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I want to speak tonight about the Wise Men from the East. They don’t often feature in Carol Services for a range of reasons, not least the legendary material they’ve acquired. However last year, breaking their mould, a voted best Cracker Joke was on the Wise Men:

Which [Covid] vaccine did the Three Wise Men have?

Answer:

The Wiser Jab.

So, more seriously, we begin with Matthew 2.1-2:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [we’re not told their number] from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’

And as we focus on Matthew 2, I want say something about first, The Wise Men and Herod; secondly, Science and Scripture, and, thirdly, Responses to Jesus. So:

1. The Wise Men and Herod

Wise men in wise men from the East is a translation for the original Greek word, “Magi”, who were Persian priests and in our case students of the stars. By New Testament times the East had been pioneering in astronomy for centuries, centred on Babylon. So what was the star the wise men said they had seen rise? There are various theories put forward. However, whichever one is (or is nearly) right, it led the wise men to the conclusion that this star was the star of the one:

…who has been born [not to be, but born] king of the Jews.

And amazingly, somehow, they knew this king was truly divine. So they added (Matthew 2.2):

we have come to worship him.

The star had led the Wise Men to Jerusalem and (naturally) to the palace of the king – who was Herod (Herod the Great). Now Herod ruled Judea from 40BC to his death in 4BC. He was not a Jew but an Edomite. But Herod called himself King of the Jews. So he didn’t want any rivals. And one thing, as many know, Herod was utterly brutal and blood-thirsty. After the birth of Jesus, as Matthew tells us later, Herod ordered the slaughter of all the boys of Bethlehem, two and under, in an attempt to kill the baby king - Jesus. In addition he executed his uncle, his mother in law, his wife, and three of his sons and other relatives. No wonder the Emperor Augustus said it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son! And so much for the Wise Men and Herod.

2. Science and Scripture

What lessons did the Wise Men learn (and so we can from them) about science & scripture?

I once lived exactly where Robert Boyle, the so called Father of Chemistry, lived and experimented in the 17th century. And he and so many of those pioneers of modern science believed that studying nature (God’s created world as they saw it) was a religious duty. Boyle believed the Old Testament Psalm 19.1:

The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

And so would the Wise Men have believed that. For God reveals himself as our creator through, for example, the night sky they were studying. So God makes himself known (that he is there, and this universe is not an accident) through this Created order, however that has come about. However, this General Revelation of God can be misunderstood, and has been and will be. It needs to be supplemented through God’s Special Revelation in the Bible, as those first century astronomers, the Wise Men, had to learn. Their Babylonian Science plus their common sense took them only so far, namely to Herod’s Palace. But they needed a prophecy from the Bible, as we learn from Matthew 2.3-6, to complete their journey and discover King Jesus. Matthew 2.3-6:

When Herod the king heard this [a new king of the Jews had been born], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

So they needed to learn from the Old Testament prophet Micah (Micah 5.2), the baby born to be king was to be found in Bethlehem of Judea. And we also need not only scientific knowledge but to hear God speaking as we read the Bible, as the Wise Men needed it in their day. We need it as 21st century seekers to find Jesus Christ now, not as a very young child but the risen and reigning Lord. As the New Testament teaches in Hebrews 1.1-3:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

That’s what the Bible gives you - God’s word at many times and in many ways – through legal codes, histories, poetry, prophecy, proverbs, and more. And “by Old Testament prophets” God revealed his Moral Law revealing our sin. That’s when we go our way and not God’s (and so prevent human flourishing). But the good news in these last days (this period between Jesus Christ’s first and second comings and the subject of the New Testament) – the good news is that first Coming and why we celebrate Christmas. For Jesus himself came as God’s word to us:

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

And he came to make purification for sins dying on the cross in our place for our sins. Then his Resurrection from the dead leaving an Empty Tomb provides the supreme proof his work is done and he is really reigning at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And Jesus will come again, which this Advent season encourages us to think about and together with those four last things - death, judgement, heaven and hell. So, how Science, then and now, needs the Bible as well! And that brings us thirdly to what the Wise Men teach about:

3. The Response to Jesus.

i. They teach that literally anyone can respond positively to Jesus.They underline Jesus’ famous words recorded in John 3.16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And the Wise Men illustrate it really is whoever - whatever your race or past history or social standing. If you (whatever your background) genuinely turn to Christ he will accept you. The wise-men came from modern Iran (or Iraq) to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. So they were non-Jews. And judging from their gifts for Jesus, (gold, frankincense and myrrh - Matthew 2.11) they well off. And being Maji astronomers they would have been well educated. Contrast them with the Shepherds who came to Jesus soon after his birth. They were no Jeremy Clarkson’s, but poor and skilled, but not synagogue school educated. Who tonight needs to be reminded of that truth, that everyone, whatever your background can come to faith in Jesus Christ? And remember no one is too bad to come to Christ and no one is too good to need to come.

ii. The Wise Men teach us that there are only two response to Jesus Christ. Either you decide positively to follow him as your King and Lord, or you don’t. Sadly some positively reject him like Herod. And some don’t have him as Lord and King because they are like the chief priests and scribes. They knew what the prophet Micah had taught but did nothing about it. But some followed Christ then, and 2.2 billion follow world-wide today. And such a follower of Christ, we thank God, was our late Queen. At the turn of the millennium in her Christmas Message, Christmas 2000, she said this:

For me the teaching of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.

And many here do have Jesus Christ as their Lord and King, and can sing and mean the last verse of our next Carol. If you never done so before, why not join them and treat it as a prayer – and think “me” when we sing “us”:

O holy child of Bethlehem,Descend to us, we pray;Cast out our sin and enter in,Be born in us today!We hear the Christmas angelsThe great glad tidings tell -O come to us, abide with us,Our Lord Emmanuel.

Amen