On a recent visit to the National Gallery in London, I was
struck by the many beautiful pictures depicting the Adoration of the Magi. Many artists painted these pictures in
different ages and the details vary greatly yet the theme of adoration is the
same; wise men kneeling before the infant king offering him gifts.
One of my favourite songs this Christmas has been Adore by Chris Tomlin. It set me
thinking about adoration. To adore means to love
someone very much, especially
in a way that shows
a lot of admiration
or respect. It can also mean to worship which of course
is what the Wise Men did.
They were
highly educated astrologers probably from the area of southern Arabia or Iran.
They spent their lives studying the heavens and the movement of the stars and
planets, believing they could
tell the meaning of events or give indications about the future. Their
observations led them to notice a new star yet one that was so unusual that
these magi knew it signified the birth of a new king – the King of the Jews.
These were wise men indeed for they did
not just note this star and study it, they took action. This was a king they
must find so they could worship and adore him. Many would think the King of the
Jews was irrelevant to them, but not these magi. They knew this king had come
for everyone, Jew and Gentile.
So they set off on the long, arduous
journey across the Arabian Desert to Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews.
They would have travelled with a large, luxurious and exotic entourage. I am
sure they caused quite a stir when they arrived in Jerusalem, let alone little
Bethlehem.
The magi’s unfortunate meeting with
Herod led to the slaughter of many innocent children but what is also of
concern is that though the religious leaders heard about the birth of a new
king, possibly the Messiah, not one of them went to Bethlehem, only 5 miles
away, to investigate. Surely if there was any chance that the Messiah
had been born, they would want to go and find out, even to allay false rumours.
There was certainly no adoration in their hearts.
It would seem from reading the account
of the magi’s visit that the star re-appeared after their visit to Herod
otherwise why were ‘they overjoyed’ when
they saw it. This is strong language in keeping with those who have travelled
long and hard to adore the new king. The star, probably hanging low in the sky
stopped over the house where the child was. The magi went in and adored the
infant Jesus offering him costly gifts. These gifts had religious
significance – gifts offered to God – as well as gifts to royalty. They were
not just birthday presents.
The wise men’s journey was a incredibly costly visit in terms
of time and money and maybe even dangerous yet I am totally convinced they
would have considered this visit to adore the child Jesus, the Messiah, one of
the highlights of their lives which would have significant impact on the rest
of their days.
I am sure there were many visitors to see the new baby,
there always are but Matthew and Luke each highlight the two extremes of
society. Matthew tells of the magi the religious outsiders and Gentiles and
Luke emphasises the social outsiders, the shepherds. The contrast between the
humble, illiterate, rustic` Jewish shepherds and the highly educated, foreign,
exotic Gentiles is obvious. Jesus came for everybody to save us all from our
sin. Jesus’ offer of salvation is open to all; rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, male,
female – all are welcomed by this king into his kingdom.
As Christmas disappears for another year and the sound of
carols fades away, let’s make sure that the words O come let us adore him are still found on our lips and in our
hearts. If wise men travelled for many months to adore Jesus we too can easily
adore him from our homes. He is worthy of every bit of worship and adoration we
can offer. He gave up everything and suffered terribly, died and rose again
because of his incredible love for us.
My New Year’s resolution is to adore him with everything I
can muster in 2017.
