On coming to the house, they saw the child
with his mother Mary,
and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him
with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
The Magi, or Wise Men — as young ones, my children though they were clever when they called them the “Wise Guys” — traveled long, far, and no doubt uncomfortably to worship a baby King. We know the story. We’ve heard and can recite it. But have we considered the surprise of it: that Gentile kings (or those working for kings) would humble themselves to come worship a Jewish baby?
Their choice to come in itself includes an element of humility. Great men from powerful places choosing to worship an infant from an insignificant place. And indeed, the Gospel itself comes with many upside-down surprises – God became man, we lose our life to gain it, the last shall be first, death brings life.
If an element of humility was needed to launch their trip, we certainly also see it at the conclusion of their trip. Note their actions when they saw the babe: they bowed down and worshiped.
This phrase is seen often in scripture. The order is important: first they bowed down and then they worshiped.
The act of bowing was most likely physical here, but it points to a heart and mind that follows suit; an attitude of humility is necessary to worship our great God. When we come into the presence of our Creator, when we see our Lord and who He is — and, in contrast, who we are and are not — we will be, we must be humbled.
And from that humility, our worship will flow.
We mirror the response of the wise men when we come to God in confession, acknowledging His sovereignty, greatness, and provision. Our worship will naturally flow from our humility. Pride evaporates when we come into the presence of Jesus.
As you and I meet Him in His Word and in prayer, may the response of the Wise Men be our response, as well: bow down and (then) worship.
There’s nothing like abiding in God’s Word to lead us to bow down and worship. We invite you to write the Word with us this month as we focus on the nativity of Jesus. You can find the free Characters of Christmas bookmark, as well as the corresponding S.O.A.P. Bible study pages) on our Downloads page.
Our teaching video on The Wise Men is below, and you can view all of the videos in the series when you visit our YouTube channel (and while you are there, it would bless our ministry if you would SUBSCRIBE using your Gmail address, at no cost to you).
