A Word in Season: Being Wise (Matthew 2:1–2)

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Not everyone who has a reputation for wisdom is really wise. Not everybody who thinks of themselves as wise is truly wise.

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But in Matthew chapter 2 we are introduced to men with a reputation for wisdom who seem to be wise also in the eyes of God himself.

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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, saying,

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Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.

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The words that these men speak, the only words in the Bible histories that we have recorded from their lips, give us a window into the true wisdom of their hearts.

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We can see first of all the certainty of these men. Where is he who has been born?

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For we have seen his star. They are absolutely persuaded that the king of the

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Jews has at last stepped onto the stage of the world, that the royal deliverer has been delivered into the world.

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It's a dangerous assertion to make in Herod's Jerusalem, but they are full of conviction.

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And there's also their clarity. Now there are obviously things that they don't know. Where is he who has been born king of the

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Jews? They have come to Jerusalem, the royal city, perhaps a natural starting point.

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There's still things that they need to work out, but they are absolutely clear that he has been born because they have seen his star.

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Now perhaps it was the wisdom of Daniel in Persia that they had gleaned this news from, or perhaps they had some exposure to some of the

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Jewish scriptures. But one way or another, the Holy Spirit, by his inward illumination, has given them this clarity and conviction.

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And so with that there's urgency. Where is he? We've seen his star. We've come to worship him.

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When Herod asks around, the chief priests and the scribes, they have all the information, even more so than these wise men.

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They know that he is going to be born, this Christ, in Bethlehem of Judea, because the prophets have said so.

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But with all their opportunities and advantages, they are the ones who are shrugging their shoulders, it seems, while the wise men press on.

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And then also there is their humility, for they have already come to worship him.

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Whatever else they don't know, they know this, that they must bow down before the

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King of the Jews. And though they cannot find him in Jerusalem, they are ready to travel to Bethlehem.

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And when they come to Bethlehem, David's city, yes, but certainly not as impressive as David's Jerusalem, they find under that star a baby in his mother's arms, a child perhaps of no more than a few months old.

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And despite the lack of worldly glory, despite the absence of regal majesty in the world's eyes, despite his infancy and his poverty, they do indeed bow down and worship him and give him kingly gifts.

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Now, what of us? How much more we know than they did. We know his names and his titles.

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We know the fullness of his history. We know that this King of the Jews, this

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Jesus of Nazareth, this Christ of God, was the one who'd come into this world to suffer and die in the place of the ungodly.

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He had been born the King of the Jews. He had come to save a people for his own glory.

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And though the Jews have little regard for him, already in those first moments of his life, he was drawing to himself his people from every kingdom and tribe and tongue and nation.

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Now, what will we do with the information that we have? These men were truly wise.

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We see it in their certainty. They knew that the King had been born. In their clarity, they knew that he had come and they wanted to find him and worship him.

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Their urgency, no delays, no diversions. And their humility, when they came, they bowed down before him and gave him gifts.

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Will we show anything of that same wisdom in dealing with Jesus of Nazareth?

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Will we recognize him as the King of the Jews, truly the King of kings and the

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Lord of lords and the saviour of all who trust in him? To bow down and worship him is wisdom indeed.