December 14, 2025 | We Three Kings
We Three Kings | The Meaning Behind Christmas Hymns
Matthew 2
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. (ESV)
In Matthew 2, Jon Farra points to the Magi as a picture of what it looks like to live with a true “North Star.” They leave what is normal, follow the light God gives, and make a costly journey that ends in worship at the feet of Jesus. Along the way, the passage shows both the best and worst of humanity: humble seekers who rejoice and bow down, and Herod’s fearful cruelty that brings real suffering into the Christmas story. Even in chaos and evil, God guides, protects, and fulfills his promises as Joseph leads his family to Egypt and then home again. The Magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh point to who Jesus is, King, God, and the suffering Savior. The call is personal: bring God a gift this Christmas, your best and your worst, and walk in the light with honest worship and real joy.
Transcript of We Three Kings | The Meaning Behind Christmas Hymns
Jon Farra: Merry Christmas to you.
Grateful for a body and the word of God.
Matthew 2
Jon Farra: We're gonna start in Matthew chapter two. Today we're gonna talk about journey and gifts, what the Bible says and what we celebrate, as well as how it applies to our life.
Matthew chapter two. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem and Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him, and he assembled all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for, so it is written in the prophets, in you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers that Judah for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem saying, go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him, bring him to me that I may come and worship him.
After listening to the king, they went on their way and behold the star that they had seen when it rose went before them, until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw Mary, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and they worshiped him. Then opening their treasures. They offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their country by another way.
Prayer
Jon Farra: Pray again. Father, thank you for the worship of you. Thank you that it is our best. We are all on a journey and we want to walk well with you. And whether you're at a, uh, the celebration of a birth or the celebration of a passing. There is often the discussion of the process in between. So we are all in that process. And as we, uh, read your scripture today and uh, reflect on the Christmas Carol, we three kings, may we have good gifts to give you. Thank you for the gifts in our lives. Thank you for the whole being that we have. And may we all, may we bring all of ourselves before you to come under the word of God.
Thank you for prayer. Thank you for, uh, the prayer around tragedy and hard and hurt. Thank you for the, uh, opportunity to sing Christmas carols and Emmanuel, God, with us. We ask Jesus that you would, uh, shepherd our discussions today in your name, amen.
What is Your North Star?
Jon Farra: As we start today, um, I, uh, want to ask you, what is your North star?
I was asked that recently, what is your North Star? What's your guiding principle? What's the thing that you do the best or you do the most of? Uh, Berean Bible Church is called Berean Bible Church named after Berea in Greece because the people in Berea studied the scriptures to find out if it was true. And so by our namesake, we would be people who study the scriptures to find out if it's true.
Is that our North Star? Is that our guiding principle? Uh, I hope so, prayerfully. Um, I would also reflect over my years here. Humility and leadership has been a wonderful example for so many of you in my life, as well as so many of you in other people's lives, as well as a deep commitment to prayer. You know what? That's hard. Let's pray about it. And that is right and good.
I was at a funeral yesterday in, uh, Indiana, and we were driving home. It was, it was quite dangerous actually. There, there was six inches of heavy wet snow on the road. You couldn't even see the, the lines anymore. And, um. We didn't actually see the wreck take place, but it was like three semis up and there was a couple semis, jackknifed and a couple cars in the ditch.
And actually a couple of my kids helped push one of the cars out of the ditch so they could get back on the road. 'cause they were just spinning their tires and their whole front end had been crushed by the guardrail. Um, and there was a firefighter walking between the cars, checking on people or is everybody in your car okay? Is everybody in your car okay?
And I said, being nice. Thank you for your service. Because it's, I don't know, 20 degrees and snowing hard. And he's like, this is fun.
And that's the guy that you want doing that, right? And, and, and that, and his North star, his guiding principle is helping people in chaos. He didn't use those words, but he was, he was doing his job well, and in his space, he was serving well.
We've all been given gifts and we all have things in our life that we try to figure out, and one of the questions is, what is your guiding principle? What's your north star? What keeps you true to your mission?
The reason we're asking those questions is because these three kings that we're gonna talk about came from a very long ways away, probably a five year journey, and they followed a star. That kept them moving in the direction that was right.
Ultimately, that direction was following the star to the throne of grace to worship before Jesus. And if they weren't following that star, they wouldn't have ended up where they were supposed to be going. So when you're on a journey, you do want to be, uh, mindful of what's guiding you.
We Three Kings
Jon Farra: Let's, uh, start with the hymn itself. Uh, we three kings, how many of you know it? Pull it up in your head. I won't sing it for you. Actually, we're gonna sing it after the fact. So, but we, three kings is actually one of the first, um, one of the first Christmas carols ever written. So a lot of the Christmas carols that we have now, we've cultivated over the years, and this was one of the earlier ones.
I have a note here. Uh, this is from. henry.org. If you like hymns, you can go read about the hymns and the background of the hymns and the authors of the hymns and things like that. Uh, we Three Kings was written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. Uh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1820, or he was born in 1820, um, in Hudson, New York. The son of John Henry Hopkins, an Episcopal church priest who became the first bishop in Vermont, and he was educated at the University of Vermont. He moved to New York to become a reporter, intending to prepare for a law career, but changed his mind and entered a theological seminary in New York. He, he became the first instructor of church music at the General Theological Seminary and edited a church journal. And, uh, he was ordained in 1872 and served as a rector in Trinity Church in Plattsburgh, New York.
And there he wrote. We three Kings for a Christmas pageant, for a opportunity for the youth to sing songs. It was actually written as a, um, not trilogy. What do you call it? Trio. Thank you. When three people sing together, uh, wrote it as a trio. It was widely circulated. It was originally called, uh, the Three Kings of the Orient, and it really does focus on both journey and gift.
So as we dive a little deeper, what journey are you on and what good gifts do you have for our Messiah today?
Observations of Humanity
Jon Farra: Observations of humanity. When, um, Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, what is the greatest law? What is the most important command? What did he say? You will love the Lord, you, God, with all of your.
There you go. Love Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you will love your neighbor as yourself. And if you do these things, all this sums up all the law and the prophet, he's actually quoting Deuteronomy chapter six, which was written a very, very, very long time ago.
One of the observations here is that man has a will. You have a choice. So therefore, what you do with your life, you can direct by your thought, by your feelings, by your attitudes, by the friends around you. So man has a choice. And in Matthew chapter two, what I just touched on, and we'll read a little further, we will see both the best and the worst of humanity on display. We will see some of the greatest gifts given to God, and we'll see some of the greatest atrocities committed by man.
A question to myself and a question to you is when you think of how you are serving God, we have the opportunity to glorify God, to search for God, and to give gifts as the wise men did. These wise men came from afar. They, um, pursued, they searched and they gave gifts.
We also have the opportunity to be passive. We also have the opportunity to be selfish and to use a stronger word, yet we have the opportunity to be evil.
It is a choice, and it is a choice every day.
Who Were the Magi?
Jon Farra: So when you think of your will and the things you are choosing. Let's link that to the things that the Magi did.
So Matthew chapter two goes back to this, and I use the word likely. A lot of the things that are reflected about the Christmas carols are good guesses. They're not on the same level as scripture and shouldn't be taught that way.
But when we think of what is written in scripture, this section in Matthew chapter two is all we know about the Wise Man. This is the only piece of, uh, scripture that tells about it. And it says that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea, in the land of Herod, in the days of Herod, uh, the king, uh, behold, the wise men came from the east.
Wise men came from the East. What is east of Jerusalem? Well, in our geography worlds, you can find out in a little bit of history worlds, if you go back to the book of Daniel. Actually, uh, Daniel was taken captive in Jerusalem and then the exiles were brought to Babylon. And there they stayed in Babylon and they were under Babylonian rule under Nebuchadnezzar until Nebuchadnezzar, or until the Babylonian empire was eventually deposed by the Meads in the Persian empire.
And then media or Persia, which we would often use the country name Iran, today, uh, became the central figure in the world. And Daniel wrote a whole lot of, um, we use the word eschatology when we think of end times things, but when you study the book of Revelation and then you look at the second half of the book of Daniel, there's all sorts of prophetic thoughts.
And so some people reflect or guess that maybe these wise men came from the Babylonian or the Persian area, and maybe they had access to Daniel's writings. Maybe they were so thoughtful of these prophecies that Daniel had scribed, that they were watching the stars and the constellations and realizing that something in the heavens, the heavens of the stars, was telling them something so much that they wanted to go find out what it was.
If you take a geography, uh, go to Google Earth or something like that, and you just find out how far away Persia is from Jerusalem, that's a long ways away. Thousand miles, maybe a five year journey. So I was, uh, yesterday I was just outside of, um, Chicago. I was in northern Indiana for a funeral that's about 500 miles away.
I have in my head, walking from Chicago to Knoxville. What would you walk 500 miles for?
What would you spend five years doing? There's a whole lot of people that hike the Appalachian Trail. And they set out and they make these big plans. And that's a 2000 mile expedition. Takes about six months if you do it right. If you want a good book, go look up Grandma Gates Wood Walk. 'cause she's a 65-year-old grandma who tells her family that she's gonna go on a walk in the woods and she goes and hikes the Appalachian Trail.
There's more to the story than that, but you're like, wait, what? Some 65-year-old just walked 2000 miles. Actually, she did it twice, and then she walked, and then she hiked the Oregon Trail. Anyway, it's, it, it, it, it, the idea of walking for a very long time is not so much in our culture, but it is oftentimes in other cultures.
And so these wise men likely walked five years, likely covered a thousand miles, and they likely came before four BC and they visited a few years later. I'll get into four BC in a second, but Jesus was not likely born December 25th of uh, zero AD. So the, the calendar was coded later differently, but they probably saw the star and then came, not when Jesus was in, in like just born with the, um, with the shepherds. He probably came a few years later, maybe when Jesus was a toddler, maybe around the age of two.
Again, this is, I, we use the words likely, or maybe because we don't know, we have references here in scripture and it just says they came and fell down and worshiped Mary, how many of you, when you set up your little manger scene at home, you put the wise men a few steps away to make it biblically more accurate? Anybody else in the room? Okay, a few of you do. Okay, good.
So these wise men came on a very long journey, and they were looking for the king of the Jews. They were also not Jewish. But they saw something in the stars that they decided was worth five years of their life. Many, many, many, many dollars in commitment and significant time spent.
I think that's a good word, picture for us.
The Journey
Jon Farra: Alright, let's talk about the journey.
Leave the ordinary. When you are on a journey, you leave the ordinary and you seek something of value, often at risk to yourself. That's why you go on a journey. Yesterday when I was getting in the car, we were driving south and I used the expression with my kids, were about to drive into the big blue ball of fun.
On the on the weather app, from Chicago to Knoxville, we had to drive through Indiana. And Indiana was a big blue ball of weather because it was snowing hard in Indianapolis and we were driving into the big blue ball of fun. Six hours later I didn't think it was fun anymore.
Was there risk to myself? Uh, you can argue that a little bit. But when you do embark on a journey, you say, I am leaving the ordinary. I'm seeking something of value, and there may be risk to myself.
Are there any other stories in scripture that would reflect that?
A few.
So Jesus is in good company when his Mary and Joseph are in, um, Nazareth and walk down to Bethlehem to be born. And then they're in, he's in good company. The wise men come from a very long ways away.
Found!
Jon Farra: And what happened when they got there? It says that when, um, well the wise men went first to Jerusalem thinking, we're following this star. We're gonna go to the palace. You're gonna check in with the king and you're gonna find out where the king is born.
Seems logical. We're we're pursuing something in the star. Something in the east has risen. We're gonna follow it to Jerusalem. And they went and told Herod, we're here to worship King of the Jews.
Why did they go to Jerusalem? Couldn't have God prevented that?
There's a fallout from it. That's pretty significant. But they go and talk to Herod and they find him and they find out that, uh, that the prophet Micah had written Jesus will come from Bethlehem.
If you want an interesting word, study look or interesting study, look at the parallels between Jesus being born in Bethlehem and David growing up in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem means house of bread. Jesus is the one who provides. When Jesus got up and said, I'm the bread of life, the fact that he's from Bethlehem wasn't lost on them. I know that gets lost in our language translation, but Jesus is that. And so it's symbolic. Not only is prophetic, but it's also symbolic by name.
And what did the wise men do? They came, it says, um, then behold the star that they had seen rose and went before them until it came to rest of the place where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced. Exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw Mary, their mother, and they fell down and worshiped him and opening their gifts, they offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Example: Wise Men - Lost/Searching World
Jon Farra: A quick, uh, a quick reflection here on, um, the wise men. There's a few, uh, there's a few prophecies in the Old Testament that somebody would follow a star. Actually, Balam was one of them who had referenced a star, which we would in retrospect see that the wise men followed it. And Isaiah 60 verse one through three actually talks about the nation's coming to know Christ.
We think of that as good news. Because we're not in the nation of Israel. Most of us are not Jewish. And therefore we would say, well, we're glad that Christ the Messiah was for the whole world, which is often a push at missions time when we talk about Christ going to the nations. But Isaiah 60 verses one through three talks through that. Christ, the nations will come.
And it says, it's interesting that the Gentiles one day will seek the light. They, it will be confirmed by the word of God. They will obey and follow God, and they will depart by another way. So this, the, the wise men, by default modeled that.
It's also a good prayer for your children and for your grandchildren to seek the light, to have it confirmed by the word of God to follow and obey, and then depart by another way.
Um, I was at a funeral yesterday and we celebrated my wife's grandma and That's right and good. And she was 96 and she was ready to go home to be with Jesus. And it's a joy. One of my daughters said, why do I feel so sad?
Well, it all gets mixed up together, doesn't it? We're excited that she's with Jesus, but we miss her. And so when you think of the deep values in your life, seeking the light confirmed by the word of God, obey and follow God and depart by another way, Gigi didn't end up in the same place of where she started.
Neither did the wise men. There's another little interesting thread on this. This commentary, this, this is written by a, um, a pastor and a commentator named Warren, Warren Bigsby. Anybody ever heard of him?
So my, Gigi attended his church and so he was, he was her pastor. So did the pastor have an influence on his congregation? I hope so. Did the congregation have an influence on the pastor? Probably. Jed, does anybody in here have an influence on you? Probably. Praise God. That's good.
Anyway, the, the thread being, it, it's personal to me by way of the connection with my family that it's a commentator that raised grandma new and it's a life well lived. And it's also a good reflection for, um, us to seek the light confirmed by God's word. Obey and follow and depart by another way. And that's what the, um, the Pharisees did. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Okay. Actually, take a minute and pray for somebody in your family that would benefit from that. Take a minute to pray for somebody in your family that would benefit by that.
Herod the Great and the Temple Mount
Jon Farra: All right. I'm actually gonna read another section that comes immediately after this. This one's not so much fun. This is not something we normally celebrate at Christmas, so the wise men just departed because they were warned a dream not to go back to Herod.
Now, when they departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. And remain there until I tell you for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him, and he rose and took the child and mother by night and departed to Egypt and remain there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophets out of Egypt I have called my son.
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became furious and sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and all the region, anyone two years old and under, according to the time that had been ascertained from the wise men. And then then was fulfilled what was spoken in the prophet Jeremiah, a voice of rama weeping and loud lamenting Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they are no more.
But when Herod died, beholden Angel of Lord appeared in a dream in two Joseph in Egypt saying, arise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. For those who sought to kill the child's life are dead. And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Acles was reigning in Judea, in place of his father Herod, he was afraid of going there and being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the District of Galilee and he went and he lived there in the city of Nazareth. So what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled that he'd be called a Nazarene.
This too is part of the Christmas story. Too is part of the events that took place around the birth of Jesus. This is the result of the wise men coming and giving gifts and departing by another way.
So a few notes on Herod. By the way, this is a picture of the Temple Mount, and this is a picture of Herod the Great. Regrettably. He did a lot of damage.
Uh, Herod the Great was born 72 and lived to about four bc. He was born in Edomite. He was appointed by Mark Anthony at, to become a Roman Techriarch, or we would call him Herod. Sometimes they would reference him as the ruler of that land, as long as Herod. And then we, uh, around the crucifixion, we talk about Pilot. Those two were Roman officials that basically cut the peace, and as long as they got their taxes and their peace, they really didn't care what happened. But if there weren't taxes and they weren't peace, then they would have to solve the problem before Rome solved the problem. 72 AD Rome came and solved the problem by destroying Jerusalem.
Anyway, but this is before, so Jesus is born under, we would use the word tyrant. He was a powerful leader. He was a great builder. In fact. If you flip back, this temple mount is twice the size that it was before. And so Herod was a significant builder and doubled the size of the temple Mount. Uh, and he did it. And he won favor with the Jews because he created a sacrificial system. He appointed a thousand priests and 10,000 builders in order to build that. So this used to be one of the marvels of the ancient world.
He also had at least nine wives. He, he won favor by the Jews. He created a tax system. You guys remember the Matthew 22 passage where the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus and they bring him a coin and they say, whose inscription is on this? Should we pay taxes? Kind of a double bind question, thinking that we, if he says, no, we're not gonna pay taxes, then we're gonna say, well, then he's a rebel. And if he said, yes, you should pay taxes, then you're like, well, that's not consistent with your other teaching. So they thought they had a bind, they thought they had a a question, they'd trap 'em in.
And Jesus simply said, give to Caesar what Caesars and give to God's, what's God's. But this is a reflection of that tax system that Herod set up.
He was, he did, uh, uh, he was, uh, built out the Temple Mount significant construction and did appoint all of those priests.
However, Herod kills the children. Uh, uh, praise God. We don't really have a box for that in our society. Could, or do we?
As, as a, as a father of young kids, I, if, if the police officers came to my door and said, do you have any boys, two or old two years old and under, 'cause bring 'em out 'cause we're gonna kill em. That's what took place because this Herod guy was so enraged that he was trying to get rid of this king of the Jews that he just said, kill 'em all.
And you're like, oh my goodness, I, I have a hard time even imagining that. Slaughter. You might use the words evil.
2nd Journey
Jon Farra: So what happens? There's this second journey. So, uh, now when they had departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you for Herod is about to search for the child and destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his wife by night and departed.
Like, go now. This angel wakes up Joseph and says, take Mary and the child and go tonight. They depart by night. They flee to Egypt likely for several years, and it says so that the prophecies will be fulfilled.
And it, it is a, it is a reflection of the nation of Israel who was, if you pull back, pull up your, your, your story of Israel in your head, where, so they're. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are all up in Egypt, and then there's the famine and Joseph gets sold, and then the whole nation of Israel goes down to Egypt, and then they're in Egypt, and then they become oppressed by slavery. And then Moses is born and draws them out. The name Moses means to draw out. And so he drew out the nation of Israel and then they wander in the wilderness and they go back and take over the Promised Land. All those stories, Genesis and Exodus, uh, Joshua.
And so Jesus now is runs or his, he as a, as an infant or a toddler, runs down to Egypt. They probably live off the gold, frankincense and myrrh. They probably, Mary and Joseph likely over those couple years of living in migration, so to speak, are living off these great gifts that were just given to them by the wise men.
And then they do return to Nazareth after another angel appears to him and says, okay, Herod the Great, then use the name Herod the Great in scripture. But the person who is looking to kill you is dead, but his son is now ruling and so they go back up, we would call it back up north. They go back up to Galilee and Jesus grows up as a Nazarene.
Evil In This World
Jon Farra: There is evil in this world. There is pain in this world. Christmas is a time of celebration, of joy, of lights, of gifts. The first Christmas was probably not curated, like our Christmas probably didn't have, you know, all the trappings and all the nice food and all the nice, it was, it was probably chaotic.
It was miraculous. There was death involved. There were some gifts, and we've taken that into a nice, peaceful, we just want Christmas to be just our way.
That's not wrong. But if you go back to the original Christmas, the original spot where Jesus was born, it was likely chaotic.
Uh, pastor Jed prayed this morning for, um. People who are experiencing tragedy and grief. And especially around the holidays, that hurts. Or you think my life isn't the way it should be, or my life isn't the way the same.
And whether it's evil by done something done to you or just a terrible event or tragedy or grief, like my daughter said yesterday, why do I feel so sad?
What does a Christian do in that setting?
Well, thank you Pastor Jed, as well as the body. We seek the face of God. We're reminded by the truths of scripture. We walk in the light. We want to serve and we want to be grateful.
Uh, one of the threads is, um, understanding truth and light and love, but also calling evil. Evil calling sin sin. That is the call of the Christian. It is to walk in love and truth and. Fellowship and with the body of Christ. But the idea that this is just, th this took place in scripture and my Christmas is just supposed to be nice, may not be a good reflection of the original. And in the original there is much good and much hard.
So what does a Christian do? We seek the face of God. We walk in the light. We serve. And we express gratitude. And we call upon the name of the Lord like we did just a minute ago, and like we want to do in every moment of our lives.
Gifts
Jon Farra: Let's finish this up. Uh, going back to the gift section. I'll read it again. When they saw the star, this is the wise men, and when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
Opening their treasures, they offered gold, frankincense and myrrh, and being warned and dreamed not to return their hair, they departed by their to their own country by another way.
What is rejo? What does rejoiced exceedingly with great joy look like? Probably not like you right now. If, if, if you, uh, sometimes with young children, especially around, uh, a Christmas gift, like they jump up and start screaming and, oh my goodness, oh my goodness. Sometimes, sometimes children express joy better than adults.
These wise men had likely traveled that far, likely traveled for that amount of time, and when they found the Messiah, the promised one, the King of the Jews, they came and they worshiped with exceedingly with great joy.
John Piper has written an article, the Danger of the Joyless Christian Life, the danger of the. Eeyor side of, well, it's a Christian life and well, it's hard and well, I can't do anything about it. And well, God's good.
It's easy to get there. And I'm looking in the mirror on that one. Not at any of you the but, but the wise men are a, a good picture rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Probably not a very silent night. The idea whether the, whether the birth itself or the, when the wise men came, we have the picture of, we have the little manger scene out back, as many of us do in our homes. There's nothing wrong with that, but the idea that it was well organized and peaceful and no crying did he make, according to one of the Christmas carols, I, I doubt it.
It did. This did create, by the way, especially you students in the room. This single verse created a whole tradition of giving gifts at Christmas. So good job wise men.
Lemme say it a little stronger, you're gonna worship something. You're gonna give your time and money and energy to something. You're gonna give away gifts. Who's your object of affection? The wise men got it right. They walked for a very long time to bow before the king of the universe, to give them their good gifts. That's right. And good.
The Value of the Gifts
Jon Farra: Uh, of quick note about the gifts.
Gold. Gold is the gift of a king. It reflects power, value, prestige. We might use the word Lord. So in the gift of gold, people will reflect that Jesus is Lord.
In the gift of frankincense, frankincense was a gift used by the priests in the temple and it reflected purity. And in this picture, Jesus is God.
And myrrh. Myrrh's a weird one. It's not a happy gift. It's a gift of death. It's what you use at, it's an embalming oil. You, you wrap up a, a body and you sprinkle these spices on it so it doesn't smell so bad. It's a picture of death. Why would, we don't actually know how many wise men there were. We say there were three wise men. It's because there were three gifts. They gave three gifts and myrrh doesn't seem to fit.
Now we know the end of the story. We know that in the Old Testament, Jesus was prophesied as a conquering king. Isaiah nine is a good picture of a conquering king, wonderful counselor of Almighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace.
Jesus in the Old Testament is also prophesied as a suffering servant. Isaiah 53 is a picture of Jesus being a suffering servant.
Both of those passages talk about him bringing us peace. Jesus brought us peace by being a conquering king. Jesus brought us peace by being a suffering servant, and these gifts reflect a picture of that gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gift of a king, the gift of a priest, and the gift of a prophet.
Jesus is lord, Jesus is God, Jesus is man, or Jesus is human. Powerful. Turns out God knows what he's doing.
Do You Have a Gift for God this Christmas?
Jon Farra: In, in closing, today, I want to ask you, do you have a gift for God this Christmas? Under your Christmas tree at home, if you were to put something in a box and wrap it up and say to God from you, what would you put in the box?
Let me read something. Very soon many of us will be sitting around a Christmas tree with our families passing out presents. If you have children, you know the joy of giving gifts. Some of us already have closets, full of boxes waiting to be wrapped. These gifts along with food, family, rest, and meaningful traditions make Christmas a delight.
Most gifts, most gifts exchanged are meant to bless each other. When I give my 4-year-old daughter her first bike and she gives me a stuffed animal and a drawing, we both feel blessed. Parenting and Grandparenting brings unique joy in both giving and receiving.
Do you have a gift for God this Christmas? In the verses, in the verse above. For unto us, a child is born unto us a son is given. The government would be upon his shoulders. He'll be called Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace. Isaiah nine, six. In those verses, God gives us his son. As Paul reminds us, Romans 8 32, he who did not spare his own son. How will he not also graciously give us all good things?
As children of God, what does it look like to give God our best and our worst? Giving God our best is a joy. King David said he would not offer to God something that costs him nothing. Second Samuel 24 24. Paul considers all all of his accomplishments worthless compared to some passing greatness of knowing Christ. Philippians three, eight. And Abraham was willing to offer his own son in obedience. Genesis 22.
So what is your best possession or your most valuable ability, and is that what you would place in the box saying gift to God?
If we clinging to our best and give God only what we prefer, we create idols. Blessings we protect more fiercely than honoring God. But when we give God our best, we are freed to enjoy his gifts rather than distort or defend them.
That is why dedicating your children to the Lord at birth and daily matters.
What about giving God your worst? Is that weird? Does God want our addiction, our brokenness, our bitterness, our anger, our sin? Yes.
These are the things that we are attempted to hide from ourselves, from others, and even from God. Ken Wicker did a devotional last Sunday and he said, pointed out two Corinthians 5 21, God made him who has no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.
John writes John, this is John one, five through nine. God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us. Christmas tells us that Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again so that we could walk in righteousness and live in the light.
What a gift. And if God gave us his own son, what will he hold back from us? And remember, when you give somebody something, you no longer have it. When we give God our best and our worst, you place everything in his hand. This is the heart of walking in the light and the picture of Christmas.
Closing Prayer
Jon Farra: Let's pray.
Father, thank you for the wise men. Thank you for the gifts they brought. Thank you for the journey they are on. Thank you, father for our lives that we can respond to scripture and also use your good gifts to walking the light. Thank you that we all have journeys. We will all worship something and in so Jesus, we can point to you.
So if we do one thing, may we point to you today, may your will be done. Thank you for this body. Thank you for this church. Thank you for, um, the opportunity to celebrate at Christmas and we love you Lord, in your precious name. Amen.