Christmas Visitors: 'the Magi'

SERMON OUTLINE:

• A wise man’s journey is one of FAITH.

• A wise man’s journey is one of WORSHIP.

• A wise man’s journey is one of CHANGE.

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• For more than thirty years, archaeologist Howard Carter,

• Searched the deserts of Egypt for something that most people thought didn’t exist,

• The tomb of King Tutankhamen.

• Most experts believed that everything in the Valley of the Kings,

• Had already been discovered, but Carter continued his search.

• Eventually after five more years without result,

• Carter’s sponsor, Lord Carnarvon of England,

• Decided to stop funding the search.

• Carter pressed on and in the November of 1922,

• During his final season of work,

• Carter uncovered a hidden staircase near the tomb of Ramses VI.

• He sent a cable to England which said,

• “At last, have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact.”

• Carter had located the tomb of King Tutankhamen.

• Which is one of the greatest archaeological treasures every discovered.

• Inside the tomb they found more than 400 shabti (small ornaments),

• And there were over 5,000 objects in the tomb,

• It would take Howard Carter and his team,

• Over 8 years to remove and catalogue them all.

• The highlight of all the treasures was the royal mummy of Tutankhamun,

• It was untouched by humans for 3000 years.

• And it was the first-ever Royal mummy that was untouched after its burial.

• TRANSITION: Howard Carter’s search was driven by a firm belief,

• His belief was that there was treasure to be found,

• And he was determined to find it!

• The story of the Wise Men is a story of adventure,

• They were unsure of the where, the why and the how but they pressed on,

• Determined to find their living treasure!

• Now we are familiar with aspects of this story,

• Every manger scene includes the Wise Men,

• And we will hear or join in the singing of the Christmas carol, “We Three Kings.”

Ill:

• In case you don’t know the story,

• Here is the 60 second summary of the Wise Men’s part in the Christmas story!

• (Now listen carefully of you might get confused).

• Three kings came to see the king.

• And asked him where the new king was born.

• But the first king told the three kings.

• That he didn't know where the second king was.

• His advisers looked in the Bible - though not in First or Second Kings.

• And found that the second king was to be born in Bethlehem.

• So, the first king told the three kings.

• To find the second king and tell him, the first king, where the second king was,

• Because the first king thought the second king was one king too many.

• But when the three kings found the second king.

• They realised he was actually the number-one king - the King of Kings.

• And that, compared with him,

• The other king and all other kings were really no kings at all.

Note:

• The story of the wise men & their gifts is a story that is shrouded in mystery.

• From tradition we seem to know all the facts and details.

• But as we study the Bible, we find that there are a lot of questions.

• That we cannot answer about the wise men from the Biblical text.

For example:

• How many were there? We don’t know (Tradition but not the Bible says 3).

• Where did they come from? We don’t know.

• How long did their journey take? We don’t know.

• What were their names? We don’t know.

• (It was in the 5th century they were first called Caspar, Melchior, & Balthasar)

• These wise men seem to just show up mysteriously.

• And just as mysteriously they are gone!

Note:

• From the Greek word translated in English as “wise men” or “Magi”,

• We get our English word “magician”.

• But these ‘Magi’ are not magicians as we would think of today.

• They were not an ancient ‘Dynamo’ or David Blane.

• The word “Magi” in Bible times.

• Referred to those who were experts in philosophy, medicine and natural science.

• ill: In Bible days you didn’t ‘Google’ for an answer.

• You looked to the Magi (specially trained wise men) to come up with an answer.

• These Magi (Wise Men) were literally walking encyclopaedias.

• Their one job in life was to learn, learn, learn.

• Then when called upon by their king or queen.

• They were required to give an appropriate answer or solution to the problem.