Written by Dawn Rutan
There has been much speculation about who the wise men were who came to find the baby Jesus. Where did they come from? How did they read the stars? Were they Zoroastrians? The Bible doesn’t give much detail in Matthew 2 aside from the fact that they were from the East. Plenty of stories have been written imagining how this all came about.
What impresses me is the amount of effort they put in to traveling to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem to find the newborn King and worship Him. It may have taken them months or perhaps even years to reach their destination. Whatever they discerned in their study of the stars was important enough for them to leave everything else behind and seek the King. Although they referred to Jesus as King of the Jews, it seems that they recognized that He would have an impact far beyond the nation of Israel. They were moved to worship Christ long before most people were aware that He existed. Out of an estimated 170-400 million people on earth at that time, only a few wise men and shepherds got the message and found the baby.
Although the statistics are better today, I’m sure that most of us haven’t exerted that much effort to find Jesus and worship Him. At least in America, a large segment of those who are Christians were raised in Christian homes and may have never wrestled with the hard questions of faith. As a result, Christianity has become a faith of convenience and tradition. When it becomes inconvenient or requires too much effort, people are likely to stop participating, though they often still consider themselves Christian.
While we aren’t saved by our efforts and we can never do enough to earn even the smallest portion of God’s grace, there are some ways in which it is true that “You get out of it what you put into it.” If all you know of Scripture is what you hear on Sunday morning, you’re missing out on many of the benefits of knowing God fully, knowing His will, knowing how He works, and trusting all the promises He has made. If you’ve never had to defend what you believe, you don’t really know if you have something worth defending, something that will hold you up when the storms come. If you’ve never had to discipline yourself to read the Bible or go to church when you don’t feel like it, you’ve missed out on the joy that comes when God shows up in spite of your low expectations.
I imagine what it was like for the wise men to finally see Jesus. All their studying had told them that something amazing was happening, and their travels gave them time to ponder and discuss what this might mean for the world. But finally they were there and “they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him” (Matthew 2:10-11 ESV). After all they’d gone through, I doubt this was just a brief greeting, presenting their gifts, and departing five minutes later. When their hopes were fulfilled, I don’t think they quickly left to go follow some other star. They probably lingered as long as propriety allowed.
I would challenge us all to be more diligent in seeking the King of kings and Lord of lords at Christmas and through the coming year. Don’t settle for secondhand faith. And when you find Him, don’t be afraid to linger in worship and wonder of the Savior who first sought you.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” –Luke 19:10
