Magi Become Believers
Magi. Wisemen. The Three Kings.
They have been starting players of decorative nativity sets for generations even though they don’t exactly fit neatly into the story timeline. We have an idea of who they were from their Christmas carol, “We Three Kings”, but it’s not a strong enough foundation.
Who are they?
Why are they wise?
What did they become?
Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Even if you grew up in church or heard the Christmas story all your life, you still might ask, “What exactly are Magi?” Matthew didn’t give us a clear background in verse 1, and they aren’t mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. The short answer is that the Magi were pagans from a pre-Islamic nation. Historians and theologians further speculate they were from an area that is now Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Yemen where many Jews had been taken into exile. In the Biblical sense, they were unclean Gentiles that wouldn’t have been too concerned with the prophecy of the Messiah or the God of Israel.
However, it was possible that they had heard the prophecy of the Messiah through the captives King Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon centuries earlier (Daniel 1:2).
Yet God found a way to draw these Magi into his story.
He sent a star to appear in the sky when Jesus was born.
We can infer that these Magi studied astronomy because they noticed this star. It must have been very different from the others. This star was new and inconsistent, moving around in the sky. It wasn’t a part of any constellation they had seen before.
Knowing that they drew meaning from the stars, God strategically used this to prompt the Magi to find Jesus.
They set off on a journey with this star as their navigator, taking all their cues from it. If the star went north, they went north. If the star took them back east, they went back east. If the star stayed in one spot for a whole week, they stayed where the star was. If the star didn’t appear one night, they used mathematics to calculate where it might show up again. Perhaps that’s why they went to Herod in Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem at first.
The distance between the “east” and Israel was enough to be a couple months’ journey, but with the ever-changing route factored in, it may have taken the Magi a year or two to find Jesus. But that didn’t matter to them. They needed to follow that star.
Matthew 2:9-12 (NIV)
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The star appeared again, and the Magi followed it until it stopped over Joseph’s home. These men were intelligent and well-read. They had just spent a great deal of time following a star believing it was taking them to something monumental. But upon seeing the child that is Jesus, they fell to their faces and worshipped him.
In that moment, the Magi became believers.
Out of the fullness of their hearts, they wanted to exalt Jesus, and they didn’t hold back any of their treasures from him. The gifts they gave Jesus held more meaning than we often realize because they could have symbolized the purpose for which he had been sent.
Gold, a precious metal to honor the King of the Jews.
Frankincense, an incense to worship the Lord incarnate.
And Myrrh, an oil to anoint the Savior who would one day die for the sins of man.
God sent the Magi a warning through a dream not to return to Herod. They obeyed and went home another way. Because of their obedience, Joseph had enough time to take Jesus and Mary and flee before Herod’s genocide.
Verse 12 is not a detail that should be skimmed over. Following a star wasn’t too far out of their comfort-zone; they trusted that stars held meaning. But to heed a warning in a dream would have caused them to suspend their disbelief for Jesus’s sake.
The Magi, having just become believers, protected Jesus when he was still in his most vulnerable state.
Before the Magi found Jesus, they had to wait on the star even when the journey didn’t make sense. But this journey shaped them, wore them down, and helped them become believers in the end.
Many of us may feel like we’re wandering aimlessly as the holidays approach. Our focus may rapidly shift from work to our families to travel plans to last minute shopping to whatever and we feel lost in the midst.
But what if God’s there in the middle of our Christmas chaos?
What if God is taking us from point A to point B with the goal that we’ll encounter Jesus in the end?
If we can find God in the middle of all the busyness of this season, then everything changes.
Our attitudes, our hearts, our giving all have the potential to change.
And we can become something more than bystanders.
Becoming generous
weekly family activity - Waiting
Each week of this Advent season your family has an opportunity to grow in its generosity.
Waiting can be tough, but we can often use the time that someone is waiting as an opportunity to bless them. As a practical application, pay the bill of the person behind you in the drive-thru this week. We don’t often get to see the results of our generosity, but a small act of kindness can turn someone’s day around. Think about others you see waiting. How might you be a blessing to them?
To follow along with this study, mark your calendars for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in these weeks leading up to Christmas. Each post will be hosted here. If what you’re learning is meaningful to you, click one of the share buttons at the top of these posts to invite more people on this journey of becoming.
We also invite you to spend Sunday mornings with us to hear what the pastors have to share with us during this season. Services start at 9:30 and 11:15am each week. See you there!
Weekly Reading - Dec 16-20
Monday Luke 2:1-20
Tuesday Isaiah 52:7-9
Wednesday Matthew 2:1-23
Thursday Acts 5:27-32
Friday John 3:1-21