Sermon notes December 21st, 2025

 

Wisdom of the Wisemen

We don’t know much about the wise men who came to worship Jesus after His miraculous birth; however, we do know they exemplify the supernatural wisdom of Christmas. Matthew 2:1-2 says, “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 wisest thing you can do at Christmastime, or any time, is to worship Jesus.” In spite of difficulty, distance, discomfort, and danger, these wise men sought to worship Jesus Christ.  They were monotheistic, believing in the existence of only one God. These men are referred to as Magi, this was a term of wisdom and respect by Kings and anyone with influence. This was because of Daniel’s great wisdom, and because he had successfully pleaded for the lives of the wise men who had failed to interpret the king’s dream (Dan. 2:24), Daniel came to be highly regarded among the magi (saving many of their lives!), so we’d certainly expect that the magi learned much from the Prophet Daniel about the one true God, and because so many Jews remained behind in Babylon after the Exile, refusing to go back to Jerusalem, they intermarried with the people of the east. This makes it all the more likely that Jewish messianic influence remained strong in that region, even into New Testament times. Perhaps the magi had even heard about the pagan prophet Balaam (who lived in Persia) his prophecy mentioning “a star” and “a scepter” rising out of Jacob (Num 24:17).

 

It should be noted that the Bible doesn’t say there were three wise men or magi. It says there were three kinds of gifts; gold, kings/royalty; frankincense (prayers): the myrrh was used as an embalming oil). There may have been more kings or wise men (likely), and this must have required a caravan of up to 60 camels or more (soldiers, servants, supplies, gifts). In God’s sovereignty, these gifts proved useful in Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt, paying for their expenses, and this escape was made necessary because Herod ordered the execution of all male children, two and under in or near Bethlehem.

• I believe they(Magi) received the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who put it in their hearts to find Him. 
• It is God who puts the desire in our hearts to seek Him, just like He put it in the hearts of the wise men. They also had the message of the Scripture; these men were familiar with the prophetic place of Christ’s birth, because they knew a least some of the Word of God.
• Many people in that day missed His First Coming because they simply did not read, believe, or obey scripture. These men witnessed the miracle of the star; the shekinah glory of God led them step-by-step. 
• Likewise, when we set our hearts to know God, no matter what it takes, He will guide us every step of the way. 
• We also see what these wise men brought to the Lord Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh (see Matthew 2:11). Gold, the most precious metal they knew, speaks of His sovereign dominion as the King of kings. Frankincense, a sweet perfume used in the tabernacle to worship God, speaks of His sinless deity; it signifies that He is God. Myrrh, a bitter herb used to embalm the dead, speaks of His sacrificial death; He was born to die. 
• “From the time He was a child, He had the shadow of a cross.” These gifts remind us that our wealth, worship, and witness all belong to Him, the King of kings, Lord of lords and Savior of the world.

Matthew 2                                                      New King James Version

1   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, 

2   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.”

• It is easy to be confused about the chronology of the events surrounding Christ’s birth. While verse 1 may appear to indicate that Herod would try to kill Jesus during Mary and Joseph’s stay in the stable at Bethlehem, but the combined evidence points to a time of one or two years later. Matthew says in verse 11 that the wise men saw Jesus in a house. The order by Herod to execute all male children under two years old (v. 16) also is an indication of the passage of an unspecified period of time since the royal birth.
• Herod the Great was a descendant of Esau and, therefore, a traditional enemy of the Jews. He was a convert to Judaism, but his conversion was perhaps politically motivated. It was toward the close of his reign that wise men from the East came in search of the King of the Jews. These men might have been pagan priests whose ritual centered around the elements of nature. Because of their knowledge and predictive powers, they were often chosen as counselors to kings. We do not know where they lived in the East, how many there were, nor how long their journey lasted. They had to have traveled with an entourage for protection for themselves and the gifts they were bringing to Jesus, but we have no indication of that or that there were three, there could have been many more, but scripture only talks about three gifts.
• It was the star in the East that somehow made them aware of the birth of a King, whom they came to worship. Possibly they were familiar with OT prophecies concerning Messiah’s arrival. Perhaps they knew of Balaam’s prediction that a Star would come out of Jacob (Num. 24:17).
• That also connected this with the prophecy of seventy weeks which foretold the time of Christ’s first coming (Dan. 9:24, 25). But it seems more probable that the knowledge was communicated to them supernaturally.
• Various scientific explanations have been offered to account for the star. Some say, for instance, that it was a conjunction of planets. 
• But the course of this star was highly irregular; it went before the wise men, leading them from Jerusalem to the house where Jesus was living (v. 9). Then it stopped. In fact, it was so unusual that it can only be accounted for as a miracle.

 

Matthew 2:3-7

3   When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 

• When Herod the king heard that a Baby had been born who was to be king of the Jews, he was troubled. Any such Baby was a threat to his uneasy rule. All Jerusalem was troubled with him. The city that should have received the news with joy was disturbed by anything that might upset its status quo or risk the displeasure of the hated Roman rulers.

4   And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

• Herod assembled the Jewish religious leaders to find out where the Christ was to be born. The chief priests were the high priest and his sons (and perhaps other members of his family). The scribes of the people were lay experts in the Law of Moses. They preserved and taught the law and served as judges in the San-he-drin. These priests and scribes promptly quoted Micah 5:2 which identified Bethlehem of Judea as the King’s birthplace. The text of the prophecy in Micah calls the city “Bethlehem Ephrathah.” Since there was more than one town called Bethlehem in Palestine, this identifies it as the one in the district of Ephrathah within the tribal boundaries of Judah.

5   So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6   ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,                                                                   Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;                                                                For out of you shall come a Ruler                                                                                      Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

7   Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 

• Somewhere between 1 ½ to 2 years

 

 

 

Matthew 2:8-10

8   And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

• King Herod … secretly called the wise men to determine what time the star first appeared. This secrecy betrayed his sadistic motive: he would need this information if he was unable to locate the right Child. To cover up his real intention, he sent the magi on their search and requested that they send back word to him of their success.

9   When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 

• As the wise men set out, the star which they had seen in the East reappeared. This indicates that the star had not guided them all the way from the East. But now it did guide them to the house where the young Child was.

10   When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 

Matthew 2:11-12

11   And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

• I can only imagine the conversation between them and Joseph. I can hear Joseph say no that’s too much, there’s no need for such unimaginable gifts. But soon we will see why God is doing this. Very soon God will be sending them to Egypt for protection from Harod. These gifts will support them; God doesn’t leave anything to chance.

12   Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

Let’s Go Back to the Star in the East

• Now there’s something else we don’t know. We don’t know exactly what that star was. Now there’s some astronomers who say, 
• “Well, it was a super nova, or alignment of the planets that caused, at that particular time, excessive brightness in the sky.” That’s impossible that it could’ve been something like that for this reason. It moved and it led them, so you could not have some super nova, some star like that. Others say, “Alright, then, it was a comet.” No, it couldn’t have been a comet because a comet just flashes across the sky and it’s gone. 
• And, it couldn’t been a comet that would’ve stayed up there for months as these men traversed that distance of hundreds of miles.
• Babylon or wherever it was in the east when they first saw the star. What was it? Edersheim, who is a Messianic Jewish scholar, says that the word star has a number of meanings in the Bible, and it comes from a root that literally means brilliance, light. And most likely what this brilliance was, this thing in the sky, was the Shekinah glory of God! 
• And when you think about it, that makes perfect sense. Because the glory of God has already led people in the Old Testament. For example, what led the children of Israel through the wilderness? Exodus 13 verse 21, a pillar of fire by night, a pillar of cloud by day. That was what they called the Shekinah glory of God, that brilliance of God that had a physical manifestation of God’s glory, and of course it could move, it did move, it guided them through the wilderness. 
• When Solomon dedicated the temple, what happened? The Shekinah glory of God came into the Holy of Holies. And before the Babylonians invaded Israel, Ezekiel the prophet, in 2 Chronicles 7:1-2. 

2 Chronicles 7:1-4                                        New King James Version

7   When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.  (The Shekinah glory of God)

2   And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 

3   When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good,                                                                                                         For His mercy endures forever.”

4   Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord

• This tells about that Shekinah glory, how it departed from the Temple. He said it came out of the Holy of Holies to the threshold there of the Temple, and then later, it moved from the threshold of the Temple, it moved on to the gate, the Eastern Gate. And Ezekiel saw it. 
• And then he saw that glory as it moved on to the Mount of Olives and went on up and disappeared. What I’m trying to say, “is that the glory of the Lord could be seen as a brilliant light, as Ezekiel described it.
• As a matter of fact, when those shepherds were in the field, what shone around them? The glory of the Lord! And then they went, and it came over the place where the young child lay. So, I think that is what happened, and it’s a wonderful story, is that the glory of God appeared to these wise men there in the east and that glory of God led them there to that place, that house where the young child was. 

Luke 2:9                                                        New King James Version

9   And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

• An angel of the Lord came to the shepherds, and a bright, glorious light shone all around them. As they recoiled in terror, the angel comforted them and broke the news. It was good tidings of great joy for all the people. 
• That very day, in nearby Bethlehem, a Baby had been born. This Baby was a Savior, who is Christ the Lord! Here we have a theology in miniature. First, He is a Savior, which is expressed in His name, Jesus. Then He is Christ, the Anointed of God, the Messiah of Israel. Finally, He is the Lord, God manifest in the flesh.    (Back to the Wisemen)

I want you to see that these men were so interested in worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ, that they did this despite great difficulty. The Bible says in Matthew 2:1, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to worship Him.”

• If Babylon, that’s a distance of about three hundred miles. There was the difficulty of distance. A three-hundred-mile trip today, if you’re riding in a fine automobile, may tire you out. Can you imagine what a trip would’ve been like in that day? 
• The difficulty of a trip like that! And there was not only the distance but the discomfort. 
• They were not riding in an air-conditioned automobile; there were no trains, no planes, no motels. This is rugged rocky, dirty terrain. They’re coming over that kind of inhospitable terrain to worship the Lord. There probably were robbers and thieves they may have had to deal with. 
• How difficult was it for you today to come and worship the Lord? We didn’t even have to walk 5 miles through the snow uphill both ways. (like grandpa always told us)
• What I’m trying to say is, I know you know difficulty. Here these guys came to worship the Lord despite the difficulty. I’m amazed at what will keep some people out of the house of God. Football games, and I’m not talking about those guys out there without their shirts off in the winter, full of embalming fluid in the snow. (You don’t know what I’m talking about when I say embalming fluid. I hope you don’t. Well, I hope you do. I hope you know, but I hope you don’t know by experience). I’m talking about those, whose team is playing the Sunday morning game, and it’s just easy to make the decision to stay home instead of worshiping the Lord in church. I didn’t say you’re going to hell because of it, what I am saying is how important it is to you to make the effort to come and worship the Lord. There’s lots of good reasons not to come, but how important is it to you?                           Just a thought.
• Now here were men, they wanted to worship the Lord despite the distance, in spite of difficulty, and in spite of danger. And of course, there was old Herod the king that could be a problem.
• He was the one who had all the little boy babies murdered later, he said, “Tell me where He is that I might come and worship Him.” He didn’t want to worship Him; he wanted to murder Him. He tried to murder the baby Jesus. He’d already murdered a couple of his wives; he’d murdered three sons. As a matter of fact, Herod, who was so hated, had arranged that when he died, there were some prominent citizens, he had a list of them, they were all to be put to death, the day he died. Do you know why? He wanted there to be some tears the day he died. So, he had a list of people. I mean, that’s the kind of a man that Herod was! And these wise men, since that’s his jurisdiction, had to deal with him. Despite distance, despite of difficulty, despite the danger, they sought to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. How many of you will come to worship Him despite the difficulties.  

 

Jeremiah 29:12-14                                        New King James Version

12   Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 

13   And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 

14   I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

• He is always available. His longing is that all men may look to Him and live. His arms are always open in loving invitation to any who will turn to Him. 
• It is just as true today, however, that same diligent search is necessary. One who becomes conscious of his need, senses the satisfying gift of God, and sets out to find Him can be sure of victory if he seeks with his whole heart. Cleansing, peace, joy, victory will be his at the hand of a loving God who delights to welcome His children home.

First, there is the ministry of the Spirit, It’s the Spirit that puts in the hearts of these men to seek the Lord Jesus? The Holy Spirit. In Romans 3:11

Romans 3:11                                                   New King James Version

11 There is none who understands;                                                                          There is none who seeks after God.

• This what the Bible says of our human flesh, now there are a lot of people in the realm of church growth today who say “Well, we need to have seeker-sensitive services,” that is, the people are coming seeking God. People: the Bible says no man seeks God. None, no not one. You say, “Well, I sought Him.” The only reason you sought Him is because He first sought you. When God got you, you were running from God. The only reason God got you is He can run faster than you can, I mean, “There’s none that seeketh after God, no not one.” “We love Him because He first loved us.”  
• It is God who put the desire in our heart to seek Him. It was God who put the desire in the heart of these wise men to seek the Lord God. Worship is a desire planted in the hearts of men by the Holy Spirit. And I want to tell you, today God is seeking you. You say, “How do I know?” 

2 Peter 3:9                                                  New King James Version

9   The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

• “He Is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 

John 1:9                                                  New King James Version

9   That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

• I can tell you with authority, today that Jesus is seeking you, and I don’t believe it’s incidental or accidental that you’re in this service today. God is seeking you! And by the Holy Spirit of God, if you will listen to that still small voice in you that is inclining your heart to worship Him. You can hamper it and quite that voice if you will, because God is a gentleman, He never forces Himself on anyone. but God is reaching out to you through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit and the bride say, “Come, come to Jesus.”

 

Who’s the bride?  We are, all who have accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts, because of who He is and what He’s done for you.