“Wise Guys”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 18, Issue 38, December 21, 2008

Common to many nativity scenes are three wise men and their camels. It is implied that these men, three in number, visited Jesus while still in the manger. It is believed these men came from the east by following a star that led them to Bethlehem.

The story of wise men visiting the Christ Child found in the Bible is both interesting and has a practical value for us today.

Matthew 2:1 tells us: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.

This Bible passage doesn't say how many wise men came from the east nor does it mention their names or their method of travel. It is only assumed they traveled by camel. They could’ve walked for all we know.

So who exactly were these "wise men from the East"?

The Bible doesn't say these men were kings, however it is speculated they were educated men, perhaps astrologers.
Some think they were a group of priests from Persia others believe they were astrologers from Babylon

Some Eastern religions have claimed there were 12 wise men making the journey to Bethlehem. According to medieval legend the names of three were Melchoir, King of Arabia, who brought gold; Gaspar, King of Tarsus, whom brought myrr; and Balthasar, King of Ethiopia, whom brought frankincense.

However, these names aren’t in the Bible and didn’t appear in Christian literature until 500 years after the birth of Jesus.
It is interesting to note that Matthew 2:11 states: and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him.

The statement of coming into a house instead of a stable and seeing a "young child," not a newborn baby, leads one to think that the wise men didn't arrive until quite some time after the Lord’s birth.

Most likely it was up to 2 later that they visited Mary and the child in a house.

How many were there?
No actual number is given. Matthew 2:11 they presented to him gifts; gold and frankincense and myrrh.

True three types of gift are mentioned, but that doesn’t mean there were three givers!
The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were very prophetic for they spoke of our Lord's offices of King, Priest, and Savior.GOLD: It's a gift fit for royalty. It says to the Christ child, You will be a KingFRANKINCENSE: We recognize the word incense in its name. Ancient people burned frankincense, believing it to carry their prayers to heaven. Its use as incense illustrates His role as our Priest.MYRRH: This is perhaps the most mysterious of the Gifts. Myrrh is an Arabic word for bitter, and it is considered a wound healer because of its strong antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. It was used as an embalming material for Egyptian mummies. As an embalming ointment it signified that He was born to Die for the world.

In fact, Myrrh was one of the burial spices of Jesus John 19:39

These wise men came following a star. So what about the "star"? How did these wise men connect the star with the birth of the king of the Jews?

The fact is the Bible says little about who these men were. Perhaps because it was more important as to what they did:
We have come to WORSHIP Him.

There are certainly some lessons that can be learned:

It is easy for fiction to be taken as fact...

I’m not just talking about Jesus birth. What about the "forbidden fruit" in the Garden being an "apple"; or that baptism in the Bible is pouring or sprinkling.

We need to be more like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 making sure we get the facts. There may be true servants of God in places we might not expect...

Don’t assume that God's people consists only of those you know about. There are many faithful Christians in other countries.

We may not know about them, but God does!

Those who claim to have religion don’t always give Christ the most honor.

You’d think the chief priests and scribes would’ve been the first to go to Bethlehem.
But no, it was a few unknown strangers from a distant land.

As John wrote in his gospel, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him John 1:11

Sadly, the same is often true today, those of the Lord's church often show less love and
adoration than those of the world.

Children of Christian parents often show less interest in the things of God than the children of non-Christians.

There may be knowledge in the head, while there is no grace in the heart…

The chief priests and scribes were quick to provide Herod the answer to his question,
but as far as we know, they didn’t go to Bethlehem.
In fact most of them never did believe in Him.

Many today, can be described in the same manner.

The wise men are a great examples of spiritual diligence…

Consider what it must have cost them to travel; In money; In time; In dangers.

What about our diligence?

Are we willing to pay the price?
To find Christ?
To serve Him?
To worship Him?
Are we willing to make the effort to find, worship, and serve this great King?

They traveled at great costs and risk to find and worship Jesus; many Christians won't even take the time to attend a gospel meeting during the week or a second service on a Sunday!

The wise men are a great example of faith…

They believed in Christ… yet they’d never seen Him prior to their journey.

They worshipped him as king when all they saw was a little child on a mother's knee!

Without miracles to convince them (except the star) they left their homes and traveled for neatly two years.

Without much teaching to persuade them they were convinced that this was the Christ Child… they fell down and worshipped Him

This is the kind of faith that God delights to honor!

As Jesus said later, Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. John 20:29

May the wise men inspire us to greater service to our Lord!

As stated on a popular bumper-sticker:
Wise men still seek Him