Walking With Christ

6 days until Christmas.

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(ESV)

All of the children’s stories about the birth of Jesus say that there was three wise men. The truth is that we don’t know how many there were. The number isn’t the important part of the story though. These wise men from distant lands saw a new star and followed it. How they knew there was a new star, how they knew to follow that new star, and why they actually followed it are never answered. Matthew was very meticulous about some details while completely skipping over others.

When the wise men visited Herod to ask about the new born messiah, a few things happened. There is actually a lot to unpack in this short part of the story. First, the enemy took deeper hold of Herod and he immediately began to plot to kill the Child. He asked the wise men to come back and tell him where the Child was so that he could “worship” Him. The wise men were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod then told Joseph to pack up and move to Egypt.

Notice the next part of the story though. Herod finds out that the wise men were not coming back and he orders the death of all male children in in Bethlehem that were two or under. That probably wasn’t a lot of kids but this bit of information is often overlooked in this story. The fact that Herod was looking for two year olds meant that Jesus could have been as old as two when the wise men saw Him. This tells us that the wise men could have been following that star for nearly two years. That means that the news of the birth of the messiah had travelled that far. Some believe that the wise men travelled from as far as China. The most likely origins are a bit closer such as Arabia, Persia (Iran) or Babylon (Iraq). This is historically based on the existence of the Magi (wise men) in these cultures and the prevalence of the gifts listed as given. Keep in mind that the origins of the wise men is mainly speculative based on educated guesses. Traditionally, people say three wise men because of the three gifts that were listed.

Back to the magi themselves for a moment. Magi were not of the Hebrew people. This means that the news of the messiah had certainly travelled beyond the limits of the Jewish people. The whole world held it’s breath for a moment when Jesus was born. Their journey shows the far reaching impact of the coming of Christ. His arrival was not just for the Jews, but for the whole world.

The star is a central character in this story. It wasn’t an angel that pointed the way or led the caravan. No, it was a star. The timing of the light of that star hitting the earth had to be perfectly timed. That star had certainly existed for quite some time. We could actually do the math to see how long before the birth of Christ that star had to be created in order for its light to hit the earth at the right time. This is such an extraordinary was for God to reveal Himself to the whole world.

The arrival of the magi also serves the show the universal nature of His message and mission. He did not come just to save the Hebrew people from the oppression of Rome. No, He came to offer the whole world a path back to righteousness. This event by itself serves to foreshadow the inclusive nature of the gospel message. There are plenty of other examples where His ministry was foreshadowed to be for the whole world.

The magi were guided by a new star. God often reveals Himself in far less spectacular ways to us every day. We have to be open to and seek out divine guidance without missing the truly universal nature of His message. The magi followed the light of a star to Jesus. Jesus says that we are to be the light of the world that leads people to Him. We are each a star in this world. We are supposed to burn bright and clear without wavering or flickering. We lead others to Christ and His saving grace by our words, our actions, and most importantly our love. A city on a hill cannot be hidden and a lamp isn’t put under a basket, but rather on a table for the whole house to see.

I don’t know about you, but this little light of mine? I’m gonna let it shine.