THE VISIT OF THE MAGI

The Adoration of the Magi by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1632

Matthew 2:1-12

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod [the Great, 73 BC – 4 BC] the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him?”

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the princes of Judea: for out of you shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel’ [Micah 5:2].”

Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

A possible natural explanation of the behavior of this star is this. The Magi were familiar with the heavens and the constellations. They had interpreted a triple conjunction of the planet Jupiter with Venus and the “king star” Regulus. They had then been following the movement of Jupiter until they arrived in Bethlehem at the time of its retrograde; that is, the point when Jupiter would begin its turn back on its orbit. To the naked eye this would appear as if the planet (or wandering star as it would have been called) had stopped. [Google www.bethlehemstar.net for more on the triple conjunction of Jupiter and its orbit.]

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

But who are these Magi?

The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. "O king, live forever!" she said. "Don't be alarmed! Don't look so pale! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king, I say—appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means." Daniel 5:10-12 (NIV)

The old crèche we have is misnamed because what we have is a cardboard stable with a tiny crèche (manger) to place inside and a number of plaster figurines to position around the baby Jesus. (Actually the stable is probably inaccurate as well. Most likely Jesus was born inside a cave where the innkeeper sheltered his livestock, rather than an outbuilding of any kind.) Three of these figures are of men dressed in lavish clothes with crowns on their heads and each holding a gift. One is kneeling, one is standing and one leans down atop a camel.

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain, moor and mountain

Following yonder star.

-- Rev. John Henry Hopkins 1857                         

This is a popular Christmas Carol. It was probably heard more when I was growing up than today (after all that was a lot closer to 1857 when it was written than now). It was one of my favorites as a boy. Unfortunately these guys weren't kings, there were probably more than three and there are some questions about that 'yonder star' as well. They also weren't there at the manger right after Christ was born, nope, not even six days later on Epiphany (the twelfth day of Christmas). So let see what Matthew 2 had to say about these guys

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)

The Magi were priests, not kings. They were in fact "king-makers". They most likely traveled from Persia to Jerusalem after seeing astrological alignments that indicated the time predicted for a coming great king had arrived. The distance they came was perhaps a thousand miles and by camel (although they probably traveled on horses) in those days took a large part of a year’s journey. For such a trip, three guys wouldn't have set out alone. There most likely was a group of Magi accompanied by a small army of armed bodyguards making the trek. Just because they brought three gifts doesn't mean there were only three givers. Assuming they saw this "star" on the night Christ was born, much as the Shepherds saw a great light and then Angels in the sky, and given the time to travel the distance, then Mary and Joseph would have been living in a house by the time they arrived to worship.

But why would they be looking for this event and why make such a trip? They weren't Jewish. First of all, there was a lot of anticipation throughout the East at the time of some expected world king. The Jews certainly were anticipating their Messiah in these years. Ancient historians noted the anticipation of such an event: 

"There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world " (Suetonius, Life of Vespasian, 4: 5). 

 "(T)here was a firm persuasion ... that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire universal empire " (Tacitus, Histories, 5: 13).

The Jews believed "about that time one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth” - (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 6: 5, 4).

We must also consider that the Magi may be very well aware of Daniel's timetable for the appearance of the Messiah. We have to remember that Daniel was once the Chief of the Magi and would have had great influence upon them (See Daniel 5:10-11 quoted earlier in this chapter).

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the princes of Judea: for out of you shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel’”

I bet King Herod was disturbed! If there already was murmurs about a coming King of Judea, who would rule the world, having people of the stature of the Magi pop in and ask where he was born must have really knocked Herod back on his heels. 

The man wasn't exactly the people's favorite. Herod wasn't actually even Jewish  and he had half bribed and half manipulated his way into the Kingship. He wasn't a man above  killing his own family to protect his crown; he certainly didn't want to hear about some upstart king threatening his rule.

Knowing the nature of King Herod is probably what got all of Jerusalem disturbed. Plus, a lot of people in high places were surely as corrupt as Herod and knew how things went with him would effect how things went for them. A new King could cost them, too. 

The Priests and Scribes knew where the Messiah was to be born. There was no hesitation and no lack of knowledge on their part. No surprise here about a Messiah. He was to come from the line of Jesse, from the great King David and from David's city, Bethlehem. (Note that Bethlehem means "house of bread" and from it would come the "Bread of life".)

Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

Do you notice something here? Herod met the Magi secretly. He was plotting and didn't want any one getting suspicious. He got some vital information, the time of when the star first appeared, which he would later use to his own end. Then he tried to get the Magi to make it easy for him and come back to say exactly where this newborn king could be found.

They didn't come back and tell him, so he ordered all male babies age two and under in Bethlehem killed.  Why two and under? Just to be on the safe side? Perhaps or It could be the date he was given for the star's appearance was two years earlier.

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw 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 exceeding great joy.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

There is some strange behavior on the part of this "star". The Magi saw it in the east when Jesus was born and followed it. But somewhere along the way, the star disappeared. This is why they came to Herod and inquired about the birthplace. Why did they need direction if the star was guiding them all the way?

But then after they left Herod and headed for Bethlehem, the star appeared again and took them to the house (see, Mary and Joseph were now in a house) where they worshiped Him.

Now, many have speculated on this star. Some have though it was a comet or a meteor or some other natural occurrence. I believe it could be a divine light, perhaps an Angel that led them. Why need we look for natural phenomena to explain this? God led the Hebrews through the desert as a pillar of smoke and fire, why couldn't he provide a miraculous guide to the Magi?

However, there is the possibility it was a natural occurrence designed by God for that exact moment when He created the universe. The Magi could have observed a triple conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and Regulas and then followed the orbit of Jupiter across the skies to Judea. At the point of retrograde over Bethlehem, the planet Jupiter would appear to the naked eye as stopping. (Planet comes from the Greek “planetes”, which meant wanderer. In ancient times planets were viewed as stars, which wandered.) There was such a conjunction in the years 3 and 2 BC. If research that indicates that Herod the Great died in 1 BC, rather than the previously conjectured 4 BC (see the notes on dates at the beginning of this work), this would fit into the birth of Jesus quite well. For a fascinating explanation of this and other heavenly phenomena at the same time go to www.bethlehemstar.net.

Here we have the Magi presenting their gifts. Because three kinds of gifts were given, one representing kingship, one representing priesthood and one representing the saving sacrifice, we always just show three Magi handing over a gift. It says they presented him gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. There could have been more than one package of each.

The gifts of the Magi not only symbolized the roles Jesus would fill, King, Priest and Sacrifice, but they provided means for Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt and survive there until they could return home. See, God provides for our necessities in whatever our situation. 

HEALING OF A LEPER

Image of a person suffering from Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy)

HEALING OF A LEPER

Matthew 8:2-4, 4:25; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16

A Town in Galilee

And behold it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, there came a leper, a man full of leprosy who seeing Jesus fell on his faceand worshipped him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him, besought him sayingto him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

This would be a man in a desperate situation. Luke, the physician, says he was “full” of leprosy. The Greek word used is πλήρης (pleres), meaning “filled up” or “covered in every part”. He must have been hard to look at and certainly unable to hide his condition. He probably had suffered a long time with it as well for it to develop to the point it covered every part. Most likely he would not have lived much longer in this advanced state.

Notice the reverent approach of this man. He bows and kneels at Christ’s feet, He first worships him and then earnestly, urgently and fervently implores Jesus to cure him. There is both faith and respect in this request. He asks, but does not demand. He also recognized the decision is solely that of Jesus and he asks with the faith that Jesus can do it, if that be Jesus’ will.

This is certainly analogous to us. We are sinners, but even if we have long been sinning and are covered in every part, if we come to the Lord worshipping with faith and ask him to clean us of our sin, he will do so and make us pure in the sight of God.

And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, saying unto him, “I will; be you clean.” And immediately the leprosy departed from him; his leprosy was cleansed.

Let’s be clear here, we most likely are talking in this passage about true leprosy, not just some skin condition. In these passages, the Greek λέπρα (lepra) is used which means leprosy. The disease was known at least 400 years before the birth of Christ. The organism Mycobacteriumleprae causes Hansen’s Disease (leprosy). Unlike many scare stories, it is not highly contagious. One must have fairly long contact with an afflicted person to get the disease. It is also a slow disease in development, which is another reason to assume this man had suffered long if he was fully covered. There are two forms called tuberculoid and lepromatous. Both forms cause skin sores, but lepromatous also forms severe and large lumps and bumps. Both forms also cause nerve damage and sensory loss. The stories of body parts falling off due to the disease are untrue; however, due to the loss of feeling people do lose use of limbs from injury or in some cases, scratch off skin because they can not feel the damage.

In Jesus time, this man would have been considered unclean and been shunned by others. He would have been banned from his places of worship and possibly his own home. For Jesus to touch him would have been considered reckless or foolish, but Jesus did indeed touch this man.

And immediately the leprosy departed from him;his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew and Mark inform us the leprosy was cleansed. It obviously means more than his lesions or sores disappeared. Luke, the physician, tells us the leprosy departed (ἀπέρχομαι – departing evils and sufferings). In other words, the man was completely cured of this infection and restored in appearance.

And Jesus strictly charged him saying to him, “See you say nothing, tell no man; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift for your cleansing that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

If you go to the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 14, you will read of what the cured man and the priest should do under the Law. It might be well to explain also the use of the word “leprosy” in Chapter 13 and 14 of Leviticus as well.

In this Old Testament text there are a number of Laws of what should be done for anyone having some sort of skin blemish. A number of times the word “leprosy” appears in the passages. A modern doctor looking at the passages would say that none of the conditions described fit the symptoms of leprosy, either here and in other portions of Old Testament Scripture, when it talks of the skin turning white. Examples of this would be Miriam turned white with leprosy in Numbers 12 or Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Whatever afflicted Miriam or Naaman was not Hansen’s Disease (leprosy).

So is the Scripture in error. No, of course not, but the translators are. The word translated as leprosy in the Old Testament is the Hebrew “צָרַעַת” (tsara’ath) and it means a malignant skin disease, which can include fungi infections, ringworm and such things as mildew and mold. Modern medicine has basically identified the various diseases described in Leviticus 13 by the descriptions in that chapter, which validates the Scripture. Under these rules even my psoriasis would have included.

By the time of Christ, true leprosy would have fallen under the Law in the eyes of the Rabbi’s and Jesus is sending this man to comply with the Law.

Jesus sent the man to the Priests, but told him not to speak to anyone about what had happened.

But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, so much the more went there a fame abroad of Jesus. And great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities,insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city. But he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayedand was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

 Now we have a forced change in Jesus’ behavior. Where before he could come and go easily enough, now he could not go freely into a town without gathering a crowd. If before people who knew he was nearby sought him out, now they flock in great multitudes. He is forced to withdraw more into wilderness places to be alone to rest or pray. Before this leper, he was a local attraction, now people are actually traveling from distant areas to see him. Not only does this interfere with his privacy, it is attracting the ears of the religious leaders and the authorities.