About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
Matthew’s message continues with the worship of the Christ child by Gentiles and pagans. The narrative makes it clear that non-Jewish scholars recognize something phenomenal has happened, and it’s a ‘star phenomenon’, as the Greek text has it in Matthew 2:7. They were from the East, that is they were “not from around here”, “here” being where Jewish worship was located. (And as they arrived, I wonder if they expected to see thronging crowds straining for a glimpse of the new king! There is no record of such a public response. It seems they were in a pretty small company of observers.)
These guys did the smart thing: they saw the “royal star”, and uncontrollably hitched up and went hundreds (thousands?) of miles to the palace, or the temple, and asked, “Where is He?”
Herod’s response, along with others who were asked, was no doubt quite normal: “Where is Who?”
Interestingly, the star could have led them straight to Bethlehem. But no, it took them to Jerusalem. To a disturbed, paranoid king. One who had acquired his throne through warfare and politics, while Jesus was announced as one “born” king of the Jews. Ouch. That sounds like a threat to look into. And who are these guys anyway who come announcing this? Do we have their credentials? Can they be trusted? They have brought themselves, and their briefcases, and astronomy charts, and are more than 2 hours from home; can we trust these consultants or scholars or whatever they say they are? They do seem fairly certain, but…
Matthew’s point continues: in a Gospel written to Jews, but obviously right off the bat emphasizing that non-Jews are significantly in Jesus’ family line, he puts right near the beginning of his story that there are ones coming from the uttermost parts of the [known] earth to worship Him. These guys obviously aren’t Jews. What is our storyteller saying? Sounds like a consistent narrative is building. Matthew invites us to stay tuned. A glorious story is unfolding.
“Father, thank you for giving evidence to scholarly, non-Jews, who lived far away from Israel, that indeed a special baby king had been born! We take heart that even in his infancy, you were distributing the message world-wide that this Jesus demands the attention of all people, even of those least expecting Him.”
Freddy Boswell 