The Life of Christ
The Visit of the Magi
by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
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Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.
Matt. 2:1-12: "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east 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 Christ
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 be the shepherd of
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 make a thorough search 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 in the east 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 worshipped him. Then
they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold
and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream
not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another
route."
This passage records the doings of the magi from the east. There
are some things that we do not know about them:
o We do not know their country of origin.
o We do not know how many there were. The number three comes from the number of different gifts given to Christ.
o We are not aware of their royal status - they are never called kings.
What is significant is their humility, especially as compared
to that of the spiritual leaders of Israel.
o The spiritual leaders of Israel knew where the child would be born, but they did not go.
o The Gentile magi did not know where he was to be born, but they found out and went.
Also significant in this passage is the beginning of Herod's
scheme to kill the child.
Herod wants to know the exact time at which the star of the Magi
appeared. He instructs the Magi to search thoroughly for the
child. He gives as his reason his desire to worship the child
as well. Herod is an evil man. Jealous of any who would take
his throne.
He was worse than a Gentile; he was a half-Jewish Idumaean, a
descendant of Esau, a wild desert-dwelling type. The Jews considered
them with no small amount of prejudice. To make matters worse,
Herod was hardly a model human being. He has been called a monster
- one who was crafty and cruel, jealous and vain and always quick
to seek revenge when wronged.
He came to the throne over the Roman province of Judea through
cunning and manipulation of Marc Antony. He had nine or ten wives.
Even the historians lost count after a while. On the smallest
of suspicion he had even his favorite wife, Mariamne, put to
death, along with her sons Alexander and Aristobulus. Even while
on his own deathbed, just days before he died he had his own
son, his flesh and blood Antipater put to death.
Caesar Augustus was heard to say, "It is better to be Herod's
hog than his own son!"
Again at his deathbed he ordered all the principle men in Israel
to be rounded up and placed in the local stadium, where they
could be surrounded by his soldiers and then slain when he died.
The reason: so that there would be great mourning at his death.
Herod tried bribing the Jews, so that they would like him, and
he could view himself as a successful ruler.
Julius Caesar had given Herod a fantastic and truly royal inaugural
celebration back in 37 BC, when Herod took the throne. He always
longed for that past glory, when in fact the traditional Roman
warning of "sic transit gloria mundi" applied to him
more than any other.
The bribes came in the form of a building program that was the
very rival of Solomon's. He built monuments and buildings in
the Holy Land, and even rebuilt their temple in magnificent fashion,
topping it with a golden dome.
Other buildings and monuments were undertaken.
o A temple, a forum, and a theater at Samaria.
o A great Greco-Roman capital, a temple, and port at Caesarea.
o The port was an engineering marvel that even today is remarked upon by the archaeologists who work at the site.
o Luxurious palaces and fortified retreats were built at Masada, Jerusalem, Jericho, and Herodium, which was near Bethlehem.
o In Jerusalem he had baths, a theater, and a Hippodrome constructed.
o He also promoted Greek and Roman games so that the people might be entertained.
All of these things struck a sour note - as any bribe to a slave
will. The people really did not want these things. They wanted
to be autonomous and free. But in order to be truly free, any
people must know God, and that was exactly the problem in Israel.
But what is really significant about this passage is the gifts
of the Magi.
Gold was appropriate, since it represented royalty. It did so
even in the ritual system of Israel it represented exactly that.
It also represented deity.
Frankincense was burned on the incense altar in the Temple. It
represented the righteousness of Christ.
Myrrh was used to scent the oil that burned in the golden lampstand
of Israel. It was also used to embalm the dead.
These Magi brought the gifts which perfectly portrayed Jesus
Christ from the viewpoint of the ritual system, and they were
not even Jews! You can see why God led them to Bethlehem. It
was entirely appropriate that they should do so, since the Jews
would reject Him. This hearkens forward to the church age.
The star in the east was most likely a comet. For those of you
with an astronomical bent, you can understand this. A star does
not move except through the nightly rotation of the earth and
the revolution of the earth around the sun. This latter causes
very incremental movement relative to the rise and set times,
but not along the horizon. If you walked in the direction of
where a star intersected the horizon each night, you would walk
in the same direction - west.
But this sounds like a new star - one of three possibilities:
a supernova, a planetary conjunction, or a comet. The conjunction
we can rule out because it only lasts for a night or two, and
then the planets separate again and lose their collective brilliance.
A supernova would last for some time, but then it would act just
like a star, giving monodirectional guidance. A comet would move
against the background of the heavens, and set in a slightly
difference place each night. Its guidance could be more exact,
and its appearance would last for some time.
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