GETTING THE MESSAGE/The Lord draws souls to Christ

Many believe that the Magi or wise men in Matthew chapter 2 were from Babylon. There was a sizable community of Jews living in Babylon when Christ was born, descendants of the exiles from Judah 600 years previously when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Verse 1 says they were from the East, which often means on the other side of the Euphrates River.

They came all the way to Jerusalem, a great sacrifice of time and resources, in order to see a child born king of the Jews (verse 2). So, they must have known something was special about this child. It is not unlikely that they learned of it from the Jewish prophets, especially Daniel. Daniel was a Jewish exile in Babylon who was trained to be a wise man and became the best of the best, serving the greatest king, Nebuchadnezzar.

The clearest theme in the book of Daniel is that from the Jews will come a great king whose kingdom will last forever. In Daniel 2, when Daniel interpreted a dream Nebuchadnezzar had, he spoke of a kingdom not made with human hands that would shatter all other kingdoms of the earth and stand forever.

In Daniel 4, after the Lord humbled King Nebuchadnezzar for his vanity and unwillingness to repent by giving him the mind of a beast, the king, after returning to his right mind, said that God‘s dominion was an everlasting dominion, and that his kingdom endures forever.

In Daniel chapter 6, after the Lord preserved Daniel in the lion’s den, then King Darius proclaimed, “The God of Daniel is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall have no end.”

And finally, in Daniel 7, Daniel has a vision of heaven, and with the clouds of heaven came on like a son of man. He came to the Ancient of Days, and it was given to him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.

The Magi were astrologers, and they saw a star that rose up and they identified it with the birth of this king of whom the prophets spoke, who would have an everlasting dominion over all. This was the favor of the Lord: he draws souls to Christ by showing them the glory of Christ. Convinced that the star was a sign, they set out to go to the child.

When they finally made it to the house where the child was, they went in, and they saw the child with his Mary his mother. They fell down and worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. They were blessed men, chosen to be there by God, with hearts bursting with adoration over Christ.

We are not told of any exchange of words between Mary and the men. But they might have asked the question we would be likely to ask: “What is his name?” The angel in Matthew chapter 1 gave two names to Joseph; “Jesus” because he will save his people from their sins, and “Immanuel” which means God with us.

I don’t know how much Mary could have said about those names, but we, being on this side of Christ’s death and resurrection, should be able to say some things about the name Jesus and how he saves his people. First, it means he saves them from the punishment of their sins. Their sin will not be laid to their charge so that they would be condemned for it. He will be punished in the place of those who are really guilty. The King of Kings will bear that weight.

It also means he will save them from the pollution of their sin. So that, though their mind has been debased to boast in their sin and their taste for what is good degraded, he will put a new principle in them, empowered by his Spirit, to fight against the old nature, hate their sin, and desire holiness and the honor of God.

We could also say things about the name Immanuel, how the divine nature joined to our human nature in one person assures our deliverance, and that God’s purpose is to dwell forever with people he redeems from their sin.

Christmas is a time to raise our esteem of Christ. It cannot be raised too high. The Magi are our instructors in joy, generosity, devotion, and adoration the coming of Christ should evoke in us.