… 2:1-12. I want to speak today on the perfect gift or the perfect present. This is a time of giving, and we want to match the gift to the one receiving it. That’s all based on the tradition of exchanging gifts at that first Christmas, and so I want to look at the wise men who came from the East and the gifts that they presented to the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s several things that you will enjoy along the way here. Do remain seated. I’m reading from the New King James Translation of Holy Scripture, and so let’s read together.
“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?’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. 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 this is written by the prophet. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.’ Then, Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young child, and when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also.” (I don’t think so).
Verse 10. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. 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.” So read God’s Word, and we pray that the spirit of God would attend the preaching of the Word of God, empowering the preacher, and opening the minds and hearts of the listener.
Look, I don’t need to tell you that Christmas is a time of giving gifts. It’s one of the things we love about this season, and part of the joy is not only giving the gifts, but purchasing the gifts, finding the right gift for a family member, for a friend, for a neighbor, for a co-worker because, you see, giving is more than a matter of expense. It’s not just something you buy. It’s a matter of expression. It’s something you buy particularly for a particular person.
Each gift communicates something from the giver to the receiver. In fact, Melissa Kruger, in her book, A Weary World Rejoices, talks about the different kinds of gifts we can give to communicate a particular message of love. She says, “A gift that fulfills a need says, ‘I notice and care about you.’ A gift that’s a complete surprise says, ‘I know what you need, even if you don’t know you don’t need it.’ A gift that can be enjoyed for many years to come,” she says, “is a gift that says, ‘I want to bless you with future joy.’ A gift that comes with personal sacrifice says, ‘I love you more than I love myself.'”
You see, gifts at Christmas are more than a matter of expense. They ought to be a matter of expression where we communicate something from ourselves to the person receiving it. We’re always looking for that right gift which, by the way, can be a bit of a challenge. I was reading about two brothers that had made it good in life, had done very well financially, and so they blessed their mother over the years.
Each year, it got just a little bit more difficult to give her something nice to beat what they had given the year before, and so one of the years, they were scratching their head. One of the brothers said to the other brother, “You know, I was on a flight the other day, and I was reading one of those magazines that talks about these expensive and exotic gifts that you can buy for your loved one.” I said, “I saw something I think would be good for our mother. It’s an exotic bird. It can speak several languages, it’s got a extended vocabulary, and it sings a couple of songs. I mean, really rare, but it’s very expensive. It’s $50,000.” But they said, “Okay. Let’s divide it up. Perfect.”
So they bought the bird, they got it sent to their mother, and so they couldn’t wait for Christmas day. One of the brothers called the mother and said, “Well, Mom, what did you think about the bird?” To which he replied, “It was delicious.” So it’s not easy to match the gift with the person, but giving gifts at Christmas is a wonderful tradition, and it’s a tradition based upon Christmas. The Christmas tradition is based upon the Christmas story because if you look at the story from Luke 1 and 2 to Matthew 1 and 2, it’s all about giving.
Think about this. God gave his son, Mary gave her body, the angels gave their praise, the shepherds gave their public testimony, Joseph gave his home, the innkeeper gave his stable, and the wise men came from afar, and they gave gifts. Christmas is marked by a stream of gifts, ushering first and foremost from the heart of God, and so I want to come to Matthew 1:12… or sorry, Matthew 2:1-12 and look at the story of the wise men who came bearing gifts for the Lord Jesus Christ. Their gifts were perfectly matched to the wonder of the moment they were experiencing.
Now, before we look at the text, and we’re going to concentrate on the wise men. We’re not really going to look at Herod or the chief priests and scribes. They play a cameo role in the text, and that’s how we’re going to view them. I want to focus on these wise men, the Magi that have come from the East. Now, before we get to the text, let’s just look at the context, and I would remind you… Maybe you noticed this as we were reading the story. The story has moved on. We’re not in Luke 2. We’re not in the stable. We’re not with the infant baby. We are in a house, and Christ is described as a child. The Christmas story has moved on.
The shepherds probably never met the wise men, and the wise men probably never met the shepherds regardless of what you see on your Christmas card. The word for “child” here is a different word from “brephos” which is used in Luke of an infant. The Lord Jesus could be two years of age. We surmise that from the fact that Herod tragically doesn’t get his way. The wise men go home another way, and he decides to kill every male child from two years of age and under. So that may point to the fact that Jesus is a child, possibly of two years of age.
You’ll also notice from verse 11 that they enter a house. They enter a house. They’re still in Bethlehem. So we don’t know the background story, but it may well be the case that although they had to go there for the census, that Mary and Joseph stayed there for a while. Maybe Joseph found some work, and they had some rented property, but the story has moved on. We’re possibly anywhere from 18 months to 2 years beyond the nativity scene that we’re all so familiar with, which is a reminder. Don’t get your theology from Hallmark. Don’t get your theology from Christmas cards.
Now, I was saying about this the other day. There’s a very sad and bizarre trend of people stealing nativity scenes. I mean, how low can you sink? Well, I’ll tell you this. If I was ever going to steal a nativity scene, I’d do it with a theological perspective. I would steal the three wise men because they don’t belong there. They don’t belong to the nativity scene. The story has moved on.
Now, there’s three things we’re going to see if you’re taking notes. We’re going to look at the presents. We’re going to look at the gifts that the wise men came bearing. Then, we’re going to look at the providence, the sovereignty of God unfolding in the midst of this story, and then we’re going to look at the prophecy of Isaiah 60 where it talks about Gentile kings coming up to worship Israel’s king and the gifts that they will bear. The presents, the providence, the prophecy.
Let’s jump in with the presents. We begin at verses 1 and 2. We read that. “Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men,” Magi is how that can be translated, “from the East came to Jerusalem, and they said, ‘Where is he who has been born King of the Jews for we have seen a star in the East, and we have come to worship him?'” Now, that news disturbs Herod and all of Jerusalem. We’ll get to that in a moment, but our focus is not on Herod. It’s not on even the scribes or the chief priests. It’s on these wise men.
We’re going to answer three questions quickly. Who are they, why did they come, and what did they bring? Who are they? Well, we can’t be dogmatic. We have a postage stamp sketch of who they are. They’re described as wise men or as it can be translated, Magi, which is a Persian Babylonian term. It can speak of powerful, prominent man from the East. They may have been theologically, or religiously, or spiritually-driven scientists who were looking for God in what they discovered in the natural world. We may even describe them as priestly or princely astronomers.
We know that they were prominent and powerful by the fact that Herod took them seriously. I mean, if these men were insignificant… I mean, think about how many people travel through Jerusalem from all around the Middle East, but these men have caught the imagination and the attention of Herod and what they have surely takes seriously because these are men to be taken seriously.
Now, also, here’s what we might think about this word “Magi” is a Persian or a Babylonian term. It’s found in Daniel 2:2 and 10 also in the Septuagint or the LXX. You say, “Pastor, what’s that?” The Septuagint or the LXX is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. So it’s significant that this word in Matthew 2:1 is found in Daniel 2:2 and 11 to describe the magicians, or the wise men, or the advisors that the king of Babylon or the king of Persia would have in their court.
It’s interesting in Daniel 2:13 that Daniel was named among them. Daniel was an advisor ultimately because he interpreted the dream of the Babylonian king. Now, you say, “Pastor, what’s the importance of that?” Again, I’m connecting dots. It’s more influential, but I think it’s justified. The fact that these men were triggered by a star and came to Jerusalem looking for the child who was born, King of the Jews, tells us that they may be drawing on some of the prophecies that Daniel shared with the Babylonians. Daniel 2, Daniel 4, Daniel 7, the coming of this figure called the Son of Man, the stone representing the Messiah who will roll down and smash all the other kingdoms as he establishes his own. I wonder if that’s part of this. Put that under your hat, and keep that thought.
Now, another little thing quickly before we leave, the idea of who are they. You’ve maybe heard the carol or this, a seasonal hymn, which has these words to it, “We three kings of orient are. Bearing gifts, we travel afar.” Now, who told you there were three? The text doesn’t say there’s three. It just talks about Magi, a plurality of significant powerful men perhaps from the courts of Babylon or Persia.
Now, we assume there may be three. Why? Because there’s three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But a study of the Greek text will show you that the word “treasures” in verse 11 can also be translated “treasure chest.” So there could be less than three. There could be two. There could be more than three. There could be four. Again, watch those Christmas cards. Get your theology from your Bible text.
Why did they come? Well, the text tells us they came because of a remarkable sighting of a star in the sky in the East, and they’ve been following it. It’s been moving, and now it has come to Jerusalem. The inference seems to be that it disappeared. Then, they had the encounter with Herod who had ill intent. They heard the prophecy from Micah 5:2 from the chief priests. Then, as they left that court, it reappeared, and they were exceedingly joyful. But there’s these phenomena that they have noticed and given maybe Daniel’s prophecies, given that ex-patriot Jews have stayed in Babylon with Hebrew scriptures, they may even be aware of Numbers 24:17 that talks about a star out of Jacob. But whatever it was, they saw these phenomena, and they attached it to Messianic promises, and they headed out across some 500 to 800 miles in search of the one who was born King of the Jews.
Now, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the identity of the star. Why? Because the Bible doesn’t give me anything to go with, and there are several interesting theories. Some believe it was a supernova, a new star that exploded, and the brilliance of the light was something that attracted the gaze and gave direction to the wise men. The second theory is a comet. Another theory is some conjunction or alignment of the planets which can happen within history.
I tend to lean towards just a supernatural phenomena that God has brought about miraculously. Something like his shekinah glory, the brilliance of God manifest. Remember when the Israelites had to travel 40 years across the wilderness? The Shekinah glory of God, the brilliance of God, the effluence of God’s wonderful character was put on display with the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
I think something like that is going on, and I’ll tell you, I believe it’s nothing natural. It’s something supernatural because there seems to be an inference that the star brought them to Jerusalem then disappeared. Then, when they emerged from Herod’s court, they’re exceedingly joyful because they see the star again, and interestingly, the star takes them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. It’s moving north to south which natural stars never do. So it’s something supernatural.
Now, here’s the thought before we leave this thought of why. I am struck. Are you not struck by the determination and the passion of the Magi, these gentle unbelievers, non-Jews who are now becoming believers, it would seem, through the Hebrew Scriptures, through God’s supernatural manifestation within creation, and ultimately too, through the Word of God as they learn that Micah 5:2 said the child would be born in Bethlehem? I’m struck by their determination to seek out the Christ Child.
In contrast to the natural-born Jew in Herod’s court, the chief priests and the wise men or the scribes who know where the child is to be born, but when they hear of the coming of the wise men, they tell them where Bethlehem is, and they don’t go there themselves. Here’s these wise men who have made a long and difficult journey, perhaps up to 500 to 800 miles. They’re then met by the disinterest of natural-born Jews who enjoy covenant privileges. Then, they come to the house, and they meet the strange conditions of the Christ Child who supposedly the King of the Jews, but he’s born to a poor family. At this point, they got to be walking by faith, not by sight, and then they perceiving that… I’m not sure to what degree they understood the match of deity and humanity, and the mystery of the incarnation, but they perceived something to the degree that they fell down and worshiped the child, and they give him gifts.
I’m struck by that. I hope your passion and your determination to follow Christ is as strong as the wise men this Christmas. I hope you’re pressing on the upward way, new heights you’re gaining each and every day. I hope you’re not letting things hold you back. I hope you’re not letting the cost of discipleship turn you away from your commitment to Jesus Christ. Are you not challenged by the determination of these men as they adventure for Christ?
Wilfred Grenfell, a distinguished Christian missionary doctor, an explorer in Labrador, and a former generation said this, “The Christian life is the only real adventure.” We have this contrasted with the strange indifference of the Jewish leaders who are brought into Herod’s presence who’s troubled by the news of a competing king, and they say, “You know what? We know that he’s going to be born in Bethlehem of Judea for it’s written by the prophet Micah 5:2.”
Here’s the thing. I want to be challenged by this. They knew their Bibles, but they didn’t live their Bibles. They knew their Bibles, but didn’t live their Bibles. We have no record of them going to Bethlehem. James warns us in his letter about how we approach the Word of God. He tells us there’s a damning deceptive approach where you can know the Word of God and you can believe the Word of God in a demonic way because he says about Christ, “Even the devils believe and tremble.” You can be theologically correct, you can know the Bible, you can memorize it, you can code it, you can sit under it and still go straight to hell because it’s been locked up here, and it’s never got in here, and it’s never found itself out in everyday living.
Hopefully, that’s not true of you and me to a lesser degree, but nevertheless, just as tragic. The danger is for you and I as believers marked by living faith, not demonic faith, but there are times, isn’t there, when we can go to the Word of God? James says it’s like a man that goes to the mirror on the wall on a Monday morning, and he takes a look at himself, and he’s got to shave, and he’s got to wash, and he’s got a comb his hair, but he turns around and goes out the door disheveled. He saw, but he didn’t do. It’s like us hearing and not acting. We hear the Word of God, and we commit ourselves to doing the Word of God, and then something happens on the way home. We don’t carry through in that action. Life distracts us. The price that must be paid to do what we committed to doing begins to scare us, and we don’t do what we know we ought to do. We hear the Bible, but we don’t live it.
My friend, when God awakens the desire in your heart and my heart to serve the Lord Jesus, to pursue the Lord Jesus, to know the Lord Jesus, can I tell you? Give yourself to that desire. Keep that desire alive. Feed it. Love it. Give yourself to it until it has blossomed into action to the glory of God. What a dangerous thing the handling of God’s Word can be.
John Piper wrote a book many years ago to pastors. He said, “Brothers, we are not professionals, and these scribes have become professionals. They can announce the Word of God like an error hostess announcing the safety rules before a flight. It’s being done so many times, it’s just rote. It can be done without meaning.” In his book, The Difference Christ Makes, my friend, H.B. Charles, tells of a story he read about Philip Yancey, a Christian writer who made his first visit to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park with a group of tourists, and they surrounded the geyser. They all brought their cameras, and they were waiting for that moment when there would be an eruption.
Now, I haven’t been there. I’d love to see it someday, but I’m told there’s a large clock nearby, and it tells you when the next eruption is coming. So the next one was 24 minutes to go, and so they went inside to a little diner, a coffee shop attached to the park, and they sat and whittled away the 24 minutes. With a minute to go, with the rest of the people, they got over to the window so that they could see the next eruption, so they could take a photo of that historic event. As that eruption took place, there was oohs, and there was ahs, and there was the clicking of cameras. But Philip Yancey says he did notice over his shoulder that all the waitresses and waiters descended on the tables, and cleared some of the plates away, and filled up the water glasses, and not one of them looked out the window. Not one of them looked out the window. Yancey, reflecting on that, said, “Apparently, Old Faithful had lost its power to impress.”
Be fearful of the day, myself included, as you sit in that pew and I mount the steps to this pulpit, when the things of God become routine and the glory of Jesus fades, and we sit and hear the Word of God to give it a score, “That was a good one this morning. What was the pastor talking about this morning? He was off. Why are we paying this guy?” rather than, “You know what? I just heard a Word from the Lord, and eternity has invaded time, and the glory of God has shone around about us in the gospel, and I must act before that glory fades and that desire dies.”
Let’s look at what they brought, what they brought. Let’s look at the gifts they brought. I think the guests were perfect. I think they matched the moment, and we’re going to look at them briefly. Although it does remind me a couple of years ago, June and I were around this time of the year. We like to go down at night to Balboa Island, and walk around there, and watch the lights. We’d be taking the boats if they’re out and about. While we were down there, June usually drags me into some of these craft shops. What I do for love.
I was in one of these craft shops bored out of my mind. June is looking at every knick-knack and nonsense sticks found on planet Earth, and I noticed this thing you could buy, and it was called, “What if it had been three wise women instead of three wise men?” Here’s what the plaque said you can buy for your home, and it said this, “If it was three wise women, they would’ve stopped and asked for directions. They would’ve arrived on time, they would’ve delivered the baby, they would’ve helped clean the stable, and they would’ve made a casserole, and they would’ve brought practical gifts.” Now, remember, the baby had already been born, and there was no stable, so you can count that out, but I would disagree. I think these gifts are practical. I think they’re perfect. Let me show you why. For the first gift, gold. Isn’t that a perfect gift for one born King of the Jews?
Amen.
Because gold is a possession of kings. It’s a rare precious metal of great value, and you go to 2 Kings 10:14, King Solomon enjoying a glorious time of prosperity in his kingdom has more gold than he knows what to do with. He makes shields of gold. He overlays his throne with gold, and when people from other nations come to visit him, they bring gold. Gold is the metal of royalty. It’s the possession of kings, and Matthew presents Jesus as the King of the Jews. What a beautiful gift. What a precious gift. What appropriate gift.
Number two, frankincense. Frankincense was this sweet-smelling incense. If you go back to Leviticus 2:2 and Leviticus 2:15-16, it was associated with Levitical offerings, the worship of God, and it was used in the grain offering. It was mixed in with the grain offering, and the smell of it, in a metaphorical figurative sense, rose to God. He smelt it, and it was pleasing to him. That’s why Paul, when he receives the gift from Epaphroditus from the church at Philippi, describes it as what? A sweet-smelling savor. It’s the image. It’s a beautiful “I thank you for your sacrifice.”
Here’s the thing that’s interesting. This incense was only associated with the grain offering. It was never associated with the sin offering. Is that not significant? Because the one born King of the Jews was sinless, but he was going to give himself as a sacrifice for sin and sinners. How beautiful. How interesting, the providence of God, the message that it sends. You can read the providence of God.
The third gift is myrrh, perfume spice. It’s mixed with other spices in the preparation of a body for burial. How interesting. Read about that in John 19:38-42 when Nicodemus took the body of the Lord Jesus that had been taken down of the cross, and it says that with myrrh and spices, he prepared the body for burial. In fact, when mixed with wine, it was used as an anesthetic. In fact, Jesus was offered this concoction in Mark 15:23 to dull the pain of the crucifixion.
Strange gift, is it not, for a child? A spice associated with death with the preparation of a body for burial? I would say not only strange, maybe even offensive to think about death at the moment of a child’s birth or its infancy, but not this child because this child will grow up to be a man, and he will stand in the court of Pilate, and he will say to Pilate, “For this cause, I came, and for this reason, I was born.” He was born to die. He was born to give himself a sacrifice for sin and sinners upon Calvary’s Tree. Bethlehem is about Calvary because he would give himself the just for the unjust, that we might be brought to God. Hebrews 9:26, “He appeared at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Those are the three gifts. Can I add a fourth? I saw something I haven’t seen in reading this text several times over several years. I think there’s a fourth gift, and the fourth gift is life because you read in verse 12, “Then, being divinely warned in a dream, they would not return to Herod. They departed for their own country another way.” See, Herod intended to kill the child, and the wise men were wised up to that reality, warned by God, and they left another way. Then, we read that the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him to arise, and take the child with his mother, and flee to Egypt. We tend to overlook the gift that the wise men gave the Lord Jesus. They gave him the gift of life. On a human level, they preserved his life. Their full obedience to the divine warning, returning home another way, preserved his life and left no breadcrumbs for Herod to follow.
Now, before we leave this thought, and the last two thoughts are much quicker, the interest of the text lies in their recognition of Christ as The Promised Messiah, and when they had come to the house, they saw the young child with Mother Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Can I just remind those of another tradition? They worshiped him, not her. There’s nothing in the Bible about worshiping Mary. There’s nothing in the Bible about venerating Mary as Jesus’ mother. We honor her. She’s a wonderful example of womanhood and sainthood, but they worshiped him. There’s no Madonna and the Child here in the original Christmas text. They fell down and worshiped him, and they opened their gifts.
They were great, they were significant men, but he was greater. Jesus was greater. They bowed down, and they worshiped him. They worshiped him instantly, and they worshiped him sacrificially. Beyond the gifts, I think there’s… intimated in this text, they began to give themselves. I’m not sure to what degree they fully understood the significance of the Christ Child, but the fact that they worshiped him, the fact that they obeyed the heavenly warning and see of the life of the Lord Jesus, I get a sense they were beginning to become, if they weren’t already, his disciples.
You know what? This Christmas, I hope that you recognize who he is. The Creator of All Things made a little lower than the angels. The Word made flesh dwelling among us that someday he might be made sin. I hope you’re lost in the wonder, and love, and praise of that whole reality, and I hope that you’ll give your best to the Lord Jesus. I hope you’ll humble yourself afresh and give yourself to him.
I love what it says of the Macedonians in 2 Corinthians 8:5, “Amidst the gifts that they give to Paul’s collection for the prayer in Jerusalem,” it says, “they first give themselves.” Thank you for what you’ve given today to the Lord’s work and what you’ll give before the end of this year, but I hope you’re giving yourself because when you give yourself, it’ll be easier to give the other stuff. I hope you’ve submitted your heart, and life, and purse, and time, and marriage, and children, and days to the Lord. He deserves it.
Romans 12:1, “Let’s present our bodies as a living sacrifice.” One writer says this, “All of us are kings and queens presiding over our little kingdoms and queendoms, deciding each and every day who will sit on the throne of our life.” No one comes to Jesus with his chest puffed, his arms folded, and his nose held high. I hope you’re humbled by the one who humbled himself. I hope you’re captured by his love, captivated by the wonder of who he is, and he is your prize, and he is your passion, and he is your pursuit.
Sadly, we didn’t get to Israel this year. We had to cancel it because of the war in Gaza, but I’ve been there a few times, and you have too. If you’ve been to Bethlehem, you’ve visited the Church of the Nativity. You usually have to stand in the line outside the church to get in, it’s so long, with all the pilgrims. Then, once you get in, you’re in another queue waiting to get through this tiny little doorway to the right of the Greek Orthodox altar. It’s purposely small because the intent is to get you to bow, to get low.
Once you go through that little doorway, you come to a grotto which is said to be the traditional spot where Jesus was born. I’m not sure about that, but certainly, he was born in Bethlehem, and it symbolizes the fact that the Son of Man came to this earth right in and around that area, and even to look inside the grotto to see that Nativity scene or the spot supposedly where Jesus was born, you need to kneel to take a look. I love the symbolism of that. Get low, fall down, and adore him. I hope that’s true of you and me this Christmas.
Let’s move on quickly. What I call the providence. I don’t want you to miss this. It’s not critical to the text, but I think it’s a beautiful inference, and it is part of the story because we see the providence of God at work in this passage. In fact, if you read the whole Christmas story, the providence of God is uniquely at work. Now, let me explain what the providence of God is. You’ve heard of Providence, Rhode Island. Let me talk to you about the providence of God. It’s a Latin term that speaks about God’s sovereignty. It’s made up of two words, “pro,” “beforehand” and “video,” “to see.” What is providence? It’s God’s ability to see things before they happen, to anticipate and to direct the events for his glory and the good of his people. Do you agree that God sees all things?
Yeah.
He does, but don’t… You’ve got to go beyond that. He doesn’t just see them. He’s not a passive spectator. God not only sees all things, he sees to all things. Remember Jehovah-Jireh back in Genesis 22:14 when God provides a lamb so that Abraham doesn’t have to sacrifice Isaac? At that place, Abraham worships God and says, “Jehovah-Jireh.” We often interpret that as “The Lord provides,” and it is, but the Hebrew is “The Lord will see to it.” Isn’t that beautiful? Whatever is going on in your life, whatever lack, whatever need, whatever problem, whatever chaos, the Lord will see to it. He saw it before you saw it, and he has an answer before you see it, and all things will work together For good. God is sovereign. He either decrees a thing or permits a thing. What Joseph’s brothers meant for evil? God consecutively, as the Puritans call it, concurrently meant it for good.
Romans 8:28, “God will work all things together for good.” Don’t we see the providence of God in the Christmas story? The supernatural star is a providence directing these wise men, the Magi from Babylon or Persia to Jerusalem. Don’t we see the providence of God seeing to it that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem? I mean, Joseph and Mary came from Nazareth. How did they wind up in Bethlehem? Because there was the decree from Caesar Augustus which sent them back to the city of their heritage. Providence. God is seen to it.
Here’s a thought. The next part of this story, we didn’t read it, is 13, 14, and 15, that after warning the wise men to go home another way, Mary and Joseph are warned to get out of Israel, and to go to Egypt, and to stay there, and they stayed there until Herod dies. Have you ever thought about this? What financed that trip? What financed their stay in Egypt because they were poor? Luke 2:22-24 tells us they give a dove offering. That’s the offering that the poor give to God.
Is there any providence in the fact that God sent these men 800 miles to deliver some gold in anticipation of the fact that they would need it when they fled to Egypt? Is that not providence? Is that not the God who sees all things and sees to all things? I hope that as you and I end this year, and we go into 2024, we don’t know what it holds, but we know who holds the future. He holds it in his hand, and he’s a God of sovereignty and providence.
I love what A.W. Tozer says, “With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, and the wisdom of God to plant it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack?” I love the story of the lady, an older lady who lived in a small apartment. She was a fervent follower of God and the lover of Jesus Christ. She had a neighbor who was a virulent atheist, and he used to mock her simple faith in God. In fact, the apartment walls were adjacent, and she prayed loud. The walls weren’t that thick, and so he’d often hear her praying to God, worshiping him, and then asking him for things that she needed. He would tell her on and off as they’d meet on the stairwell of the apartment, “You know what? There is no God. You’re talking to the walls. No one is listening.” But she kept going.
There came a time when she was low on money, and she wasn’t sure where the groceries would come from, and so she prayed fervently that God would provide for her. She prayed to Jehovah-Jireh that the Lord would provide, and the atheist thought he’d have some fun. So he ran down to the grocery store, and he bought her some groceries, and then he sat her groceries on her front door. He ran out the door, ducked behind his, and she come out, saw the groceries, and started dancing, and singing, and praising God that God had answered her prayer and provided. In the middle of it, he jumps out, pokes fun, “There is no God. I bought you the groceries.” She replies, “I knew the Lord would provide. I didn’t know that he’d make the devil pay for them.”
It’s good. God’s got all kinds of ways to meet the needs of his people. God will see to you in 2024. Your business, your family, your health or the absence of your health, God will see to it. God knows what you need before you even pray. God saw the need and provided the need before they experienced the need, and God had already provided for it.
Lastly, the prophecy. Have you been following along? You’ve collected several verses here this morning about prophecy. This passage is all about the fulfillment of prophecy. In fact, so is chapter 1. We’ve talked about the possibility that they came from the East, triggered by an interest, triggered by Daniel’s prophecies about the Son of Man and a coming king who will be King of Kings, Daniel 2:4 and 7. Perhaps they were aware through Jewish tradition and the Hebrew Scriptures of Numbers 24:17 that a star would come out of Jacob. They were aware through the chief priest, Micah 5:2, that the child would be born in the City of David in Bethlehem. They will become aware of their excursion into Egypt, the Hosea 11:1, that he will call his son out of Egypt.
I want to take you to one prophecy as we close because here, we have these wise men driven by this prophetic anticipation, coming to Jerusalem, then going to Bethlehem in search of the one born King of the Jews, and they come bearing gold, speaking of his royalty, they come bearing frankincense, speaking of his sinlessness, they come bearing myrrh, speaking of his atoning death as the sinless Lamb of God. But if you go to Isaiah 60, there’s a prophecy here that’s very interesting. I believe that this is a prophecy about the end time. I believe this is a prophecy centered on the second coming of Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah. If you read this prophecy, you’re going to see that it’s a time when the glory of the Lord will rise in the land of Israel. I think it’s the time when Jesus comes back in power and glory. He sits on the throne of King David, and he rules for a thousand years. Revelation 20. Zechariah 14.
In Zechariah 14, in Psalm 72, and here in Isaiah 6, it talks about the nations or listen, the Gentiles coming up to worship. Now, listen to this prophecy. Verse 3, “The Gentiles shall come to your light, and the kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift your eyes all around and see. They all gather together. They come to you. Your son shall come from afar. Your daughter shall be nursed at your side. Then, you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, and the wealth of the gentiles shall come to you. They will come on their dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, also from Sheba shall they come. Notice, they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.”
Stay with me. It’s late. Lunch is coming. Don’t miss this. They will come, the kings of the Gentile nations, to Israel to worship our king, and they will bring what? Gold and incense. No myrrh because you see, he came the first time to die. He came the first time to manifest himself as a savior, and he gave his life a ransom for money. He’ll come the second as a king to reward his people and to punish those that have refused his offer of peace and the extension of his love.
These wise men are emblematic and embryonic of a future day at the end of history when Gentile kings will come and worship he who was born King of the Jews. So, as we close, we’re setting ourselves up for the new year and getting back into our series and prophecy. He who has come will come again, and this time, he’s coming in power and glory. The first time he came, he came to a crucifixion. The second time he comes, he’ll come to a coronation. The first time he came, he came to a tree. The second time he comes, he’ll come to a throne. The first time he came, he came to serve. The second time he comes, he’ll come to be served. The first time he came, he came in humility. The second time he comes, he comes in power, and glory, and honor, and every knee will bow, and every tongue confess.
Wise men still seek him. Have you recognized him as king, savior, sacrifice for sin, lover of your soul? Have you come in? Has there been a moment like the wise men and recognized that you have fallen dying and worshiped him? History will end at his feet. You need to bow at his feet today. Those feet that lay in a manger, manifesting the invisible God visibly. Those dusty feet that walked the sandy earth of Israel in humble service to mankind in its own rebellion. Those beautiful feet that brought the glad tidings of good things rooted in God’s love. Those kneeled, pierced feet that hung on a cross that just died for the unjust that you and I might be brought to God. Those sovereign feet someday will stand on the Mount of Olives as Jesus is declared king. How can you refuse his love? How can you withhold your loyalty?
So George Adam Smith, a Scottish preacher and Semitic scholar, tells how he and his guide were climbing the Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps. It was a stormy day. The wind was blowing and howling, and they were making their way up on the sheltered side of the peak. When they reached the summit, they were filled with excitement and exhilaration. Sir George forgot himself. He forgot the fierce winds that could have so easily blown them off the summit and down to the glacier below. As he jumped up, he was pulled down by his guide who said this, “On your knees, Sir George. On your knees. You’re only safe here on your knees.” Can I tell you his history climbs to the summit of prophetic fulfillment? We look around us. The runway lights are flashing. Jesus is about to land on planet Earth. History is rising to that summit, and you’ll only be safe on your knees at his feet.
Father, we thank you for our time and the Word this morning. We thank you for the things we have learned from this precious text. We thank you we’ve been able to sort out biblical truth from tradition. We thank you for the message of providence that when you put forth your sheep, you go before them. We thank you for providing for Joseph, and Mary, and Jesus as an emergency approached them. We thank you that you kept your promises through Numbers, Isaiah, Micah. We thank you that we have great and exceeding promises, that we need not doubt as Spurgeon would remind us they are checks, we simply need the cash by faith.
Lord, we thank you for these wise men. We thank you that you sought them to seek you and they sought you. We thank you for their determination, their dedication, their costly worship, and they speak to us as disciples of Jesus Christ who have a full understanding of what came about that first Christmas. Lord, we want to hear the warning of having a head knowledge without a life experience. Help us not just to hear the Word, but to do it, to obey you. We thank you for this promise, this expectation as those at times feel outnumbered, mocked, derided, and underappreciated by the world around us, our king is coming, and all the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and Savior, and the princes and the kings will bow and worship him who is the lone worthy of our hearts’ worship. Help us to be captivated and captured by the grace, mercy, and love of God in the Son of God this Christmas for we pray and ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.