I Might Be Overdressed for This Party

“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.” ~Matthew 2:1

Last week we considered what it must have been like for the shepherds to be invited to the birth of the King. Of all the people the Lord could have sent the angels to visit, shepherds were clearly the least deserving. They were quite underdressed for such an occasion — although, as we saw, they weren’t really underdressed, were they? King Jesus came to welcome the least among us, the filthiest, the outcasts. Shepherds, therefore, constituted the perfect welcoming party.

We read in Matthew’s Gospel that there was another group of people invited to Jesus’ arrival: the Magi from the East (Matt. 2:1ff). These men were much more suited to a king’s birth celebration and had likely attended royal birth celebrations before. They would have constituted a typical royal retinue. So after traveling a great distance to find the King of the Jews — perhaps more than 1,000 miles — it made sense for them to go to Jerusalem, the capital city (Matt. 2:1-2). Of course this is where the king would be! But upon arrival, they discover that the prophesied King was to be born in a small village outside of Jerusalem named Bethlehem (Matt. 2:5-6). While these men would not have known it, this village was very important in the scheme of redemptive history. It was the place where Boaz and Ruth met and married (Ruth 4:13), the hometown of King David (1 Sam. 16:1), and the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (Mic. 5:2).

So after getting the right GPS coordinates, they make their way to Bethlehem to present their gifts. This scene helps us to see the value of the humble baby born to Mary. Their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh are reminders of Jesus’ worth (Matt. 2:11). Each of these gifts were quite expensive. Gold was considered the most precious of metals, frankincense was an extremely fragrant gum taken from the bark of rare trees, and a bottle of myrrh could be worth up to $10,000 in today’s economy. Rather than trying to link these gifts to particular Old Testament prophecies, we should simply understand them as the best of the best, the most expensive gifts these men could present to the King.

While the shepherds remind us that Jesus welcomes those of lowest means, the Magi show us that He also deserves the very best we have. You see, Jesus deserves to have us travel a far distance to come worship Him — even if it’s inconvenient. He deserves to have us offer the very best of what He’s blessed us with in service to His Kingdom. He deserves our last two mites, if that’s all we have (Luke 21:1-4). He deserves our gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Have you come to worship King Jesus? Have you brought your best gifts? I hope you have, and I hope you travel to worship this Lord’s Day — even if it’s a bit inconvenient. Jesus is worth the trip!

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Associate Pastor