The three(?) wise men embarked upon a wise journey.
1.It was a journey of faith. They didn't ask "Is he here..?" They asked "Where is He..?" Perhaps their ancestors had learned about a coming Messiah when the Jews had been taken captive in Babylon at least 600 years earlier?
2.It was a journey of worship. "we are come to worship him"
gold- fit for a king
frankincense- incense for worship
myrrh- used to annoint the dead (this was the world's sacrifice, right?)
3.It was a journey that took them a different way.
The wise men could not go back the way they had come. After finding Jesus, they went a different way. So should we.
If we could blend these components of the wise mens' journey, then perhaps we could have a wise journey through life as well.
Great message. A couple of questions, though...
ReplyDeleteSo we know there is no way of knowing the number. We also are pretty sure they were not kings. Also, does oreint mean Asia? Anyway, "We three kings of orient..." is right out the window. But what about the First Noel? I would think since these men were from the east, they saw the star while they were in the east. They did not see the star shining east of their location. If these astrologers were east of Canaan, and they saw the star east of their location, they would have traveled away from Jesus instead of toward Him. Just something about which I thought as I sang "They looked up and saw a star, shining in the East beyond them far"
Not sure of the definitive language on "we have seen his star in the east." Is it (we have seen the star in the east)?
ReplyDeleteOr is it (we have seen the star while we were in the east)?
We know they came toward Jesus so for all to harmonize, wouldn't it have to be interpretted (we have seen the star (while we were) in the east...)
I think it would be correct to use the latter interpitation. "while we were in the east"
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts.
ReplyDelete"Orient" is most often used today to mean the countries of Asia, but formerly meant the countries to the east of the Mediterranean. It can also just mean east. The opposite is the "Occident", or the west.