The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE WISE MEN LED BY THE STAR
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE WISE MEN LED BY THE STAR
Lesson Plan:
1. The Quest of the Wise Men of the East – Seeking the Best (vs 1, 2)
2. The Star in the East – Guidance to the Best (v 2)
3. Obstacles in the Way – The Secret Enemy (vs 3-8)
4. Finding & Worshipping the King (vs 9-12)
5. Conclusion
Lesson Setting:
Time: Perhaps early February, 4 B.C., not long after the Presentation in the Temple. Jesus could be six weeks to perhaps several months old.
Place: In a house at Bethlehem. The chapter ends with His residence in Egypt, and home at Nazareth
Rulers: Augustus Caesar, emperor at Rome. Herod, King of Judea, under Rome.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-2
1. The Quest of the Wise Men of the East – Seeking for the Best
Note: In this story the four distinct groups of persons and each one's part in it. The wise men from the East; King Herod and his court; the chief Priests and Scribes; the Holy Family. They differed in character, in motives, in hopes, in their attitude to the new King of the Jews.
Introduction: When Jesus was born, while He was still a child in Bethlehem. Matthew omits several things stated by Luke, for they were outside of his purpose. In the days of Herod the king, founder of the Herodian family. He rebuilt the Temple in great magnificence, which is consequently known in history as Herod's Temple, to distinguish it from Solomon's. He died miserably in the 70th year of his age, and the 38th of his reign, on April 1, B.C. 4, so that the visit of the wise men must have been a few weeks previous. The date of Herod's death shows the real date of the birth of Jesus must be at least 4 years earlier than the date from which we count the years A.D.
v 1 ... "There came wise men from the east." 'Magi' in the Greek. Among them were men of rank and wealth and learning, representing the best in the old civilizations, the men who were looking and hoping for more light and better times. Though we do not know the exact number, from the number of their gifts tradition describes them as three kings – 'three kings of the Orient.'
v 1 ... "From the east." East here is plural, designating the Eastern regions, probably Persia.
v 1 ... "To Jerusalem," the capital of the country, these strangers would naturally come to find the king of the country, these strangers would naturally come to find the king of the country in the royal place.
v 2 ... "Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" They were seeking the highest, the best, and the ideal. To the shepherds, the light and the song and the good news came in clear spoken words, unexpectedly in their daily toil, and they had not far to go, for they had not the power to go far. The wise men saw only a star, the meaning of which they must interpret, and they traveled long, at great cost of time and treasure and comfort, over dreary wastes, amid hunger, and thirst, and cold, and toil, in perils of rivers, perils in the wilderness, perils of robbers; like the queen of Sheba who came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon is here; like the merchant who sold all that he had to obtain the pearl of great price. The shepherds came only to see, but these highly trained ones to worship; and they have allowed themselves to be led, and governed, and directed in the way which they should go (and that a long one) by the mere authority and prestige of a superior person, whom they clearly recognize as a born King.
How the Wise Men Knew About the King of the Jews: (a) Without doubt one of the chief sources was the Jews, who were scattered everywhere, with their Scriptures and hopes. They had synagogues in all the chief cities, where their Bible was read and taught. At Damascus, for instance, nearly all the women were proselytes (Josephus, Wars, ii: 20, 2). They proclaimed their expectation of a Messiah, who would deliver them from their oppressors. The prophecies in the Book of Daniel pointed to this time for the coming of the Messiah. (b) Arising largely from the same sources there seems to have been, according to the historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus, a prevailing conviction throughout the entire East, that a powerful monarch would arise in Judea and gain dominion over the world.
Their Motives for so Long a Search: Not all the Magians, but some, and these wise men among the number, were looking, hoping for better times. For the times were very evil. To the Hebrew prophets and to them alone the Better Age always lay in the future. The Magians, learning from the Jews, began to feel the glimmering of hope, and they would search with all their might to find if the good news were really true, not only for themselves but for their countrymen among whom they were teachers and leaders.
The Wise Men of Today are those who will undergo great toil and infinite pains to find their King Jesus, both for themselves and for the world. They are searchers for the Best, and the Highest. They will not be outdone by all the searchers for earthly treasurers, or by seekers of outer space, the riches of scientific discovery, or for larger knowledge, or mines of gold. A heart without Christ is mission field. A heart with Christ is a missionary. Missionaries are journeying over the world, as earnestly as worldly investigators and voyagers, to give to all nations the knowledge of the King whom these wise men sought to find. The great needs of the soul, which nothing but Christ can satisfy; the cry for help, forgiveness, love, light, righteousness, a new life, victory over all evil, which only Christ can answer; the hope for a perfect world, and perfect men, which only Christ can change into realization – these are guiding stars, of the wise men of today in their search for Christ.
2. The Star in the East – Guidance to the Best
v 2 ... "For we have seen his star in the east." Either they, in the East, saw the star; or they saw it at first in the east as a rising star. But soon while they were in the east the star would naturally appear in the west, guiding them toward Palestine. It is not necessary to imagine the star as always appearing in front of the travelers. The Orientals travel largely at night, and the star would appear at sufficient intervals to guide and encourage them. Owing perhaps to Balaam's prophecy they connected the advent of the Messiah in some vague way with a star: "I see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Num. 24:17). "They that be wise shall shine ... as the stars forever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).
What Was This Star in the East? – (a) Matthew says nothing about the star going before them on their journey from the east to Jerusalem. Such a guiding is scarcely conceivable, because in so moving it would have followed the same course as all the rest of the stars, and they would have had no indication that a special guidance was intended. His narrative implies (2:9) that after their first sight of the star it disappeared, and they did not see it again till they were on their way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, when it went before them on a road which leads almost due south. (b) It was not necessarily the same star, but a star with the same meaning, the same guidance, that shone over the Bethlehem home and first called the attention of the Wise men in the East. (c) The star that stood over the Bethlehem home must have been a direct act of God in some way, for this purpose – in other words, supernatural. This does not mean that God broke or changed any of His laws, but that He used them to do His will. There is not the slightest objection to this from the strictest scientific point of view. It might be a light like the burning bush which Moses saw. In 1572, for example, Tycho Brahe discovered in Cassiopeia a nova so remarkably beautiful that he wrote a long description of it. He wrote, 'Raising my eyes as usual, during one of my walks, to the well-known vault of heaven, I observed with indescribable astonishment near the zenith of Cassiopeia a radiant fixed star of a magnitude never before seen.' It declined after a few weeks. This fitful gleaming of a new star, which Tycho could not explain, is accounted for very beautiful and very simply by the more modern astrophysicist, 'Two giant suns, chilled to black cinders, but still imprisoning within their frozen shells a fierce heat and compounds of terrific explosive energy, crashed together in a celestial head-on collision. Each dead sun was rushing through space at the rate of 400 miles a second. Part of this energy is converted into a heat so intense that the fragments of the two shattered suns glow with a dazzling light compared with which our sun is as a candle placed beside an electric arc" (Curiosities of the Sky, Garrett P. Serviss).
Our Guiding Stars: The star that guided the wise men, like all God's dealings with men, and His works of nature, is an illustration and example of the way God leads us to Christ, our King. (a) The star of science, the knowledge of what God does in nature. (b) The star of experience, what God has actually done for us and in us, and for others that we know. (c) The star of history – especially the divinely guided history given us in the Bible. (d) The star of revelation from heaven. (e) The star of our needs and longings, and hungerings. (f) Christ outshines all the other stars of heaven, the other helps. God gives us. (g) With us as with the wise men, only those who have the star in their hearts will go on the quest for their King. (h) There are always stars somewhere to those who look up. One may not know the way they are going, but in Christ can know the guide.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:3-8
3. Obstacles in the Way – The Secret Enemy
There were many perils, in the journey of the wise men, but their greatest peril was when they reached Jerusalem.
v 3 ... "When Herod the king had heard." The wise men must have attracted notice not only by their appearance, but by their inquiries of the people they met. They may have spent a day or two making their search.
v 3 ... "He was troubled," lest he should lose his throne and his power, and be in conflict with Rome. Herod by this time was a nervous wreck. He was old, and feeble, and wicked. His life had been full of crimes. The ghosts of those he had murdered haunted him. He knew he was hated by his subjects. The least disturbance would inflame his conscience and arouse his fears. A little baby troubling a great king.
v 3 ... "And all Jerusalem with him." Those in power, officials of Herod, would be afraid of anything that shook the throne. The progress of religion, the coming of Christ, is always a source of trouble to the wicked, for it means the turning of their world upside down, the dethroning of their idols, the overthrow of their worldly hopes.
v 4 ... "Gathered ... the chief priests," his ghastly Bible class, the leaders among the priest,
v 4 ... "and scribes," those whose business it was to study and teach their scriptures.
v 4 ... "He demanded of them where Christ," in the original The Christ, not the proper name, but the Messiah, the official title of the promised Deliverer,
v 4 ... "should be born." What do your scriptures say? What is your expectation?
v 5 ... "And they said" without hesitation, for they had studied the subject which everyone was discussing.
v 5 ... "In Bethlehem of Judaea." They give their authority.
v 5 ... "For thus it is written by the prophet" (Mic. 5:2).
v 6 ... "And thou Bethlehem." Matthew gives a free translation, not the exact words, but words expressing the same meaning, just as such quotations were popularly made at that time, for there were no Bibles in circulation, and quotations must be made chiefly as remembered from hearing them read.
v 6 ... "Bethlehem, in the land of Juda." In the original there is no 'in the,' but the expression is, 'Bethlehem, land of Juda,' as we might say today, 'Nashville, TN,' 'New York, NY' or 'Dallas, TX.'
v 6 ... "Art not the least" although only a small, insignificant town under the shadow of a great city. Why not the least? Because "Out of thee shall come a Governor" (v 6) a Ruler,
v 6 ... "that shall rule," literally 'shall be shepherd of'.
v 6 ... "my people Israel," a description of the perfect ruler, the perfect King, whose aim is to do all he can to make a good, happy, useful, prosperous nation, and controls them only for their own good. This should be the attitude of every leader, of every one in a position of influence and power. The curse, the blasting, destroying curse, of any people, is the self-seeking spirit of those in office, who are striving to get all they can for themselves, instead of doing all they can for their country. Note: The true glory of a town or country does not consist in its numbers, but in the men it produces and the spiritual good which flows from it. Frequently in history the most insignificant places have become the scene of events which were the hinges on which the history of the world has turned. Some great person, or industry, or event, or victory, has made many a small place great. Little Bethlehem became glorious because Christ was born there. Our hearts, too, can become Bethlehems, and be transfigured by the presence of Jesus in them.
v 7 ... "Then Herod ... privily called the wise man." Privily, for he was hatching in private his malicious plot.
v 7 ... "Enquired of them diligently." The idea is, he ascertained to the last point. What time the star appeared. That he might know how old the young child was. Before this the birth of Jesus was nothing to him.
v 8 ... "He sent [or directed] them to Bethlehem. Search diligently. That I may come and worship him also." Herod felt that it was necessary to tell this lie, for the wise men would not report to him if he told the truth. He had so much belief that Jesus was the Messiah, that, being wicked, he wished to kill him. Had Herod been a good man he would have worshiped Him.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:9-12
4. Finding & Worshiping the King
The waiting for King Herod took up no little time, so that it must have been late in the afternoon before the Magi left Jerusalem, and it was night before they reached Bethlehem, or the star could not have been seen as a guide. Till it was dark the path would be plain. Then "lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them" (Matt. 2:9). They recognized the guiding sign, and when it
v 9 ... "stood over the house where the young child was," they
v 9 ... "rejoiced with exceeding great joy," for they had found their King, and reached their goal.
Finding or Not Finding Our King: As we begin to know these different persons, and note just what they did at the time of Christ's birth, does it look so unfair, after all, that some found Christ and some did not? Why did the wise men find him? Because they were looking for Him, and were ready to search the world over, at any cost of hardship and effort, to find Him. Herod wanted to find Jesus too, but not so that he might worship Him. Therefore God did not let Herod find Him. As for the Jews, most of them were not interested enough in the kind of Christ that Jesus was, to search for Him: so they did not find Him, nor did they recognize Him when they saw Him. It begins to appear that God was not shutting Herod and the Jews out, but that they were shutting God out. No soul that God ever created is shut out from the chance of finding Christ in some way. In every soul there is enough starlight to lead straight to Christ, if it is followed at any cost, and if this is done in order to worship and serve God.
Worshipping the King: "Fell down" (v 11). In the Oriental manner of showing homage and worship.
v 11 ... "And worshipped him." 'The homage of the Magi is the first and typical acknowledgment of Christ by those who hitherto had been far off; and their offerings were symbolic of the world's tribute' (Edersheim). Three acts exist: falling down, worshipping, and offering. The first, worship of the body; the second, of the soul; the third, of our goods. With these three, our bodies, souls, goods, we are to worship Him. Without them all, worship is but a lame and maimed sacrifice, neither fit for wise men to give nor Christ to receive.
v 11 ... "They presented unto him gifts." According to the Orient custom in paying visits to royalty. Thus expressing their loyalty. Setting forth greater truths than they knew, they offered to the Son of man and Son of God myrrh, hinting at the resurrection of the dead; the royal gold; and frankincense that breathes prayer – myrrh to a mortal, gold to a king, frankincense to God.
v 11 ... "Frankincense." A gum resin, obtained by an incision made in the trunk of a tree of the genus Boswellia. It offers in commerce in semi-opaque, round, or oblong tears. It is of a yellow or yellowish brown hue, the best being almost colorless. Valued for its sweet odor when burned; used for incense. It was, in older times, accounted one of the most valuable products of the East.
v 11 ... "Myrrh." An aromatic gum highly prized by the ancients, and used in incense and perfumes. It distills from incisions from a small thorny tree, which grows chiefly in Arabia. Always and everywhere the sincerity and favor of an emotion from their very nature desire to express themselves by acts and gifts, as fire reveals itself by light and heat. A heart full of love is as sure to make offerings as a flower is to emit perfume. The first and greatest gift is the gift of our love to our King, and ourselves to the building up of His Kingdom.
Christmas Spirit: You may not be studying this lesson on Christmas Day, but the spirit of Christmas is in it. If a visitor from Mars should appear on earth, on Christmas Day, he would discover that the golden age had come for at least one day of the year. But the warm beams of good will should encircle the whole year, clothing our earth for twelve full months with all the sweet blossoms of the heart. Strange that reformers have never learned that without arms or revolution the golden age will come if Christmas lasted all year. The Christmas spirit is the spirit of love expressed in giving, the spirit of making others happy, the spirit of joyful music and song, the spirit of peace, the spirit of gratitude to God for His wonderful love, His supreme gift to man – a gratitude expressed in good will and love to all men all over the world. The Blessedness of Giving like the Wise Men. The wise men showed their wisdom by bringing rich gifts to Jesus. We give to Jesus by giving to our fellow men and His children, the gifts of every kind He would give if He were physically here. We are His almoners, His representatives. The very least of us, the poorest, have this privilege, as Jesus has taught us by 'the cup of cold water' and 'the widow's two mites.'
The Value of the Search for Christ our King: The wise men found the King they sought. And yet it was but the least of Him found, only the child that was to become the King. There was infinitely more to find as the years rolled on and He lived, and taught, and healed, and worked wonders, and died, and rose again. The search will never end, and the King be wholly known, till He has become King of Kings and Lord of Lords. No one can find Jesus as He is without searching for Him. The search is essential to finding Him, or knowing Him when found. Moral training, strength, growth, life, come from the intense struggle to reach the goal. Sitting on the mountain top of vision, when carried there by the Magic Carpet, is a very small thing compared to the strength and vigor, and power which comes from climbing up to the glorious vision. The greatest power of success comes through the striving and winning, saying with Paul, 'not that I have attained ... but I press on toward the goal.'
