INTRODUCTION

No doubt about it -- Jesus of Nazareth, commonly called the Christ, is King of the Jews. He was so titled in prophecy centuries before His birth, so honored by wise men a year or so after His birth, so designated by Pilate at His crucifixion, and so to be revealed when He comes again.

Contrary to dispensational delusions, it was never His purpose to set up an earthly throne at His first coming. In fact, He rejected such an opportunity when offered [John 6:15]. His kingdom was not and is not "of this world" [John 1.8:36]. But when He comes again He will rule the nations "with a rod of iron" [Revelation 19:15] here on earth, in a manner quite different from His present spiritual rule from heaven, which is little regarded by the nations though joyfully obeyed by individual souls who know Him.

Our lesson is about the visit of the wise men at Bethlehem some time after the birth of Christ. The Scripture selection, Matthew 2:1-12, may be outlined as follows:

1. Wishful Watchers, vv. 1-2. 
2. Wretched Worriers, 3-4. 
3. Weighty Writings, 5-6. 
4. Wicked Wiliness, 7-8. 
5. Worthy Worship, 9-11. 
6. Welcome Warning, 12. 

NOTES ON THE TEXT:

WlSHFUL WATCHERS, vv. 1- 2 .

Little or nothing is known about these wise men beyond what we are told in these few verses of Scripture. We may reasonably infer a few things from the little information here given, but all else is mere supposition and imagination.

Who or what were these wise men? We are not told. The Greek word for them is magoi, from which we have the English (Latin) word magi, as well as magic and magician. Webster's dictionary says the magi were members of "a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians." How many wise men made this journey? Really, we do not know; but since the plural noun is used we know there were more than one, perhaps two, perhaps many more. From how far east did they come? We are not told.

As a result of the captivity and dispersion of Israel among the nations, knowledge of Israel's God and of the holy Scriptures had been scattered far and wide. Evidently these priests of a heathen religion (if this is what they were) had gained some knowledge of Jewish prophecies and were convinced by the appearance of a new star in the heavens, which they called "His" star, that the promised King had at last appeared.

WRETCHED WORRIERS, 3-4.

In complete contrast to the wise men who wished to worship the recently born King, Herod was worried about a possible rival for his own position; and "all Jerusalem," or at least what might now be called "the establishment," was troubled with him, worrying about possible changes that might come with the enthronement of a new King.

WEIGHTY WRITINGS, 5-6.

"Priests and scribes" often were not faithful in personal commitment and obedience to the Scriptures, but at least they had a high regard for the sacred writings, and knew where to go for the answer to Herod's question. We could wish that they had been more faithful to the spiritually weighty writings of God's Word and less attached to their own sins and to human traditions; and we could wish the same thing for many modern leaders and teachers of what passes for "Christianity."

WICKED WILLINESS, 7-8.

Herod had no intention of allowing a potential rival to live if he could help it. But he knew that the wise men would not knowingly cause harm to the child King they were seeking to worship; and so he pretended that he also would be a worshipper, that he might learn where to find Him.

WORTHY WORSHIP, 9-11.

Evidently the star which guided the wise men was no natural phenomenon, as skeptics and rationalists have vainly supposed; but rather it was a supernatural sign which now appeared to them again and led them to the very house where they found the King they were seeking. No wonder they rejoiced "when they saw the star"! They recognized it because it was different from all other stars.

Jesus always deserves our best. Many weary miles these wise men had come on their long journey to represent themselves before the King, and with them they had brought their most precious treasures which now they presented to Him as gifts. Nothing less than our best is worthy of our King.

WELCOME WARNING, 12.

Possibly the wise men might have been already a little suspicious of Herod's motives. At any rate, when God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod, they heeded the warning and returned home another way.

CONCLUSION [Matthew 1:23]

The quotation of prophecy is from Isaiah 7:14. We have no way of knowing whether this was among the Scriptures known to the wise men. Their zeal in following the light that God gave them should be an encouragement to us.

God is called by many names, even in our English Bible. What better name for our Savior than Emmanuel (or Immanuel) -- God with us! It is only in Christ that God is with us in the fullest sense.
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[From Ashland Avenue Baptist paper, December 19, 1975, pp. 2-3. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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