WWUTT 1906 The Visit of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12)

The Wise Men Came Looking for the Baby Jesus

You know the story of the wise men, right? Who came looking for the baby Jesus and when they found him they fell down and worshipped him. Well they knew who they were looking for because they had read about it in the scriptures.

When we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. Well in our study of Matthew we're up to chapter 2 and this is the account of the Magi who came to see little Jesus. Let me begin reading in verse 1.

We'll go through verse 12 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born.

And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet. And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. For out of you shall come forth a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.

Then Herod secretly called the Magi and carefully determined from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the child. And when you have found him, report to me so that I too may come and worship him.

Now, after hearing the king, they went their way and behold the star, which they had seen in the east, was going on before them until it came and stood over the place where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

And after coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi departed for their own country by another way. Now, surely whenever we talk about the Magi, or also known as the wise men or three kings, those are some other names that we've attributed to them.

You probably have pictured in your mind a nativity scene. You've got Jesus laying in a manger. Mary and Joseph are right there, maybe a cow, a sheep, and a donkey. You've got the shepherds who have come to behold him.

Maybe an angel is hanging overhead. And of course, there are the three wise men. Now, we've narrowed them down to three because of the three treasures that they gave to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

But we understand there probably were well more than three of them. In fact, there would have been a great number of them traveling in a large caravan. I'll expound on that here in just a moment. But that's typically what we think of when we imagine these Magi, or these wise men.

Of course, you probably know they did not arrive at the same time as the shepherds, though we'll have three wise men along with shepherds in our nativity scenes. The shepherds came the night that Jesus was born.

The Magi wouldn't come for about a year or two later, according to what we're reading here in the story. Who were these men and where did they come from? Well, the Magi, you might recognize that word, by the way, as being the root of words like magic and magician.

They were indeed magicians. They practiced the magic arts. They practiced alchemy and elixir making. They were also astronomers and astrologers. They studied the stars and believed that major world events could be charted in the stars.

And they were very well studied in many different ancient civilizations. So they loved to read the ancient writings of any kind of culture. And that plays into what we're reading here in Matthew, because remember that in the genealogy we read about the time of the deportation to Babylon.

That's one of the major events that Matthew charts in his genealogy. So you have from Abraham down to David, then down to the deportation of Babylon, and then to the birth of Christ. So that's an important event.

And that even plays into the story that we're reading here about these Magi. The Babylonians came into Jerusalem and conquered the city in about 600 BC. And we know that some of the men that were exiled and became part of the king's court included Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, or as you probably know them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Now, when they became wise men in the king's court, they would have been fellow wise men with some of these Magi. Later on, when the Persians came and conquered the Babylonians, then some of those Babylonian religions got merged in with the Persian religion.

So we think of Zoroastrianism as not just being of Babylonian origin, but even of Persian origin because some of the ways and practices of the Persians got mixed into their religion as well. So they would have had the scrolls of the prophets of the Hebrews, including Daniel and the books of the law, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

And there is, of course, a prophecy in Numbers 24 .17 about a star that will rise out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. Well, the star was the star that they followed, the scepter, that's a reference to a king.

So they were looking for that king, and Daniel gives an approximate time as to when this king would arrive. So when they saw the star, they knew what they were looking for because they had read the Old Testament scriptures.

They had read the prophets, the Hebrew prophets, and they revered those prophets, believe it or not. Daniel was a very well-respected man among all of the Magi. I mean, we've read a couple of different occasions in the book of Daniel where he even saved their lives.

So of course, they loved Daniel and revered his writings. And it was these very writings that the Magi were following, looking for he who was born king of the Jews. So let's come back to the very start here, Matthew 2, starting in verse 1.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

Now that might seem like a bit of a contradiction. They came from the east and they saw his star in the east. Wouldn't they be going in the opposite direction then? If they're following the star, wouldn't the star be in the west?

Well, this is in reference to where they came from. So we saw his star in the east. We were in the east. We saw his star rise. We have followed it to this particular place. They're not saying the star is in the east, but that was where they saw the star.

So in verse 3, when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all of Jerusalem with him. So as I alluded to a little bit ago, the Magi were traveling in a large caravan. This was not just three men, but there was a huge company of them together.

And we would have to assume that being the case, because if it was just three guys, what kind of a stir can three foreigners really cause in Jerusalem? But when you've got a large caravan of foreigners that come in and they're asking this question, where is he who has been born king of the Jews, then you got to imagine that not only troubles Herod, but it even troubles the rest of the people in Jerusalem who saw them.

So when Herod heard this, he was troubled and all of Jerusalem with them. Who are these people? And they've come here saying, where is he who's been born king of the Jews? I hadn't heard anything about, I mean, did Herod have a kid that we didn't know about?

Nothing has been announced. Nothing's been said. So in verse four, gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, Herod was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet.

And then you have this reference from Micah chapter five, verse two. Now wait a second. If the Magi had read the Hebrew scrolls and they knew what they were looking for, they came to Jerusalem looking for the one who had been born king of the Jews.

Then how would they not have known to go to Bethlehem if they had the Hebrew writings and even a prophet like Micah had chronicled before the exile into Babylonian captivity that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem?

Well, surely the Magi had read that. But remember, they're arriving about a year or two after Jesus was born. So they're not automatically going to assume he's still there in Bethlehem. They went to the capital city.

They went to where the palace was. Because if they're looking for he who has been born king of the Jews, surely he's going to be in the palace in Jerusalem. That's why they went there first. Even if they had known the Hebrew scriptures, it still makes sense that they would go to Jerusalem first.

So the wise men, Herod's own wise men, say to him that, yeah, hey, it's been prophesied. This is Matthew 2 .6, you Bethlehem land of Judah are by no means least among the leaders of Judah for out of you shall come forth a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.

Now the astonishing thing about all of this is that the Jews should have known that all of this is going to take place. See you've got these wise men from a foreign land who have come to worship he who has been born king of the Jews.

And all of Jerusalem is startled by this because they don't know. They're not studying their own scriptures. And these wise men that serve in King Herod's court, they've not done anything to educate the people.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees, those other teachers of the law that are there in Jerusalem have not been preparing the people for the one whom God had promised and had laid out his birth in the prophets.

But these foreign men, these men from a foreign land, they have come, they've been paying attention to the scriptures. They have seen the star just as was prophesied in the scriptures and they have come to worship him.

But all of Jerusalem is troubled by this because they don't even know their own scriptures. This is an astonishing indictment against the Jewish people who are not even reading the word that God had given to them.

Remember what is said in John 1 verse 11, he came to what was his own and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And these Magi become a testimony against the Jewish people because they were reading these scriptures, the oracles of God that had been given to the Jews who were not reading them. But here these Magi have come looking for the one who was born king of the Jews and they have come to worship him.

So Herod, it says in verse seven, he secretly called the Magi and carefully determined from them the time that the star appeared. Now we understand by what we read later in this story that Jesus would have been about a year old, maybe two years, no more than two years, according to the timing that Herod did ascertain from the Magi.

Because when he gives the order for the soldiers to go out and kill those baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding region, the order that he gives is that they kill those who are two and under or under the age of two.

So this meant Jesus may have been a year or 18 months old at this particular time. So the, the Magi come, they know he's already been born, which is why they say, where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

Again, this is not on the night of his birth, like the, like the shepherds got the chance to witness. This is sometime later. So Herod sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search carefully for the child.

And when you have found him report to me so that I too may come and worship him. Now after hearing the king, they went their way and behold the star, which they had seen in the East was going before them until it came and stood over the place where the child was.

Let me stop there for just a moment. So this statement that Herod makes to them, of course, this is a ruse he's, he's schmoozing them over. Go and search carefully for the child. When you've found him report to me so that I too may come and worship him.

But we know that Herod had no intent on doing that, that he was going to put this child to death and the Magi later on being warned in a dream, departed for their country another way. That's what we have in verse 12.

Now how about this star that they saw, that they followed? Now there are all kinds of different theories as to what this star could possibly be. And you've probably heard some of them. There are theories that it could be a conjunction between Jupiter and Venus in August of three BC and again in June, a year later around two BC.

So by what we're able to chart in the stars and the paths of the planets, we know that Venus and Jupiter were aligned very closely with one another just about the time that Jesus was born. And, and there were two conjunctions, two consecutive years in a row.

So that's become a popular theory. There are some people that think, well, it's, it's Venus and Jupiter coming together. And that of course would form a bright star, which the Magi could follow to the place that Jesus is born.

But that's actually not a very bright idea. And yes, I'm being punny there. It's not that bright. I don't know if you've seen a conjunction before, but we've seen the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in, uh, in June of 2015.

And then there was a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in December of 2020. And I had the chance to observe both of those, uh, astrological phenomena, uh, astronomical, I guess astronomical would be the word.

Yes. So anyway, I observed them both and they're just not very bright. It just, it looks like a bright star, but it's nothing out of the ordinary that would make you think, you know, we should follow that and see where that leads us.

And of course the Magi were skilled astronomers. They would have known exactly what a conjunction was. And there's nothing about two planets joining together that would have enticed them to have to follow that and think that it was going to lead them to a King.

There are other theories that are proposed like, uh, like maybe a comet, but in the ancient world, comets were not, uh, they, they weren't signs of goodwill. They were bad omens. Typically, uh, an appearance of a comet in the sky was, you know, for many astronomers back in those days, it was a sign of something bad that was going to happen.

There are others that have postulated, maybe there was a supernova, maybe it was some sort of a constellation or something like that. But none of these theories make sense. And especially for Magi who know the stars well, what could it possibly be that would entice them to follow it?

And it would have to be something that is out of the ordinary. It would have to be something supernatural. And this particular star, we know that it moved because of what we read in verse nine. Now, after hearing the King, they went their way and behold the star, which they had seen in the East was going on before them until it came and stood over the place where the child was.

So it's moving ahead of them. And it even sits over the house high enough into the air, but low enough that it's projecting light downward and showing them this is the house that they are looking for.

So more supernatural explanations would give us a right understanding of what this star was. I remember hearing John MacArthur say it was probably an angel. And sure, it could have been that or it's just a bright star in the sky that's lower than the heavens, but higher than the clouds.

So something that's out there enough that it indicates to the Magi, there's something amazing about this. This is the star that was prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures in numbers, the star that would rise out of Jacob and a scepter would come out of Israel.

So this has got to be it. This is now the sign that this king has been born. So let's follow the star. Let's go to Jerusalem and look for this king. Now up to that particular point, the star is probably not that exacting.

It's not until after they leave Jerusalem that the star comes down a little bit lower and shows them exactly the house that they are going to. So up until that point, it's just ahead of them leading them leading the way.

But it's not low enough that they would have recognized, OK, Jerusalem's not the place we're apparently looking for something else instead. But yeah, like I said, we've got to have some sort of a supernatural explanation behind this star, not some sort of astronomical phenomenon.

Verse 10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. They've traveled for months probably. And here they have arrived, finally finding the child who has been born. And after coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshiped him.

Then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These are regal gifts. These are the kinds of gifts that you give to a king. When you read about the queen of Sheba coming and beholding Solomon and all of his glory at the beginning of first Kings, the gifts that she brings to him are gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Same gifts that were brought to the Christ child. Gold of course doesn't need any explanation. You know what gold is. Frankincense was a very aromatic resin. Myrrh was an embalming ointment. But it was a common gift for a king because kings had tombs that were built for them and set aside long before they ever died.

And so as part of a gift that you would give to a king, you would give him an embalming ointment that would be placed in the tomb with him when he finally died and went to go be buried with his fathers.

So that was a common gift to bestow upon a king. Of course, we would know that this king, Jesus, wouldn't remain in that tomb for very long. As we just celebrated on Resurrection Sunday, Jesus is risen, that tomb is empty and he is ascended back to his father where he is seated at his right hand.

Verse 12, and having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi departed for their own country by another way. And we'll come back to the story again tomorrow and finish up the rest of chapter 2.

Of course, reading about the flight to Egypt and Herod slaughtering the children in the massacre of the innocents. But if there's one application we can take away from the 12 verses that we have read here, it's that we not fall into the same kind of error that the Jews were in at the time of the Magi's visit.

They had the scriptures, but they did not know them. These foreigners had read the scriptures and they came looking for the one who had been born king of the Jews. Here in America today, of course, most of my audience being Americans and I, of course, living in Texas, so you know I'm an American.

Most Americans today have many Bibles in their homes, but they're not reading them. This is an indictment against so-called Christians in America who have the word of God printed in their language, several copies of it, in fact, sitting on a shelf in their home where they don't pull it out and read it.

Beware because there's another visitation coming. It's Christ's return. He's going to come back and many people are going to be caught unprepared because they were not reading the scriptures. They did not know Christ.

They were not obedient to him. They were not living in holiness. They were not worshiping him. They just did not know the word of God. Let that not be us, my friends. Let us be diligent in God's word, not only reading these things, but applying them to our lives and living according to them.

Until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts, the way that Peter puts it in 2 Peter 1, verse 19, hear the word of God and obey it. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here today and may it be convicting to us to be regular in your word that we may know your will and how we are to live for you today.

All of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven, but we also have instructed for us how we are to live our lives in such a way that is honoring of the Lord. And as James says, if we say that we have faith, but we don't have works that show evidence of our faith, then we have a dead faith.

So keep us diligent to serve you and walk according to your ways, according to your word. It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website at www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.