Matthew 2:1-12
The Gospel account of the wise men’s worship sets a choice before us. From it we understand that no one can remain indifferent or neutral toward the newborn King of the Jews. You are either on Herod’s side or on the side of the wise men — either you want to cast Jesus out of your life, or you want to bow down before Him and receive His rule.
THE KING WHO CHOSE TO BE A MAN (Matthew 2:1-2)
The conflict in the story arises because a new king has been born in Judea, and this seems to threaten the throne of the one already reigning.
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
Jesus, the King who chose to be a man, did not begin His existence some 2000 years ago. As a man He was born “in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,” but as King and God He existed long before that. In Micah 5:2 — the passage the chief priests and teachers of the law quoted, the passage that foretells the birthplace of the Messiah — it is said that His origins are “from of old, from ancient times”:
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
The King born in Bethlehem of Judea is not merely a man. He is God; He is the Eternal King who took on flesh in order to accomplish the will of God (John 1:1-3,14). Jesus did not become King when He was born. He was, is, and always will be King. Even before He was born He had “equality with God,” yet He emptied Himself of it out of love for us. In Philippians 2:5-8 we read:
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8)
Notice that before He took on “the very nature of a servant” and was “made in human likeness,” Jesus was “in very nature God” and had “equality with God.” Jesus was King even before He was born. But He was willing to take on flesh and become a man, so that He could redeem us from sin by giving up His life for us. He is “the King who chose to be a man.” His life did not begin with His birth, nor did it end with His death. For on the third day after He was buried, He rose from the dead (Philippians 2:9-11).
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
The newborn baby of Bethlehem is not merely a man. He is Lord. He is King. And not only King in spirit — in the flesh, too, Jesus had royal descent. He came from the line of King David, the most famous of Israel’s kings. This is precisely how the Gospel according to Matthew begins (Matthew 1:1):
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1)
Jesus Christ was the legitimate King of the Jews. When He was born, He received royal gifts — gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). They foreshadowed His character as King, Priest, and Sacrifice. Gold is a symbol of His kingship. Frankincense, used to make incense, was burned by the priests in the temple during worship — it is a symbol of Christ’s priesthood. Myrrh was a special perfume, similar to rose oil, used not only as a costly fragrance but also for embalming the dead. For Jesus’ own burial “about seventy-five pounds” of a mixture of myrrh and aloes would be used (John 19:39). Myrrh is a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for sin.
By His birth as King of the Jews, Jesus inaugurated a new era — the era of the Kingdom of God. Yet Jesus would not remain only the King of the Jews (John 12:15; John 19:19); He is King of the whole universe. Before He ascended, He told His disciples (Matthew 28:18):
18 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18)
Do you accept His authority? Will you give Him first place in your life? He deserves it!
THE MAN WHO WANTED TO BE KING (Matthew 2:3-8)
We have seen the King who chose to be a man; now let us turn our gaze to the man who wanted to be king — King Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1-3).
1 Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:1-3)
Can you picture the scene? King Herod sits on his throne in his splendid palace in Jerusalem, and suddenly these wise men arrive and stand before him. Perhaps he expects that they will bring him some gifts and pay him their respects. Instead they ask him: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” Herod is stunned. What “king of the Jews”? Is he not himself the king of the Jews (that was his title)? The wise men reply that they believe such a king has been born, because they saw his star while observing the heavens in their homeland. By the appearing of that unusual star they understood that a king had been born to the Jews. So they came to the Jewish capital, Jerusalem, expecting that the Jews already knew of the birth of their long-awaited king, that they were rejoicing and celebrating the occasion. But what a surprise — they had not even heard that a king had been born to them. When Herod learned of the star, he was frightened all the more. He “was disturbed.” He was startled and afraid. He feared for his place, because he was an impostor. Herod was not even a Jew; he was of Idumean descent.
The birth of Jesus shook the satanic kingdom. “The prince of this world” (John 12:31) trembled. Feeling threatened, Herod began to plot against Jesus. But in order to find Him, he had to learn the place where He had been born and the exact time of His birth. The place he learns from the elders and teachers of the law of Israel (vv. 4-5), and the time from the wise men (v. 7).
4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:4-6)
From the Scriptures Herod learned that the King of the Jews had been born in Bethlehem. But when exactly had this happened? Herod decided to strike a bargain with the wise men. He would point them to the place where the King of the Jews had been born, and they would tell him the time of His birth — when exactly it had occurred (v. 7).
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. (Matthew 2:7)
He learned that the star had appeared about two years earlier. That is why, when he realized the wise men had left his country without informing him which of all the infants of Bethlehem was the King of the Jews, he killed all the boys two years old and under (Matthew 2:16-18).
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-18)
Herod was the first earthly king to learn the birthplace and the year of the Messiah’s birth. He had the unique opportunity to be the first king to acknowledge the authority of the Messiah, but he rejected Him. It truly amazes me how people sometimes set out to fight against God. Herod knew that the birth of the Messiah was the work of God. He understood that it was the fulfillment of a prophecy given hundreds of years earlier, an event marked by an unusual heavenly phenomenon — the star the wise men from the east had told him about. And yet he set out to kill Him, firing blindly. See how cunning he was. He told the wise men that when they found the child, they should come and report to him, so that he too, supposedly, might come and worship Him (v. 8).
8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” (Matthew 2:8)
Is that what Herod really wanted? No, he wanted to find out where the little Jesus was so that he could kill Him. And God knew his heart. So He warned Joseph to flee to Egypt (v. 13).
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” (Matthew 2:13)
The Herod spoken of in this second chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew is King Herod the Great. His sons — Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip, and Philip the Tetrarch — succeeded him after his death. In many respects he really was a great king. He kept the peace in Palestine; he built the temple. At times he was generous. But at the same time he was a rather cruel and paranoid murderer. He unscrupulously killed his rivals — whether real or the product of his sick imagination. He killed his wife Mariamne, his mother Alexandra, his firstborn son Antipater, and two more of his sons as well — Aristobulus and Alexander. Herod was unscrupulous and merciless, so the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem fits his character exactly. That slaughter recalls Pharaoh’s command to kill all the sons of Israel. But just as then that command could not stop the growing up of God’s deliverer Moses, so Herod’s slaughter could not thwart God’s plan to preserve the life of the little Jesus.
By our reckoning Herod died in 4 B.C., which means Christ was born in late 7 or 6-5 B.C. in Bethlehem.
THE MEN WHO WANTED TO WORSHIP THE KING (Matthew 2:9-12)
And so, in this Christmas account we see Jesus, the heavenly King, who took on flesh and became a man; Herod — the man who wanted to be king at any cost, even if the cost was the blood of the baby Jesus and all the boys of Bethlehem two years old and under. And we see the wise men — some Gentiles who had traveled hundreds of miles to come and worship the baby Jesus, because they believed that He was the Anointed One of God.
The visit of the wise men underscores the royal character of Jesus. They announce to King Herod and to the residents of Jerusalem the appearing of the star of the King of the Jews. In the story the wise men build a contrast between the Jews’ hostility toward Jesus and the fact that they, as Gentiles, welcome Him and come to worship Him.
Who were these wise men, or “Magi”? We do not know much about them, but they were probably members of a priestly caste in ancient Persia, followers of Zoroaster, who specialized in interpreting dreams and supernatural manifestations (Daniel 2:1-2). We believe they were astrologers, because they watched the stars, seeking answers to life’s questions in them. These were people who were far from God, but evidently God, though He does not approve of their practices, used their understanding to reveal Himself to them. In any case, from the actions of the wise men we can see that they were wise, seeking people. It is remarkable that they had come from so far to find the King whose star they had seen. The wise men were bold — they were not afraid of King Herod (vv. 2, 7, 12). Moreover, for all their knowledge, they were humble — they bowed down before the baby Jesus and presented Him with gifts (v. 11). And they were open to God’s guidance, for when the God of Israel warned them of Herod’s true intentions, they obeyed Him and returned to their country “by another route,” without going back to Herod (v. 12).
As they watched the stars, the wise men saw a truly unusual star. There are various guesses about what exactly they saw. Modern astronomy has ways of calculating the precise dates of past astronomical events. According to these, in 7 B.C. there was a crossing of paths and a visual convergence of three planets — Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus. At that time the three planets come so close to one another in the night sky that they are practically seen as one large star. Such a convergence of the planets, however, could last only a few days. And whether it was this that prompted the wise men to undertake so serious a journey to Jerusalem is a matter of conjecture. All the more so because Matthew 2:9 says that “the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” This sentence shows that the star actually changed its position as they traveled from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem. Just as the pillar of fire led the Israelites in the wilderness, so this star led the wise men to the place where the little Jesus was laid. This could only have been something supernatural. Clearly it was God who, seeing the searching of their hearts, was directing them to the Savior of the world.
The question is: which is your star? What made you, personally you, seek out Jesus? What drew your attention to Him? What brought you to Him? For that is precisely your star. Perhaps it was a testimony, an unsolvable problem, even an illness or shattered dreams. Whatever it was that God used, we must thank Him that by His grace He brought us to the knowledge of Christ and of the truth that sets us free.
In the end God crowned the wise men’s search with success. They found the newborn King of the Jews. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him with reverence and offered Him their gifts (v. 11).
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)
This gesture of the wise men was especially significant, because they were the ones who anointed the kings of the east. By their worship before the child Jesus, they were attesting that they recognized Him as a King sent from God and accepted Him as their own Lord.
REBEL OR WORSHIPER?
Every person, when he learns of Christ, must decide — whether he will accept Him as his King and Lord, or whether, with all his strength and by any means, he will go on fighting for the throne of his own life. Whose side are you on today? On the side of the wise men or on the side of Herod? You cannot remain indifferent; you cannot “pass.” Even if you will not admit it to yourself, you are either a person who welcomes the birth of Christ, acknowledges His authority, and becomes a citizen of the heavenly kingdom, or a person who wants to usurp His authority, to reject Him as a pretender to the throne, and to go on defending your independence (or rather your dependence on Satan). You are either a “Herod” or a “wise man” — either a rebel or a worshiper. Look at yourself in the word we have read. Which one do you see yourself as? A “Herod” or one of the wise men? Are you a rebel or a worshiper? Judge for yourself!
The wise men gave their gifts to Jesus. And what gift will you give Him? He no longer has need of gold, frankincense, or myrrh. He has fulfilled His mission; now He is at the right hand of God and will soon return to drive out Satan and to begin ruling this world in fullness. The only thing with which you can bring Him joy is your own heart. He does not want your gifts — He wants you. Jesus loves you. He came to this earth to die for your sins. Will you reject this love, or will you sincerely say the words of one of our Christmas carols:
Here is my gift now, O Christ,
Here is my heart.
And in it, O King, come and live,
Let the sun shine within it!