Wisdom of Worship

We’ll turn back to the Gospel
of Matthew. Matthew Chapter 2, where we’ll
find ourselves. We had a great, and if not surprising,
example from the shepherds last Lord’s Day. As we looked at Luke
Chapter 2, and saw the shepherds in the fields, confronted suddenly
by the angel and led to worship. We had just a beautiful and touching
and informative example of worship. But we have another example very
similar to that in another surprising sphere of influence. what we know as the magi or the
wise men. And as we come into Matthew chapter
2, we come into really one of the more difficult passages of
scripture with regards to the birth accounts, the tragic events
that follow, Herod’s bloodthirsty jealousy that will flow out of
this passage, but in the meantime, I want to pause and I just want
to look. And I want to glean wisdom on worship from the Magi. There’s been kind of a debate
over the ages. I think it was the King James
Version that first translated it, Wise Men. The ASV picked
up on that. Several versions since then,
including the more modern ESV, all refer to them as the Wise
Men. And so my title here would be
Wisdom on Worship, playing up on that translation that refers to them
as wise men, but Wisdom on Worship Gleaned from the Magi, honoring
that word as well. And we’ll examine that word as
we come to it. But if you would, go back to Matthew chapter 2,
and we’ll pick up in verse 1. Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. Now, after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, 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 it,
he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering all the
chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire
of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to
him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it 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 ascertained from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem
and said, Go and make careful search for the child. And when
ye have found him, report to me, that I too may come and worship
him.” And having heard the king, they
went their way. And lo, the star which they had
seen in the east went on before them, until it came and stood
over where the child was. And when they saw the star, they
rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. They came into the house. and saw the child with Mary,
his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. And opening
their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold and frankincense
and myrrh. Having been warned by God in
a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country
by another way. Now, when they had departed,
when the Magi had departed from worshipping the child, that Behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying,
Arise, and take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,
and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search
for the child to destroy him. And he arose, and took the child
and his mother by night, and departed for Egypt, and was there
until the death of Herod, that what was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, out of Egypt did I call
my son. Then, when Herod saw that he
had been tricked by the Magi, he became very enraged and sent
and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in
all its environments, from two years old and under, according
to the time which he had ascertained from the Magi. Then that which
was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping in great mourning, Rachel weeping
for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they
were no more. But when Herod was dead, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
saying, Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the
land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead. He arose and took the child and
his mother and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard
that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father
Herod, he was afraid to go there. And, being warned by God of a
dream, he departed for the regions of Galilee and came and resided
in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled. It’s a fascinating account. Some people have said it’s so
fascinating that it’s mere fiction. That somebody put this story
together in order to appease the Christian testimony. I think
that what we have here is an absolutely crucial account of
Scripture. An account that not only tells
us about the days that ensued, we learn from this passage that
at some point Joseph and Mary and their child Christ moved
into some kind of a house, a dwelling, no longer in a stable, but they
are still in Bethlehem and along comes this incredible example
of worship. has provided, God has taught
us and led us, and here we see one more occasion, some unlikely
instructors on the whole subject of worship. We learned last Lord’s
Day at the feet of mere shepherds, the last people that anyone would
look to to be instructed on the things of God, on spiritual matters. But we learn at the feet of shepherds
about the nature of worship. We learn this Lord’s Day from an even more unlikely source. Heathen wise men. Those who were
not raised, if you will, in the church. They were not raised
in the nation of Israel. They were not raised to know
and understand the things of God. The amazing thing in this
passage is the very ones that should have known and should
have worshipped didn’t. Go back a few words to verse
1. We’re looking for wisdom on worship
that is ultimately gleaned from the Magi. Three enduring examples
from heathen scholars, we’ll call them. Look at verse 1. where it records
that now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, we don’t
know if it was days or weeks or months. We know that Christ,
we know of his relative age from some of the passages that will
follow. He’s a newborn child. Even in this passage, he’s a
newborn child. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea, we were introduced only in the briefest terms to
Bethlehem last. in passing, written by Luke,
who doesn’t even quote the passage that Matthew does. Matthew has
a different purpose and wants to present Christ as the fulfillment
of Old Testament prophecy. That’s not Luke’s angle, and
so Luke doesn’t quote Micah 5-2, as we’ll see in a moment. But
Luke did introduce us to Bethlehem. a town that was called the House
of Bread, a small city near Jerusalem, out in the countryside, but a
city rich in the history and heritage of the Jewish nation. It was home to King David. It was a special place in the
heart of the Jews, but it was also a place of prophecy. But
in order to set the context, the passage tells us not only
the timing after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, it also
tells us of the backdrop, the nature of days in the political
oppression that this family and all Jews face now after Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Herod, the king, And that would
send chills, even the mention of his name would send chills
down the hearts of any Jew. He was a hostile, hot-headed
man, as we’ll see next Lord’s Day. And it just records that
Herod is the king at that particular juncture, and it will become
more crucial to understand the nature of that context. Herod was called Herod the Great
not in his own lifetime, although he probably would have preferred
it. He probably, if he could create a title, he couldn’t have
come up with a more glorious title for himself. He was an
Edomite, a heathen, and really it was only through political
means that he gained the throne, which was really not a throne.
He was not a king in most senses of that word, he was ultimately
subject to the Emperor of Rome. And in that sense, he was kind
of a political puppet. He was put there to serve, and
ultimately to serve, Rome. He was not, as they said, a Jew. The Romans had set him up as
king in 40 BC, and he was known by all as just an evil, unscrupulous,
A tyrant, really. And so why on earth would a man
like this be called Herod the Great? Well, he was called Herod
the Great because of the great things that he had accomplished. He was known far and wide for
his building projects. He was a great builder. He had
been a part of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. And
he was the only ruler, really, in the contextual history of
that time that kept the city under control. And he obviously
did it by brutal means, but he did keep control. There were
no riots under King Herod. There were no tumults. But beside the fact that Herod
was obviously not of the Davidic line, and in that sense a usurper
to lay claims to being king over Jerusalem. He was supported by
the Romans, who the Jews hated. And he brought in and imported
all of their ideas and all of their customs, imported their
idolatry, and he provoked the Jews in them. The other part
that the Jews hated about Herod was that he was tremendously
arbitrary. He was capricious. He would enact
rules and then arbitrarily apply those rules. And then suddenly
he would fly off the handle and implement new rules and punishments
that went with those rules. He was completely unpredictable.
He was an evil king, even if he wasn’t a true king. He had
recently put his own sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, to death because
he believed that they were a danger to his throne. So bad and so often were these
kinds of executions that even Caesar remarked that it would
be better to be Herod’s pig than his son. And so there’s Herod as a backdrop
to this lesson on worship. And he is part of the backdrop,
and it’s important to understand the evil nature of this man.
But there’s another group that’s introduced to us. Now, after
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold Magi. Magi from the east arrived in
Jerusalem. What we know about the Magi is
that they were originally part of a tribe from Medes, and some
said that they possessed the power of interpreting dreams.
Their position was not unlike what Daniel and his friends occupied
in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. held this group to be responsible
and experts in the worship of the heavenly bodies, the stars,
the constellations. And as such, they acted as priests
and soothsayers under the Persian kings. They would bring them,
whether it was homespun or derived knowledge, wisdom, if you will.
And that’s where this word can, I think, be effectively translated,
wise men. They functioned, as I said, much
the way Daniel and his friends did. When the king had a dilemma,
he would call them, and they would be, as it were, his advisors. These were men that were not
so much just bathed in wisdom, as it were, from the start, but
they were students of knowledge. They were scholars, if you will.
And whether it was Persia or Babylonia, these wise men became
experts in things like astrology, interpretation of dreams, and
just a knowledge of things in general. And there are very many
and curious ideas that surround the Magi. And I think it’s important
that we acknowledge them and move on quickly, set them aside. First of all, one of the ideas
is they were keen. You know, this has even made
it into our humanity, right? We three kings of Orient are
bearing gifts. We traverse a far field and mountain
more and mountain following yonder star. Oh, I’m not going to sing
it. The tradition that there were
kings, it can be found even early in the church fathers, but it
really grew out of a blending of biblical accounts that spoke
of such, Psalm 68. Psalm 68 verse 29 says, Because
of your temple at Jerusalem, kings will bring gifts to you.
Well, in the seasons and years that followed the birth of Christ
and knowing of these three gifts that were indeed brought, many
interpreted backwards into that passage and read into that that
these three wise men who came were indeed kings from the East. Psalm 68 goes on to rebuke the
beasts and the reeds, the birds and bulls, and the calves and
the people, trampling under the foot the pieces of silver. He
has scattered the people who delight in war. Envoys will come
out of Egypt. Ethiopia will quickly stretch
out her hands to God. And so the image there in the
psalm is one of almost a complete capitulation of the world to
the throne. We know that didn’t happen. Psalm
72 likewise says, Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands
bring presents, the kings of Sheba and Sema offer gifts. But there really is no indication
that we have to take that and apply that to the situation surrounding
the cradle of Christ. We don’t know that these were
kings at all. It doesn’t indicate that and
we have very little data to go on. Same thing with their number. Most people think, you know,
we three teams of Orient are. Most people believe that there
were three in number and almost eight painting or picture that
you see, painting, that you see of the wise men approaching the
cradle. There are three in number. We’ve always made it a habit
to go and to watch the nativity downtown. There are three that
come on that particular occasion as well. Some people even go so far as
to name them. Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior. Scripture doesn’t speak of any
of that. Their origin is somewhat of a mystery. It is very generally
stated that they are from the east. And that encompasses a
great amount of territory. It’s a very vague term and essentially
one characterized it in this very general term. He said it’s
the quarter in which the sun rises, the eastern lands. Well,
that would encompass everything all the way to the island of
Australia, what we know as. What about the significance of
the Magi? Originally, this Median tribe, in the worship of their
stars, and the fact that they became teachers in the very courts
of the Persian kings, we could see where some people began to
lead. in their understanding of the
Magi. They begin to think that the Magi ascertained the fact
that Christ was coming simply by watching the stars, by a process
that we would call astrology. Well, that just is silly and
it’s unbiblical, and there’s nothing in this passage that
suggests that either. Not only the stars, their names,
their origin, but this fantastic heritage that they’ve developed
over the years. And when I say fantastic, I’m
not meaning that it’s real. It’s fanciful to the point of
being completely unbelievable. One scholar noted of them that
their bones were discovered by the Roman Catholic Saint Helena. They were deposited in the Church
of St. Sophia at Constantinople, and
later transferred to Milan, and then finally brought to the great
cathedral, no surprise there, of Cologne. Well, there’s nothing
in Scripture that indicates any of that. In fact, as soon as
you begin to imbibe in over-focusing on the nature and the origin
and the wisdom of the Magi. You miss the point when there
is a lesson to be gained just by watching what they do. As
one pastor characterized, it is not known who these wise men
were. Their names, their dwelling place,
are all alike kept back from us. We are only told that they
came from the East. Chaldeans, Arabians, we cannot
say it matters little who they were. But we do want to gain
and glean some worship, some wisdom on worship from these
Magi. And what I’ve noted here are
three enduring examples from these heathen scholars which,
if objectively considered, encourage us in our own worship. First of all, note of these Heathen
scholars their intention of worship. Look again at verse 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, 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. There was a widespread understanding
of a deliverer and most of that oriented from the nation of Israel
and from their hope of a deliverer who would come. But that news,
that idea had spread. Many nations were looking and
looking to Israel and looking to some deliverer king. But this
particular king is identified as one who had been born king
of the Jews. And note that it doesn’t say
that he was born to grow up and become king, but he was born
king. That was in his very nature, that
he was born as king. And so they were not talking
about something that he would grow into and develop into, but
something that he possessed even at his birth. They point to the reason why,
that we saw his star in the east. And I want to just spend another
few minutes looking at the ridiculous speculation regarding this star,
because it takes this completely off course if people begin to
believe this. Some people say that it was a
genuine star, that it was a… they focused on a particular
genuine star, not unlike what an astrologer would do. Some
people said that it was the planet Jupiter, because it’s one of
the brighter stars that we have, and that that was merely what
they saw. It was on a very clear night they saw the planet Jupiter.
Or, better yet, a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, a very
rare occasion where those two planets came so near to one another
that it appeared as a very bright star. the astrology comet that
I’ve already dealt with, this foolish idea that simply by studying
charts they were able to divine the time when a king would be
born to the Jewish nation. One suggested that it was an
erratic comet, another said that it was a meteor, someone, a more
modern mind, suggested that it was a supernova. Well, what we do know Is that
it was some kind of phenomena in the sky? It was a miracle. It was a miracle
that God provided, never to be repeated. What we have to do is set aside
some of these ridiculous ideas and pause and look at it out
of these—wise men must have looked at it. Just a bright object in
the sky, it wasn’t astrology. It wasn’t a paganly derived vision. One pastor commented to me, he
said, those heathen who have nothing to guide themselves but
smatterings of science mingled with superstition, Nevertheless,
so kindled with enthusiasm by the signs which God had granted
them, that they take a long journey and make careful investigations
in order to pay due reverence to the new ruler who has been
sent into the world. That’s the way most people look
at this. Most people look at this as just heathen wise men
that discerned the time of the birth of this king and showed
up. I think it’s something different
entirely. I think God stirred their hearts just like He stirs
every heart to worship. We study in our theology class
that our hearts are naturally restless until they find God.
I think their hearts were stirred to worship. I think they wanted
to worship. I think they wanted to know who
God was so that they could worship. If you look at the passage, that’s
exactly what it says. 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. They were intentional. They had
one goal, and that was to come before Almighty God and to do
Him reverence for who He was. That is, after all, the chief
end of man. to glorify God and enjoy Him
forever, and we know that it’s true not only of those who are
religious, not only of those who have access in easy fashion
to churches, we know that it’s true of every man ever born.
It’s exactly what Romans 1 says, that we have that knowledge of
God because God put it there. I think God was provoking and
drawing these men. The fact that he used a star
was God’s doing, not a chart. We know that such men, in their
search for God, could have seen, could have gleaned information
from creation. That’s what Paul says in Romans
1. We know that they could have
gleaned information Even from the Hebrew Scriptures, information
about God, but there was another source yet to be experienced.
They have plenty of information to go on. God had already put
it in their hearts that there was a God. God had already shown
them countless examples of creation, that there is a Creator God. If they wanted, they could have
opened the Hebrew Scriptures and gained information. about
who this God was, that even this word worship points
to their purpose, points to what their intention was. And this
is why I say I believe they weren’t led by happenstance. They didn’t
just stumble across this in the charts and come out of some kind
of an amusement I believe that in the depth of their being,
they knew that there was a God, they knew that there was a God
who demanded worship, and they went in search of that God. And God, in His graciousness,
gave them just enough, just enough to lead them to Christ. This
word, there are a lot of different words translated in scripture
as worship. And I’m not going to go through
them all, there are at least a half a dozen that all point
to this idea of worship. This particular word, proscuneo,
it literally means to lie face down in reverence to God. These were not just casual worshipers,
these were those who really have been led to the understanding
that there was indeed a God, there was indeed a Creator, and
there was indeed a Creator who was providing for man’s greatest
need, his sin. And I believe it came to worship.
That’s the word that it uses. We have come to lie on our faces,
as it were, before God Almighty. You know what this word was used
for? This word was used by the devil when he tempted Jesus,
if you will only lie on your face before me. But it’s also
used of some incredible passages of scripture. Remember John chapter
9, the blind man, he was found He was healed of his blindness,
but that wasn’t good enough. Not good enough for Christ. Christ
went and sought him out, and he brought him to faith. And it says that when he did,
he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. I believe
that he fell before Christ, as it were, on his face, to worship
the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s another place where this
word occurs. It occurs throughout the New Testament, but not plenically. But it appears in Hebrews chapter
1. Would you turn there just briefly? Only because it’s one of my favorite
passages in all of Scripture, we’ll take a moment to turn.
Hebrews chapter 1, not to mention the fact that it echoes
exactly what’s taking place right here. Watch this. God, after he spoke long ago
to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many
ways, you know what, the sentence isn’t even finished. The sentence
doesn’t finish for several more verses. He just introduces us
to the idea of God and says that he has been speaking to us God,
after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many
portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to
us in His Son. God has spoken. Whom He appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the world. And He, that
is Jesus Christ, is the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation
of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
When he had made purifications of sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high, having become as much better
than the angels. And he has inherited a more excellent
name than they. For to which of the angels did
he ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you, and
I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And
then look at verse 6. And when He again brings the
firstborn into the world, He says, and let all the angels
of God worship Him, prosecute not all, let them fall on their
face before this Christ. I think, I think it’s clear that
the wise men, the Magi, in their Wisdom came with one purpose,
that God had stirred their hearts to come and worship Almighty
God. I want you to look back at the
passage, back to Matthew. When Herod heard this, he was troubled. That is one
of the biggest understatements in all of Scripture. Because
when Herod is troubled, there is trouble. He was troubled,
and all Jerusalem went in. Gathering together all the chief
priests and scribes of the people, they inquired of them where the
Messiah was to be born. It says that Edomite, heathen
king, was troubled. It, as I said, is one of the
biggest understatements of the world. One said that when Herod
the Great trembled, the whole city shook. When he flew off
the handle, the whole city stopped. And it says that he gathered
together all the chief priests and scribes and the people and
inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. And I want you
to watch this turn of events. They knew. They knew exactly
where the Messiah was to be born. And when they ask, they repeat
that when he gathers these scholars of the Jews. Some people said
that it was a formal summoning of the Sanhedrin. He called them
in and if he basically said, look, bring me your experts in
your Jewish religion, they would all probably sprint to the palace. It says that when he gathered them
all together and inquired of them where the Messiah was born
and there was no hesitation. They didn’t have to go back and
study their Hebrew scriptures. They didn’t have to wonder what
perhaps some of the locales might have been. Look at verse 5. They said to him, immediately,
In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet,
and here’s where he quotes Matthew 5 too. In Bethlehem, the land
of Judea, are Bedouins least among the leaders of Judah. For
out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
You know what I believe. I believe that these men, standing
in the presence of this evil, heathen king, I believe that
they were proud about that verse. They longed to quote that verse
to Him. They wanted it to be true. They
wanted Him to hear it. They knew exactly where the Messiah
was to be born. They knew where the birthplace
of the Messiah was. It was universally so in Jesus’
day. And the passage says that Bethlehem’s
greatness consisted only in that. That was basically the only thing
that the Jews saw of value in this place. And it’s stunning
when you think of it. Who didn’t go to Jerusalem to
see Christ in the manger? Herod didn’t go. Can you imagine
the arrogance? Go find this child. Tell me where
it is so I can come. I don’t want to be bothered with
wandering around this tiny little town looking for this child. Go find him. Give me the exact
location. And you have no intention of
going in anyway. You know who else didn’t go?
The chief priests. They knew. They knew exactly
where Christ was to be born. They didn’t want to worship.
Not truly. Love the way J.C. Ryle put it. We are told that they returned
a ready answer to Herod. They showed an accurate acquaintance
with the letter of Scripture, but they never went to Jerusalem
to seek for the coming Savior. We might have thought that the
scribes and Pharisees would have been the first to hasten to Bethlehem
on the slightest rumor that the Savior was born. But it’s not
so. You know who else didn’t go to
Jerusalem, or to Bethlehem rather? Jerusalem. The city, the great
city of Jerusalem, with all the scholars, all those who professed
faith, all those who believed that they were the chosen people
of God, it isn’t recorded that they were. You know what’s amazing? Not even the greater part of
Bethlehem came. We know that some people came
to the crib side because of the narrative about the shepherds. They told somebody. The greater population, they
didn’t go. They didn’t go to worship Christ.
It gave you the backdrop of Herod
because it points, it really makes this point in bold relief. The second point, this enduring
example that we get from the from the wise men, not only their
intention of worship, but their determination to worship. They
were standing face to face with Terence the King, one of the
most bloodthirsty rulers of the day. And he wanted to know where
Christ was. They’re seeking Christ too. And
probably many people in our day and age who turn to him and run.
They don’t want any trouble born out of this. They don’t want
any hassle. It’s amazing to me how easy it
is for people to leave off worship. Either in their personal lives
or in a corporate setting, it is amazing to me how easy it
is to leave off worship. How many excuses we come up with,
how many, and believe me, the devil doesn’t want you to worship. What will happen? What will happen
in the day where we were risking our lives together. What will
happen? That’s exactly where the shepherds were, or rather
the wives were. They were risking their lives
even to bring this news to Herod. And I would say to you, most
people would have turned tail and headed right back home. Forget
it. You know, let somebody else find
him. Look at verse 7, “…and then
Herod secretly called the magi, determined from them the exact
time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, and
said, Go, make careful search for the child. 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. They did exactly
what he indicated. 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. We
don’t know if the star moved. Here’s what I think of the star.
The star was an affirmation that somehow, in this amazing providence
of God, through Herod and by means of these Jewish scholars,
these men who had no idea where the Christ child was to be born,
had gleaned that piece of information and they headed in that particular
direction and the star confirmed it. That’s why they rejoice.
Do you know what’s interesting? That isn’t worship. Not yet. They’re not worshipping. They’re
not worshipping the star. But they’re determined. They’re
pressing on. They’re not going to leave off
their intent to worship. And it leads us to the third
part of their example. I said that there were three
enduring examples from these heathen scholars which, if objectively
considered, encourage us to a life of worship. Third, not only the
intention to worship and the determination to worship, but
the consummation of worship. So, that’s an awfully simple
point. It is. Finish the job. Do what you said you’re going
to do. See, there are many people who
have an intention to worship. They place their faith in Christ
and they insist that the entirety of the rest of their lives is
going to be spent worshiping God in all that they do and say. The truth is otherwise empty. There are many people that not
only with the intention, but with the determination for a
lengthy season, they stand in the face There’s so much opposition
in their families, with their friends. They stand in the face
of opposition and they purpose to put their nose to worship. They’re determined to do so. And it falters over time. But
not these wise men. Look at verse 11. After coming
into the house, They saw the child of Mary’s mother and they
fell to the ground and worshipped Him. You know what, I think the
gifts, the gold, the frankincense, I think all that, it isn’t even
really important to the story. You’ll hear people talk about
how what they all represented, the gold for a king and the frankincense,
I think they’re all valuable commodities. And it shows that
they came and they gave of their hearts, that their first and
foremost point of this entire narrative, is that they did what
they said they were going to do. God had stirred their hearts
to worship. They determined, even in the
face of death itself, that they were going to see it through,
and when they saw Christ for who He was, that’s all they could
do. That’s all they could do, is
fall on their face and worship. Worship is everything that we
have in our being, poured out. And not only does nature testify
of the nature of God, not only do the scriptures tell us of
God, but the scriptures say that Jesus Christ, even as the passage
in Hebrews we just read, He is the exact representation of His
nature. When they saw Christ, they saw
God in His fullness, in His completeness. They saw the plan of redemption
in its simplicity. The problem is that we can bring
our preferences to worship. We can treat worship as optional. We can do without worship in
our personal lives. We can so be clouded worship
with our things that it becomes like no worship at all. But not these wise men. These wise men were stirred in
their hearts with the intention of worship. They were determined
to see it through. And when they saw Christ face
to face, it was consummated. It was finished. Worship, as one said, is all
we are reacting rightly to all that He is. And that’s what they
did. Pure, simple, worship. This is in our heart. O merciful God, we humble ourselves
because we become too casual about worship. We become too
casual about our approach to you and even your nature. Worship for us becomes just a
thing that we do. At times even drudgery, going
through the motions. Father, we see from the example
of these heathen scholars who were prompted and provoked in
their hearts to seek you out. Nobody comes unless you draw
them. Lord, even in the face of great danger, they pressed
on, determined. Determined to know you more,
and determined to know more about you, determined to find this
Christ child. And having done so, they brought
gifts. But the better part of their
worship was that they fell down on their face, and they thanked
you. and worship You for all that
You are and all that You’ve done. Father, may that be true of us
as well. That in this great plan of redemption, You would remind
us that You have put that God back in everything and drawn
us to Yourself. That we are incomplete. until
we return to you the gratitude of worship through Jesus Christ
our Savior. We thank you and we praise you
in Jesus’ name. Amen.