THE WISE WORSHIP

Matthew 2:1-11

Jesus is Lord and he deserves our worship.

Some time elapsed between Matthew 1 and 2.  Following Jesus' birth, magi, or wise men, in the East saw a star indicating this child was special.  They then needed a minimum of one to two months or more to journey from a far distance to reach the child (think walking from Brownsville to Amarillo by way of Texarkana, that is the ballpark distance from Iran to Jerusalem).

In ancient times knowledge of the stars was much more common.  The Magi were (or still are) astrologers, mystics, alchemists, and/or magicians and dedicated to learning.  They were likely gentiles of high position. Magi is where we get the English word magician. In the times of the Ancient Greeks up to Roman times, people who studied natural science that the common people did not necessarily understand were sometimes called magi. 

Magi were located apparently all over the civilized world. It is possible that they were all the same race (Persians). The perceived source and possible first leader of the magi was a man named Zoroaster (from ancient Eastern Iran) whose philosophy dealt with the battle of free will, truth and lie. 

The first recognized mention of the magi is from ancient Greece about the 6th century BC. The Chinese  also have a reference to the magi in the 8th century BC.  While it is hard to know who these people really were, it is clear that they were spread out and that they had the ability to enchant people and were in some cultures respected and liked while in others they may have been disliked.

Herod was crowned “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate in 40 BC in Rome. His first order of business was to eliminate his ruling predecessors with the help of Mark Antony.  Herod killed 45 leading men in 37 BC;  he eliminated his brother-in-law, an 18 year old High Priest, in 35 BC; he had an elderly man strangled over an alleged plot to overthrow Herod in 30 BC; he had his is second wife killed in 29 BC and his Hasmonean mother-in-law executed in 28 BC. Around 20 BC, Herod remitted one third of the people’s taxes in order to curry favor with them, however, he did set up an internal spy network and eliminated people suspected of revolt.  The contemporary historian Josephus records these ruthless murders by Herod in order to keep his throne secure.   

He became extremely paranoid during the last four years of his life (8-4 BC), and committed many savage acts during the last years before his death in 4 BC. He had three of his sons killed.  The first two in 7 BC the last, only five days before Herod’s own death in 4 BC.  Also in 7 BC, he had 300 military leaders executed.  In the same year he had a number of Pharisees executed after they predicted to the wife of Herod’s youngest brother, “that by God’s decree Herod’s throne would be taken from him, both from himself and his descendants.”  

So when the Magi arrive during the period of Herod's greatest paranoia and start inquiring about "he who has been born king of the Jews" the Bible tells us that Herod, and indeed all of Jerusalem, became "deeply disturbed."  With Herod's history, one can understand why the populace would be deeply disturbed if Herod was deeply disturbed.

Biblical scholars of the day determined that the Jewish Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, just about six miles south of Jerusalem.  Herod inquired of the magi when this king of the Jews was to have been born.  He got a ball park estimate of the age of the child and, consistent with his extra-Biblical historical actions, plotted to have the child killed.

The Magi, being wise men, could infer Herod's actual intentions were not as he had stated, and they went to honor  the child but did NOT report to Herod as requested.  But look at what the DID do.  "Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshipped him.  They opened their treasures and presented him with gifts:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

Gold, a sign of wealth for a king.  Frankincense, a fragrant substance obtained by making incisions in the bark of several types of trees and used in incense and perfumes.  Myrrh was also a fragrant resin that could be used as a perfume, mixed with wine as an anesthetic, or used to prepare bodies for burial.  All were costly.

The three gifts had a spiritual meaning:

• gold, representing virtue, a symbol of kingship on earth; 
• frankincense (an incense), representing prayer, a symbol of deity; 
• myrrh (an embalming oil), representing suffering, a symbol of death. 

While there are many extravagant and unusual ways to worship the Lord, simple, faithful and consistent worship can lead us all to be be considered among the wise who worship.