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 when it rose and have come to worship him.’
Matthew 2:1-2 NIVUK
There are many aspects of the Nativity story that have been minimised and turned into almost a cartoon. This is one of them. The visit of these Magi - or Wise Men - is actually scandalous. It is shocking. Don't believe me?
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Matthew 2:3 NIVUK
In fact, their visit is so scandalous that, once its over, Herod does one of the most evil things in all of human history:
When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Matthew 2:16 NIVUK
But why was it so controversial? Why was it so scandalous?
Let me give you four reasons.
Firstly, it's because of where they came from. The Bible just says that they were 'from the East'. Some people believe that by 'The East' the Bible means somewhere like Iraq or Iran.
Wherever they came from, they weren't Jews. They weren't the kind of people who usually worshipped God. Yet Mary and Joseph let them come right into their house, see Jesus where He lay and worship Him.
Secondly, who they were. These were men who studied the stars. They were foreigners. Some people even believe that these men belonged to an ancient religious group called Zoroastrians, which still exists today.
But there is more to it than that. If these men, who were so wise, supported you as a leader, then that was really important, because it meant other people would be more likely to follow you too.
Now, King Herod had a hard time with the Jewish people. They didn't really like him very much. So imagine how he would have felt when these wise men turned up at his palace! If they supported him, then that would really help the people to respect him more.
But the Magi didn't.
You see, that leads us on to the third thing: what they had come to do. You see, although they came to Herod's palace, they didn't come for Herod. No, they had come for Herod to help them find a boy who had been born as king of the Jews.
And that wasn't Herod. He wasn't a boy, even if sometimes he behaved like a big baby. And he wasn't born to be king. He wasn't even Jewish - or even really a king at all. He ruled over Israel on behalf of the Romans, and they ruled over him.
So you can imagine why Herod got so angry. They weren't interested in him at all - they just wanted his help to find a little boy who might even take Herod's job!
Even more incredibly, these wise men had come all this way, not just to recognise Jesus and not Herod as King of the Jews, but to worship Him. The Jews believe you should only worship God and no-one else. So these wise men weren't just recognising Jesus as king, they were recognising Him as God.
The Romans believed that no-one could be in charge but their leader, Caesar. Herod worked for Caesar. The wise men believed that Jesus was God, but not Caesar.
Do you see the problem here?
But it gets even more scandalous because of what they brought with them. Herod didn't know this, but the gifts they brought for Jesus speak even more about God's plan for Him.
They brought gold, for a king; frankincense, which was used in worship right across the Near East and is still used by many religions today; and myrrh, which was used to bury dead people.
No games console. No TV. No toys. No smellies or socks or underwear. No, these gifts said something about Jesus: who He was and what He was about to do; that He was King, God and Someone who would die as a sacrifice for our sins.
And that would have puzzled and annoyed a lot of people. They were expecting a champion soldier, a great leader who would chase away the Romans and make Israel great again.
What they got was a baby. In a manger. In the back of an inn. Or, by the time the wise men got there, a toddler in a house in a small village.
It would have confused a lot of people.
So what can we learn from this?
Firstly, that not everyone likes the Christmas story. They don't like it because, like Herod, they see it as a threat. The Christmas story is part of the story of Jesus and all He did for us. Some people don't like it because they just don't want to follow Jesus.
Secondly, we can see from where the wise men came from, who they were and what they came to do that anyone is welcome to worship Jesus. Even people who are not Jews - like us. Even people who don't know the Bible and have never been to church. Even people from other religions. It doesn't matter where people come from. What matters is where they go to. And if they decide to call Jesus their Lord and worship Him and follow Him then that's what's most important.
Thirdly, we can see that God had a plan to save us. And He would let nothing get in the way of that plan. He pushed a star across the sky. He moved wise men who didn't even believe in Him all the way to Bethlehem. He even sent an angel to get Mary, Joseph and Jesus out of Bethlemem and into Egypt as asylum seekers and refugees so Jesus would not get killed by Herod's men.
If there is anything that we can learn from Christmas, it's that God has a plan, and that His plan is unstoppable.
The visit of the wise men is not just a cartoon. Not even Manga, despite the violent aftermath. And it's not a fairy tale. It happened. It's real. And it also leaves us with a strong challenge. Herod, for all his money and power and terrible temper, ended up on the wrong side of history. The Jewish religious elite - the scribes and the teachers of the law - who gave Herod the information that led to him committing mass murder, also end up on the wrong side of history.
But a bunch of guys from a far away land - not even Jews - who follow the call and head off to worship at the feet of a toddler find themselves on the right side of history.
So what will you do with Jesus this Christmas? You can seek to be rid of Him like Herod. You can know about Him in theory but not worship Him in practice like the teachers of the law. Or you can worship Him like the wise men.
This event shows us that it doesn't matter who we are. It doesn't matter where we come from. It doesn't even matter if we've made a mistake and not worshipped Jesus before. What matters is that we worship Him right now.
So what will you do with Jesus this Christmas?
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