ONLY WISE MEN WORSHIP JESUS
“Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him”. Those were the words of the wise men who visited Jesus at His birth. They stated categorically that they had come to worship the baby Jesus!
What is worth noting is that, worship is different from praise. Worship relates with personality; praise relates with performance. We praise a person for his works; we worship a person for his worth. We praise a person for what he has done et cetera; we worship a person for who he is. The wise men worshiped the baby Jesus for who He is and not for what He has done. He was just a baby!
JEWS WORSHIP ONLY GOD
The use of the word ‘worship’ among the Jews requires extreme circumspection because it is a sacred word, which is exclusively reserved for God Almighty. The Jews do not toy with worship. They worship only God! This belief was what made Mordecai lock horns with Haman (King Ahasuerus’ right hand man) in the book of Esther: “Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?…for he had told them that he was a Jew” –Esther 3:3-4. Mordecai being a Jew took the risk of refusing toworship Haman even though the king commanded everyone to do so.
Jews do not worship men!How come the wise men did not just worship the baby Jesus but also called Him king of the Jews? This is food for thought! Were they saying Jesus is God Almighty? The answer is an obvious “yes”.
GOD IS THE KING OF THE JEWS
Only God Almighty could be called ‘King of the Jews’. Hear God in Hosea 13:9-11: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath”. God expressed His disapproval of the Jews opting for a human king. He told them He will be their king. He was jealously guarding His position as the ‘King of the Jews’. Of course, He will never give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8). Hence, the wise men worshiping the baby Jesus and ascribing the ‘King of the Jews’ title to Him is a wise way of telling us that God Almighty has been born into this world as a baby. This confirmed the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father…” – Isaiah 9:6. The child born in Isaiah’s prophecy is also known as the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father!This is a deep truth which only ‘wise men’have the capacity to handle.
GOD CAME DISGUISED
The fact that the wise men traveled all the way from the east to Bethlehem just to worship the baby Jesus, indicates how serious that trip was to them. They actually went to Bethlehem to announce that our God has come into this world disguise as a man. Isa 45:15 says “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour”. The savior is God who came into this world to operate in disguise.
Some theologians hold the assumption that the wise men were astrologers, simply because the Scriptures say they traced Jesus with a star. Well, it is important for us to understand that astrologers only contact the cosmic bodies. They read natural stars. However, the star which the wise men followed was not natural but supernatural. That star was Jesus Himself guiding the wise men to go and announce His birth.Rev 22:16 says “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star”.
The ‘bright and morning star’ is not a natural star which astrologers (princes of this world) can see. Only custodians of divine wisdom and mysteries of God’s kingdom can see it. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 says“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”.
The Lord of glory Himself came to this world to obtain sinless human blood and be crucified, so that through death, He could wipe away our sins and save us from the devil’s bondage:“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”- Hebrews 2:14-15.
Only people knowledgeable in Scriptures can catch the hidden mystery about Jesus. It is ‘strong meat’! That was why the Bible referred to those men as wise men. God sees everyone who believes Jesus is God Almighty as a wise man. This truth would have been easier for all believers to assimilate, however, the unscriptural word Trinity (coined by the Roman father Tertuilian) is the reason for the blur perception of this truth, in that, it divides God into three, and makes Jesus a small part of God. Trinity is a subtle error. Diversity is the right word. “And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all”- 1 Corinthians 12:6. When Christians replace the unscriptural word Trinity with the scriptural word Diversity, there will be no controversy about Jesus being the Almighty God (1 Timothy 3:16).
Father, Son and Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19) are simply offices run by the one and only true God, whose New Covenant name is JESUS (Acts 2:38; Acts 8:16; Acts 19:5).Only ‘wise men’ know this truth!
Pastor Frederick France 