what is a wise man anyway?
27 October, 2009, 4:22 pm
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
…10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
No need to look at the part in the middle of this story. Not today. It relates the story of the wise men and what they encountered as they looked for Jesus. Our purpose at the present is only to understand Jesus. So for now we only need to consider the people who came to visit him.
We have already looked at the shepherds who were first. Now look who comes next.
Foreign rulers.
These men were not from among God’s chosen people. Herod was. Of course, read the intervening lines if you want to know what he thought of this King who was being born.
The Wise men saw a star in the sky. You think anyone else saw that?
They followed it. They believed that beneath this star was a great king worthy of their treasures.
I love that revelation 21:24 says of the New City that “they kings of the earth will bring their glory” into it.
Wow – these kings were getting started early. They recognized early on that this king was worthy of their worship and their gifts. They traveled to a foreign land, they risked the wrath of foreign rulers, and they did it all to bring worship and gifts in recognition that this child was more important than themselves or their petty little dominions.
I have some pretty petty dominions which I have a hard time letting go of. I think my own tiny empire is far too important to admit that that baby who was born under that star 2,000 years ago was far more significant and important than me.
How about you?
