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When wise men came seeking
for Jesus from far,
With rich gifts to greet
Him and led by a star,
They found in a stable
the Savior of men,
A manger His cradle, so
poor was He then.
Though laid in a manger, He came from a
throne,
On earth though a stranger, in Heaven
He was known.
How lowly, how gracious His
coming to earth!
His love my love kindles to
joy in His birth.
Richard
Slater
Text:
Matthew
2:1-11;
Micah
5:2;
Psalm
72:10,11,15
Wise men from the east gave gifts
to the baby Jesus and worshipped him as God.
Today men who are wise still worship
Jesus.
The people of Israel knew that
the Savior would one day be born in Bethlehem, a
small village near Jerusalem. The prophet Micah
had foretold this over 700 years before Jesus
was born. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.
(Micah
5:2)
Now the wise men from the east
had followed a star that God the Father had
placed in the sky to guide them. When they
arrived in Jerusalem they went to see King
Herod. They asked him where they could find the
newly born king so they could go to worship him.
This troubled King Herod and made him jealous
and mad. He didn’t like the idea of someone else
(much less a child) being called a king. He
asked the priests and they told him Christ would
be born in Bethlehem. Then Herod told the wise
men to return after they found the child king
and tell him so he could go and worship him
also. King Herod was trying to trick the wise
men, because he really meant to harm the
child.
So the wise men continued to
follow the star to Bethlehem until they found
the house where the baby Jesus lay. We are not
certain how many wise men came. We can guess
that maybe at least three came because that is
how many gifts they brought. They may have even
been kings from other lands in the east (Arabia
and Persia) because one of the gifts was gold,
which is very expensive.
There is a prophecy in Psalm 72
that says kings from Arabia would bring gifts,
in particular the gift of gold, and worship him.
...the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer
gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before
him: all nations shall serve him... to him shall
be given of the gold of Sheba...
(Psalm
72:10,11,15).
[Read
Matthew
2:11] The wise men
worshipped the baby Jesus as God the Savior and
gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These
gifts were very meaningful. Gold was fitting for
a king. Frankincense was a resin from a balsam
tree used as a medicine. This king would heal
his people. Myrrh, an herb used in burials, was
the most unusual gift in that it pointed to the
importance that this child-king’s death would
mean later in life.
Christmas is the day we celebrate
the birth of Christ our Lord.
These wise men came to worship
the newborn king.
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