Everyone worships at Christmas. There are no exceptions to this. Christians worship. Atheists worship. Skeptics worship. Republicans and Democrats worship. Everyone worships, but not everyone worships the one true God at Christmas.
What does it mean to worship? Our modern word worship comes from the old English word “worthship”. We worship the One who is worthy; the one we think is worthy of our praise. Two words often are used in the Scriptures to define worship. One word means ‘to bow down’. It refers to reverence and respect. The other means ‘to kiss toward’. This represents intimacy and friendship. So when we put these two words together, we get an idea of what worship actually is: To reverence with tender intimacy, the one we see as worthy. This is precisely what these wise men did— “and fell down, and worshipped him” (11) JESUS! Jesus was born, He died, and He rose from the dead so that you and I could come into a tender relationship with Him as His adopted children. He and He alone is worthy of all of our worship.
Read here in Matthew 2:1-11 focusing in on verses 10 and 11. 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
Who were these “wise men” that sought a relationship with the King? The title: “wise men” in greek is the word “magoi” which is from its original Persian word: “magi”. Men who were experts in the study of the stars. It’s also where we get our word for ‘magician’. They were Persian or modern day—Iranian. No evidence of only 3, or that they were ‘kings’ either. Their interest was peaked by the star that signaled Christ’s birth. That in itself is interesting, that God would plant in their culture more than a 1000 years earlier for them to watch for this particular sign. It’s probable this was planted by Daniel and his prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. He was not the only influential prophet among that culture either. God has His way. They journeyed at least 1200 miles to Jerusalem to seek the “King of the Jews.” They arrived months after His birth; received directions from Herod, which sent them to Bethlehem; then the star guided them again to the Christ. In verses 3 through 8 we see they went to Jerusalem which was the seat of the Jewish religion. Jerusalem is pictured as the House of God. Jerusalem means “city or possession of peace”. Notice in verse 5 that the religious leaders all knew the prophecy and place. I wonder what the wisemen thought, when there had been no inquiry by the ruling monarch in Jerusalem for 2 years now. It was spiritual apathy. The leadership of Jews were not looking for the coming of Christ in their generation. We are experiencing the same problem with Christians today. Many live as if they aren’t expecting His imminent return. He was born in Judah, Bethlehem exactly (6). In Micah 5.2 there is a prophecy 700 years before the birth of Jesus that reveals that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah. It narrows the possibilities to one tiny village, near Jerusalem. But so much time had passed that God had to use some Iranians, because the Jews no longer looked for Him to come (sought Him). Isn’t that sad? They went through the motions, maintained their religion, even executed their judicial offices… but no longer sought the Christ.
These travelers worshipped Jesus in verses 9 through 11. They fell down, worshipped, and they presented gifts. The gifts were: Gold representing His Kingship; Frankincense which is a bitter plant representing His sorrows; and Myrrh which represented His death. Interestingly myrrh was also used for embalming. All of these items were quite valuable.
This is the most interesting part of the text to me is that these Iranian astrologers were priests in their own religion. They were respected throughout the Middle-east for their knowledge of times and science, but were soothsayers. Yes, they were occultists. Yet God reached into their dark world with a star to bring them to their Creator. Followers of the stars, met the one who created the stars. So who was really seeking whom? What did they find in Jerusalem? A fake king, holding a position given to him by the Romans. There was no life there. There were no answers. There was no worship there. All they found was a puppet-king and cold, lifeless religion. This is eerily resemblant of so called ‘christianity’ today. May God wake up believers to be true disciples and seek Him again. May they bring gifts rather than expecting one. May they get there no matter the detours or inconveniences of the day. May they truly worship the ‘One and Only’ when they arrive.
Are you seeking Him? Are you taking this relationship passively? God is still seeking all kinds, with all beliefs, from all nationalities, and all walks of life… To have a tender relationship with Him. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3.16). HE is still seeking such to worship Him. Come and see. He’s been seeking you your whole life. If you don’t have one yet, He wants a deepening fellowship with you.