Matthew 2:1-12 THE MAGI – THE MYTH AND THE TRUTH Rev. John E. Warmuth Matthew 2:1-12 New International Version (NIV) 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 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. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘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.’[b]” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Dear fellow worshipers of the Christ-child, “As with gladness men of old” we sang just moments ago. Those “men of old,” of course, were the Wisemen or Magi who came to worship the Christ-child. Why didn’t we sing the popular Christmas Carol We Three Kings of Orient Are, which would seem to fit our text rather well? One reason is that it is not in our hymnal and for good reason! Already in its title it gives three misleading impressions: First, we don’t know how many of these Magi or Wisemen there were. Most people assume that because three kinds of gifts are mentioned there must have been three people giving them. That doesn’t have to be as we will see later. Second, they were not kings. The Greek word indicates they were members of a priestly caste of advisors to a king, and were probably astrologers as well. Third, they were not from the Orient, that is, the Far East, like China, Mongolia, Japan and so on. They were more likely from present day Iran or Iraq. We Three Kings of Orient Are is far more myth than truth. As with Gladness Men of Old presents us with truth and no myth. It focuses on how Jesus was at the center of the Magi’s actions. We want Jesus to be the center of our actions, too. So we consider THE MAGI – THE MYTH AND THE TRUTH. We will look at the myth and the truth about who they were, when they worshiped and how they worshiped Jesus. I So, just who were these men in our text who came to worship the baby Jesus? Traditionally we call them “Wisemen.” A popular Christmas Carol calls them kings. But writing in the Greek language, Matthew called them “Magoi.” Most English Bibles now use a transliteration of the Greek word and call them “Magi.” My Greek Bible dictionary says that a “Magus,” the singular of “Magi,” is a Babylonian priest who was an expert astrologer or one who studied the stars for signs of important happenings. A Magus also interpreted dreams and practiced other secret arts. I should add that our words “magic” and “magician” come from the Greek word “Magus.” It is also interesting to note that Daniel of the Bible was a “Magus.” That’s what we know about them for sure. What we don’t know are there names, although three names were given to them over 200 years after the events of our text. We don’t know exactly where they came from, other than from east of Judah. Were they young or old? There’s a lot we don’t know about them. The Bible doesn’t tell us. One thing we know for sure about them, though, is that they were not Jews. They were Gentiles. We also know they worshiped Jesus as their God and Savior. Their visit reveals to us that Jesus was born not only for the Jews, but for all non-Jews as well, for Gentiles like you and me. Their visit reveals Jesus not only as King of the Jews, but as the King of kings; not only the Lord of Israel, but the Lord of lords. When these men arrived and worshiped Jesus, he shined forth as the Savior of all mankind. So, just who were the Magi? Just remember that they were Gentiles like us who worshiped Jesus, their Savior. II Now, when did the Magi worship the Christ-child? There is a lot of myth here! Most manger scenes show the Magi there worshiping Jesus the night he was born. But that is impossible when we piece together the events of Jesus’ life from his birth to when he began his ministry. Matthew only tells us that it was “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem” that these Magi came to see the Christ-child. He does not tell us how long after. It had to have been a fairly long time after he was born. Why? Luke tells us his gospel that forty days after Jesus was born Joseph and Mary took the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem for the rite of the purification of Mary after child-birth and for the presentation of a first-born son. Both of these were required by God’s law. It was at that time that aged Simeon and Anna saw and held the Christ-child. This had to have happened BEFORE the Magi visited Jesus. Why? It’s because later that same night of the Magi’s visit, an angel told Joseph to take Mary and the Christ-child to Egypt for safety because King Herod was going to try to kill the Christ-child. Joseph got up right away and that same night yet they began the trip. That trip would take a month to travel on foot. They could not have been at the temple forty days after Jesus’ birth if they had started the trip to Egypt the night Jesus was born. The visit of the Magi had to have taken place at least forty days after Jesus’ birth. It could even have been as much as two years after Jesus’ birth that the Magi came. Why? Remember, that Herod ordered the killing of all boys in Bethlehem “who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi” Matthew 2:16. That could mean the Magi first saw the star two years before they finally got there to see the Christ-child. Again, it is not important to know exactly when they arrived to worship Jesus. It’s important to know that it was important to them that they did go worship him! So it is with us. It is not so important exactly when we worship Jesus. It is important that we do worship him. God does not tell us in his Word WHEN we are to worship him. He does not command us to worship on Sunday, Christmas Eve or Day, during Lent on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. What he does say is, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10). He had the writer to the Hebrews exhort us, “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing” (HB 10:25). The Holy Spirit made sure that in the book of Acts and in Paul’s letters we have example after example of God’s people gathering regularly to worship and praise him. For what pleases God is that we regularly take the time and put in the effort to worship him. III Now, what about HOW the Magi worshiped Jesus? We are not given any details as to the form of their worship. Did they bow on their knees? Did they sing? Did they pray? Did they read from the Bible? We don’t know what their worship consisted of except for one thing: They presented Jesus with gifts. That’s the only detail we have. Now, tradition has it that three Magi or Wisemen brought three gifts to Jesus- one gave him gold, another incense (an expensive ingredient to enhance perfume) and the third one gave him myrrh (another expensive ingredient for perfume). But the Bible does not say there were three Magi and that each gave him “a” (one) gift. Maybe there were only two and each one gave a gift of gold, incense and myrrh. Maybe there were four or more Magi and each gave him only one gift. We don’t know and it’s not important to know. What is important is that they worshiped and brought their gifts willingly.