IN A DREAM #2

IN A DREAM #2

Matthew 2:1-12 NET.

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem ² saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³ When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet: ⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'” ⁷ Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” ⁹ After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star they shouted joyfully. ¹¹ As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route to their own country.

Matthew tied all his Christmas stories together with a verbal clue to show that they all pointed to the same truth. That verbal clue is the phrase “in a dream.” We see that phrase in verse 12 of today’s text. We saw it in Chapter 1, verse 20, last week when we began our study of Joseph’s dream, instructing him to marry Mary and name her child Jesus. The phrase also appears in verse 13, where an angel instructs Joseph to escape to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. Later, in verses 19 and 22, Joseph gets more instructions in dreams, to return from Egypt and settle in Galilee.

But today, we are taking a short break from Joseph’s dreams to talk about the wise men and their dream.

They were wise men from the East.

That is all we learn about them from verse 1. If you are acquainted with the Old Testament, you know much about wise men. Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (AKA Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), were wise men from Judah. They were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and trained for his service as advisers. They were already the best and the brightest that Judah had to offer. Nebuchadnezzar took these four physically and intellectually perfect young men and trained them in the language and literature of the Babylonians.

These wise men (in today’s text) were probably not from Babylon, but many think they were from Persia. It is possible that these men had been brought to Persia as captives from other nations like the four Hebrews were. If that was the case, the thing that tied these wise men together was not their nation of origin; it was their identity as wise men and their purpose as official advisers and representatives of the nation that now controlled them.

They were like a think tank. Their job was to know everything about everything. One of their areas of expertise was astronomy. While studying the stars, planets, moons, and comets in the night sky, they encountered some visual display that was out of the ordinary. They took this as an omen that a new king was going to be born for the Jews.

Naturally, since the current King of the Jews resided in Jerusalem, that was where they should go. They received permission from their master to travel by caravan to Jerusalem to investigate this new king and pay him homage. The trip would take months, and they probably traveled with a large group that included their servants, soldiers to protect them as they traveled, and even family members.

It was a significant undertaking, and they probably encountered a few surprises. One thing that perhaps puzzled them is that every time they entered a Judean village or town, they would ask about news of this new member of the Jewish royal family, and they would get blank stares. That would puzzle them because they probably expected to be greeted by joyful inhabitants anticipating the arrival of this new royal. They could not understand why Jerusalem would want to keep such news secret.

They came to Jerusalem to worship Christ.

When they finally got to Jerusalem, they discovered the city was just like the villages. Everyone was doing business as usual, and no one knew that a new king had been born. So, since they were an official delegation of the king they represented, they booked an appointment at the palace of Herod the Great.

They sought help from the government.

Herod the Great was an influential politician and had accomplished much for the territory he reigned over. The great temple in Jerusalem had been rebuilt in splendor by Herod. He had performed this even though he was not a descendant of Jacob. He was an Idumean, a descendant of Esau. Like his ancestor, who had traded his birthright for a bowl of stew, Herod was more interested in the here and now than he was in the future. He was more interested in practical things than spiritual things.

Herod was also a fierce man. His superior, the emperor Augustus had recently joked that being one of Herod’s pigs was better than being one of his sons. But the joke was actual. Herod had ordered the executions of several members of his own family to keep his throne for himself.

The wise men came to Herod in good faith, expecting him to be just as interested as they were in seeing this newborn king. But Herod only pretended to be interested in the birth of Christ. Instead of inviting them to feast and stay a few days at his palace, Herod sent them away that night, instructing them to find this boy and report his location.

They saw the star again.

The wise men had not followed the star to Jerusalem. They knew how to follow maps to get to Jerusalem. When they were in Jerusalem, they were told that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, only a few miles from Jerusalem. So, they returned to their camels and set out in that direction. Then somebody looked up. There it was again. When they saw that star, they shouted joyfully. The star – the same unexplained celestial sign they had seen in their land – was now showing them how to find the child. It was like a heavenly GPS. They followed the star to the house where Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus lived in Bethlehem.

They worshipped the child and gave him gifts.

The wise men had treasure boxes with them, where they kept these valuable items. Gold was needed to finance the trip. Incense made the trip more pleasurable. Myrrh aided in the healing of sore spots caused by camel humps. So, it was understandable that these men would have these items on hand. But they brought plenty extra because they wanted something to give to this new king to ingratiate him with their king. Incidentally, we don’t know that there were only three wise men. People have guessed this because there were three kinds of gifts. The text says there were treasure boxes, so there may have been a box for the gold, one for the frankincense, and one for the myrrh.

The more significant thing about the gifts is that they were visible expressions of worship. At Christmas, we give gifts to those whom we value. The story of the wise men’s visit is a helpful addition to our Christmas stories because it expresses the truth about Jesus. In Luke’s Christmas stories, the angels spoke to shepherds, and the shepherds visited him. But those shepherds were all local. They were raising sheep that would eventually become sacrifices at the Jerusalem temple. The shepherds are low-class Judeans. But the wise men are high-class Gentiles. Among those two groups, all of us are represented. Jesus is not just the King of the Jews. He is the King of Kings. He is Lord of all.

They were warned in a dream not to return to Herod.

These wise men may have been a bit naïve about Herod. So, God intervenes. At least one of these wise men gets a dream instructing them to return home and not go by way of Jerusalem. Herod did not know the actual location of this house in Bethlehem.

We learn in the next section that Herod is enraged that these wise men have outwitted him. He had planned to have Jesus killed privately. Now, he would have to risk killing a few newborns to protect his throne.

The dreams we see in Matthew’s Christmas stories all have one purpose. They all protect Jesus. Joseph’s first dream protects Jesus by securing a foster father for him. The dream in today’s text protected Jesus by hiding his location from Herod, who wanted to kill him. Next week’s dream protects Jesus by taking him out of Herod’s jurisdiction – all the way to Egypt. The final two dreams instruct Joseph to resettle in Galilee, and that protected Jesus by having him grow up far away from the government in Jerusalem, which still posed a risk to Jesus even after the death of Herod the Great.

The dreams also illustrate the biblical doctrine of the providence of God. God is sovereign, and history is his story. Nothing happens that God does not allow. He is in control. He will be glorified no matter what happens because he moves the chess pieces around the board. He is not restricted to the white pieces or the black pieces. Our God is sovereign over all. His plan will be accomplished no matter what we plan.

Wise men from every nation still seek Jesus. People from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be blessed to find him and worship him.

For further study:

Bagby Chuck. Born to Die: The Jesus Story What I Wish I Had Known Book One. Burning Heart Bible Studies 2014. pp. 52-55; 84-96.

Boice James Montgomery. The King Has Come: The Real Message of Christmas. Christian Focus 2008. 140-141.

Halliday Steve. Mighty God: The Enduring Mystery of Emmanuel. 1st ed. WaterBrook Press 2001. pp. 107-118.

Kalas J. Ellsworth. Christmas from the Back Side. Abingdon Press 2003. pp. 24-25; 45-49; 55-62.

O’Collins Gerald. All Things New: The Promise of Advent Christmas and the New Year. Paulist Press 1998. pp. 46-47; 82; 91.

Patterson Eric. Walking Toward Christmas: Devotions for Advent. 3rd ed. Publisher Not Identified 2011. pp. 19-23.

Somerville A. N. Precious Seed Sown in Many Lands: Sermons. Hodder and Stoughton 1890. pp. 155-178.