The Visit of the Wise Men

 (Matthew 2:1-15)

In this lesson we are going to look at the visit made by the wise men to see the baby Jesus. We will look at how they knew when to come and what their purpose was in coming to see the baby Jesus. We will also see a spiritual lesson concerning the subject of worship that can benefit and encourage us as we strive to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

What was the purpose of their visit?

The primary purpose of the wise men’s visit was to worship the king of the Jews (Matthew 2:2). For the lesson we will break this into 3 sections which are worship, giving, and being used of God.

1)  To worship the King of the Jews (verse 2)

• This was their primary purpose and this should be one of our primary purposes in life as well (Psalm 29:2).
• If we are going to worship God we must do it in spirit and truth (John 4:24).

2)  They brought gifts (verse 11).

• As a part of their worship they brought gifts unto Jesus. They brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These are all valuable gifts of this day.
• As a part of worship we should give the very best we have also. This doesn’t include just include money but our time, energy, talents, whatever it is that we have we should give our best to the Lord.

3)  To be used of God (verses 12-15)

• The wise men may not have known just how important their gifts were at the time but as we see in the passage they were just what Mary and Joseph needed to get to Egypt to avoid having Jesus killed by Herod.
• When our purpose is to worship God in spirit and in truth and we give him the very best we have, we never know how God will use what we give. But rest assured God can do great things with what we give him (2 Corinthians 9:6-10)

How did the wise men know to worship the King of the Jews?

These men were most likely from a region close to Babylon. Remembering Bible history we know that the Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon somewhere around 606 B.C. Now when they went you can rest assured they took the writings of Moses with them. In Genesis 49:8-12 there is a prophesy about a king coming from the tribe of Judah. In Numbers 24:17 there is a prophesy connecting the king of Israel to a Star. Remember the wise men saw his star in the east.

Also if you remember Daniel severed both the king of Babylon and the king of the Medes and the Persians. He also wrote a very famous prophesy during his time in Babylon. In Daniel 9:20-27 there is the 70 weeks prophesy. If you understand that one week equals 7 years you can get very close to the date of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem riding on a colt the foal of an ass.

With these prophesies and the  knowledge of the fact that a priest could not begin his ministry until he was 30 years of age the wise men by believing the word of God would have know within a few years of when to be looking for the Star to appear. This also explains why Jesus could have been around 2 years old when they came and why Herod had all the babies 2 years old and under killed after the wise men had told him what time the Star had appeared (Matthew 2:16)

How can we apply this to us?

The application is very simple. The wise men knew about the king of the Jews and worshipping him based on what was prophesied by God’s men at that time. For us today if we want to worship God in spirit and in truth as the word of God says then we must do it according to what is written in his word. Let us follow the word of God and not what man says or what tradition teaches but in the simple and plain truth found for us in the word of God.

The Visit of the Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-15)

Handout

1)  What was the purpose of the wise men’s visit and how can we relate this to us?

2)  How did the wise know about a king to worship in the first place?

3)  What spiritual application can we make from the visit of the wise men