When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they came into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him, and when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:9-11 NKJV

When you think of Jesus’ birth you can’t help but notice how it went largely unnoticed. There was no big celebration. There was no parade. He came in humble, lowly circumstances born in a stable and placed in a manger.

When you think of the things that we highly regard with parades and great celebrations, the Bible shows us that Jesus’ birth went largely unnoticed. He came down from heaven to save us from our sins and was born in a stable and placed in a manger. There was no great celebration. There were no parades, no crowds rushing in to see the baby Jesus.

I think about the things we consider important these days. We sit glued to the television to watch our favorite stars in movies or our favorite sports stars play a game. We give parades for our football teams, for our homecoming courts, for Christmas and Mardi Gras. We are willing to pay tremendous prices to fight crowds of people to get into sporting events and concerts but unwilling to get up on Sunday morning to come into God’s house and praise Him.

Not a lot has changed, has it? The people of Jesus’s day were busy looking for a king. They were hoping for a political king to save Jerusalem. They were so busy looking for a king that they missed the coming of the Messiah who was born to save them. Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Matthew 2, describe them as idiots.

But one group didn’t miss it. These were the wise men. Do you ever wonder why they were called wise men? In some translations they were called Magi or magicians. They were astrologers or men who studied the stars. They were called philosophers. Some believe they may have been priests. Some say they were soothsayers. Some say they were kings. Whatever they were before, they were certainly wise when they noticed a bright star. This star was brighter than any they had ever seen. It was so bright, it could have been a meteor or a comet, but because this star hovered over the land of Judah, they surmised that an extraordinary person must have been born there. They set out to follow that star and to find this child. This was no small undertaking. It is estimated that they traveled some 400-700 miles. This journey on a camel would have taken several weeks. On foot it may have taken a month.

Matthew Henry said that whatever pagan practices they may have been involved in, they knew enough to know that God was telling them something with this bright star. He said that this is another instance of God winning over the devil.

They traveled a great distance, they brought gifts and they fell down before Him and worshiped Him. These wise men worshiped this toddler.

These wise men traveled all this way, following that star, to see baby Jesus. There is a church on every corner and people won’t get up and drive a few miles to get there.

What made these men wise was that they sought out Jesus. They followed the star and did whatever it took to get to Him to worship Him and give Him praise. They turned from evil when King Herrod asked them to report to him where Jesus was. God let them know that he intended to kill Jesus.

There are a lot of smart people headed straight to hell. True wisdom comes from God. Proverbs 3:7 says we should not consider ourselves wise but should fear the Lord and turn away from evil. James 1:5 tells us that anyone who lacks wisdom can ask God who gives wisdom freely without reproach.

What made these wise men wise was not what they did before Christ, it was the way they sought Christ. It was the way they honored Him with their gifts and the way they worshiped Him and gave Him praise. Truly wise men still seek Him. They still give time, money and effort to spend time in His presence.  Are you truly wise? I hope so because the foolish will not make it to heaven.

Have a great day!