Anchor My Faith

The Wise Men Worship Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 2:10-12

The wise men leave Herod and head toward Bethlehem and as they travel the guiding light returns to show them the way, just as it guided the shepherds some time earlier. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:10 ESV). This verse suggests that at first when leaving Jerusalem for Bethlehem the star, the guiding light, was not shining, but as they progressed in their journey it again reappeared causing then to rejoice with exceedingly great joy because they knew that God was again guiding them.

The light guides them to where Jesus was located: “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11 ESV). The shepherds saw Jesus in a manager, but the wise men, arriving one to two years later, visit him at the house where he was now living. When seeing the child, they fell down before him and worshiped him. It is questionable that these quasi-pagan religious men truly understood the divine nature of Jesus, but their act of worship was appropriate and foreshadowed the worship of Jesus by all the Gentile nations.

These wise men brought with them gifts for Jesus. It is interesting to note that since there were three gifts, tradition supports the idea of three wise men, but we don’t know that as we are not told in Scripture how many wise men there were. It does seem reasonable that each one would have a gift and that no one would come without a gift. In the eastern culture it was and still is appropriate to bring an expensive gift when visiting someone of rank. They heard that Jesus was a king.

Frankincense was a white resin or gum, obtained from a tree and used in worship. When burned it produced a pleasing fragrance. Since frankincense is found mainly in Arabia, it is assumed that the wise men came from there. Like frankincense, myrrh came from a tree in Arabia. It was very bitter and was used chiefly in embalming the dead. Along with gold, these gifts were the most valuable which the country of the wise men could produce. These gifts were a token of respect and homage to the new born King of the Jews. These gifts were likely used providentially to support the family in their flight to Egypt.

After presenting their gifts, the time came for them to leave: “And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way” (Matthew 2:12 ESV). Herod had given instructions to go and find Jesus and then return to him with that information, but God had other plans and instructed them to leave for their own country without giving the location of Jesus to Herod.

Prayer

Father, we have spent four days with the wise men on our journey along the gospel path. It is interesting to see how you provide for future needs. You selected wise men, located in a foreign country, and gave them enough information to realize that an important person had been born in Israel and that they were to go to him and worship him and give him gifts. You provided them with a guiding light and directed them to Jerusalem and then on to Bethlehem. The gifts they gave was your way of providing support for Joseph and his family while traveling to Egypt and getting established there. Again, we have a sign that Jesus is the Messiah, our savior.