King of Kings! Lord of Lords!

Day 21

King of Kings!
Lord of Lords!

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. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2:11-12

Can you imagine standing before a king and then asking him where you can find an worship the real King? This is the exact scenario that occurred in Matthew 2. The group that ventured the precarious question was the Magi, otherwise known as wise men. The Magi were, among other things, astronomers who observed the constellations and noticed a new star in the eastern sky. They followed this star to the Jerusalem area, where they queried Herod, who was disturbed by the inquiry for the true King. Herod’s fear spread to all of Jerusalem (Matthew 2:3), so he summoned Jewish leaders who consulted prophecy and discovered Bethlehem was to be the birthplace of this powerful ruler. During a secret meeting with the Magi, the king commissioned them to go to Bethlehem and then return so that he could also go and worship this new leader.

The Magi departed from Herod and the special star escorted them to a house (see Matthew 2:9-11) where the young child, not a newborn baby, was living. These men were not worshipping the baby Jesus at the manger, despite the nativity displays that place them at that location. Overcome with joy at finding the highly touted little boy, they presented precious gifts: gold, a highly valued mineral commodity; frankincense, a fragrant gum resin; and myrrh, an orange-colored resin used in cosmetics and perfumes, and as a pain-killer and embalming fluid.

We know Herod’s plan was not to worship Jesus but to eliminate Him. Would the Magi return and disclose the location of the boy King? No! They were warned in a dream to follow another path home, and Herod was left not knowing where the threat could be extinguished. Per an angel’s instructions, Joseph and Mary left that very night and escaped to Egypt. Tragedy followed when Herod realized the visitors from the East did not return to disclose where his competition could be found: “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi” (Matthew 2:16). Demographers assess that Bethlehem’s population of males age two and under would have been around twenty-five in a town of approximately two thousand inhabitants. The “monster of the Christmas story” brought wailing and weeping to a multitude of families because his reign had been threatened and his paranoia had spiked.

Though Jesus was not their king, the Magi traveled considerable distance, at considerable expense, and at considerable risk in light of Herod’s disposition. Their comfort, their convenience, their resources, and their lives were all spent to worship Jesus. This is powerful modeling by the Magi: because of a heaven-sent dream, they fooled an earthly ruler, and because of a heaven-sent start, they worshiped the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Who Is Her in Yonder Stall?

Who is Hen in yonder stall,
At whose feet the shepherds fall?
’Tis the Lord! Oh, wondrous story!
’Tis the Lord, the King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall.
Crown Him, crown Him, Lord of all.¹

Dear Lord of heaven and earth, I am inspired and humbled by the example of the Magi who traveled so far, and who gave and risked so much to worship Jesus. This Christmas may the exaltation of Your Son be my first focus, and may He be the primary center of my holiday season. Amen.

…

Arnold R. Fleagle. Come Discover Christmas: A 32-Day Advent Devotional, Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. ©2024. Used by permission.

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