By: The Very Rev. Robert S. Munday
There are at least five truths that Matthew wants us to see in this story about the birth of Jesus and the worship of the wise men: 1) Jesus is the Messiah, the King of the Jews, and should be honored as such. 2) Jesus is much more than the Jewish Messiah and should be worshiped not just by Jews, but by all the nations of the world, as represented by the wise men from the East. 3) God desires that the whole world will come to know and worship his Son. 4) Jesus is troubling to people who do not want to worship him and brings out opposition toward those who do. 5) Worshiping Jesus means joyfully submitting to him the authority in our lives and living lives of giving sacrificially.
We remember that, after the visit of the wise men from the East, King Herod put to death all of the male children born in Bethlehem around the same time as Jesus. Rather than greet the coming of the Messiah with joy, Herod chose to commit a heinous act that he thought would preserve his own position. We see how foolish and wrong it is to try to thwart God’s purposes, rather than coming to know and love Jesus whom he has sent.
Many, many times in the Bible, God accomplishes his purposes through the birth of leaders and prophets whom he sends: even humble shepherds like David; fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John; judges like Deborah, and wise women like Ruth, Esther, Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary. God delights in taking simple, humble individuals and causing them to accomplish great things. We must welcome each new life God sends into the world, because we do not know what his purposes for each of us may be. But we know that he calls us to welcome each new child, just we are to welcome Jesus into our lives, “for whatsoever you have done for the least of these, you have done unto Me” (Matthew 25:40)