Christmas. What a magic word.
Believers and unbelievers alike have a little more happiness in their hearts
and a bit more spring in their step. Around the world preachers are adjusting
their typical sermon schedule and will spend several weeks telling the story
from all angles they can find. In smaller churches children typically take on
the role of Joseph and Mary for the annual Christmas play. Larger churches have older adults take on the
roles of Joseph, Mary, the angels and others. Megachurches do their best to
outdo one another for their annual Christmas play. One church has real animals, another has
angels on wires flying through the stage, while another has the ultimate light
and music show for the attendees.
We love it
and for good reason. This is the beginning of the greatest story ever told. We
learn about the humble beginnings of our Savior and the culture He grew up in.
At least that is what we should be learning. Instead as time has progressed we
have added to the Christmas story and brought into our Christmas plays words
and actions that are not in Scripture. For a Biblically illiterate society this
can be devastating.
Let’s look
at some of the more commonly made mistakes in Christmas plays:
The 3 Wise Men
We do not
know how many wise men came searching for the Christ Child. The Scripture says:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of
Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Matthew 2:1
As we notice the Scripture does
not give us a number. The Scripture mentions wise men, two or more. Typically
if there was only two the Scripture might use the word “both” which indicates
it was probably three or more. Why do we assume that there were three wise men?
When we read of their gifts we discover that there was three recorded gifts given:
11
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. Matthew 2:11
There
could have been many more. These three were the most significant and that is
why they are the only ones mentioned.
Another
contributing factor concerning the number of wise men tradition says that there
were three and that their names were Gaspar/Caspar, Melchior, and
Balthasar/Balthazar. Since the Bible does not say, in fact there is no mention
of their names, there is no way of being certain if this true. Without any
supporting documentation it would be wisest to keep with the Scripture.
When
did they show up? All of our Christmas plays having them showing up the night
of Christ’s birth typically a short while after the shepherds. Unfortunately
this could not have been. The soonest
the wise men could have arrived would have been the 9th day after
Christ’s birth. If the wise men had
shown up before then Joseph and Mary would have offered the incorrect
redemption offering for Christ:
22
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were
accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
23
(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord;)
24
And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the
Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. Luke 2:22-24
How is this evidence that the
wise men had not made an appearance?
“The
proper offering was a lamb for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or dove for a sin
offering; but for the poor an alternative was allowed - instead of the more
costly present of a lamb, a second pigeon or dove might be brought. The deep
poverty of Mary and Joseph is shown in this offering. They would never have put
the sanctuary off with the humbler had the richer gift been in their power.”
The Pulpit Commentary[1]
If the wise men had come to the
family previously the offering would be more than two turtledoves, the offering
of the poor. Joseph would have been required to offer a lamb as the wealth the
wise men gave to the Christ child would necessitate a more appropriate
offering.
Lastly we read in the Scripture
in our aforementioned verse:
11 And going
into the house…” Matthew 2:11a
Not the manger but a house. The
family was out of the manger and in a house. It would be natural that they
would move from the manger into a house, most likely a friend’s house, for the
first few months of the baby’s life. The
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says:
“not
the stable; for as soon as Bethlehem was emptied of its strangers, they would
have no difficulty in finding a dwelling-house.”[2]
The question I am asked often
after relating these facts is, “what does it matter? Shouldn’t the overall
theme be the important point? Not nitpicking the story to death.” While I agree
theme of the story is very important it is paramount we understand the story
with what is given and not add in our own suppositions and traditions. If we
fail at this point to read our Bible carefully and dig out every gold nugget
God has given us we will begin to fall for every fake gold nugget man creates.
Read, study, learn and digest what the Bible gives us, not what man does.
But let us not end on such a
note. Let us look at two great lessons (there are more) we find in the wise
men.
(1)
Gentiles looking for the Messiah. I love how God instructs Matthew, a Jew, to
relate the story of the Gentiles finding Christ. While in Luke, the Gentile, we
read the story of how the Jews were looking for Christ. By looking at both Gospels we discover both
Jew and Gentile looking for something greater than what this world has to
offer. (On a side note, Mark and John do not contain the birth narrative. I
find many life-long church going Christians automatically assume all the
gospels have the birth narrative.) We were once like the wise men. We too were
searching for something greater than ourselves.
(2)
The wise men were very humble. A widespread joke today goes: “The children of Israel wandered around the
desert for 40 years led by two men. Even in biblical times, men wouldn’t ask
for directions.” The wise men were exceptions. First they needed a star to
guide them and then when they entered Jerusalem they needed the advice of
others on where to go. They asked for directions. They did not rest in their
superior intellect, their wealth, their prestige, to get them what they wanted.
When they were in need they asked for help. Then when they arrived and found
Mary and the Christ Child their first actions:
“…and they fell to the ground
and worshiped Him.” Matthew 2:11b
They fell before a child and
worshiped Him. Before they offered Him their gifts they gave Him their worship.
They understood who He was and who they were.
I love this story and I love
these men. They searched for the Messiah and we should all emulate searching
for the Messiah in the Scripture. We should hunt down every nugget of
information about our Messiah that the inspired authors wrote for us. When we
discover new things about our Messiah it should cause us to fall down and
worship Him even more for what He did for us and what He is doing for us.
This is the first of a series of
articles concerning the Christmas story, what is Bible and what has been added
by man. If you have a moment please share in the comments lessons that the wise
men have taught you and any traditions that you grew up with concerning them. Thank
you for reading.
