“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] 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.” (Matthew 2 v 1-12)
Almost 50 years ago a four-year (1972-75) investigation into the Mahd adh Dhahab (Cradle of Gold) mine, located midway between Mecca and Madina in Saudi Arabia, led scientists to believe it was the principle mine for King Solomon’s gold and known as the mysterious place of Ophir (1 Kings 9:28).
Magi carried gold, frankincense and myrrh with them to Jerusalem.
In AD160, Justin Martyr (a Palestinian Christian writer) wrote that the wise men hailed from Arabia. Confirming what Martyr wrote, in what is simply a brilliant book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey writes, “In the 1920s a British scholar, E.F.F. Bishop, visited a Bedouin tribe in Jordan. This Muslim tribe bore the Arabic name al-Kokabani. The word kokab means “planet” and al-Kaokabani means “Those who study/follow the planets.” Bishop asked the elders of the tribe why they called themselves by such a name. They replied that it was because their ancestors followed the planets and travelled west to Palestine to show honour to the great prophet Jesus when he was born.
It might seem more than unexpected that ancestors of Muslims are bowing down to worship the Christ-child but let us be reminded that there is a day coming when Christ will return and “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:10-11) Christian, Jew, Muslim, will bow the knee.
The gospel writers were more than familiar with this prophecy:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3)
Who is this ‘you and your’? Is this Jerusalem, the city of God?
“Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.” (Isaiah 60: 5-6)
Midian and Ephah are tribal lands in northern Arabia, Sheba is in southern Arabia and where the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon with her gold.
“All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple” (Isaiah 60:7)
Shepherds are now involved. Why? Why are people coming from far away and very near? Who will receive these people?
“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favour I will show you compassion. Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations—their kings led in triumphal procession.” (Isaiah 60:10-11)
Isaiah is thinking about Jerusalem and the wonderful things that would happen in the future. Yet by the time of the birth of Christ they had not happened. These things had never taken place in Jerusalem. There was no great shining light in the city. Nor did wealthy Arabs come with gold and frankincense. Jerusalem’s gates were never open during the day and night because of security.
So why did Luke tell the shepherds story and Matthew the Magi story?
It is because they saw Isaiah’s prophecy, not speaking of Jerusalem, but the Christ-child.
Around Christ there was a great light and the glory of the Lord came. Shepherds visited the Christ-child.
Arab wise men came on camels bringing gold and frankincense (and myrrh).
The great hopes for Jerusalem were transferred to the Christ-child.
Hopes and expectations are now fulfilled in Jesus.
But it also has a future hope.
It is not the earthly Jerusalem that is of major significance, but the heavenly one that will come down as a gift from God when Christ returns.
The Magi believed in Christ when they had never seen him and probably not read of any of his prophecies. They believed in him when Herod was opposing and deceiving them. They believed in him when the religious leaders were unbelieving. They believed in him when they saw him as a little child and worshipped him as a king. This was the crowning point in their simple faith. No miracles. No healings to convince them. No teaching to persuade them. They didn’t need any of that.
“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.” (Matthew 2 v 11-12)
They knew what they had to do. They had brought gifts. They had brought gold for a king. This king would not come by force but with love. He would rule over men’s hearts not from a throne but a cross of wood. They had brought frankincense for a priest. This priest would not use the incense in the Temple to connect man with God. He would open the way to the presence of God not by works or any sacrificial Temple offering of man but by His own sacrifice and Him alone. They had brought myrrh for the Saviour, the one who would die for His people. This Saviour became the perfect sacrifice so that we could at last know forgiveness and be at peace with God. They brought these gifts and most probably they didn’t know the meaning that we over the centuries have given these gifts. They just brought gifts. Expensive ones. For them it seemed the right thing to do. Little did they realise that both Joseph and Mary would need these gifts to sustain them when they became refugees.
They came to the house. Mary and Joseph had moved from the manger scene. Their baby was now a child. This was 1-2 years after the birth. But nativities would last a very long time if the period of time was considered!
They entered in and saw the child. That’s the focal point. For months God had been using a ‘star’ to pull them from their homeland to the feet of Jesus so they could see a miracle.
Their eyes met the eyes of Jesus. The gifts took second place. There was only one thing that they could do and that was to fall down and worship. What we can bring to Jesus is not as important as our hearts of worship.
In 1872, Christina Rosetti, the sister of the artist Dante (and who she posed for in many of his paintings) wrote a poem that has global fame. She had herself a difficult life. A broken engagement and further turning down two offers of marriage around the time of this poem she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. Today an overactive thyroid is treatable but in the 19th century it was even more debilitating. Her poem has these words:
What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
It wouldn’t be long after this poem was written that she would develop cancer and die in London in 1894. Her life ended with nothing much that she could give. But He had her heart and that was the most precious gift she could give. It still is.
Missions Paul 