And even though Christmas is now behind us, we still have one more week in our ‘Revealed’ series… and this final week the characters we’ll be looking at are the Wise Men… or as they are more often called ‘The Three Wise Men’… or as they are sometimes called, ‘The 3 Kings’ or you may have even heard them called, ‘The 3 Magi.’ We’ll talk about why all the names later, but I want to get right to this story because, even though we have already heard a great deal about all that God has revealed to us in the past weeks, I believe that God still has even more to Reveal to us through this story.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Matthew 2:1-12
This story is just one more example of the upside-down nature of God’s kingdom! This story tells us that God gladly accepts worship from people who are seeking him no matter who they may be… even if they are pagan fortunetellers like the Magi. This story tells us that even those of us who may be seeped in things that religious people would believe exempts people from having any access to God are welcome in Jesus’ new kingdom. The Magi prove, just as all the other characters in our Revealed series have shown us, that God is not a God of favorites, that God sees our hearts… and not only does he see our hearts, but that he also longs to fill our hearts with a ‘joyous joy that is as joyous as it is possible to be joyous!’ So, do not be discouraged… God is calling you, no matter what your past may be… no matter what others may have said about you or what shame you may be carrying… no matter how distant you may feel from him right now… God is calling you to come to Jesus, accept his love for you, find the reason he put you on this earth… and worship him.
I am so thankful that we have this story… I am so thankful that God used these unexpected men, and all of the other people we have met over the last few weeks in our Revealed series, to show us this truth: all are welcome in God’s new Kingdom... all are welcome to join with many other unexpected people just like you and like me… all are welcome to follow Jesus… all are welcome to worship Jesus, and all are welcomed to join Jesus in God’s ultimate mission: to bring healing, comfort and joy to our needy, broken world.
