THE MAGI

The Magi who left the east to follow a star to the west were experts in astronomy and most possibly had received a special revelation from God where they should go and whom they were to seek, for how could they know where to find the new born King of the Jews? Today we still have the same revelation from God through the Scriptures, and His Holy Spirit, all pointing to the same person – JESUS.

The Magi were not Jewish scholars; in fact, they were Gentiles of some status in their own country, but their hearts had been prepared by God to seek and find the new King, bring Him gifts and to worship Him because He was the Son of God.

It may seem strange to some that the star led the Magi to Jerusalem and hence to King Herod. Why didn’t it lead them directly to the new King? But prophecies had to be fulfilled (Matthew 2:5,6,13-15,16-18) and they were as the result of the Magi’s visit to Herod, after which the star led them to the newborn King.

People who today have been converted to the Lord Jesus, and who through repenting of their sins have been forgiven, like the Magi of old, should follow the Star, which in this case is JESUS Himself; the “bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16), and let nothing lure them away from such a lofty purpose. We all, who are God’s children, should be willing to implicitly trust His leading above all other pressures and distractions in life. Whom are you following in your quest for eternal life?

The only motive the Magi had for searching for Jesus was to worship Him and offer Him their gifts. Surely, Jesus deserved to be worshipped. Is that also our goal in seeking Him? When we are in a spiritually healthy state of mind, worship erupts from our hearts with a minimum of effort; it becomes a natural thing for us to do so.

The offering of gifts is a natural inclination of man. Followers of Christ and worshippers of heathen gods alike tend to want to give gifts as a sign of appreciation, to acknowledge another’s worth in their eyes. In a way, the Grace of God allows us to participate in worship in a tangible way. It is a privilege to be able to offer gifts of love, time, labor and talent to the “Giver of every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17).

The tragedy of Christmas in our age is that there is little worship, having been corrupted by commercialism with Santa getting all the publicity and honor, as if it were a celebration of his birthday. Most children know more about Santa than they know about Jesus. Today the emphasis is more on getting than in giving. Some men worship themselves because they have been led to believe they are gods and are in need of nothing; being deceived by New Age theology.

This reminds us of the Lord’s rebuke to Laodicea, “Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. I counsel you to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich, and that you may be clothed in white raiment, and that the shame of your nakedness does not show; and anoint your eyes with salve, that you may see” (Rev. 3:16-18).

Let us, as the Magi of old, worship and give gifts to the glory of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

G. Boccaccio

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem there came to do him homage, wise men from the East. The name given to these men is Magi, and that is a word that is difficult to translate. Herodotus…says that they were originally a Median tribe. The Medes were part of the Empire of the Persians. They tried to overthrow the Persians…but the attempt failed….The Magi…became men of holiness and wisdom, skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural science…

It may seem to us extraordinary that those men should set out from the East to find a king, but the strange thing is that, just about the time Jesus was born, there was in the world a feeling of expectation of the coming of a king. Even the Roman historians knew about this and not much later, Suetonius wrote, “There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judaea to rule the world” (for other references to historians of that time see Barclay’s commentary on Matthew 2:1, 2).

There is not the slightest need to think that the story of the coming of the Magi to the cradle of Christ is but a lovely legend (as some do). It is exactly the kind of thing that could easily have happened in that ancient world. When Jesus Christ came the world was in an eagerness of expectation. Men were waiting for God and the desire for God was in their hearts. They had discovered that they could not build the Golden Age without God. It was to a waiting world that Jesus came; and, when He came, the ends of the earth were gathered at His cradle.

William Barclay