Matt 2:1-12
The Wise Still Seek Him
It is Wednesday, Christmas Eve. In a matter of 5 hours, Christmas
will have arrived. Without doubt, the most important remembrance of
Christmas is the birth of Christ. Despite the traditions of man,
that is still what Christmas is about and ONLY what Christmas is
about. Yet, there are other important aspects which surround the
birth of Christ that are worth remembering. For example, tonight,
let’s remember on the wise men.
The Bible tells us that God is always looking for a good man.
Eze 22:30 And I sought for a man among them,
that should make up the hedge, and stand in
the gap before me for the land, that I should
not destroy it: but I found none.
Isa 59:16 And he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor:
therefore his arm brought salvation unto him;
and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Ge 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be
angry, and I will speak yet but this once:
Peradventure ten shall be found there. And
he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
2Ch 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and
fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect toward him.
On the first Christmas Eve, God found some men with a perfect heart
in a far away land and invited them to come worship the Christ.
Interestingly, the single Greek work which is translated "wise men"
3x in Matthew can have two very opposite meanings.
1. Obviously, it can be translated "wise men," as it is.
2. It could also be translated sorcerer.
These two words have very different applications. A sorcerer is one
who practices magic, typically considered to be cultic magic. That
would mean that they have some connection with the devil for he is
the master of all cultic activity. Yet, our translators chose to
render the word, "wise men" instead. Why? Because of the men’s
actions. Their actions show them to be wise instead of foolish.
godly instead of cultic.
It is high time that men and women and boys and girls come to
understand that it is our behavior, our actions, which determine
whether we are wise or foolish. Having a high IQ, a diploma, a
high-paying job, or a talk show does not mean you are wise! The
behavior of these men is what caused them to be recognized as "wise
men." What kind of behaviors mark the wise?
I. The wise know the Scriptures.
A. There is so much about these wise men that we do not know.
1. Despite the song, "We Three Kings," we do not know how
many there were.
2. Neither do we know that they were kings.
3. For that matter, we don’t even know for certain where they
came from or how they came to understand what the star
over Bethlehem meant!
B. We suppose that they were from Babylon.
1. We suppose that the way these men knew about the star was
that while the Jews were in captivity, God gave to them
some now-lost prophecies concerning the birth of the
Messiah and somehow, those prophecies came into the
possession of these men. Then these men would have had to
study and believe what was recorded in those prophecies.
2. If that were so, imagine what unique men these would be.
a. Those prophecies would have been more than 500 years
old; yet, these men would have had to believed that
they were genuine and would have had to have
reverenced and studied them.
b. Perhaps the prophecies were written down and passed
along an unbroken chain of Gentile believers. If so,
those Gentiles would have exercised more faith than
the Jews for the Jews had NOT held to their own
Scriptures.
c. In addition, these men would have had to have been
watching the sky for the star, which upon seeing,
they would have had to recognize and believed.
d. Of course, this is all conjecture. Other things could
have happened.
3. God might have sent an angel to any group of people east
of Israel \\#Matt 21:1\\.
a. God sent angels (or an angel) to Zacharias, Mary,
Joseph (several times), and the shepherds. He could
have sent one to these men.
b. If so, why these men and their nation? Had these men
and their nation some shred of godliness that God
honored?
c. The bottom line is that we don’t know HOW they knew
what they knew but they KNEW God’s Word.
d. That is what the information they had was, God’s Word.
e. It may have be lost to us, but it was truth revealed
from God and they knew it.
(1) They knew it well enough that they traveled
hundreds of miles (Babylon was about 800 miles
away).
(2) They knew it well enough that they put their
lives on hold long enough to take plan and take
what was probably the longest journey of their
lives.
(3) They knew it well enough that they followed a
star!
(4) They knew it well enough to march into Herod’s
palace and ask about the King of the Jews!
(5) They knew that what they had was a word from God
and that it was reliable and worth their all!
C. The wise still know the Word of God.
1. The wise know that the Word of God is inspired.
2Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
2. The wise know that the Word of God is reliable.
a. Did you know that while the Bible is not a science
book, it has always lead and taught science?
b. Examples:
(1) The Bible taught man that the earth floats
in space and does not ride on the back of
Atlas or some animal.
Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the
empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
(2) The Bible first taught that creation is made
of atoms and other invisible particles.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God, so that
things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear.
(3) The Bible taught the perfect dimensions of a boat
are the length should be 6 times the width.
\\#Ge 6:15\\
(4) \\#Job 38:16\\ teaches that the oceans are feed
with springs not just rivers. It would be 1970s
before submarines were built capable of with-
standing the 6,000 pounds of pressure per square
inch to find out the Bible was correct!
http://www.eternal-productions.org/101science.html
c. One of these days, every person on earth will re-learn
that God is the Creator, but they will!
3. And the wise still study the Word of God.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
II. The wise come to Jesus.
A. Few details are given of the wise men’s trip.
1. We are told they came.
2. That they came from the east.
3. That they came following the Messiah’s star.
B. Consider that they came.
1. I can think of a dozen excuses these men might have given
for NOT coming and only one reason they had to come.
a. The excuses:
(1) It’s too far.
(2) It doesn’t affect me.
(3) No time.
(4) I’m not spending MY money.
(5) Too busy.
(6) God will understand.
b. This MIGHT be of God.
2. Concerning the trip…
a. We surmise that it must have been some trip.
b. It was likely very long, requiring months to prepare
and weeks to make.
c. If these wise men were visited by an angel, it is
possible that the visit occurred shortly after the
angel appeared to Mary and Joseph. Once they were
prepared, all the wise men could do was to wait for
the sign. Maybe they did not know what the sign
would be but when they saw the star, they knew that
was it!
4. Then off they went, likely not even knowing where they
were going! (Another Abraham trip for if they had known
where they were going, they would not have needed the
star!)
C. Consider that they came from the east.
1. Judaism was never a world-wide religion.
2. Some Jews traveled to other parts of the world and some
travelers came to Israel, but chances of an in-depth
knowledge of Jehovah God in a far away land were slim.
That is why many believe these wise men came from
Babylon. The Jews had been carried away captive there
and many had stayed.
3. How strange it must have been for these men to explain to
their family, friends, masters, that they were going to
"worship" \\#Matt 2:8\\ the Jewish Messiah.
a. Their people probably had no knowledge of a Jewish
Messiah; yet, with a supernatural star leading them,
it would be hard to deny His existence!
b. When did these wise men decide that this Messiah was
to be worshipped? Did they know before they left?
Did they become convinced on the journey? When they
beheld the Babe?
D. Consider that they came following a star.
1. The star itself was miraculous. It had to be if it were a
sign and especially if it directed them.
a. It appeared to them. The wise men testified that they
saw it \\#Matt 2:2\\.
b. It somehow guided them \\#Matt 2:9\\, even standing
directly over the spot where Christ lay.
c. Apparently it disappeared or did not give an exact
location at the first, prompting the wise men to seek
directions at Herod’s palace.
2. But stranger than all of that was the these men followed
it.
a. This ranks right up there with Abraham going to a
place he did not know or the children of Israel
following a cloud!
b. It required FAITH on their part.
3. The wise still need faith.
a. It may take more faith to believe in God, salvation,
and the Bible than it has in many years (in America).
(1) Generations have been taught the Bible is not
true and that God is a myth.
(2) True faith requires obedience and every Christian
behavior seems to be scoffed at today.
(3) Other religions are portrayed as tolerant and
Christianity is portrayed as bigoted and old
fashioned.
b. My belief is that it is only going to get harder, but
the wise will still believe.
E. There is one more detail about the wise coming to Jesus that
we should note.
1. \\#Matt 2:11\\ When they arrived, they worshipped. (I
wonder when they figured out Who it was they were going
to see?)
2. To worship means they subjugated themselves and gave Him
the preeminence.
a. They bowed.
b. They worshipped Him.
c. They gave gifts.
3. Jesus came to save us. The least we can so is to worship
Him.
a. We worship Him because He is God,
b. because He is Creator, Sustainer, Master, Lord,
Worthy, Loving, and a thousand other reasons.
III. \\#Matt 2:12\\ The wise obey God.
A. These wise men were wise.
1. Herod had set a trap for the Christ and the wise men did
not know it.
2. In fact, the only One who did know was God.
3. God told the wise men to go home another way and they did.
B. Notice that the Bible does not say that God told the wise men
WHY they needed to go home another way.
1. God just gave them a command and they obeyed it.
2. Because of their obedience, they did not get put into a
dangerous situation.
3. Might I just say that is how God’s commandments work.
a. Commands do not come with explanations but every
command is a warning from God.
b. Break it and there will be pain and hurt.
c. If you keep enough of God’s commands long enough, you
will learn that they are not to take away our fun but
to keep us from getting hurt.
C. The true test of a wise person is not that they know the Word
of God or even come to Him. It is that they OBEY Him.
1. The wise obey God’s commandments concerning sin.
John 8:7 …go, and sin no more.
2. The wise obey God’s commandments for service.
Lu 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is
like a man that without a foundation built an
house upon the earth; against which the stream
did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell;
and the ruin of that house was great.
3. The wise obey God’s commandments for salvation.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be born again.
We have all heard seen the bumper sticker, "Wise men still seek Him."
And that’s true. The question on this Christmas Eve night is, "Are
you among the wise or the foolish?" Do you know God’s Word? Have
you come to Jesus? Are you keeping His commands?
Tomorrow, we will celebrate the greatest Gift ever given. Tonight,
why not give to Jesus the greatest gift you have, the gift of
yourself?
