Making and committing to goals is essential for maintaining a healthy and balanced life. But what’s essential is to begin by discovering the one object worthy of our worship. When our personal spiritual life is in order, the rest of life falls into place.
The magi made a commitment, a substantial commitment, to follow a star that indicated a divine king was born in Palestine who would rule the world. And the reward of discovering who that king was gave them deep satisfaction. This is true for us too.
Prophecies about a star
Two biblical prophecies mention a star rising out of Israel and indicate that in the future a divine king would be born in Palestine and rule the world. One of the prophecies was mentioned in the first article (Num 24:17-18). The second prophecy is found in Isaiah chapter 60. The first prophecy mentioned a king rising out of Israel who would be divine and defeat Israel’s closest and most notorious enemies. This second prophecy further described the coming of the nations (non-Jews) to this light in Israel. They would travel by camel caravan from Midian and offer him gold and frankincense. The sole purpose of the trip was to find and worship this divine king.
Isaiah’s prophecy is amazingly accurate regarding the details surrounding the visit of the Magi. They traveled by camel caravan. They were from Midian. And they brought baby Jesus gold and frankincense. The purpose of their trip was to worship him as a king and as God, which is exactly what they did as they bowed their knees before the child.
However, not everyone was excited to discover who the king of the Jews (and of the world) was.
The most wicked man at Christmas
The most wicked man associated with the birth of Jesus was Herod the Great. The term “great” better describes his sins than his accomplishments. When he came to power, he massacred the Sanhedrin (supreme Jewish court). Herod killed three of his sons and even his wife, her brother and sister, and her grandfather. He claimed for himself the title “King of the Jews.” Everyone feared him. He was a ruthless tyrant. We can only imagine the distress in Jerusalem when a large foreign caravan of wealthy royal counselors arrived asking to see the newborn king of the Jews (Mt 2:3).
Herod was also a shrewd man. He ordered the chief priests and scribes to tell him if their Scriptures mentioned anything about where or when a Messiah would be born. He learned the promised Redeemer would be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2). Deceptively, Herod told the magi he too wanted to worship this new king and asked them to relay back exactly where the child was.
What is missing from the story?
It must have been quite a spectacle to see a large band of foreigners entering Jerusalem looking for a newborn king. But stranger than that was that no one bothered to follow the Magi to Bethlehem. No one believed the star meant anything. No one showed interest in a coming Deliverer or finding out if the magi’s interpretation of the star was correct. The Jewish religious leaders unknowingly fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy that the days will be spiritually dark when the light rises in Israel (Isa 60:2).
Their religious practices were unhelpful. They had lost the proper object of worship. Spiritual priorities were out of whack. Human traditions and personal ambitions failed to direct them to what or who was really important. And as a result, they missed the incarnation of God. It was outsiders and rejects like shepherds who came to worship the promised king of Israel.
No one followed the Magi for two reasons. Either they, like Herod, rejected the child out of selfishness, jealousy, or with the intent of maintaining their own social status, or they were so spiritually apathetic that any concern for an act of God was overshadowed by things of lesser importance. In other words, no one cared to worship the LORD (Isa 60:6b).
Three responses to divine activity
Matthew is the only one who records the coming of the magi to Bethlehem. He did so to emphasize how important it is to worship the right object. Three times in Matthew’s account he mentioned the purpose of the trip. It was to worship the King (vs 2, 8, 11). Jesus’ arrival was the focus of the wise men. King Herod’s murderous intentions are in stark contrast with the Magi’s focus. Furthermore, the Jewish spiritual leaders’ apathy, displayed as they assembled before Herod, is also contrasted with the sincere desires of the Magi.
You can chart three responses in this story to the birth of Jesus Christ. On the left side of the chart are those who persecuted the acts of God. This group denies that God is important in their lives to the point that they ridicule and put down people who set as their primary priority the worship of Jesus as Lord and Savior. On the right side of the chart are those who are too busy with their own affairs to have any desire to know God. They may have a religious background, maybe even raised in the church, but they have become apathetic toward the things of God.
Then there is the third response. This is the response of the Magi. They didn’t want to miss what God was doing. Divine activity was important to them. It was worth the sacrifice and dedication necessary to discover and worship the true king of the universe.
The magi are examples of men with well-aligned priorities. They came to Israel to find and worship a divine king. The Magi were not going to be satisfied until they bowed their knees in reverence to the true king of the world. The coming of a world monarch was upon them. They changed their priorities and concerns to reflect the importance of not missing what God was doing.
Where are you in response to God?
Of the three responses to the coming of God as a human, which camp do you find yourself? For instance, are you more concerned about your desires and aspirations–even more so than what God has planned for your life? Or, maybe you have a spiritual or religious background but that influence has faded into the recesses of your mind. Apathy better describes your thoughts about what God is doing in your life. Or, and this is where we want to find ourselves, are God’s acts in the world and in your personal life what you are passionate and driven not to miss?
No one can force you to commit to godly goals and priorities. That’s your responsibility–your choice. The good news is that the Lord will empower you to want him and to want what he wants for you. He will even provide the resources necessary to accomplish and maintain godly goals. Take a few moments and consider what will define who you are this coming year. It’s a new year and God offers you a fresh start. The Magi offer us examples of wise individuals who made a costly but worthwhile decision. They chose not to miss out on what God was doing. We need to make a similar choice.
Finally, in our last of three articles on the discovery of the Magi (#3), we will discuss five simple goals for 2019 that will impact your life so much that you will find one or all of them worthy of your consideration and follow through.
Photo attributions: The Wallpaper Data Base, SenuScape from Pexels.com, Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels.com.
