We 3 Kings

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

We've all heard the wonderful Christmas carol "We Three Kings." Scripture does not say they were kings, but it does call them "wise men from the east." They come to Jerusalem following the star, the one we call the Star of Bethlehem. They are received with great ceremony by King Herod. Herod is the puppet king of Judea whom the Roman occupiers have installed in power to rule for them over the Jews. The Wise Men are seeking the Christ child. Wise men still do. They tell Herod and his assembled priests and scribes that they have come to worship the newborn King of the Jews. Innocently, these Wise Men ask if they can be directed to the place where the child lives. Herod is upset by this news. He knows what the Prophets of Israel have written about the coming of the Messiah. He fears His coming. So do all the people in Jerusalem who have learned to live comfortably under Roman rule.
Standing apart from the Wise Men, Herod wants answers. He demands of his priests and scribes that they tell him where in his kingdom the child will be born. Without hesitation, the priests and scribes tell Herod: The child is to be born in Bethlehem. So the Scriptures have revealed. Herod summons the Wise Men again. He questions them closely about when they first saw the star in the sky. He gives them his permission to go to Bethlehem. He encourages them to go there and find the child. Lying through his teeth, he tells them to return to his Jerusalem palace when they have found the child. "Bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also," says the treacherous ruler. He has no such intent.
Following the star in the east, the Wise Men come into the house where they find the young child with Mary, his mother. They fall down and worship Him. They give Him their precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What a scene it must have been. Scripture does not tell us that these Wise Men wore rich gold threaded clothing, or that they might have come in a large camel train heavily laden. We don't even know that there were three of them. We only know they bore the three precious gifts. In the midst of all this wonder and joy, there is horror and violence. The blood of innocents is shed. The Wise Men are warned in a dream not to return to Herod's palace in Jerusalem. Instead, they depart quietly and return to their own country. An Angel of the Lord warns Joseph, Mary's husband: Take the child and flee into Egypt for Herod seeks the child's life. When Herod learns that the Wise Men have left secretly, he is enraged. He orders his soldiers to kill all the children in and around Bethlehem under the age of two years.
For this crime he is known down through the ages. The infant Jesus, Mary, and Joseph will sojourn in Egypt until they learn that King Herod is dead. Their coming out of Egypt is the fulfillment of prophesy. It is the triumph of life over the forces of death. In our day, we need that assurance, too. Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. Joy to the world!