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Today, we are continuing our series of “What Child is This?”
Last week we considered the angels appearing to the Shepherds, and asked, Why the Shepherds?
What child is this that God chose to send the angels to the Shepherds?
We saw that God foretold Jesus’ coming to Earth, and described him as a Shepherd.
This week, as we consider “What Child is This,” we are going to ask, “Why the Wise Men?” What Child is This, that God would choose to reveal His coming to these Wise men?
To start us off, let’s watch one creative telling of the narrative of the wise men.
Video
Now, Let’s read the actual narrative from the Bible.
Why the Wise Men?
As you read through the narrative of what took place with Jesus’ coming to Earth, most of what took place revolved around Israel, and the people of Israel.
First you have the angel appearing to Zechariah, a priest serving in Jerusalem when the angel appeared to him and foretold him having a son, the forerunner to Jesus.
Next you have the angel appearing to Mary in Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to the north of Jerusalem.
Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and Jesus is born.
The angels appear to the shepherds, who find Jesus, then worship the Lord and tell all who will listen.
In Luke, we find that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem to dedicate him to the Lord, as prescribed in the law of Moses.
There Simeon and Anna bless the child.
Apparently, after this, they returned to Bethlehem, and at some point after that, the Wise men arrive.
With God working with Israel in the Old Testament from Genesis 12 onward, why do we suddenly have the Wise men from the East coming?
God loves the nations.
Look at what Simeon said when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem...
Simeon was quoting from a couple different prophecies in the Old Testament.
He knew that God was working with Israel, because the Messiah was going to come as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But he also knew from what God foretold, that the promised deliverer was not just for Israel, but for the nations.
Let’s look at one of those prophecies, Isaiah 42.
Do you see in this prophecy how this coming servant of the Lord was for all the nations, and not just for Israel?
God loves the nations of the world!
All people in the world, not just Israel!
God desires that none should perish and be separated from him, but rather that all people, of all nations should repent and live!
That is why God showed himself to the Wise men.
That is why it is recorded in Matthew.
To remind us that God is the God of all nations, all peoples, and he desires to save all.
But, I still ask myself, “Why?”
Why the wisemen?
Why not shepherds from the Decapolis, or anywhere else closer to Israel?
Why the wisemen?
The Wise men were Seeking
You might answer this question like we did with the Shepherds last week.
The Shepherds were told because they were awake.
The Wise men were told because they were seeking.
Notice, the Wise men see this star rising in the West (they were from the East, and followed it West to Jesus), and they followed it.
Why?
Because they were looking for something, likely the fulfillment of the prophecies going back to Numbers, where it says...
These Wise men likely had the prophecies from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and others, through the influence of Daniel, who in history had been the greatest of the Wise men during the kingdoms of Babylon and Persia.
They had those prophecies, and were looking.
This is in contrast to the Jewish priests and teachers of the law who had those prophecies and more.
In fact they had the prophecy from Micah that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
However, did any of them get up and go to Bethlehem?
No! Because they were not seeking.
But for those who sought him, they found him.
This reminds me of what John wrote in his Gospel account of Jesus’ life…
Why the Wise men?
Because they were seeking and ready to receive him.
God is the God of all Nations.
God is the rewarder of all who seek him.
But when I ask “Why the wise men,” I wonder if there is something more?
Could it be that just like God showed himself to Shepherds because Jesus is the Great Shepherd, that God showed the Wise men, because Jesus is… Well...
What do Wise men seek?
They seek Wisdom.
And,
Jesus is Wisdom
Jesus is the Wisdom of God come in the flesh.
Where do I come up with that?
Well, a few places.
First, from Isaiah, another prophecy of the messiah...
The Messiah who was prophesied was to have the wisdom of the Lord.
What is more is that the prophets continually speak of the fact that man’s wisdom is foolish because it goes away from the Lord.
True wisdom is the wisdom of the Lord.
And there is a true wisdom that has been hidden from before the world began that has now been revealed...
God is all wise, and all powerful.
He created this world in complete wisdom.
But what does this verse mean by the wisdom was a mystery that has been hidden, and that God destined for our glory before he even began creating the world?
The word mystery is used for something that was unclear before hand, though there were clues, it was not fully understood until it was revealed.
Like a good mystery novel.
God had a wisdom that was hinted at, but not fully revealed.
What is that wisdom that was hinted at, but not fully revealed?
It was Jesus!!
Paul put it this way in Colossians 2.
The mystery was Christ!!
He was hinted at.
The clues were there, but he was not revealed until just the right moment!
How is Jesus wisdom?
Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.
There is a whole lot in that passage that is worthy of study and discussion.
But I want to focus on how Christ is wisdom.
Read with me 1 Corinthians 1:30.
Wisdom from God brings:
Righteousness
Holiness
Redemption
What is this all about?
I like how the passage starts out with where is the wise person?
The teacher?
The philosopher?
Throughout history, the ‘wise people’ have been the leaders, the counselors that lead the city, the nations.
The teachers shape the thinking of the minds of the next generations.
The philosophers try to come up with answers to basic questions.
Ultimately, through their wisdom, most of mankind has wandered away from God.
They reason, if there is an all-powerful, all-wise, all-loving and good God, why then is there evil?
They reason in their own minds that this cannot be, therefore, there is no God.
They reason that they would have done it better than God did.
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