the journey of the wise men

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Merry Christmas Eve!

As I have been wrapping presents, preparing food, attending Christmas gatherings, and simply getting ready, I have been reminded of the journey of the Wise Men. We can read about their story in Matthew 2:1-12.

The Magi Visit the Messiah

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[b]”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

A few weeks ago my hubby did a prayer walk with his youth centered around this story and the idea of the journey the Wise Men took. Our modern day Christmas story actually contains many inaccuracies and among them are some ideas about the Wise Men.

So who were these Wise Men then? The short answer is that they were Priests who paid keen attention to the stars, thus receiving the name Magi, which is where our word for magic eventually comes from. The Bible never mentions how many Wise Men there were--we have assumed that there were 3 because they brought 3 gifts. Traditionally though Wise Men were in groups of 12.

As we can read in the Scripture above, the Wise Men sat out with nothing except a star for guidance. Can you imagine? Leaving your home to travel to an unknown destination? To find Jesus? Talk about faith! The Wise Men can show us a lot about what true faith looks like. Along the prayer walk my hubby asked the youth to think about 3 specific things we can gain from the journey of the Wise Men.

1) Waiting.
Unlike most Naviety sets depict, the Wise Men were not present at Jesus' birth or even soon after. They came from the East and it was a LONG journey. In the story above we see that when the Wise Men arrive they see the CHILD Jesus, not the baby, and that Jesus has moved from the stable into a house. We also know from Matthew from King Herod issued an order to have all male children 2 and under killed. All of this means that the Wise Men journeyed for around 2 years to see Christ. They waited 2 years to be in His presence.

What are you waiting for? And are you actually willing to wait on God's timing? You may be waiting for God's direction, or maybe your waiting for God to move on your behalf, or even simply to give you peace about a situation. How long are you willing to wait on God, and even more importantly, what are you doing while you wait? Are you praying? Are you preparing? Which leads me to the next item ..

2) Preparation.
The Christmas season is BUSY. We prepare by decorating, shopping, cooking, possibly exams or report cards. But how are you preparing your heart to meet Jesus? The Wise Men had ample time to prepare on their journey. While they were waiting to see Christ they prepared their hearts to worship and bow down before Him. They prepared their gifts and sacrifices for Him.

3) Expecting.
After all the waiting and preparation the Wise Men came the Bethlehem expecting to be apart of a miracle, expecting to meet Christ. Do you expect to meet Christ this Christmas? Or have you given up waiting or become too busy preparing for the more worldly version of Christmas? God promises to meet us where we are, we simply need to come with the expectation that He is already there.

My guess is that many of you have never really thought about how far Bethlehem was from Jerusalem where King Herod and the Pharisees lived. It was 6 miles. The Wise Men traveled hundred of miles to worship Jesus, but the Pharisees, who knew where Jesus was to be born, couldn't travel 6 miles to worship Him.

So, I will leave you with this, how far are you willing to travel to meet Jesus? How far are you willing to go so that you can worship Him this Christmas season? I hope you have been inspired by the faith and journey of the Wise Men as I have been.

Merry Christmas and to all a goodnight!