WEDNESDAY
Yesterday we saw that the story of the magi reveals two different reactions to the birth of the king. The leaders of Israel respond with indifference and opposition while the magi respond with worship. Today, let’s look at the magi’s response of worship.
Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi 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.”… 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.
First of all, these guys were quite clearly from a different country, as verses 1 and 12 indicate. This subtly reveals at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel and long before Jesus will begin his ministry, that the ministry of the Messiah will be to all people, nations, and languages. The mission of Christ will be to call people from all nations to worship him and become a part of his people. This is, of course, is a picture of the people of God expanding to include people from every nation in the kingdom era of the Messiah. Even at his birth, God has revealed Jesus to be the Messiah for all people.
We saw this theme revealed in Revelation as well.
Revelation 7:9 9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
Matthew doesn’t specifically state this but this scene could be a fulfillment of Jacob’s blessing to his son, Judah. This text is often thought of as a promise of the Messiah to come through the line of Judah:
Genesis 49:10 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
The wise men bring “tribute” in the form of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These gifts also point to elements used in temple worship (Ex. 30:23, 34) as well as fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:
Isaiah 60:6 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
Ultimately, these foreign magi come and worship. They were looking for a sign. They travel a long distance to get to him. They give expensive gifts. They “bowed down and worshipped him” (v. 11). It’s unclear how much they actually know about the Messiah, yet they are willing to sacrifice so much to come and worship him. Matthew is here giving us signs of genuine worship and discipleship to Jesus: watching, giving time and wealth, humbling ourselves before him, and genuinely worshipping him.
In this passage we see the multiethnic kingdom of God to be revealed in Christ, as well as a picture of worship.
Additional Content
If you haven’t yet, I’d encourage you to listen to some of the recent interviews we have had with folks who have returned from mission trips oversees.
Jon Hirst’s trip to the Lausanne Congress
John, Jon and Bevin’s trip to El Ayudante in Honduras
The Bahr family’s trip to Glo House in South Africa
Stephanie Eisner’s trip to Heal and Thrive in Uganda
Reflection
We will explore aspects of genuine worship further on Friday. But for now let’s reflect on this theme of the multiethnic family of God. I’d encourage you to spend some time today praying for the global church. Pray for mission work to advance. Pray for God to call harvesters to the harvest. Thank God for the beautiful, diverse expressions of the faith that we see all over the world.