Christ the King (Matthew 2:1-12)

It’s an odd circumstance that as Christians, we should avoid conspiracies that play fast and loose with the truth, all the while many people treat the Scriptures as one massive, worldwide conspiracy. If you want to know what’s wrong with the world, you just need to search the internet for “when Jesus was born”. You’ll wonder how people can possibly afford that much tinfoil. You’ll find all kinds of baseless accusations that the birth narrative of Christ is just an updated Christian version of any number of ancient birth narratives of pagan gods. The point of doing that is to take away the exclusivity and miraculous claims surrounding the birth of Christ.

Jesus was born of a virgin? So was Horus, they say.

Jesus was resurrected? So was Osiris, they say.


But if we simply stick with the Scriptures, even if in God’s providence he only painted with broad strokes, it’s not hard to pin down to a general time frame. John the Baptist is the older cousin of Jesus by six months. If John was conceived soon after his father’s time serving as a priest in the temple, as Luke’s gospel tells us, then John would have been born around the time of the Passover festival. Mary went to visit John’s mother, Elizabeth, when Elizabeth was six months pregnant and Mary was recently pregnant. This would put Jesus’ birth likely in the early fall of the next year, during the feast of booths. This would account for why the city of Jerusalem was so busy that Joseph and Mary had to stay outside the city, in addition to a mandatory census by Rome. Festival times were good times for taking a census and paying your Roman taxes. But even now, we’re moving into speculation. It’s hard to say much more than “wintertime seems the unlikeliest option.”


Regardless of the perspective you take on when Jesus was born, there is no doubt that what we are told is true. Because all we have is broad strokes, it’s of a secondary nature, anyway. The gospel of Luke jumps right from the shepherds greeting Jesus in the manger seemingly within days of his birth to Jesus being presented in the temple weeks later. From there, Luke jumps again about twelve years to Jesus staying behind in the temple and asking questions of the teachers.


But Matthew includes this special meeting by the wise men roughly two years into the life of Jesus. Only two gospels record the birth of Christ, and only Matthew records the coming of the wise men. So what is Matthew saying by spending time, spilling ink, and taking up space with these magi? Well, one of the things we have to keep in mind is that while the Bible is made up of many books and two testaments, we have one story. Matthew isn’t telling a random story that’s disconnected from what came before and after. The Bible is not a bunch of randomly splattered paint on the wall but an epic story with several threads finely woven together. It is divine revelation of how things really are, how God has ordered things this way and his purpose for this world. The wise men may only appear for a few verses, but they are a vibrant reminder of an important part of the purpose of God in salvation. In the coming of the wise men we see that:


Christ the King rules heaven and earth.


The wise men go to the Jews asking for information on where they can expect to find the Messiah, the king of the Jews. The sad part is that they know exactly where to look. They may not have the latitude and longitude, but they know the town, Bethlehem, which is really just a wide spot in the road. And no one goes with them. These men who have traveled this far and stirred up all this excitement in Jerusalem are Gentiles, non-Jews, who seek the Son of God when the people of God do not. God’s plan has always been to include people beyond the boundary of Israel, because he is the king of heaven and earth. The prophets speak of the nations coming to Mt. Zion, or Jerusalem to worship God. 

Zechariah says that ten Gentiles will tug on the robe of a Jew and ask to be allowed to go with them to worship. Jesus will say later in Matthew 8:11, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” God has plans for this world, and the wise men from the east are a sign that God’s will is being accomplished, because Christ is also their king, the king of heaven and earth.


First of all, we need to know who these magi are. What do they do? Where do they come from?  The magi were intelligent men who served in the king’s court in Persia. They served as advisors to the king. In that day, astronomy and astrology were not seen in so stark of terms as science versus superstition, especially in non-Jewish cultures where magic was practiced. So usually, the magi were well-acquainted with the stars since many ancient cultures believed the stars were divine. One of the duties of these advisors were to be something along the lines of a dignitary on behalf of the king for major events. The birth of a new king, so close to Persia, was a big enough deal to send someone. So to nail down precisely how much superstition these men believed in is difficult, and it’s really not the point. In fact, they seem to have been almost as familiar with the Hebrew Bible as the Hebrews. They knew there would be a Jewish king born around this time, and they got that information from Scripture. Keep in mind that the Jews were in exile in Babylon, which was then conquered by Persia. So foreign imperial courts were well acquainted with the Jewish people. It was a Persian king, after all, Darius, who sent the Jews back home with his money to finish rebuilding their temple and city. It really is incredible to see God’s hand in all of it.


There’s no reason not to take this story as literal, even with all the miraculous parts like following a moving star. Jews and Christians rejected the kind of people the magi were because they practiced magic, and that was explicitly condemned in the Mosaic law. In Acts 8, a man named Simon Magus, Simon the magi, is condemned for practicing magic. So to put someone so disreputable in the story as such an important character would only be done if it actually happened. These magi are important to the story, but they’re not heroes. 


This miraculous star which the magi followed is just that—miraculous. People in every generation are fascinated with the sky. We make up all kinds of stories for things we see up there. When Caesar died, there was a comet in the sky, so Augustus Caesar said that the comet was Caesar’s soul rising to the heavens. Of course, the Roman emperors by this time believed themselves to be divine and sons of the gods. So the shooting star, which was supposedly Caesar’s soul, was divine.


But in truth, the sun, moon, and stars serve the one, true God. I don’t think you necessarily have to believe that Matthew is trying to make a connection between Jesus and Caesar, because I don’t. I do, however, believe that the God who created that star is commanding it to serve a specific function to draw these men from the east to himself. It was definitely a good way to get their attention. That star was not a god. That star served God. In the beginning, God made the stars, and he made this one to show lost sinners the only place where salvation was to be found. These magi weren’t heroes, but neither were they idiots. They knew what starting and stopping looked like. If the star moved, they moved. If the star stopped, they stopped. They were able to follow it not just to a city but to a house.


When the wise men stopped in Jerusalem, they wanted to speak to the current reigning king, King Herod. Few people in history can top the paranoia and wickedness of this particular Herod. He slaughtered his own family because he thought they were a threat to his throne. He thought this way in part because wasn’t even a Jew. He was a Idumean, which just means he was a descendant of Esau. Jacob and Esau were brothers and sons of Isaac. God would establish the covenant he made with their grandfather Abraham though Jacob, not Esau. So the Jews in Jerusalem now have a man on the throne who has absolutely no claim to it. As paranoid as he already was, you can imagine how much worse it got when some ambassadors show up at his doorstep asking to see the real Jewish king.


So why aren’t the Jews glad to know a rightful heir to the throne of David has been born? Why are they as troubled as Herod? Wouldn’t they want a real Jew as the king of the Jews and not a foreigner? Herod was a threat to the Jews because of his erratic behavior. There was no telling what he would do if there was an uprising to dethrone him. Guarding his station in life knew no limits. As far as the Jews were concerned, they just said, “Better the devil you know…” You don’t have to get very far into the book of Matthew to see that the Jews resist Jesus at every turn. By the time of his crucifixion, they’re willing to have Caesar, someone even more foreign to them than Herod, as their ruler. 


Herod is in panic-mode, so he brings in some real Jews, the priests and scribes, his own version of the magi, to find out more about where this supposed king would be born. This would actually be the Sanhedrin, the group of Jewish leaders who would also have a hand in planning the death of Jesus. These leaders give Herod an answer that comes from both history and prophecy. The location of Jesus’ birth is just one of the prophetic expectations which confirm he is who he said he is. They quote Micah 5:2 first, which says, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” The location of your own birth would be something that a fraud would have no control over. But if he’s God, then he has complete control over such things. 


Now doesn’t Micah say the opposite of what the Sanhedrin said? Micah says that Bethlehem is too little to matter. But here the experts say that Bethlehem is by no means too little. The prophet Micah is looking forward to hundreds of years in the future and is saying how unbelievable it is that the Messiah would come from Judah, even though he will. Now that the leaders know he has been born, they speak from their own vantage point in history: Bethlehem may have been the smallest but it certainly wasn’t unimportant. Matthew is just making a point by restating it a certain way. He is helping us see its fulfillment. It’s less of a direct quote and more of a fulfillment.


Matthew also has the Sanhedrin pulling from 2 Samuel 5, which says, “In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel’” (v.2). In that passage, all of Israel is gathering together to coronate David as king. Again, it’s not a direct quote, but Matthew is showing how all the threads of Scripture come to a point to prove Jesus Christ is the promised son of David. Here’s how they’re connected: David is the original covenant king of Israel, and Micah says that God will keep his covenant with David by himself providing a king for Israel. 


Herod is now going to hatch his conspiracy. He pulls the magi aside and tells them to do him a favor and bring back all the information they can about this new king. Herod knows if he goes with the magi, it will look like a sign of weakness in him paying homage to the man who should have his throne. He also cannot send any soldiers, even if they were commanded in secret to kill the new king, because it would raise too many eyebrows. But sending some diplomats would be expected. The next best thing is to have the wise men do his dirty work and feed him information. 


As the wise men continue to follow the star, it stops moving over the house where Jesus is staying. It could be that they lost track of the star but were able to see it again once they got to Bethlehem. That’s probably why it mentions their joy at seeing the star again once they got to Bethlehem. They acted on the information they had received from the priests and scribes. The magi acted in faithfulness to the revelation they had been given. Can the same be said of us? Literally everyone in Jerusalem was armed with the same revelation, the same Scripture. But the only ones to act upon it were these Gentile, imperialist, Persian astrologers. And the only reason is that God was directing them. 


Saying that the wise men were not at the manger is popular because of Herod commanding that all boys two-years-old and younger be killed. Herod had no idea when Jesus had been born, just that he had. In fact, no one he has spoken to knew when Jesus had been born. Just look at the Old Testament and you’ll find that the Jews had no problem giving exact dates for festivals, births, death, and the coronation of a new king. If the exact date of Jesus was necessary for anyone to know, we would. But not one of the four gospels has that information.


Herod is probably just hedging his bets based on the minimal information the wise men gave him. When the wise men leave, that’s when Joseph has a dream where an angel tells him to go to Egypt for the rest of Herod’s life. Then Joseph has another dream while in Egypt saying its safe to return to Israel, and the angel directs them again to Nazareth. It’s perfectly okay to leave your magi in your nativity set.


From the very beginning, Matthew is showing us how contrary the way of this world is to the way of God’s kingdom. These dignitaries have no problem going to a house in the middle of nowhere and giving luxurious gifts to some of the poorest people they’ll ever meet. These were highly educated and respected members of Persia’s upper class and probably the priesthood. But when they meet the king of the Jews, they place their forehead on the ground and worship.


By saying that they worshipped the child, it’s clear that they took him to be divine. Were they monotheists? Hardly. Again, they’re not heroes. But they see the child and worship him. Worship may not be a physical posture, like it was in the Persian world. They would bow and put their foreheads on the ground as a sign of complete obedience. But worship is still a posture of the heart, that of a living sacrifice. Is God your greatest joy? Do you actively read his word to learn how to be obedient to him? Are you willing to face persecution and mockery for Christ’s name? Is being hated by this world okay with you as long as you have Christ? “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).


What the wise men gave Christ were gifts for royalty; they’re precious and extravagant. Frankincense was burned in worship. Gold is always of the highest value. Myrrh was an exotic spice few people could get their hands on. These are gifts fit for a king. It reminds you of when the Queen of Sheba came to visit King Solomon and brought him all kinds of extravagant gifts (1 Kings 10:1-10). These wise men do what the Jews will fail to do throughout Jesus’s earthly ministry—they recognize the cosmic divinity and royalty of Christ. Later in the book of Matthew, Jesus will even pull from the story of the Queen of Sheba to illustrate this. The Queen of Sheba recognized the greatness and wisdom of King Solomon and gave him extravagant gifts because of it. Now, one greater than Solomon is here, that is, Christ (Matthew 12:42). What will they do about him? Will they fall down and worship, or will they crucify him?


Psalm 72 looks forward to a royal son who would bring about the fullness of the kingdom on the earth. King Solomon wrote, “May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies like the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him” (Psalm 72:8-11)! Solomon and Christ both receiving extravagant gifts show that one greater than Solomon had arrived.


The magi did what they came to do, and now it’s time to leave. Like Joseph, they’re warned in a dream to go home a different way than they came to avoid Herod’s insanity. God has the entire plan orchestrated. He sends his word at just the right time, and it accomplishes his purpose. Since the beginning of creation, God has brought all things under his sovereign control. From the star, to the dreams, to the wickedness of King Herod, God has finely tuned this world to bring about his desired ends. 



It shouldn’t surprise us that God sent for some Persian wise men to be some of the first to worship Christ the Lord. God has always drawn lost sinners to himself. Even beyond the boundaries of Israel, God has called those from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people. The Persians, who once oppressed the Jewish people, are now coming to worship the king of the Jews. There is in fact coming a day when there will not be a single person who does not recognize the royalty of Christ. Those in Christ will praise God for his mercy, and those outside of Christ will look at God with nothing but contempt for his righteous judgments. 


It’s fitting we are celebrating the birth of Christ on a Sunday, the day of the week when we also celebrate the resurrection of Christ. His resurrection brought about a new creation even in the midst of this one. Paul tells us that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17. Christ became a man, took on human flesh, the form of a servant, all to live a sinless life so that the sacrifice of that life would satisfy divine justice. He was born of a virgin through the work of the Holy Spirit so that he would not bear the stain of sin with which we are all born. He would be God and man, divinity and flesh, and still to this day, the God-man Christ Jesus is interceding for us at the right-hand of God. Therefore, as we go to our homes and thank God for his many gifts, may we fall to the ground in worship as the wise men and praise him for his indescribable gift.