Mensa Otabil - The Wise Men (10/18/2025)
Well, I trust that you had a good Christmas celebration. We are in the final week of the year, and so we will continue with our Christmas story a bit. Then, during the middle of the week to the end of the week, we will go to our study of the book of Exodus as we align the crossing of the Red Sea with a crossover into a new year. So this week we’re going to do two different studies; we’ll continue our Christmas story with Matthew Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, «Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship Him.» The birth of Jesus Christ is followed by this very august visit of men that the Bible describes as wise men from the East. We’re not too clear as to which particular country they are coming from; there are speculations about that, but the important thing is that they came from the East. This incident is happening about two years after Jesus has been born, so they’ve been walking for about two years from the time they spotted his star at his birth to trekking to where Christ is.
Remember, there were no real roads at that time; there were no cars, and there were no airplanes. So if you started a journey of that nature, you would walk through hills and valleys and go through all kinds of places, stopping for a while, but still following the star. That is what these men did-they came through a very torturous road to look for Jesus Christ. The second thing is that they said they were looking for a king, not for a child; it is amazing that they saw Christ as a king even though he had not been crowned. The reason they saw him as a king was because of the interpretation they had given to the omen they had seen in the skies, which in their own way showed them that somebody magnificent had been born. They didn’t really know the extent of his kingdom, but they knew something great had happened in the world.
When we talk about Jesus Christ and celebrate him, we are also talking about a king, not just an infant baby, but a king-the true king of the world. The third thing you would note about what they said is that they came to worship him. «Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? Because we have come to worship Him.» Amazingly, the Jews had been waiting for the birth of a Messiah, and at the time Jesus was born, it seemed like an auspicious time for it. However, they were not looking for a king in Bethlehem; they were looking for somebody in Jerusalem, probably in the palace. That is exactly where the wise men went also; they went looking for a king in a place where kings are-in the palace. And they said, «We have come to worship Him.» That’s important. They didn’t say, «We have come to instruct him,» or «We’ve come to teach him,» or «We’ve come to mentor him,» although they were older than him. They recognized this child that had been born knew more than they did and would lead them to God.
So they came to worship him, to bow before him. That gives us a clue that when God shows us Christ Jesus and he is revealed to us, we don’t go to argue with him; we don’t go to try and make a bargain with him. We come to him to bow before him and to worship Him. If you’re a true Christian, that should be your desire-to come before the Lord Jesus Christ and to worship him. I trust that this Christmas you had the time to do that, and as we get to the end of the year, the same spirit of worship will be in your heart as we embrace a brand new year.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, you are the king of my life. Grant me the wisdom to follow your will and give you my worship. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.