By Binu George
Matthew 2 is a very familiar passage that we often read during this time of the year.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:1-2
The wise men knew that the Messiah was to be born at this time because the timeline for the Messiah had been revealed to Daniel. Recall, that Daniel was made the ruler over all the wise men of Babylon.
Dan 2:48 (after God revealed the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream)
Daniel 2:48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
For hundreds of years this knowledge passed down from one generation to next. The wise men were looking for the sign and then one day HIS star appeared. “For we have seen HIS star in the east.” Anticipation building, they were creating a mental image of this king as they followed the star. They came to Jerusalem and made two very strange statements, the first being “Where is he who is born king of the Jews.” Why is this a strange statement?
When you are born you automatically get rights and privileges. You are born a citizen of a country. Based on the family you are born into, you may get additional privileges. If you are born into a royal family, then you are royalty. But you never are born king, you inherit the title only at the time when you ascend to the throne.
The most famous monarchy during our times is the British monarchy. Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip had a son in 1948—Prince Charles. Because he was born into a royal family, he was born a prince. But only when he ascends to the throne will he become King Charles III and so have the title “King.”
Prince Charles is 74 years old and still is known as Prince Charles, although he is next in line to the throne, as long as the throne is occupied he cannot take the title King. He was born prince and has remained prince for the past 74 years. The wise men come and say, “Where is he who has been born King?”, not “Where is he who is born to be a king?”, but “Where is he who has been born king?”
The Lord Jesus was born King because He is the sovereign of the universe. He does not have to wait for His accession to the throne of Israel to be King. The throne is his and as such he is born King. Gentiles from the east (wise men) acknowledged him as the king of the Jews at his infancy and gentiles from the west (Romans) mockingly acknowledged him as the king of the Jews at his death.
No matter how he is acknowledged, the Lord Jesus is king forever. Psalm 2:6 reads, ‘Yet I have set My King on my holy hill of Zion’ and so the wise men could rightly say, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?”
The wise men then make a second strange statement, “For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
When representatives from one nation visit another, they pay respect to the king, but they do not prostrate and fall down in worship. When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, there is no record of the Queen falling at the feet of Solomon in worship. She may have bowed down in respect, but she did not fall down and worship.
The wise men made this trek from the East not to make a pilgrimage, not to give gifts, not to pay a state visit, but to prostrate themselves at his feet and worship him. They knew that the Lord Jesus was worthy of their worship. When they approached the house and entered it, it would have blown away all the images they had in their minds about royalty and all that they had imagined this king would be. Because they entered an ordinary house and in spite of the shock of what they were seeing, it’s very interesting to note something that is obvious to us all.
Matthew 2:11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, they fell down and worshiped Him.
They did not fall down and worshiped them, even though the mother and child were together, the Bible clearly says, they fell down and worshiped Him.
Our Lord Jesus Christ alone is worthy of our worship. Even though he is the King of kings, he came down in humility as a man to die for us.
What a powerful statement to make “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
That is exactly how we celebrate this season, worshipping of Him.