For whatever reason the wise men from the Christmas story have really been intriguing me this season. Who are they? Where did they come from? Why do they matter? It just seems odd to me that there would be these three guys coming from a far to see baby Jesus. I think there’s a few things we know for certain about these guys. They weren’t Jewish. They weren’t part of the faith that Jesus was being born into, so when they come to Herod and say “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” we don’t really know how this relates to them, but for some reason they want to meet this king. In the earthly scheme of kingdoms and monarchies Jesus would no dominion over them. That being said, we know they have knowledge of Jewish culture. We get a glimpse of this in the sentence above. They obviously knew something of the Jewish prophecies to know to follow the star and find the “King of the Jews.” They came to worship Jesus. “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.” Even though Jesus wasn’t their earthly king they knew enough about Jewish culture to recognize Jesus as someone worth kneeling before.
The story of the wise men reminds me that, as a christian, we need to look outside our faith circle from time to time for wise men. Like the Jews in this story I get so caught up in doing religion or in the business of doing church that I can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes the wise men of the world can tell me where our community needs help. Sometimes the wise men of the world worship God’s creation better than I do. Sometimes the wise men of the world can remind me to kneel before Jesus.
Another thing that strikes me about the wise men is that they came so far and had to go through so many Jewish towns and villages and they were all alone. The Jews at this time were begging for their messiah to come and ready to worship him, but it seems these wise men were the only ones looking for him. I think this serves as a good reminder in this season that we need to be looking for Jesus this Christmas. We get so busy this time of year celebrating Christmas that we don’t celebrate Jesus.
The story of the wise men reminds me that, as a christian, we need to look outside our faith circle from time to time for wise men. Like the Jews in this story I get so caught up in doing religion or in the business of doing church that I can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes the wise men of the world can tell me where our community needs help. Sometimes the wise men of the world worship God’s creation better than I do. Sometimes the wise men of the world can remind me to kneel before Jesus.
Another thing that strikes me about the wise men is that they came so far and had to go through so many Jewish towns and villages and they were all alone. The Jews at this time were begging for their messiah to come and ready to worship him, but it seems these wise men were the only ones looking for him. I think this serves as a good reminder in this season that we need to be looking for Jesus this Christmas. We get so busy this time of year celebrating Christmas that we don’t celebrate Jesus.
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