Yesterday, I had the immense joy of communicating God’s Word through dramatic monologue as one of the ancient Magi, written about in the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12. You may watch the video below, which was filmed at Mayfair Bible Church, where I serve as Lead Pastor:
End Your Search | Full Manuscript
Unforgettable! Amazing! Like nothing I’ve ever seen or heard of since! …I’ll never forget that journey of journeys until the day I die.
Long had we searched – all our lives! And finally all our seeking, searching, and longing ended.
More than 4 months we did travel to follow the signal light of the most magnificent, unusual Star. Ahh… seeing the Star is when it all began.
Who were the Magi?
You see, we Magi – wise men, we are not magicians as you might say, but scholars, interpreters, astrologers, astronomers, political leaders with great power… some of us Magi have in the past been placed to rule over the provinces of Babylon and Egypt. We study science, diplomacy, and religion to try “to understand present and future life.”[1]
Our HISTORY: We were always SEARCHING for the Truth, for the Way to Life, Life Beyond this Life… Searching the scrolls… Searching the stars…Searching our hearts.
Folk Religion: We searched in the ancient superstitions and religions of our forefathers but it led us nowhere, only to more searching and never finding the answers we were looking for!
Judaism: BUT THEN into our midst came Daniel, an orphaned Jew. He interpreted great dreams for King Nebuchadnezzar and saved the lives of our ancestors by doing so! (Daniel 2). He was placed over all the entire province of Babylon AND as leader over all the other wise man – the Magi! He worshiped Adonai, or in the Hebrew language, YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, the God not made or carved or crafted by the hand of any human being – a God not seen, but a God whose handiwork is seen everywhere.
YHWH gave Daniel more wisdom than anyone in our realm had ever seen. The Magi of that time were drawn to learn of this God who rescued Daniel from a prison cave filled with hungry lions, the God who appeared in the burning hot human incinerator and rescued Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who we called Shadrach, Mischach, and Abednego – they should’ve been instantly burned to death yet they were alive!
The God who was with Daniel entered our story, the story of the Magi. The Magi of old marveled at the prophecies of Daniel concerning the future and of what he instructed from the Hebrews scrolls. He even told them of an ancient wise man, named Joseph, an orphaned Jew, who interpreted a dream for the great Pharaoh of Egypt… and ruled over all the provinces of the land
Zoroastrianism: But later, upon the command of King Darius I, our forebears adapted to Zoroastrianism and sought to follow the god, Ahura Mazda.[2] But for all our dutiful religious adherence, we still found no lasting peace, guidance for our existence, or answers for the order of the earth. The truth learned during Daniel’s time became mixed, twisted, and ignored. The search of the Magi continued…
Your Search?
Many of you are seeking, searching, and longing for answers, truth, knowledge, and understanding, yes? I hear many in your time are yet again following the ways of Zoroastrianism and other man-devised ways of seeking for answers. We are told we can find the answers within ourselves, are we not? We are told to follow our hearts. But the great prophet of old, Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can know it?”
As the chief most scholars, scientists, priests, and intellectuals we were constantly looking for order and disorder, patterns, and problems. But with all our astrology, books, scrolls, and religious endeavors of cultic worship and Zoroastrianism, OUR SEARCH NEVER seemed complete. Peace – inner and outer peace – never remained in our grasp.
You, too? Ahh… but the searching, doubting soul is not the one without faith, but is the evidence of a faith worth fighting for.
One Dark Night
Hundreds of years rolled on by, but our tribe, the Great Magi of the East continued searching and seeking the scrolls and the stars for answers…
…until one dark, dark night a star appeared that pierced through the sky. We saw the most unusual, magnificent star across the distant horizon. No star like it! An angelic, heavenly light.
Then suddenly I remembered there was something written in the ancient Hebrew scrolls about a great star which would be for the Messiah, a Savior, a Rescuer, the One who would set everything right on the earth! My friends and I rushed back to our library of scrolls and finally found it… I knew it was there, just as Daniel had taught our ancestors long ago! [Rush back to Fireside and Scrolls]
Another man, considered to be a member of the Magi of the past, wrote these words in what you call Numbers (14:15a-17a):
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered. I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel…”
This one would bring justice to the oppressed and rule with righteousness upon the throne of His father King David! A newborn King! Many people across the entire known world talked about this Promised One. There was anticipation but also trepidation. What would His coming mean for us all?
We had to find out! From the dark, dusty halls of our library we ran outside again and look up into the night sky: there it was the brightest, most magnificent and unique star – a star never before seen. And according to our best astronomy calculations it was shining directly down over David’s Town, Bethlehem. Could it be?!
Yes, yes it was! We could sense it in our hearts through the Spirit of God the Most High.
The JOURNEY
So we embarked on the Journey that I will never forget until the day I die (which may not be too long now). We gathered a regal group, an embassy, for the long journey… for months and months we traveled up the Fertile Crescent along the Great Euphrates River and then down through the mountains and hill country, eventually through Galilee and then into Jerusalem, near the place where the star guided us. This God, YHWH, set us on a search, the Journey of all journeys, a pilgrimage of over 900 miles!
As we journeyed, the star did not remain in the sky. But still we kept believing. We knew what we had seen in the night.
No Light in Your Night?
For some of you, the star – the light of God – seems like it is gone from your sky. Darkness and doubt are creeping in. But you need to still keep believing. “Don’t doubt in the dark, what God has shown you in the light.” (Corrie ten Boom)
JERUSALEM
So on we journeyed until we finally arrived at the great yet tumultuous city of Jerusalem, run by a vassal-lord who called himself, King Herod… a treacherous fool, indeed. They say, if you were a pig you would be safer in Herod’s court than one of his own sons, since he killed his three sons and did not eat pork because of wanting to patronize the Jewish leaders.[3]
As soon as we arrived we began asking everyone across the city:
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Matt. 1:2)
Surely, everyone must have seen the star and heard of the newborn King!? But no, some seemed to hear of it, but the entire place got stirred into an uproar by our questioning. Fear spread throughout the city that Herod may go again into a murderous tyrannical spree to eliminate any threat to his throne.
The fearful fool, Herod, gathered all their chief priests and scribes together and asked them where the Messiah – the Anointed One – was to be born. And just as we had found, the ancient prophecies were clear. They answered, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
“And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Micah 5:2 and 2 Sam. 5:2)
The prophecy was being fulfilled! But then Herod called us in for a secret meeting. He pelted us with probing questions: “What did you see? When did you see it? How do you know it points toward the Messiah?”
He then sent us on our way to search for the Child, but with a caveat,
“…when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” (Matt. 2:8b)
SEARCH’S END:
Then an amazing thing happened as soon as we returned to our search for the Child! The star we’d seen in the East reappeared! We could hardly believe our eyes. This time it was CLOSE, so Very CLOSE. We rejoiced and shouted and danced! For so long we had searched, sought, and longed…
Then in the little town of Bethlehem, in a humble home…we saw the Child. We SAW Him with Mary His Mother. The presence of YHWH – the one true and living God – invaded our weary hearts. Tears of joy filled our eyes. Then we fell to the ground, for our search for Truth and Life had come to an end and we worshiped Him. We gave him our very best earthly treasures because in Him we had finally found the heavenly treasure. (Lay down Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh). We had finally discovered, believed, and received the Christ!
What about You?
Lay down the gifts, head-dress, scepter, everything at the feet of Jesus… “Because that is how we worship… we lay our lives down in submission to Him and His will; for He is worthy.”
“We worship You, we worship You, we worship You, Christ the Lord”…. “Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices…”
The fool seeks to thwart or ignore God’s plan, but the wise bow in worshipful submission to God. The evil fool Herod sought to stamp us out and kill the Messiah. But One cannot thwart the eternal purpose of God. No one can stop His Son.
Have you been saying you’re following Him, but in reality you’re mostly ignoring Him? Will you lay down everything you have at the feet of the Holy Child and say, “It is all from you and to you and for your glory will I now live… so I lay my life down at your feet.”?
And for many of you, today is the day you End your Search.
Come to Jesus today. Put your belief, your trust into Him. Receive Life. God created you. God loves you.
No one is beyond God’s reach. No one is beyond God’s love. No one is beyond God’s Son.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Clint Arnold, Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, pg. 14. Cf. Chad Ashby’s helpful article: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2016/december/magi-wise-men-or-kings-its-complicated.html
[2] Many of the Magi caste were followers of Zoroaster, the religion of Zoroastrianism, which was forced upon them by Darius I. They did not want to lost their political power, so many adapted to this cultic religious path. Group writers comment, “While there is no absolute consensus about the adherence of the kings before Darius, such as Cyrus and Cambyses, it is well established that Darius was an adherent of Zoroastrianism or at least a firm believer in Ahura Mazda. As can be seen at the Behistun Inscription, Darius believed that Ahura Mazda had appointed him to rule the Achaemenid Empire. Darius had dualistic philosophical convictions and believed that each rebellion in his kingdom was the work of druj, the enemy of Asha. Darius believed that because he lived righteously by Asha, Ahura Mazda supported him. In many cuneiform inscriptions denoting his achievements, he presents himself as a devout believer, perhaps even convinced that he had a divine right to rule over the world.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_I
[3] “Caesar Augustus supposedly made the famous pun that he would rather be Herod’s pig (hus) than his son (huios).” – Arnold, Zondervan Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), pg. 18. See also David Turner’s excellent work in the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Gospel of Matthew, Tyndale: 2005.
