The carol, ‘We three kings of orient are’, was written
by John Hopkins in 1857. It contains a
number of factual inaccuracies. To start
with, there is no mention of three
kings. There were three gifts, but that
does not necessarily imply three kings.
Then the carol gives symbolism for each of the gifts, but there is no
reason to read anything into the gifts other than they were very
expensive. Indeed, in the providence of
God these gifts may have been used to support the young family as they sought
refuge in Egypt. Finally, these were not
kings. They were magi—astrologers and
learned men.
Yet despite all the misrepresentations of this story
there is a lot to learn. We learn that the gospel has a ring of truth. We learn that Jesus is the wisdom of
God. We learn that Jesus calls for a
response.
1. We learn that the gospel has a ring of truth
There are things about this story that the Christmas-card
versions make it hard to believe. I
always struggled to understand how a star could hover over a stable. But then the Christmas-card version is
misleading.
The idea of a star being associated with the birth of
a king was not unusual. Around the time
of Julius Caesar’s murder, in 44 BC, there was a lot of comet activity. It became known as ‘Caesar’s Comet’. It was said to be associated with Julius Caesar
becoming divine. Stars in the sky and
events in the life of a king became associated in the minds of the people.
At that time, in that part of the world, there was a
rumour that a great king was going to come out of Judea. Pagan historians mention this. So, when the star event appears it is natural
for the magi to go to Jerusalem in Judea to enquire.
The chief priests and teachers of the scriptures
pointed them to Bethlehem. Apparently, the
Greek of the text does not imply that the star stopped over a manger but the
town. That, I will admit, is pretty
extraordinary. Of course, there is no
mention of a manger here, the young family are in a house. The magi may have found where a baby boy was
through discreet enquiry.
This Herod, Herod Archelaus, died in 4 BC, so the
church’s later dating of the birth of Jesus is a few years out. What we read here, and in the rest of Matthew’s
account of this Herod, rings true. This
Herod was a paranoid man, who murdered his favourite wife and two sons. When it says, in verse 3, that all Jerusalem
was disturbed about the star, it was not because of their love for Herod, they
would have been glad to see him replaced, but they knew that the ailing man could
become cruel if he thought there was a rival to his power.
As it happens we know that there were a number of significant
star events in that year.
But perhaps the most striking mark of authenticity is found
in what these men are. They are ‘magi’. Magi from which we get the word ‘magic’. They are into things like astrology (think horoscopes). Any time such practices are mentioned elsewhere
in the Bible they are condemned. These
are things that God’s people are not to do.
If Matthew, a Jew, was making up this story he would never have included
such people. This story is so open to
misunderstanding. So why does Matthew
include this event? The best answer is
because it happened!
2. We learn that Jesus is the wisdom of God
Matthew is writing for Christians who have come from a
Jewish background. He wants to show the
link between Jesus and the prophecies of the Old Testament. Indeed, how Jesus fulfils prophecy is another
evidence of the Bible’s truthfulness.
He also contrasts the unbelief of the Jews and the belief
of outsiders like the magi. On one hand,
be careful not to close your mind to Jesus.
On the other hand, never think that you could not become one of His
people.
He also wants to show us God’s wisdom in Jesus.
In our society we think of astrologers as quacks. Things like horoscopes are foolishness at best. But in that day these men were considered the
most learned in society. They were a
picture of the world’s wisdom at that time.
These wise men bow down before Jesus—who is the wisdom of God (1 Cor.
1:18).
Think of the beautiful wisdom of God.
How can a God who is perfectly holy and inapproachable
in His perfection come and live among sinful people like us? He does so as Jesus, God the Son, takes on
human flesh. This is what we celebrate
at Christmas.
How can God Himself save His people, and yet the punishment
for wickedness be paid by humankind? The
answer is the one mediator between God and man, fully God and fully human. Jesus dying on a cross for us. We celebrate that at Easter.
How can God change natural born rebels so that we
delight to follow Him? The answer is in
Jesus sending the person of the Holy Spirit, and where the Spirit is He is
there too. Christ in us the hope of
glory. We celebrate this at Pentecost.
What the world considers wise changes all the
time. We no longer consider astrologers
to be learned. Our generation have
rejected much of what previous generations thought was self-evident. It is called chronological snobbery—every
generation believes it knows better than the ones that went before it. Future generations will mock many of our
considered opinions. But the truth of
Jesus will always ring true!
3. We
learn that Jesus calls for a response
Finally, whenever we read a gospel story we should
look at the various responses of people to Jesus.
Here there is the response of the religious teachers
and leaders. Their response is apathy. They point out that a ruler will be born in Bethlehem,
but they have no interest in going to see Him.
Like so many people in our world, Jesus is someone that doesn’t really
matter. In fact, at Christmas time in
our culture Jesus is notably not a priority.
People only remain apathetic towards Jesus when they
can keep Him at a distance. If you tell
yourself that Jesus is merely a good teacher then He will never disturb
you. But He comes as a king. He comes to rule your life. He comes to take control. Herod knew that there was a new king in town
and he responded with hostility. The
truth is that our lives will never feel whole until we stop putting ourselves
at the centre and we ask Jesus to be our king.
That brings us to the magi. Those learned and apparently wealthy men—after
all look at their gifts. They saw Jesus
as having worth. Much more they saw Jesus
as the end of their search. Look at
verse 12, ‘they rejoiced greatly’. It is
literally they ‘rejoiced with great joy’.
G. K. Chesterton, ‘meaninglessness does not come from being weary of
pain, meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.’ When all the gifts are open the emptiness will
still be there. You can have all the
learning and all the wealth in the world, but there is still a sense of
emptiness and boredom. Jesus was the end
of their search. He is the only one who
can offer true purpose. He causes His
people to rejoice. So, we must not
forget the wonder.
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