Life of Christ Part 3: The Wise men.
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Good everyone, how are we today. Today we are continue this study on The life of Christ. Jesus Christ is the author of Salvation. the reason for us study his life is because he is our savior and king. He is the only way to know who God is, by studying his ministry, and applying to our daily life. John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
so last week we talk about the birth of Christ, the Shepherd's who were told the good new about a savior who was born, and we talk about the importance of Jesus being born under the Law of Moses. this week we are going to be continuing with the Life of Christ, and we are going to be looking at the wise men who came to visit Jesus Christ, and we are going to be kind of looking at how to follow in the steps of the Wise men today.
Who are the Wise men who come to visit Jesus:
Who are the Wise men who come to visit Jesus:
one the most common mistakes people make when comes to studying the Bible is that people mistake the Shepherds and the wise men as the same group of men but they are actually two different groups of men. lets turn in our Bibles to Mt 2:1-12
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, 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.”
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
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 Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact 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.”
After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
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 by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
so from this passage we are going to be looking at the Wise men also known as the Magi. Little bit about their history. lets go head look at verse 1 in here Mt 2:1
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
we’re are going to look at the word Magi for second. Magi is basically short Magicians. the Magi were seekers of Knowledge, but their knowledge that was mixture of science and superstition. these guys would normally study stars within the sky. they would also be advisers to nobles and kings, we can see that through some of the scriptures. Lets turn in our Bibles to Esther 1:13
Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak before all who knew law and justice
and Daniel 2:12
Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Just from the history of Scripture, and history itself there have been advisers to kings and nobles, there is another side coin to all of this. there have been some wise men who would used their knowledge personal gain, to cheat, and lie for power. These types of wise men then would opposed truth, and they would be known as Charlatans. we also see some examples of through the scriptures. Lets turn in our Bibles to Acts 8:9
Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
and we can turn in our Bibles to Acts 13:6-8
When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,
who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
Now if we go back Mt 2:1
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
we see that these types Magi are actually seekers of truth and that they study the stars. God had given these Magi some idea to gather some knowledge about a certain star that would lead them to the King of the Jews. eventually this star would lead to the Jerusalem. These Magi would probably expecting the city be overjoy with the news of birth of new King, yet that was not the case. eventually word got to King Herald, and he we see that here in verse two of Mt 2:2
“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.”
Here in verse two we come to see that Magi were searching for the newly born king. as we continue with this passage we come to understand that eventually the King Herald hears of this. this allow us move on to verse 5-6 in Matthew 2:5-6
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 Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
here within these two verses we see that King Herald who hear’s about a newly born king disturbs him. Kings usually do not like other kings because of conflicts with their laws within their own kingdom. the power shift that happens when a kingdom is divided into two. we see that Herald learns the whereabout of this newly born king. we also see that King Herald try’s to make deal with The Wise Men, that when they find they would let him know his location so that he too can come and worship Jesus. Mt 2:8
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.”
as we get the whole picture here we understand that King Herald was lying to the Wise men. we see at the end of this passage here in last three verses here in Mt 2:9-12
After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
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 by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
from these last three verses we come to see that the Wise men manged to find Jesus and worship bring gifts of Gold and treasures of all kinds to the newly born Child. we also see that Wise men are given to a vision as they sleep about not returning to King Herald, because if King Herald were to find the Child he do anything in his power to kill the Child due Jesus being a threat to his throne. At the end of the passage we come to see that because of the visions from their sleep the Wise men decide to not return to King Herald to inform him about Jesus. The Wise men took a different path home. in some sense we as people need to be like the Wise men. So, How do we become like the Wise men? well that lead us to our next point.
Becoming like the Wise Men:
Becoming like the Wise Men:
One of the few things about Bible is that there several ways to learn from the Bible. you can just read from scripture, read the words from the Jesus and his Apostle, and we can see the action from many types of People with in the Bible from Old to New Testament, as Christian's and new Christian’s so much from the word of God. it really depend on how we applied it to our daily life. the Wise men are good example of this. the first thing we can learn from the Wise men is that they sought out Jesus in Mt 2:1-2
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, 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.”
Today many people seek or look for something to feel a empty void in this life. People who do not seek Jesus Christ seek only worldly passion. here in these two verse we can see that Wise seek a newly born King whom we have knowledge of being the savior of the world. Lets turn in our Bibles to Lk 10:42
but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
we see that in this chapter here in Luke we see that this about Mary and Martha. Martha who continue to be busy, and doing the necessary things that need to be done, and Mary who chose to sit and listen to what is truly important the words of Christ. from this chapter we see that Mary was seeking the wisdom of God.