The Eternal King Has Come

During Advent, we are inundated with images of the nativity scene. Often we see Jesus’s birth depicted with Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and three wise men joined by a few barn animals, all assembled to worship Jesus. In the center of these figures lies an infant Jesus, angelically and peacefully still and awake (which seems slightly unbelievable if you’ve ever spent any amount of time with a newborn). 

It’s safe to say we have condensed quite a bit of Jesus’s birth story to fit into our Christmas traditions, including our understanding of the wise men. In reality, the wise men most likely didn’t visit Jesus till He was a toddler. Scripture makes no mention of only three of them making the journey to worship Jesus, and they weren’t kings. These men were wealthy priests who likely would have traveled with a large entourage for protection as officials from the East, most likely Persia. 

They were wealthy, they were educated, they were influential…and yet of all the things they had experienced in their lives, when they arrived where Jesus was, they were overwhelmed with joy (Matthew 2:10). A more word-for-word translation of this phrase in Matthew is, “they rejoiced with a great joy exceedingly.” In other words, they were ecstatic!

We all long for this type of joy but often come up short. We look for this type of joy in thrilling experiences, new relationships, career achievements, financial success, health goals…the list goes on and on. We go to great lengths in the search for happiness, but many times the fruit of our efforts end with fleeting pleasure instead of the wise men’s joy.

The wise Magi traveled from afar and were given the chance to worship Jesus, the eternal King (Matthew 2:2). Do we believe that seeking Jesus is always the journey worth taking? What voyage of the heart and soul are we willing to make? What discomforts and unknowns are we willing to embrace simply to bless the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Jesus is the Light of the World. Come to His light; draw near this season to His brightness (Isaiah 60:3). Make the journey. Take it from the Magi—it’s the greatest journey you’ll ever take.