Valerie Rae Hanneman
Matthew 1:1-2 (NIV) “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."
When my Steven was a chubby-faced, cute little 3-year-old boy (as opposed to the handsome 6’3” 17-year-old man I am dealing with today) we were driving somewhere on a cold rainy day. It was raining pretty heavily, visibility was poor, and I was nervous and cautious. Stevie was watching out the window when he asked me, “Mom, what’s that?” I looked out the windshield and couldn’t see anything in particular that would spark his curiosity. “What’s what, son?” “That, mom!” Again I peered out all the windows. “Son, I don’t see what you are talking about – describe it to me.” “It is black and going back and forth, mom.” Now I looked out all the windows for something black going back and forth but drew a blank again. Impatiently I again said, “Son, I just don’t see what you are looking at.” His voice was even more impatient! “Like this, mom!” He stuck his little arm out, bent at the elbow to a 90 degree angle, then started waving his hand back and forth. The light dawned in my mind. “They are called windshield wipers, son. It is their job to keep the rain off the windshield so we can see.” He was seeking information on something that was so commonplace to me that I didn’t even see it anymore.
On another occasion, - he was just a bit older – we were driving along when I noticed that he was sitting with his head lolled back against the side window, the sun bright into his face. Thinking he was getting ill (which is always where a mom’s mind goes first) I asked, “Are you okay, Stevie?” “Yeah.” “What are you doing? Isn’t the sun hot on your head?” “I want it to be, mom. It is cooking my brain ‘cause I don’t think it is finished yet.” My son knew that there was more for him to know. Although his methods to obtain knowledge were wrong (but interesting), he was still seeking to know more.
The wise men came from the east following a star. They were the scientists of their time. They held all the knowledge, they studied the ancient writings from all cultures, they studied the skies and the signs for even more. Although their science was primitive by our standards, their minds worked the same as scientists today. They wanted to know, they wanted to understand, they wanted to explain the world around them. Although much of what went on around them could only be explained as actions of the various and assorted gods, their desire to seek more knowledge was not dampened. Their methods were wrong but their desire to know more was strong. They wanted to know the truth.
Do you ever wonder how they knew that the new star foretold the birth of the new King of the Jews? They knew exactly who they were looking for – they asked Herod directly, “Where is the one Who has been born King of the Jews? We have seen His star.” This is just my guess, but maybe because Numbers 24:17 (NIV) says, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.” Right there in the scriptures it talked about a star and a new king of Israel. I can imagine the wise men seeing the new star in the sky and searching their collection of writings trying to understand what this new phenomenon meant. How excited they must have been to find this verse that came from the prophecies of Balaam in the history of Israel. They were so jazzed about it that they loaded up their camels and went to find this wondrous new king. They were seeking to know the truth.
How many others saw this new star in the sky? How many of them were Jewish? But there weren’t any Jewish wise men that came to see the newborn king. And yet, who would have known those scriptures better than them? The Talmud was everything to them. They memorized the scriptures from birth, they studied them as adults. But they never connected the dots between the star and the King. Maybe it was because they had spent so much time studying them and memorizing them that they had become commonplace to them and they simply could not see the truth in the meaning of the words any more than I could see the windshield wipers.
The wise men were seeking a newborn king so they went to where a newborn king is found. They went to Herod’s palace. But the King was not there. Herod’s wise men did a little searching of their own and sent the seekers to Bethlehem. What must they have thought when they found Baby Jesus? This was the newborn King who was going to conquer Moab? This child of peasants? Baby Jesus was not what they were expecting; He is not what they thought they were seeking. But somewhere in this encounter these wise men realized that in this Child is the truth that their hearts had been seeking for so long. And they bowed down in worship before Him.
And Jesus is still the truth today. In John 14:6 He said, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. He came to show us the truth about ourselves - that we are sinners and we cannot be good enough to be acceptable to God. Jesus came to show us the truth about God - that God loves us enough to make a way for us to come back to Him. And He came to show us the truth about Himself – that He is the way that God prepared to bring us to new eternal life.
Wise men sought the Truth over two thousand years ago. Wise men still seek Him today.
King Jesus, You are what my heart has been seeking for so long. You are my Truth, you are my Way, You are my Life. Use me to call other seekers of truth to You.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministries of FFBC at Valerie@fresnofirst.org