Wise Men

If we are to understand the importance of the wise men in the Christmas narrative, we must first sweep away the traditional debris that has cluttered their story and obscured the true facts.

Contrary to the lyrics of a popular Christmas song, these men were not “three kings.” They were priest-scientists who studied the heavens. (The tradition about kings may have arisen from Psalm 72:10–11 and Isaiah 60:1–11.) The Greek word in Matthew 2:1, 7, and 16 is magos and refers to “scientists” or “wise men” in the ancient world. In the book of Daniel, it is the title of the men who interpreted dreams; the NIV translates the word “astrologers” (2:2, 4–5, 10; 4:7; 5:7, 11). The Jewish people were forbidden to practice divination (Deut. 18:10–13; Jer. 10:1–2; see Isa. 47:13–14), but these visitors were Gentiles who probably came from Persia. They had seen a remarkable new star in the heavens and had interpreted it to mean that a Jewish king had been born. The logical place to find a Jewish king would be in Jerusalem, so that’s where they headed. During their time in exile, the Jewish scribes may have taught the Babylonian and Persian scholars about the Messianic promises. Some students point to Numbers 24:17 as a possible connection.

We do not know how many Magi were in the group and we do not know their names. The fact that three gifts are mentioned has led people to think that three men were involved, but that conclusion could be wrong. The word treasures can mean “treasure chests” (the Greek gives us our word thesaurus), suggesting many more than three gifts. These wise men certainly did not make that long trip alone but were part of a large camel train of servants and soldiers and supplies. If three strangers showed up in Jerusalem, it wouldn’t make much of a stir; but when a large and rich-looking foreign company appeared, everybody took notice, especially King Herod.

In spite of what we see in manger sets and “living Christmas” displays, the wise men did not come to the manger but to a house in Bethlehem. They did not see a newborn baby in a feeding trough but a young child, probably in His mother’s arms (Matt. 2:9–12). Among the Jews, as soon as children completed one year of life, they were considered to be two years old. Note that, when referring to the family, Matthew always mentioned Jesus, “the child,” first (Matt. 2:11, 13–14, 20–21).

So much for the historical facts. Now let’s consider the spiritual truths behind these facts.

To begin with, the coming of the Magi shows God’s concern for Gentiles as well as Jews. Jesus is indeed “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14), and there are “other sheep” He wants us to help reach that are not in the Jewish fold (John 10:16). The visit of the Magi to Jesus is commemorated on the church calendar on January 6 and is called Epiphany. The word means “revelation” or “manifestation” and refers to Christ being revealed to the Gentiles. The gospel message was proclaimed by Peter first to the Jews (Acts 2–7), then to the Samaritans (Acts 8), and then to the Gentiles (Acts 10), and then Paul took the message to both Jews and Gentiles throughout the Roman empire. God loves the world and wants to see all nations come to salvation (Matt. 28:19–20).

Second, God reveals Himself to people in ways they can understand. In the case of the Magi, the Lord revealed Himself first through nature when He revealed that special star. They decided to go to Jerusalem and there the Word of God told them that Bethlehem was their destination. When they obeyed the Word, the star reappeared and led them to the house where Jesus and Mary were waiting. You find this pattern given in Psalm 19. God reveals Himself in creation (vv. 1–6), the Scriptures (vv. 7–11), and then personally to the human heart (vv. 12–14). The Magi did not stop until they came to Jesus and saw Him personally!

There is a third truth to be learned: the Magi made worshiping Jesus the reason for their visit (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11). This should be the purpose of Christmas for all of God’s people, not just sharing gifts with each other but giving ourselves and our very best to Him. During the busy, demanding days of the season, we must not forget to take time to worship the Lord and thank Him for coming to save us.

In this ancient scene, there is also a warning: people can know all the facts about the birth of Christ and not know Jesus personally. Herod and the Jewish religious leaders knew where Jesus was, but they did not go to see Him. St. Augustine wrote, “They [the Jewish religious leaders] were like milestones: they pointed out something to travelers, but themselves remained stolid and motionless.” Those who truly seek Jesus will find Him (Isa. 55:6–7) and be found by Him (Luke 19:10).

The Savior of the world was just a few miles away from Jerusalem, yet the Jewish leaders made no move to see Him. The Queen of Sheba was a Gentile and yet she traveled a great distance to learn wisdom from Solomon, and the Magi traveled a long way to worship the newborn King. In the judgment they will be witnesses against the religious people who knew the facts but ignored Him who is the truth (John 14:6; Matt. 12:42). What a tragedy it would be to “celebrate” Christmas and yet reject the Christ of Christmas!

 See: Gifts, Herod the Great, Joy, Questions, Star

Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This is the way the apostle John introduces the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, to the readers of his Gospel. This may seem a strange way to begin the story of Jesus, but the Greeks to whom John was writing were philosophical, interested in the unseen realities behind the visible universe. To the Greek thinkers, the Word (or Logos) was a technical term for the Mind or Reason that guided the universe. “Word” was one of the ways they thought of God.

The Hebrew people also used the term word as a synonym for God in His activity. God’s “word” was His self-expression, found in the law (Deut. 30:11–14) and in His wisdom (personified in Proverbs 8). Both Jews and Gentiles understood that John was referring to God by his use of “Word.”

John made several claims for “the Word” in the opening words of his Gospel. He stated that the Word is God (1:1) and that the Word is “with God” (vv. 1–2). The Word is the source of creation (v. 3) and also provides spiritual life and light (v. 4). John’s greatest claim is that “the Word became flesh” (v. 14). This is the doctrine of the incarnation, that God the Son permanently took to Himself a human nature and body and entered the human world of time and space.

Consider what the experience of incarnation meant to our Lord Jesus Christ. The words of Philippians 2:5–11 are our window to understanding:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

When the Son of God took on flesh, the Creator became a creature. The God who spoke the universe into existence became a two-celled person (creature) in the womb of Mary. The incarnation also meant the Sovereign became a servant. The Son of God whose every word was obeyed instantly in heaven had come to earth to obey the Father and fulfill the divine plan of salvation.

Jesus is named in Scripture as the Prince of Life, the Prince of Peace, and the Prince of Glory. Princes are royal, and royalty is rich. In His incarnation, the Prince became a pauper. Jesus “made himself nothing” (emptied Himself) in becoming human, surrendering the independent exercise of His divine attributes. He did not cease to be God but He submitted the use of His divine prerogatives to the Father’s will. Jesus exchanged glory for poverty.

In His incarnation, the Shepherd became the sacrifice. Shepherd is one of the titles for God in the Old Testament (Gen. 49:24) and Jesus is the Good Shepherd in the New Testament (John 10:11, 14). By embracing “death on a cross,” the Good Shepherd became “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29). So there was a significant “stooping down” as the Word became flesh.

Let’s transition from thinking of Word as a theological term to thinking of it in everyday terms: as a tool of communication. Words are dynamic—they inform us, captivate us with a story, or motivate us to act. We use words to express our thoughts and feelings, and to explain and guide our decisions. Words are the building blocks of communication. Jesus is God’s final and fullest communication to us. In Jesus, God is speaking just the right Word to us.

The Word That Defines

Jesus is the Word that defines. Jesus defines reality: there is a God, God is our Creator, and Jesus Himself is God come to save us. Jesus defines the human condition: we are dead and in need of life (John 1:4). We are in the dark, needing light (v. 5). There is a battle raging between light and darkness, and darkness will not win (v. 5). Jesus also defines God’s nature: God is personal and relational and He acts to save sinners. The Word is the Second Person of the Godhead, so Jesus helps us understand the doctrine of the Trinity: there is one God in three eternal, equal Persons.

The Word That Introduces

Jesus is also the Word that introduces. Jesus came to earth to invite us into a relationship with God (vv. 10–12). When we make an introduction, we use words to name each person and to give information that will initiate conversation. “Noah, I’d like to introduce you to Seth. Seth is an avid turkey hunter like you and he works in corporate finance. Seth, Noah works at our local bank and he lives on a farm with some prime turkey habitat.” Now those two can begin talking to each other.

Jesus came to the world that He created, but few recognized Him when He showed up (v. 10). Those who should have known Him, rejected Him (v. 11). The film It’s a Wonderful Life portrays this experience when George Bailey is granted his wish to have never been born. He returns to his hometown of Bedford Falls only to discover it has been renamed Pottersville. He can name the town’s citizens, but none of them recognize him. “Don’t you know me?” draws a negative response every time, and it’s heartbreaking.

Those who receive Jesus, or believe on His name (v. 12), begin a relationship in which God is Father and they are God’s children. Only Jesus can make this introduction, because “no one comes to the Father but through Me” (14:6 NASB). To know God as Father, we have to meet Him on His terms, not ours. God is holy; therefore sin must be punished. Jesus was punished for our sins on the cross. Those who come to God must be righteous. When we believe in Jesus, His righteousness is credited to our account (Rom. 4:5), so God sees us through the righteousness of Christ. Salvation is a gift, and we have to receive it to be right with God.

The Word That Encourages

Jesus is also the Word that encourages. “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14) affirms that Jesus is both fully God and fully human, two natures coexisting in one divine, unique Person. Greek philosophy and Muslim theology both deny that God can or would become human. In those systems, matter is evil, so God would devalue Himself by becoming flesh.

But the Gospel of John tells us that the preexistent Son of God permanently took to Himself a human body and nature (vv. 14–15) and He remains the unique God-Man today. John affirms that the incarnation is a way to see the glory of the “only begotten of the Father” (KJV): the Son of God coming in humbleness, stooping to serve and sacrifice and triumph. When we see the incarnate Son of God, we also see grace and truth.

So it is good to be human—because Jesus is. He has experienced life as we do, and He understands what it means to live in this fallen world. Jesus knows about temptation, rejection, hostility, loneliness, sorrow, and pain. He also knows about love, family, joy, prayer, and friendship. That makes Him our great encourager. He, of course, did not sin. He helps us resist temptation and avoid sin. When we fail, He doesn’t criticize us or desert us. He understands and encourages us to move forward. He transforms us by His grace and truth. With Jesus, life is worth living.

The Word That Explains

Jesus is the Word that explains. John tells us in 1:18 that Jesus is the one who has “explained” the Father to those who believe. In Greek the word explained is “exegeted.” Exegesis is the science of revealing the substance and meaning of something—or Someone. The Son of God alone can give true expression to who God is. Jesus reveals God so that we can begin to comprehend (within our limitations) the person and work of God.

Jesus reveals what would be invisible without Him. “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (v. 18 NASB). What is God like? When we look at Jesus, we see what God is like. The people of Israel knew God was their Father, but Jesus made the title of “heavenly Father” personal and intimate. God’s power and wisdom can be seen in creation and in history, but it took Jesus for us to see that God is relational and approachable.

As the Word that explains, Jesus also solves some of life’s mysteries. There is the mystery of existence: Why are we here? Jesus tells us we’re here to know God, and be known by God, and enjoy and serve God. There is the mystery of evil: Why do innocent people suffer and why do evil persons seem to prosper? Jesus didn’t give a final answer, but He showed how to defeat the devil and He conquered evil in His death on the cross. On the mystery of death, Jesus shines the light of resurrection: death is how we enter the “Father’s house” (see John 14:2) and how we live even though we die (11:25).

As the Word that explains, Jesus also completes the human story. He provides insight into how the future unfolds: He builds His Church with and through us, He conquers the forces of evil, ultimately exercises a rule of peace from David’s throne, and reigns in glory over the new heaven and earth. There is a happy ending for those who believe in and follow Jesus.

“The Word” is Jesus, God’s Son in human form. The Word is the Creator and sustainer of the world. The Word is our Savior. The Word reveals God as our Father. The Word is powerful. We can resist Him and be in the dark or receive Him by believing and walk in the light.

In Jesus, God speaks just the Word that we need.

 See: Firstborn, Immanuel, Incarnation, Jesus, Messiah, Virgin Birth

World

Let’s suppose you had to give a gift to each person in the world, a gift that was desperately needed and that would last forever. What would that gift be? Certainly not food, clothing, cars, games, appliances, or even money.

There is only one gift that qualifies, and it is described in a familiar verse, John 3:16—“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus is the only gift that is priceless, that everyone desperately needs, and that will last forever. Jesus is God’s gift to the world.

The word world in this verse means “the world of people.” Knowing what we do about ourselves and about the world of people around us, if you were God, would you love this world? Consider these descriptions of the world of people as found in the Bible.

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

Genesis 6:5

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

Genesis 6:11–12

The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Psalm 14:2–3

For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man “unclean.”

the words of Jesus in Mark 7:21–23

The rest of mankind . . . still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 9:20–21

If you were Jehovah God, is this the kind of world you would love? And to show your love, how would you go about changing it? The answer is that you would work gradually and patiently, changing one heart at a time. God called Abraham and Sarah, an elderly, childless couple, and from them built the nation of Israel. Through that nation He revealed Himself as the one true and living God, and through that nation He gave the world the Bible and the promise of the coming Redeemer. “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal. 4:4–5).

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ should remind us that we are greatly loved by God even though we do not deserve it! When we were at our worst, God gave us His very best. The photographs of the Earth that have been taken from outer space show only a blue planet. They show nothing of the hearts, thoughts, and deeds of the people living on this planet. If they did, we would all be embarrassed.

When the Father sent His Son, what did He actually give to this undeserving world?

In Jesus Christ, God gives light to a dark world. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:16, quoting Isa. 9:2). “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5 margin). Our world is covered by such moral and spiritual darkness that the minds of people cannot begin to grasp the awfulness of sin or the greatness of God’s grace. “The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

In Jesus Christ, God offers forgiveness to a disobedient world. He could have sent Jesus to judge the world, but He sent Him to save the world. “The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Jesus is the Lamb of God who alone can take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). There is no statesman or politician, scientist or educator who can solve the deep problems in this world. The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart, and only Jesus Christ can forgive sins and change the human heart.

In Jesus Christ, God brings life to a dead world. Sin is not only darkness and disobedience; sin is death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). The difference between a believer and an unbeliever is not that one is better than the other but that the believer is alive in Christ and the unbeliever is dead in sin. “I tell you the truth,” said Jesus, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Eph. 2:4).

In Jesus Christ, God demonstrates His love to a defiant world. “I am not a Christian believer,” a flippant young man said to an evangelist. “What do you have to say to me?” The man replied, “I accuse you of being a rebel against the throne of the God who made you and keeps you alive!”

Nobody need ever question the love of God. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Sin is rebellion against God, and God has every right to destroy every rebel. Yet in His love, He sent His Son to die for our sins and thus bring about reconciliation with the God who made us and keeps us alive. “God . . . reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Cor. 5:18), and now His people say to the lost world, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (v. 20).

 See: Glory, Grace, Light, Redemption