in order that our sins be forgiven and we receive eternal life. Let this sacrificial love of God stir us so that we will respond by loving God, coming before Jesus with adoration.

These wise men were overjoyed when they saw Jesus. They bowed down and worshipped Him and presented Him with expensive gifts. The identity of Jesus and the works that He would accomplish could be seen through the gifts that were given to Him. Gold is a gift fit for a king; frankincense for saints, and myrrh for embalming a dead body.

These wise men from the east were truly wise people. They searched for Jesus and worshiped Him not because they could benefit from it, but for the fact that Jesus is God’s anointed king. He is divine—Emmanuel which means God with us. And they really loved to worship him for who he was.

The Bible says that Jesus is also the eternal Word, everything in the universe was created through Him. When humanity sinned and fall, God sent Jesus to save us and to redeem sinners. So, he is the creator and redeemer of the whole universe!

The Eastern Magi, who were outsiders, adored and worshipped Jesus. They had become Jesus’ own people. But the Jews in Jerusalem, who were His own people, lost their privilege and they became outsiders. What an irony!

May we who are here right now, whether we are Christians or non-Christians, have hearts as pure as the Magi’s, and go all out for Jesus, the new born king, the creator and redeemer of the whole universe.

Like the Magi did to Jesus, let us come and bow down to worship Him, adore him and receive Him as our king and Lord. He deserves our adoration and worship.

Christian faith is not a religion but a relationship of love and free grace. Religion is I do something for God to earn my salvation. There is an element of “you help me and I help you” in religion. But the gospel is that God first loved us and he saved us through Christ while we were sinners and his enemies.

Salvation is purely free grace from God. We can do nothing to earn the salvation. We just need to receive Jesus to be our saviour and Lord.

So now, in gratitude for God’s free grace, in gratitude for Christ’s saving love, let us adore and worship him, surrender our lives to him. We no more “kira” with Jesus; no more telling Jesus “you help me; I help you”.

Instead, we let Jesus use us in whatever ways that pleases him and brings glory to him. How wonderful to be Christ- the king’s own people!

Conclusion

Today, the star of the king is still shining brightly. It is giving everyone a signal, telling us that Bethlehem is here, that Jesus is right here.

Let us take this journey of faith, submit to Jesus the most precious, sincerest longing and worship of our hearts. Jesus is the King who deserves everything! Those who trust in the Jesus, dwell in Him, will have a meaningful life and be filled with hope.

Today, Jesus wants to come into your life – not to be a threat to you – but to build up and complete your life. He will be a bright shining star that will guide you into a blessed and abundant life.