The Magi
—Who were these Men from the East?
Andrew Fountain – Dec 16, 2018
This is the world’s view of Christmas (somebody emailed it to me) We watched the video of Matthew 2 earlier
The Magi have always raised some problems for me:
Questions to answer
How did this star thing work? there are some possible answers that people have recently come up with
How did they know what it meant? —Did they find the truth through astrology?
What did it accomplish?
How is it relevant to us?
The results seem to be tragic—lots of dead children
was there a positive side? Things we know
They were from east of the Roman Empire, probably the Parthan empire in the area of India
They were not kings, but Magoi —wise and powerful advisors to the emperor
Nowhere are we told that there were three—there may have been many more and they would certainly have had an entourage
Jesus and his family were no-longer living with the animals, but had a house
We know exactly when Herod died from Roman history, within a few days (Passover 4 B.C.)
Jesus must have been under 2, maybe around 16 months if he was born in the winter the year before
From estimates there would have been less than 100 infants under 2 in Bethlehem at that time
Herod’s cruelty was so extreme that this act was nothing compared with other things he did. Wallace says:
Josephus tells us much about Herod. The best word to describe his reign is ‘overkill.’
He murdered his favorite wife’s father, drowned her brother—and even killed her!
He executed one of his most trusted friends, his barber, and 300 military leaders—all in a day’s work!
Then he slew three of his sons, allegedly suspecting them of treason.
Josephus tells us that “Herod inflicted such outrages upon (the Jews) as not even a beast could have done if it possessed the power to rule over men” (Antiquities of the Jews 17:310).
Killing babies was not out of character for this cruel king. And killing them up to two years old—to make sure he got the baby Jesus—lines up with his insane jealousy for power.
…just before Herod died he locked up 3000 of the nation’s leading citizens and gave orders that they were to be executed at the hour of his death. He wanted to make sure that there would be mourning when he died. How did they know what it meant?
They were astronomers as well as astrologers (scientific observers)
God made use of the fact that they paid careful attention to the sky,
but didn’t use their astrology—he sent a brand new star
The hardest question is how they knew what it meant. Only two possible answers:
They had revelation (e.g. through a dream)
They had contact with Jews and prophetic writings because of the captivity.
Numbers 24
I see him, but not now;
Even if they had the O.T. Scriptures, they must have had some direct prophetic word as well because there is nothing that says:
“When you see a new star, it means a king is born to the Jews”
Questions to answer
How did this star thing work?
How did they know what it meant?
What did it accomplish
How is it relevant to us?
What did it accomplish?
They were the prophetic firstfruit of billions of Gentiles
They brought gifts which were prophetic
Gold —a king
Frankinsense —a priest
Myrr —his death
They encouraged Mary & Joseph
financially!!!
emotionally
did they go back different?
If God had guided them there prophetically, he would have not left them in ignorance
Probably at least one of the Apostles went east (stories say Thomas)
listen to T.S. Eliot and watch words at the same time
The Journey of the Magi – T. S. Eliot
It must have been an incredibly hard journey
Questions to answer
How did this star thing work?
How did they know what it meant?
What did it accomplish?
How is it relevant to us?
What can we learn?
“God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him”
How far would you go?
Let us be “wise men” and “wise women”!
1. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him
The main lesson for me is how God rewards faith
What a blessing he gave them!!
How come the Jewish experts in the law knew where the Messiah was to be born, but weren’t even interested in going there!!! ?
The story of Mary Jones , born in Wales in 1784, became a Christian at age 8
2. How far would you go?
3. Let us be “wise men” and “wise women” !
Make a choice to be like these wise men
Make a choice to put finding him, and finding more of him first in your life