The Wise Men | The Story of Christmas from the People Who Were Actually There #1

This is part 1 of 5 in The Story of Christmas from the People Who Were Actually There sermonlink series. Find this and other pursueGOD.org sermons on YouTube here.

Gifts are an important part of Christmas. They demonstrate how we love, care for, and value others. In part, the tradition of giving Christmas gifts goes back to the Wise Men. In the original Christmas story, they are best known for the gifts they brought to the baby Jesus, as they recognized who he was and why his birth mattered.

The Wise Men Sought Jesus

Matthew 2:1-2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

The Wise Men (or Magi) were like religious scholars of high position. Their study of the stars convinced them that a child would be born who would be king of the Jews. They didn’t know everything about Jesus, but they understood enough to leave their homes and travel a great distance, at great effort and expense, to find this child. God made sure they knew how to find what they were seeking.

Does Jesus have at least this minimal place in your life: that you’re willing to seek him out? The question of who Jesus is deserves some effort. The search is worth it! God won’t leave you in the dark if you are genuinely pursuing him.

[Related: Who Were the Wise Men?]

The Wise Men Worshipped Jesus

Matthew 2:11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

When the Wise Men found Jesus, they acted without hesitation. They threw themselves on the ground before him in an expression of humility and homage.

Jesus is God’s appointed Savior and King. Like the Wise Men, when you realize who Jesus is, the right response is to give him honor and praise. The search isn’t just about finding Jesus. Once you discover who he is, what is your response? It doesn’t make sense to say you know who he is, but you don’t honor and worship him.

The Wise Men Gave Gifts to Jesus

Matthew 2:11 Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Wise Men offered Jesus more than homage. They prepared significant gifts for him, at tremendous cost and effort. In the ancient world, gold was the most common gift for royalty. This gift recognized Jesus’s kingship. Frankincense was an incense used by priests to worship God in the temple. This gift points us toward Jesus’s priestly role as our mediator before God. But it also hints at his deity, as one who is worthy to receive the worship incense suggests. Myrrh is a spice used in embalming the dead. This gift is prophetic of Jesus’s suffering and death, endured on the cross to save us from our sins.

Gifts communicate how much a person matters to us. To give sacrificially takes us beyond mere lip-service to express an allegiance that cost us something. Of course, Jesus doesn’t need anything from us. But as King, we can give him our obedience and service. As our High Priest and God, we can bring him our worship. The myrrh, by contrast, represents his gift to us. He freely gave his life, as an act of pure mercy, to make us right with God. In response, our greatest gift to him is to live for him.

The Wise Men Gave Themselves to Jesus

God gave Jesus to the world. When the wise men recognized the significance of his birth, they traveled far and put their lives on the line, in recognition of who he is. They gave him costly gifts, but beyond that, they took a major risk. They gave their time and effort. They invested more than their words and more, even, than their treasures. They gave themselves.

God’s gift to you is Jesus. His birth shows how much God values you. What is your gift in response to him? He deserves your loyalty, your obedience, and your worship. He deserves your very life.

[Related: Make Room for Giving}

Discussion Questions:

Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
What was the best Christmas gift you ever received, and why?
Read Matthew 2:9. How has your picture of the wise men changed?
Think about how God led the wise men to Jesus. What lessons can we learn from this?
Read Isaiah 9:6-7. How does this prophecy relate to the expectations surrounding the coming “king of the Jews”?
Read Matthew 2:11. How would you define “worship”? Why is bowing down an expression of worship?
Read Matthew 2:11. What do the three gifts of the wise men represent?
What can you tell about a person from the gifts they give?
What do the gifts of the wise men suggest about how we might respond to Jesus?
Write a personal action step based on this conversation.