The Wise Men and Their Treasure
In Matthew chapter two we’re introduced to a group of wise men who are far from home, and, from the perspective of many, very, very out of place.
They are men from the east, but they’re in the west. Men of great wealth, now in a humble home. Men of learning, side-by-side with an uneducated carpenter. Men of prestige bowed in worship before a child.
We do well to think on the peculiarities of the Christmas story.
Now how’d this all happen? How’d these wise men get here? How was it that they even knew of, let along cared about, the long-awaited Messiah? How was it that they, though Gentiles had, too, found themselves awaiting the king of the Jews?
Well, remember, the east – though far from Jerusalem in terms of mileage – was not foreign to the people of Jerusalem or their religion.
About 500 years earlier the Jewish people had been deported there, to Babylon, in mass, bringing with them their belief in Yahweh, their hope for a Messiah, and their Jewish Scriptures which even expanded — Daniel, Ezekiel, Esther — throughout their time there.
Some of these Jewish men and women would eventually return home. Many would stay, and Judaism, in at least some measure, would continue on there.
These wise men were some of those from the east who’d been influenced and shaped by it.
They’d heard about the coming Messiah, the King of the Jews, and when they saw his star, they somehow knew the wait for him was over. Perhaps they recalled the prophecy from Numbers 24:17,
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;”
800 miles – the approximate distance from Babylon in the east to Jerusalem – is a long distance to chase a star, but these wise men did it anyway.
Because they wanted to not just acknowledge, but bow before the King of the Jews.
Because they were willing to lose home, comfort, and familiarity, just to gain him.
Because they knew something about this King that few in all of Israel even knew, let alone would’ve been willing to accept — that this King would not only be king of the Jews, but King over every tribe, nation, and tongue.
Their desire to bow before him contrasts our reticence to bow before anything other than self.
Their happy-hearted giving of their treasures to him contrasts our often tight-fisted withholding of our own treasures.
Their faith and willingness to leave everything to go and be with him contrasts our own unbelief, and our own unwillingness to lay down any of our comforts for him.
Their presence, before Jesus, in more ways than one, reminds us of our need to confess our sins.
Father, we turn now and bring these sins, and all our other sins, before you in this moment of silent confession…
…Father, we believe right now, in this moment, you hear us. Amen.