“THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI: The Wisemen” 11-28-21

 “THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI: The Wisemen” 11-28-21

INTRODUCTION

Video - “The First Noel” by Highlands Worship

A television interviewer was walking streets of Tokyo at Christmas time. Much as in America, Christmas shopping is a big commercial success in Japan. The interviewer stopped one young woman on the sidewalk, and asked, "What is the meaning of Christmas?"

Laughing, she responded, "I don't know. Is that the day that Jesus died?"

There was some truth in her answer.

Donald Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, San Jose: Resource, 1992, p. 16

There is a great significance in births.  Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody then cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some terribly significant births.

For example, William Gladstone was born that year. He was destined to become one of England's finest statesman. That same year, Alfred Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would one day greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner. On the American continent, Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And not far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It was also in that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named their child Charles Robert. And that same year produced the cries of a newborn infant in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The baby's name? Abraham Lincoln.

If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I'm certain these words would have been heard: "The destiny of the world is being shaped on an Austrian battlefield today." But history was actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America. Similarly, everyone thought taxation was the big news--when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest news of all: the birth of the Savior.    

Adapted from Charles Swindoll

The Christmas story is critical to the Good News of Jesus and critical to our faith

The Christmas story is full of interesting characters - Mary, Joseph, the baby in the manger, the donkey, the angel, the shepherds, and the Wise Men.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 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.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 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. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘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.’ ” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 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.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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.  And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 

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.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 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. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “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.” 

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. 

Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭1-23‬ NIV

I.  MAGI

A little boy and girl were singing their favorite Christmas carol in church the Sunday before Christmas. The boy concluded "Silent Night" with the words, "Sleep in heavenly beans." "No," his sister corrected, "not beans, peas."

Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993, p. 57.

A.  “Magoi” = magicians

B.  Every other use of the word in the NT receives this translation.

C.  Early church fathers translated it as such (Justin, Origen, Augustine, Jerome)

D.  Esoteric arts

1.  Magic

2.  Alchemy

3.  Astronomy/astrology

E.  Priests of Zoroastrian and earlier western Iranian religions.

E.  English word “magic” is derived from this ancient root.

II.  THEY TRAVELED FROM AFAR

A.  (Historic) Earliest known use of the word, “magus” is a trilingual inscription (the Behistun inscription in Old Persian) by Darius the Great pre-dating the Hellenistic period.  

B.  (Historic) Prevalent in Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia until late antiquity.

C.  (Tradition) of 3 due to 3 gifts

1.  Balthazar - king of Arabia or Ethiopia

2.  Melchior - king of Persia

3.  Gaspar - king of India

Psalm 72:11 and Isaiah 60:1-6 influenced the idea they were kings.

“May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭72:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

D.  (Biblical) “From the rising of the sun” or “from the east”

III.  THEY BOWED DOWN AND WORSHIPPED HIM

A.  Their intentions  

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 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 ‭NIV‬‬

1. Worship - proskuneo - pros (towards) kuneo (to kiss)

a.  “Kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior”

b.  “To adore on one’s knees”

c.  Egyptian reliefs show worshippers with outstretched hands throwing kisses  to the deity.

B. Their actions

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.”

‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭2:11‬a ‭NIV‬‬

1.  Bowed down

a.  “Falling down”, “kneeling”, “bowing”

b.  An act of reverence

2.  Worshipped him

a.  Prostrating before a god

b.  An act of respect 

C. Their gifts

“Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2:11‬b ‭NIV‬

1.  Gold - valuable/as a king/his Kingdom

a.  A valuable gift

b.  A gift for a king

c.  A symbol of his Kingdom

2.  Frankincense - perfume/as a god/his deity

a.  A gift of perfume

b.  A gift for a god

c.  A symbol of his deity

3.  Myrrh - anointing oil/as a mortal/his death

a.  A gift of anointing oil

b.  A gift for a mortal

c.  A symbol of his death

CONCLUSION

Magi visited baby Jesus.  They came from the east.  They bowed down and worshipped him.  

We ought to follow the example of the magi and worship Jesus and pay him homage.     

“Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone, "I love you." Give something away--anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong. Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home. Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you work. Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or announcement, or reservation, or hypocrisy.” 

Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong, pp. 400-1

CHALLENGE

This Christmas let us endeavor to give more than we receive.  Give a gift to someone this week that may not receive a Christmas gift at all this year.  Look on the streets, in your neighborhood, at the food bank.  Give!

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.