This raw video (below) filmed at one of our Christ for all Nations Gospel Campaign in November of 2013 has since gone viral on several websites. A man who had been deaf for almost two years had just arrived in town from another city by train and had unwittingly ventured into the city center (Independence square […]
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The Bible actually doesn’t tell us how many of these Magi came to see Jesus. Tradition has told us there were three, but this is an assumption based on the fact that they brought three gifts gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Whether they realized the significance of these gifts is not clear. But in hindsight we see they contained tremendous prophetic meaning.
Gold is a gift given to Kings. The wise men had come asking, “Where is he that is bornking of the Jews…” The Magi recognized Christ as a King. Matthew, in the previous chapter, had established Christ’s right to the throne by tracing his lineage through David and Abraham. In fact, one of the objectives of Matthew’s Gospel was to present Christ as King. This is probably a very substantial part of the reason Matthew mentions the magi when the other Gospel writers had not done so. The wise men acknowledged that Jesus was born “King of the Jews.” He was born a king He needed no earthly king to crown him. Heaven had crowned him already.
Many theories have been suggested as to what the Magi might have actually seen in the sky over Israel. Some have speculated that it might have been a concurrence of bright stars, a comet or a supernova. But all of these explanations based on natural phenomena fall short in my opinion.
First, if it had been a natural star it would have had to defy the laws of physics (stars usually travel across the sky from east to west. But the “star” the Magi saw led them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem traveling north to south).
Second, it led them to the precise location of a certain individual house, which of course a heavenly body, millions of light years from earth, could not do. There was something very different about this star.
The Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly what is going on here. And since we are left to speculate, I might as well give a theory of my own…
Gentile stargazers suddenly appear to worship a young boy born to Jewish peasants. Where did they come from? How did a star guide them to this special Child? Why would they dare to call Him “King of the Jews,” confirming their praise with extravagant gifts?And what was the significance of those specific gifts? We have become so familiar with the sight of the magi in nativity scenes and Christmas plays, that we forget what strange parts they played in the Christmas story.
