The Mysterious Wise Men

In our upcoming production, as Colin has dubbed it, we are really stretching the definition and characterization of the Wise Men as Bruce, Justin, and Terry are portraying the Wise Men.

Almost 2,000 years ago, a mysterious group of Wise Men appeared in Jerusalem searching for answers.

Tonight, we are going to take a biblical look at the Wise Men, and let me begin by saying this.

It is a wise man indeed who seeks God.

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.”

We are going to look at two points.

(1) What they sought

(2) What they brought

1. What they sought.

A. The quest of the Wise Men.

Matthew 2:1 “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,”

We are focusing on the Wise Men and not the sign in the sky tonight even though we will reference the sign in the sky a few times.

The Bible says the Wise Men came from the East. East of where? The Wise Men came from east of Jerusalem.

In the Bible, Jerusalem is the focal point from which all directions are launched. I personally believe that the Wise Men came from Persia, and I have a biblical reason for believing the way I do.

I believe the Wise Men knew what the sign in the sky meant because of what Daniel had taught them.

Daniel 2:48 “Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Daniel was given great authority in Babylon, including authority over the wise men of Babylon who were a very select group of astronomers, scientists, and mathematicians. I believe Daniel used his position to teach the wise men of the coming Messiah. He appealed to their reasoning.

Now, I really do believe this to be true. God wants us to “know” Him. He wants us to intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally know who He is. AN emotional knowledge of God will only last as long as the emotion does, but an intellectual knowledge of God will last forever. Do you remember what John said?

John 20:31 “but these are written that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

I believe Daniel told the Wise Men the sign for which they should watch.

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Isaiah lived and wrote about 200 years before Daniel. Daniel knew what Isaiah wrote, and I believe Daniel told the wise men under his authority that a sign in the sky would appear indication the birth of the Messiah.

For 500 years, the wise men of the East kept and studied what Daniel taught them, and when that sign appeared, the came seeking the One Daniel described.

Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

B. The question of the Wise Men.

Matthew 2:1–2 “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, “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.””

So much for casual conversation, right?

The Wise Men knew what the sign in the sky meant, and they get right to the point by asking, “Where is He that has been born King of the Jews?”

The Herod of verse 1 is Herod the Great.

Herod’s tenure on the throne was ignored in heaven, and the words “born king” must have shaken him to his very core.

Herod was a descendant of Esau, and through political maneuvering, the Edomite was sitting in place in the throne of David.

Malachi 1:1–3 “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.””

Herod was a vile, evil man just as his ancient ancestor was. Herod was insane and infected with sexually transmitted diseases. You can read many historical accounts of his insanity and evil caused tirades, and the question asked of him caused great concern.

1. Herod’s concern.

Matthew 2:3 “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”

The Bible says that Herod was troubled and all of Jerusalem with him.

Why was Jerusalem troubled? Because Jerusalem knew if Herod was troubled bloodshed would not be far away as always is the case with a madman.

Unknowingly, the Wise Men triggered a diabolical madman, the spawn of Satan, who would do anything to kill this new born King. It was Revelation Chap. 12 playing out on the world stage as Satan was doing everything in his power to keep Jesus from being born and from surviving.

Satan knew he could never destroy God, but he thought he could destroy the baby, the newly born Son of God, and Herod was the tool that he was going to use.

2. Herod’s counselors.

Matthew 2:4–5 “And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:”

Where is this Christ to be born?, asked Herod. He asked in a way that his counselors would think that he wanted to go worship this King, but all he really wanted to do is discover where Jesus was born. He had no desire to worship anyone but himself.

Herod then further questioned the Wise Men asking when the sign in the sky first appeared.

He asked that question so that he could get an idea about how far back he should go in implementing his dastardly plan as is the way of madmen.

His plan was no different than Hitler’s as Herod ordered the execution of all male babies under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and the surrounding districts.

Revelation 12:1–2 “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.”

Revelation 12:3–4 “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.”

Herod had absolutely no desire to pay homage to the baby Jesus. His desire was to commit genocide to keep the Child from leaving Bethlehem.

The Wise Men did not know Herod’s heart. They thought he was seeking the One they were seeking, but later, God revealed the truth to them.

2. What they brought.

Matthew 2:11–12 “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”

Finally, the Wise Men found the new born King in Bethlehem, and immediately they bowed down to worship Him. They did not worship Mary.

Great as our respect for Mary should be, we must be careful not to give to her a place that has not given her. Two things stand out about the Wise Men.

(1) They worshipped Jesus.

(2) They brought gifts.

The gifts they brought were very expensive. At the time of Christ’s birth, frankincense is estimated to have cost $500 a pound, and myrrh is estimated to have cost $4,000 a pound, and we all know how valuable gold is.

The Wise Men, expecting a King, brought gold, the treasure of kings. Gold is so valuable. Today, gold is valued at $2,600 an ounce. To the Wise Men, the gold to the new born King matched the value that He was bringing into the world.

The Wise Men, expecting to meet God in human form, came to worship. In expectation of worship, the Wise Men brought frankincense which was used in worship in the Old Testament.

The Wise Men expecting to meet the Savior, the One who would atone for the sin of man, the One who would have to suffer for the sin of man, brought myrrh, a spice used extensively for embalming.

These gifts were incredibly valuable, and we can say three things about those gifts.

(1) They were prophetic as they symbolize Christ’s royalty, deity, and death.

(2) They were practical as I believe those gift financed Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’s stay in Egypt.

(3) They were providential as they show how God works His plan out in the affairs of man.

The Wise Men, an integral part of the Christmas narrative, show us that without a doubt it is a wise man, a wise woman, a wise boy, and a wise girl that seeks God, and in our production, we are fortunate to have Bruce, Justin, and Terry as our wise men.