T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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C p / m 0 m B y M. R. D e H aan , M. D. "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to wor ship him" (Matt. 2:1,2). "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (Matt. 2:10,11). I N THIS beautiful narrative, so well-known to all of us, we have the simple story of the coming of several wise men to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Note care fully that, according to this account, Jesus was not found in a stable, but in a house. He is not called “ a babe,” as He was when the shepherds located Him in a stable; the word here is “young child,” denoting that this inci dent occurred sometime after the birth of the Lord Jesus, possibly two years later. Tradition is responsible for the common belief that the wise men found Jesus in the stable, and on Christmas day in thousands of churches the pageants of the first Christmas will show three wise kings solemnly walking into a stable and up to a manger. The Traditions of Men This whole story has been so perverted that very few people know the simple truth of the Scriptures. nere, for instance, in the Bible is the statement to the effect that there were “three wise men” ? These me i who came from the east were real wise men, not only learned in the sciences and able to read astronomical signs, but were wise in a deeper sense. For “ the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Paul says that “ the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” and that the Lord “ taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” I take it, then, that these men were not only educated in the wisdom of the world, but in the wisdom of the Word. Where they received the Scriptures we do not know, but we do know that they understood some of the prophecies of the Old Testament. They recognized this star as the one which should herald the birth of the King of the Jews. The only place where this infor mation could have been secured was from the Scrip tures which told of the coming of the “Star of Jacob.” How did they know that the Star of Jacob was to be in that particular place? Because the Scriptures had said that Jerusalem was the city of the King and the capital of the Jews; hence that would be the logical place to look for their King, and so, having seen the star and recognizing its significance, they set out for ' distant Jerusalem, in the land of Palestine. *V Some people believe that the star led the wise men all the way from the East, but there is not a thing in Scripture to indicate that the star preceded them to Jerusalem. Undoubtedly, the star appeared in the East for a few moments, then disappeared, and the Magi did not see it again on their journey. They knew the way to Jerusalem, and needed no star to guide them there; after they left Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem, the star ' f reappeared to direct them to the exact spot where Jesus \ dwelt in the house. The setting of Jesus’ birth, too, on December 25 is entirely a matter of religious tradition and pagan su- perstitition. It seems that even in the days of Paul, 1 many Ispurlsttsj traditions were already developing, for —v he wrote to the Colossians: “Beware lest any man spoil j you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tra- r t dition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).') J& i
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