WISE MEN INDEED Mathew 2:2 “We have seen His star from far away eastern lands, And have come to worship Him” The Gospel of Matthew indicates that the three wise men found Jesus about two years after his birth. These men were most likely very learned astrologers and not of the Jewish faith; possibly Persian, Egyptian, Turkish or other. Although referred to as kings, they may have been more like overseers of provinces. The verse above, being past tense, would indicate that they saw the special star in days gone before. Being astrologers who had been closely watching activity in the heavens, this was their big breakthrough. Some tradition would say that they continuously followed the star for approximately two years until they caught up with the Christ child, however there is also the possibility that they saw the star only one time from their respective vantage points and didn’t see it again until they arrived at their destination. And, there’s no indication in Scripture that anyone else shared in their experience. God may have given it just to them. After all, God put the desire in their hearts to seek out Jesus and present appropriate gifts to a “real” king. That thought didn’t just occur to three men in different locales out of the blue. When they found Him at last they were so ecstatic that they prostrated themselves and worshiped Him, and they then presented their prized treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh. That must have been quite a scene. Imagine grown men, macho men, then and now, reaching inside themselves and getting in touch with their childlike innocence to pay homage to a tiny child of seemingly no significance. This kind of blind submission is judged as utmost absurdity by non-believers. Yet it is not blind, for our eyes, like the three wise men, have been supernaturally opened and have become spiritual eyes which see far beyond the physical. The unrestrained holy audacity of our Savior lowering Himself from His high estate to enter the world in such a humble manner fulfills and completes us like nothing else can. Jesus becoming as a little one in His innocence has captured the hearts and minds of the wealthy and the poor, the athletic and the weak, the bold and the timid, the greatest and the least. Supernatural understanding is not a choice. It’s a gift. He makes our hearts throb – He who is our Savior, Christ the Lord. Christmas is when we reflect on beliefs that seldom cross our minds the rest of the year. Grown men and women considering the baby in a manger and the ramifications thereof. Each of us needs to revisit and embrace the nativity story, reviewing and reliving it our minds, renewing our resolve, washing ourselves again in the cleansing blood of Christ our Savior through our penitence. As adults with purpose we need to guard the values and traditions we hold so dear, lest they be overshadowed and stolen by the ill-intended people who are chained to the twisted logic of satan’s world, and who would siphon our joy from us. It is the Christmas season, not the holiday season. We worship Christ, not X. Do not compromise that which your heart witnesses as godly and true. |
