Our entire Sunday school class was out of town yesterday, but we had some visitors, so I taught the four people who attended a lesson about the wise men that came to visit baby Jesus. I asked if anyone knew who these people were and where they were from. The answers varied, but one volunteered that they were kings. After all there is that beautiful Christmas song that begins as follows:
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star
It’s a great old song but not accurate. The wise men and astrologers referred to in this Christmas song were in fact called “Magi” and were not kings at all. We know that the magi were from “the East,” most likely Persia, or modern-day Iran. This means the wise men traveled 800 to 900 miles to see the Christ child. Most likely, the magi knew of the writings of the prophet Daniel, who in times past had been the chief of the court seers in Persia. Daniel 9:24-27 includes a prophecy which gives a timeline for the birth of the Messiah. It is believed that the Magi were heavily influenced by these writings of Daniel, and according to the gospel they were notified of the impending birth of Jesus by the appearance of a star which they followed to Jerusalem.
Most people assume that there were three wise men. You see this everywhere today – on Christmas cards, in nativity scenes, and so forth. In reality, the Bible never mentions the exact number of wise men. There may have been only two, or there may have been more than three. Ultimately, we don’t know. The Bible only says that the wise men presented three gifts, not that three wise men were present.
Upon their arrival in Jerusalem, they visited King Herod in order to determine the exact location of the King of the Jews. Herod, (disturbed), told them that he had not heard of the child, but apprised them of a prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. He then asked the magi to inform him when they find the infant so that Herod may also worship him.
A huge misconception that “popped my bubble” is that I always thought the wise men visited Jesus at the manger. I asked my class to name the location where the wise men visited Jesus, and one of them very astutely got this one right. Guided by the Star of Bethlehem, the wise men found the baby Jesus in a house and not in a manger as nativity scenes commonly depict. It is a normal misconception that the wise men visited Jesus at the stable on the night of His birth. In fact, the wise men came days, months, or possibly even years later. That is why Matthew 2:11 says the wise men visited and worshiped Jesus in a house, and not at the stable. In the gospel of Luke, we see that shepherds come and visit Jesus in the manger, and it refers to him as a “babe”. In the gospel of Matthew, however, we see that the wise men visit Jesus in a house, and it refers to him in that passage as a young child. Time has obviously passed when the wise men reach Jesus, and he was likely several months old by this time, possibly up to a year or so.
The Gospels also do not say if the Magi found him in Bethlehem, but only that they saw the star and found the child in a house. Also it is stated that only Mary was present while they worshiped and presented Him with “gifts of gold, frankincense, and of myrrh.”
Afterwards in a dream they were warned not to return to Herod, and therefore returned to their homes by taking another route. As an aside some believe that Matthew 2:16 implies that Herod learned from the wise men that up to two years had passed since the birth at the time of their visit which is why all male children two years or younger were slaughtered.
Why did they bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to give to the young child? It turns out that not only were these appropriate gifts for a king, but each also carried a special prophetic significance.
- Gold was the most precious metal known to the Israelites. Symbolically, it represented purity and great worth. Almost everything in the temple was made of gold or plated with this metal. The ancient peoples gave gold as a way to honor kings or other rulers. The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon 120 talents of gold, (4 ½ tons) when she visited him. (1 Kings 10:10)
The magi’s gift of gold honored Jesus as a king. The wise men came to acknowledge the One whose Kingship and sovereignty began before His birth (Matt. 2:2).
- Frankincense “a fragrant gum resin from trees in Somalia (of all places) that is an important incense resin used in religious rites. When exposed to air, the sap hardens into a solid that burns easily. Frankincense was a key ingredient of the incense used in Hebrew worship.
The gift of frankincense, because of its role in temple worship, prophesied of Jesus’ role as our High Priest. In the heavenly temple, (Rev. 5:8 And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.)
- Myrrh, like frankincense, is the dried sap of certain trees. Transportation costs made both substances very expensive. Myrrh is “a yellowish-brown to reddish-brown aromatic gum resin with a bitter slightly pungent taste obtained from a tree of eastern Africa and Arabia.”
Myrrh has a pleasing aroma, and it had many uses in Biblical times (such as incense or perfume) and it also served as an antiseptic. In the Bible myrrh is most frequently associated with the suffering and death that Christ would face. For example, before suffering on the cross, the soldiers offered Jesus strong drink (wine) mixed with myrrh. Christ rejected this drink, refusing to dull the agony that He was about to experience while paying the full penalty for our sins. Mark 15:23 – “And they gave him wine mingled with myrrh to drink: but he received it not.”
Important to our study is that it was also used to mask the odor of decay, the Hebrews sprinkled myrrh on burial cloths which were wrapped around the deceased.
Prophetically, myrrh speaks of the sacrifice Jesus would make to cleanse the world of sin. It foretold His role as Savior (Matt. 2:2).
So in conclusion we can know that the magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh prophesied that Christ would be our King, High Priest, and Savior.
In your time with God today, thank Him for the perfect gift of His Son. As our King, Jesus rules over us and the entire universe and one day will return to reign on earth. As our High Priest, He intercedes for us so that we can approach God with confidence. And as Savior, He sacrificed His life so that salvation is available to the whole world.
Daniel 2:44
In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
December 29, 2014 – Click here to listen