Introduction
The best present I ever got as a child was when I was about eight. It was a plastic astronaut in a space capsule. I almost blacked out with excitement as I took it out of its wrapping. I was so fond of this toy that it went everywhere with me… I loved it to the moon and back.
The day after Boxing Day my mum and dad took me to the amusements in Southend-on-Sea, and I accidentally left my beloved toy in a dodgem car never to see it (or anything like it) ever again. I feel I’m still recovering from the trauma now, decades later.
Christmas presents aren’t always spine-tinglingly wonderful though, are they? I heard about one little girl who wrote a thank you letter to her grandparents which read, “Dear grandma and grandpa. Thank you for the gloves. They were something I wanted - but not too much!”
The tradition of giving and receiving Christmas presents probably goes back to those mysterious characters in the Nativity story who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh to the new-born king. The magi are everything the shepherds (who we looked at last Sunday) are not. They are wealthy, influential, exotic, educated and non-Jewish. But who were these people in reality?
The King James Version called them ‘wise men’ but no modern translation does – for the very good and simple reason that ‘magi’ doesn’t mean ‘wise men.’ In point of fact, the Bible never actually even says that the magi were men. They could have been all male, or a mix of male and female. So trivial fact number 1; they weren’t necessarily men.
Trivial fact number 2; it says nothing about them being kings… or queens for that matter.
Trivial fact number 3; nowhere in the New Testament does it ever say that there were three of them. People suppose there might have been three, because they brought three gifts.
And trivial fact number 4; they weren’t particularly wise either, certainly not in God’s sight. They were in fact probably practitioners of the occult. In the book of Daniel, other magi appear as sorcerers, diviners and enchanters. The Greek word magoi could refer to all manner of esoteric astrologers, charlatan faith healers, clairvoyants, crystal enthusiasts, fortune-tellers, interpreters of dreams, sorcerers, tealeaf readers, or even snake charmers.
Apart from all that, ‘the three wise men’ or ‘we three kings’ are excellent descriptions!
Here’s what the Bible does say about them.
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.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
"In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Quest
What’s going on here? We know they come from the east – but that is a bit vague really; I mean everywhere is east of somewhere, isn’t it? It likely means Babylonia, or perhaps Persia – and both are a long way east of Bethlehem. So they travel quite some distance. Why?
It seems they were just going about their everyday lives looking up at the night sky when something caught their eye and grabbed their attention, and they understood that tracking this star was of major importance.
These magi will probably have collected prophecies and divinations from many strange and exotic places. Oddball soothsayers like Mother Shipton, Nostradamus and Mystic Meg, but also holy books from every imaginable source, including the Old Testament. Maybe they matched this new star with the messianic prediction in Numbers 24.17; “A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel.”
What kind of God is it that would draw these ancient clairvoyants, physically distant from the Promised Land, and spiritually miles away from God, to the most important child ever born?
It’s a God of grace, who doesn’t count our sins against us, but who initiates salvation, and draws us to himself – despite our defiance of his laws – such is his kindness. This is the God whom, the Psalms say over and over again, rescues us “from the pit.”
The pit means this: I am not an upright, respectable man who has virtuously found my way to faith. No! I am, of myself, a lover of sin, without excuse, deserving God’s wrath and having no hope of escape from the just consequences of my rebellion against him.
The fact that God would draw these magi from miles away to Bethlehem shows us that he is the God who literally removes sin from us as far as east is from west. You can never fall away from grace so far that it’s too far. Because the Lord’s arm is never too short to save.
Do you ever feel far away from God? Are you aware of being distant from him this morning? Well, thank God, you’re not too far away. The Lord beckons to you today, “Come, I will never turn away anyone who comes to me.”
What about this star? There have been at least 400 scholarly attempts to identify it. A popular suggestion is the perfect alignment of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC which would have appeared very bright from Earth. Others suggest supernovas or asteroids...
The latest theory made the news just a couple of weeks ago and it’s from a planetary scientist at NASA called Dr. Mark Matney. He suggests in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association that it was a comet which was also recorded in China around 5 BC and will have been visible for over 70 days.
Dr. Matney says that this comet would have passed close enough to Earth to have been extraordinarily bright, even in daytime and, viewed from the earth, it will have appeared to stand still for up to several hours.
Well, it could be that. What is most important of course is not what the star was, but who it led to.
What I love about this story is the way it echoes so many other journeys I know; journeys of faith.
Every Christian has a different story to tell about how their interest in Jesus first came about – and it’s fascinating to hear about the first spark, whatever it was, that led another person to Christ.
Several people in this church who were baptised this year spoke of noticing a change in a friend or a relative who had earlier become a Christian. That was like a “new star moment” that jolted them into their own journey of discovery about Jesus.
I took a funeral once, and one of the mourners was suddenly struck by the thought of the inevitability of her own mortality. She thought, “I’ve got to find out if there’s a God and if there’s an eternity.” A few months later, she had given her life to Christ.
David Suchet, who played Agatha Christies’ Poirot in the TV series, was bored in a hotel one night, so he picked up the Gideon’s Bible in his bedside table and started reading Paul’s letter to the Romans in the bath. It was a “new star moment” that ended with his conversion.
I know someone who was doing the Great North Run a few years ago, and he noticed the t-shirt of a runner in front of him with the words, “Do the Alpha Course.” That was his new star moment. And he thought, “Yes, I’ve heard of that, I think I will.” He signed up, did the course, and became a Christian on it.
Some of you here may not have started your journey of faith yet. What if today God is tapping you on the shoulder to initiate the greatest discovery of your life? Have you considered doing the Alpha Course? Our next one here begins on January 7th.
This story also shows what so often happens when you do start a journey of faith. The magi’s quest is going quite well – when all of a sudden, they come across a paranoid, controlling man called King Herod.
He gets angry when they tell him about a potential rival and it all gets very awkward. So the magi have to navigate through all of that and find a way through it.
I have known so many spiritual seekers who suddenly find that life all goes pear shaped. A girlfriend feels she needs a time out on the relationship unless he shelves his weird new God thing. A colleague at work, who was previously friendly, starts avoiding you. Family members think you’ve joined the funny farm. I’ve even heard of parents who wrote their son out of their will when he told them he was going to become a Christian.
There are almost always obstacles and obstructions to overcome on the road to faith. The magi find their road blocked with Diversion signs, but somehow they find a way. And in the end, their star leads them to the little town Bethlehem.
Don’t let anything throw you off course! Don’t let doubts stop you. Don’t let a friend deter you. Don’t let the busyness of life distract you. Don’t let a family member inhibit you. Don’t let your self-sufficiency end your quest just as it’s getting you somewhere. This is the most important journey anyone ever makes.
As C.S. Lewis so memorably said, “Look for Christ and you will find him. And with him everything else.”
Well, the magi finally get to Bethlehem, where the star seems to stop over the place where Jesus is. And there, they bow down, worship, and offer their strange gifts.
The Gifts
Why gold? Of course, it’s what we value highly. When someone makes a fortune we say, “he’s struck gold.” When a child is delightful, we say, “she’s good as gold”. When someone is a fantastic asset we say, “She's worth her weight in gold.” When an athlete excels in sport, we award him the gold medal.
This gift is appropriate and fitting because Jesus is the gold standard; the very best heaven has.
What about frankincense? It's a perfumed resin from the bark of a rare tree. It was lit in temples to symbolise prayer rising to God. They give frankincense because this child is a bridge between heaven and earth; he is the only one that enables us to connect with God.
Frankincense is also used medicinally in the east to treat conditions as diverse as asthma, fever, rheumatism, gastrointestinal problems, depression and various inflammatory conditions. Perhaps the magi sense prophetically that this child is going to bring healing to the sick, mend shattered lives, and bind up broken hearts.
And myrrh? Myrrh is an aromatic gum from a small thornbush that was used in embalming before burial. It is the strangest gift to offer a newborn baby. Never mind a mobile or a soft toy, here’s a little something for your funeral...
Myrrh was used both at Jesus's death and at his burial. The Gospel of Mark says they offered him a mixture of wine and myrrh when he was crucified to deaden the pain – and he refused it. Then John’s Gospel says they used about 35 kilos of it to embalm Jesus’ body after it was taken down lifeless from the cross.
Myrrh has an exotic, scented fragrance. Giving such a gift to Jesus was as if to say that there was going to be something wonderful and fragrant about his death.
And there is. Jesus went through hell when he suffered and died so that you and I never have to. He gave his earthly life so that we can share heavenly life. We’ll savour the sweetness of his death on the cross in a moment when we come to communion.
Jesus chose to die – not many people do that; some do, but not many. But Jesus is utterly unique because he is the only person - ever - to choose to be born. And he did both because he loves us.
Ending
“We have come to worship him” they say in v2. And in v11 they bow down to adore the newborn king. They give praise to God with their whole selves, not just with their minds. Their adoration is wholehearted, not passive.
It says that they offer treasures. They express worship to Christ with their wealth, not just with their words. In v10 we read that they are overjoyed. They delight in the Lord. This is the glad worship that Christ deserves.
So, let’s come before God and ask for grace to, like the magi, never grow weary of seeking his face. And who, like them, gladly bow down and adore him, Christ the Lord.
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 28 December 2025.
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