Matthew 2:1-12

We know this story well. There are songs about the coming of the magi to the bedside of the Christ-child, and what manger scene would be complete without three lavishly dressed men, with their gifts and camels. And who has not seen a beautifully decorated Christmas card portraying the city of Bethlehem in the distance with the wisemen traveling toward the city staring up at an overly large star is shining over the peaceful city?

These men who traveled from a far-off country to visit the Christ-child are perhaps some of the most well-known characters of the Bible. What would Christmas be without these travel-worn men bringing expensive and all too fitting gifts to the newly born messiah, the king of the Jews? And yet, who were these men? What were they searching for?

As Christians and preachers, we have heard, and perhaps preached, their story year after year. We know it so well, that it can become tempting to skip the reading, the studying the research and just write a different version of what we wrote last year. What new gifts can these the magi bring to us this year, that we have not heard again and again? But as we come to this passage in Matthew once again this year, let’s try to hear the facts and understand the truths they have to offer, anew.

They were magi, astrologers, sometimes they are called wisemen who had great knowledge of the stars. How many of them there actually were, we do not know? We have come to the number three, simply because they brought three gifts and it has been decided that there was one for each gift. As astrologers spent their lives looking to the stars and the movement of the wandering stars, otherwise known as planets, and would find meaning in their movements. It is thought they may have been Zoroastrians who believed everything that happened on the earth was reflected in Heavens; the rise and fall of nations, directions as to when to go to war and their outcomes; the births and deaths of kings; everything of significance could be found in the stars. The movements in the heavens were thought to be key to understanding our existence here on earth.

They see a star rise into a particular part of the sky and they knew that a King had been born to the Jews. Why exactly they set out to pay homage to this king or if this is what they did every time such a thing occurred, we do not know. What we do know is that they headed out toward the land of the Jews to seek the new king and pay their respects to this young child. They immediately headed for the palace of King Herod; after all he was the “king of the Jews.”

Imagine Herod’s surprise when these astrologers from Persia or other parts East of Palestine arrived at his palace looking for one who was born king of the Jews. Herod himself is very old at this time and will die in but a few years. His sons are all grown. There were no kings of the Jews other than Herod and if he had anything to do about it, there would be no king of the Jews other than on of his sons.

Just to be “safe” he summons the chief priests and the scribes to see if there was anything, they knew that perhaps Herod did not. Indeed, they did, and so they inform Herod, from their study of scripture they know, the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.

Herod sends the magi in the direction of Bethlehem, asking if they would give him the Messiah’s home address once they find him, so that Herod could then go and pay his respects to the new, “king of the Jews.”

The magi make a thorough search of Bethlehem, and the star guides them to the place where the child now resides. At this point, the amount of time since Jesus’ birth is unknown. Based on Herod’s call to a have the all the boys under the age of 2 killed, it could be as many as two years, or a much shorter time may have passed, we simply do not know.

The magi fin the child and upon seeing the child with his mother, they fall prostrate before the small king, present their gifts to him. They pay homage to him, they worship him. They do this because they see him as a future king. Matthew includes this detail purposely. Matthew is very good at showing us the ways in which people respond to Jesus which reveal his divine nature. For Matthew the homage the worship the magi give to Jesus here is a revelation of Christ’s divinity.

When the magi leave, they do not go back to Herod. They receive a divine revelation in the form of a dream telling them not to do so, so they bypass Herod on their way home.

And so, some of the best-known characters in the whole Bible come and go, with little more explanation than that. They were astrologers, star readers, little more than elevated sorcerers from the East searching for the king of the Jews and they found Jesus, the son of the one and only true and living God.

These wisemen, astrologers, thought that they could find meaning and spirituality in the stars. They set out on a journey searching for yet another king that had been born and instead of finding yet another pampered brat laying on a silk cushion, destined to take over daddy’s kingdom, they found a peasant child, who was not only king of the Jews, but the king of all creation.

The Bible story does not tell us exactly how this changed their lives, but their lives were changed, because they had encountered the one and only Son of the living God and had allowed this to change their lives. They left that day and did not go back to Herod as they were told to do, instead, having been warned in a dream they headed home by a different route. These magi went away, listening to the voice of God and changed the direction they were heading. They encountered the Christ child, they encountered God and it changed the direction they were going.

Their hearts are their own, we are given no clue as to their thoughts, they stood before the Lord God and were changed. They bowed before the one who spoke the creation of the world. They paid homage to the one who gave them breath. They looked into the eyes of their savior. How they let this encounter change them is unknown. We know that after their encounter with the God-child, they listened to the voice of God in a dream and returned to their homes by another route. Their lives were never the same.

When the Church gathers, we encounter God. Every time we read scripture or come before the Lord God in prayer, we are encountering the creator of the universe, the one who gives us breath and allows us to live. Whenever we sit before our weekly sermon passage seeking God’s wisdom to bring to our congregations, are like the magi. We are kneeling before not just another king, but the King of Kings. We can allow these encounters to change our lives forever. Each time we step away from an encounter with the living God we too should let his voice speak to us and we too should heed it.