An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
(Josiah Hall)
Matthew 2:1-12 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 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.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘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.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
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While each canonical Gospel agrees on the basic story of Jesus’s life and ministry, each begins and ends at different points in that story. Matthew has long been understood as focusing especially on how Jesus fulfills the expectations for how God would restore his people Israel through his Messiah. We will see this theme develop several times in the passages we consider this week as Matthew intentionally connects Jesus to key locations and events in Israel’s history.
Although God had returned the Jewish people from exile, many of the promises God gave through his prophets about how he would restore Israel’s relationship with him after the exile remained to be fulfilled. Today’s passage about the magi highlights these disappointed hopes and inaugurates expectations for who Jesus will be, which Matthew will continue to develop throughout his Gospel.
The scene of the magi worshipping Jesus is so familiar to us that we often do not notice how little Matthew tells us about these wise men from the east. Matthew does not tell us how many there were, does not describe them riding camels (though they likely did), and does not depict them arriving on the day of Jesus’s birth. The magi were not “kings” but were wise men / magicians who populated the courts of ancient kings and served as royal advisors (Daniel plays a similar role in the Babylonian court).
In his depiction of these men, Matthew wants us to recognize the contrast between the desire of these foreign wise men to worship Jesus and the instinct of Herod and those who benefit from his power in Jerusalem to do everything possible to preserve their power (2:3). Herod was not Jewish. Although Rome installed him as their client-king over Judea, he was constantly paranoid of rebellions and took brutal measures to solidify and maintain his power.
Matthew has contrasted two sets of gentile responses: that of Herod, who seeks to continue to subjugate God’s people and that of these foreign wise men who come to worship and recognize the true heir to David’s throne. In their worship and even the gifts that they bring, the wise men fulfill God’s promises that the gentiles will come to worship Israel’s king (look at Psalm 72:8–11, 15–17; Isaiah 60:1–3, 9).
When the wise men heed the vision that God gives them instead of Herod’s commands and refuse to tell Herod where they found Jesus (2:12) they confirm the limitations of Herod’s authority. In this way, the action of the wise men foreshadows the fact that Herod’s power will not last. The passage reminds us as Christians that the appropriate response to Jesus is worship. The passage also draws us into the story which Matthew will tell of God keeping his promises to his people through the gift of his Son, who will both restore his people and draw the gentiles to himself.