One of the more mysterious elements of Christmas is the identity of the Wise Men. Over the years perhaps you have wondered, “Who are these guys?” We are fascinated by their presence and their presents. We are drawn to their fancy clothes and mysterious air. Usually we are left with more questions than answers. As a matter of fact, what we think we know about the wise men is the product of the greeting card industry and artists rather than from theologians. Many unfounded and even absurd traditions have crept their way into our Christmas celebrations concerning these mysterious visitors to the Lord’s house. Most people think they were three in number, a symbol of the fact that they might represent the families of Shem, Ham and Japheth – the sons of Noah. Thus, one of them is usually pictured as an Ethiopian. Tradition has given them the names Caspar, Belthazar and Melchior. Supposedly, in the twelfth century Rinald, Bishop of Cologne, discovered their skulls with their eyes still in their sockets facing toward Bethlehem. But all of this in purely conjecture. In all likelihood, this was a large contingent of Magi that arrived in Jerusalem. All we know for certain are the facts we find in Holy Scripture.
From what we can discern from history and Scripture we can conclude that the Wise Men were a priestly tribe of people that can be dated back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar in the Babylonian Empire. According to Jeremiah 39 and Daniel 4 they were consultants to kings. As a matter of fact, they were in many respects “king-makers,” meaning that they were consulted on who was to be made king. According to Daniel 4:9 Daniel had been made “chief of the magi” during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. It is highly probable that Daniel, who was a faithful and loyal servant of Jehovah God, took the time to instruct these priestly Magi concerning the promises of almighty God. For the next 6 centuries they would anticipate the coming of the Promised One, the Messiah. As amazing as it might seem, these Magi came seeking the long-awaited King. In humility and with great sacrifice they came to worship Him and presented Him with gifts fit for a King (gold), a Priest (frankincense) and a Sacrifice (myrrh).
There is a two-fold message to the account of the Wise Men. The first lesson is that God is on control. What we find as we search through Scripture and see the presence of the Magi from six centuries before Christ was born is that God was sovereignly working behind the scenes to accomplish His purposes and plan. He picked out a man named Daniel and placed him in a position of leadership and authority so men would seek the Promised Messiah. God was working all this for His glory because history is His story. Don’t miss that this Christmas. This message is not a conglomeration of a bunch of historical facts; it is the culmination of God’s sovereign work.
This has great significance for you and me, dear ones. If God was so concerned that King-makers would show up at the cradle of His Son at just the right time in history, don’t you think He will do everything He can in order to bring you to His side through faith in Christ? God is in control and He is working to bring you to salvation in Christ.
The second lesson is that God loves all people. It is true that Jesus was born as King of the Jews. But the Jewish people rejected Him. John 1:11-12 tells us, “He came to that which was his own, but His own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” The message of the magi is that God is in control so that if the Jews would not acknowledge Christ as the Messiah-King then these king-makers from Persia would. God’s master plan is unfolding right before their eyes. In an amazing twist of grace the people who should have known missed it and the people from far-away, who should never have guessed it, showed up and worshipped the Savior. Paul reminds us that Jesus came to the Jew first, then to the Greek. Israel rejected Christ, so He reached out to Gentiles so that we could be grafted in, as Paul writes in Romans 11. One day people from every tribe, tongue and nation will gather before the throne of God in heaven.
My prayer for you this Christmas is that you would discover the wisdom of the Magi and offer genuine worship to Christ. The gift He desires most from you is a humbled heart that is bowed low before Him as King and Lord. Such worship and surrender will give you not only a Merry Christmas, but it will also give you
A Steadfast Hope!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Christmas Spirit
We have arrived at the Christmas season once again and once again in the morass of crass commercialism we are trying to “keep Christ in Christmas.” We find ourselves working overtime to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. A lady told me recently that she was glad to see all the decorations and lights, and to hear the music put her in “the Christmas Spirit.” As we ponder Christmas this year, there is a question that keeps coming to my mind: what is the spirit of Christmas? Depending on whom you ask you will get a variety of answers, and some of them actually have little or nothing to do with Christmas.
When you read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol you get the idea that for Scrooge the spirit of Christmas is a ghost. So, we’ll automatically dismiss that notion. The liquor industry certainly has their idea of the spirit of Christmas, to the tune of about $30-50 million in December alone. A young boy determined that the spirit of Christmas is sportsmanship. The idea is that you don’t always get what you want; you don’t always win, as it were. Some feel the spirit of Christmas is spreading cheer, so we’ll pass back and forth some four billion greeting cards. For most people the spirit of Christmas is fellowship and family. They’ll gather together and consume incalculable amounts of turkey, dressing, fruit cake and eggnog. For some the spirit of Christmas is gratitude; we are grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator. G.K. Chesterton once remarked, "When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings with toys at Christmas tide. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?"
For some this season of Christmas is marked with a spirit of sadness. Doctors tell us that sadness and depression are heightened during the Christmas season. Especially is this true for those who have lost loved ones during the year and this is their first Christmas celebration without them.
Perhaps the most common response to the question of the spirit of Christmas is that this season is all about giving. Most have the understanding that giving to others is the highlight of the season. Giving with out expecting anything in return is becoming a fleeting notion, however. A large majority of people give in order to get something back. So we’ll exchange gifts that range from a $6 candy bar to a $600 gold lace Gucci blouse to a $6000 plasma television and everything in between.
And Christmas is also the time for some to engage in their own spirit of denying the deity of Christ. For them the spirit of Christmas has nothing at all to do with Christ, from Whom the holiday derives its name. They start to crawl out from under their rocks around Thanksgiving and attempt to keep the focus off the Truth.
Indeed, there are a lot of things that distract us at Christmastime. All of these suggestions concerning the spirit of Christmas have been posited by untold millions of people. And there are probably a host of other things that could be offered as the true spirit of Christmas. But all of them come at Christmas from the wrong direction. They are man-focused, man-centered, selfish motivations for the Christmas spirit. Even the well-intentioned and noble offerings of love, joy, peace and goodwill toward men miss the mark. Some of these suggestions are bad, some are good but all are wrong. I suggest to you that the true spirit of Christmas is worship.
We find this to be the most dominant attitude of all the major participants in the first Christmas ever. From Elizabeth to Zachariah to the angel & heavenly host, the shepherds, the wise men and even the hypocrite Herod we see the main spirit that permeated them was worship. Best of all is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her song, known as the Magnificat, is recorded in Luke 1:46-55. It is a song of adoring worship for the birth of the Savior. Christ came to “save His people from their sins.”
So, this Christmas remember to worship. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of Christmas interfere with your heart’s rejoicing. Don’t let true worship get lost in the fake message sent by so many at this time of year. Look beyond the light, the garland, the tree and the gifts to remember the greatest Gift, and turn to Him with genuine worship from your heart. Keeping the true spirit of Christmas alive will infuse us with
A Steadfast Hope!
When you read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol you get the idea that for Scrooge the spirit of Christmas is a ghost. So, we’ll automatically dismiss that notion. The liquor industry certainly has their idea of the spirit of Christmas, to the tune of about $30-50 million in December alone. A young boy determined that the spirit of Christmas is sportsmanship. The idea is that you don’t always get what you want; you don’t always win, as it were. Some feel the spirit of Christmas is spreading cheer, so we’ll pass back and forth some four billion greeting cards. For most people the spirit of Christmas is fellowship and family. They’ll gather together and consume incalculable amounts of turkey, dressing, fruit cake and eggnog. For some the spirit of Christmas is gratitude; we are grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator. G.K. Chesterton once remarked, "When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings with toys at Christmas tide. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?"
For some this season of Christmas is marked with a spirit of sadness. Doctors tell us that sadness and depression are heightened during the Christmas season. Especially is this true for those who have lost loved ones during the year and this is their first Christmas celebration without them.
Perhaps the most common response to the question of the spirit of Christmas is that this season is all about giving. Most have the understanding that giving to others is the highlight of the season. Giving with out expecting anything in return is becoming a fleeting notion, however. A large majority of people give in order to get something back. So we’ll exchange gifts that range from a $6 candy bar to a $600 gold lace Gucci blouse to a $6000 plasma television and everything in between.
And Christmas is also the time for some to engage in their own spirit of denying the deity of Christ. For them the spirit of Christmas has nothing at all to do with Christ, from Whom the holiday derives its name. They start to crawl out from under their rocks around Thanksgiving and attempt to keep the focus off the Truth.
Indeed, there are a lot of things that distract us at Christmastime. All of these suggestions concerning the spirit of Christmas have been posited by untold millions of people. And there are probably a host of other things that could be offered as the true spirit of Christmas. But all of them come at Christmas from the wrong direction. They are man-focused, man-centered, selfish motivations for the Christmas spirit. Even the well-intentioned and noble offerings of love, joy, peace and goodwill toward men miss the mark. Some of these suggestions are bad, some are good but all are wrong. I suggest to you that the true spirit of Christmas is worship.
We find this to be the most dominant attitude of all the major participants in the first Christmas ever. From Elizabeth to Zachariah to the angel & heavenly host, the shepherds, the wise men and even the hypocrite Herod we see the main spirit that permeated them was worship. Best of all is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her song, known as the Magnificat, is recorded in Luke 1:46-55. It is a song of adoring worship for the birth of the Savior. Christ came to “save His people from their sins.”
So, this Christmas remember to worship. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of Christmas interfere with your heart’s rejoicing. Don’t let true worship get lost in the fake message sent by so many at this time of year. Look beyond the light, the garland, the tree and the gifts to remember the greatest Gift, and turn to Him with genuine worship from your heart. Keeping the true spirit of Christmas alive will infuse us with
A Steadfast Hope!
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