About 1,000 years before the birth of Christ, the Queen of Sheba journeys to visit the King of the Jews. She travels from what today is Ethiopia. The Queen arrives with camels and many servants bearing gifts of gold, spices, and jewels. She is curious and wants to confirm what others tell her about the King of the Jews and his glory.
So, the Queen decides to meet this king. She doesn’t need to ask, “Where is the King of the Jews?” She needs only to enter king’s city, Jerusalem, to gaze on Jerusalem’s glory and splendor. In finding the glory of Jerusalem, the Queen will locate the king. So, she travels to Israel and finds him, Solomon, the King.
What her eyes take in astounds her. A king in all his finery stands before her. So, she challenges him with hard questions and problems, testing if what the legends announce about him and his wisdom are true. They are.
She revels in the gold-lined Temple, which Solomon built. Her mouth waters from the food on his table. The king’s cupbearers and servers wear only the finest clothing, displaying vast wealth. The glory of Israel, verified by sight, leaves her breathless.
No wonder she offers Solomon such gifts—several tons of gold, more spices than came to Israel in times of old, and jewels to bedazzle the eyes. The queen and her
staff go back to Sheba, filled with joy and gladness, for they celebrated with their own eyes in the glory of Israel.
In King Herod’s day, Magi from the east make a similar journey. They also do the obvious: travel to Jerusalem. Still, they do not find the king they seek, so events force these men to ask for directions. “Where is the One born King of the Jews?”
A King now lives in Jerusalem, named Herod. He claims to be the King of the Jews. The Roman Emperor appointed him, but he lacks proper Jewish ancestry. Is an appointed, non-Jew the man born King of the Jews? No.
Without Solomon’s wisdom, Herod cannot direct others where to find this Messiah. The Temple scribes must do what Herod cannot. These gift-laden visitors from the east now find their task all the harder. For someone can only find the real King of the Jews if he believes the spoken Word; these men need faith.
The Wise Men come to worship—but as in all matters of faith, without God, they will only meet failure, not find success. Proper devotion to God is never easy. So, why is worship a subject near to the heart of so many? Here’s why. From time’s beginning, God created us as beings to revere and receive from Him, glorifying Him by what we think, speak, and do.
Consider Adam. God made him to rule, to manage everything in the Garden, to be king. One day, God comes to visit him, but Adam chooses the darkness and hides from God. Though created to be king, he turns away from his Maker and becomes a slave—a slave to the devil, a slave to the dust, a slave to death.
Adam now lives in a darkness of his making, but God, his Creator, beams His rays of mercy on this failure of a king. The Lord shines light into his darkness. He comes to Adam and draws him away from the gloom with the light of His Word.
The Lord promises a triumphant king to come, who will atone for Adam’s failures. God gives Adam a gift, a gift greater than gold. He gives him faith, a trust in the promise of the King to come. Such is our God.
We fall into sin, and our worship goes awry. We still glorify something but focus our hearts where they should not be. Our preferences become our God. We choose what we want to worship and how; so, are we so different from Adam and Eve?
All people are worshippers; everyone glorifies and trusts in something. God wired us to be so since our first breath. The Apostle Paul describes humanity’s fall into sin. We refused to give God the glory (Romans 1:21). We decided to make God less important than our wants and wishes.
So, the generous, self-giving heart of God becomes a stranger to us. Unlike Him, we harbor well-hidden agendas with our generosity. Our fists clench tight, refusing to let go of our money. We are not the cheerful givers described in Scripture. How can this be? We worry more about trivial matters than how the Gospel is faring in our town. Do you not find such priorities to be unbalanced? Our actions reveal the false gods living in our hearts!
We consider our stuff more important than God. Sinful ways and death-filled corruption are what we bring. Like Adam, our worship leads to enslavement and ruin. The same sin afflicted the Wise Men. To worship as God demanded, they needed help, divine help. So do we—and God does not fall short, delivering to us, as well.
The Queen of Sheba found the King with her eyes. Now, if the Magi sought the king as she did, the real King of the Jews would still elude them, as would their salvation. Still, God loves these men and reveals to them where to find Israel’s true King of Splendor. Through others, God speaks to them His Word. He guides them by a star. For their eyes alone will not lead them to Israel’s true King of Glory, Jesus Christ.
The Magi will miss God’s glory if they seek a king speaking wisdom. For God hides His Wisdom in a Child, a toddler. God’s glory is no longer in His Jerusalem Temple but at a humble house in Bethlehem. Unlike Solomon, God’s glory is not next to waiters wearing the finest clothing. No, these Magi will find Him in the lap of a virgin mother.
So they go to where God comes to be for His people, and in doing so, they worship well. Outsiders looking at the sight would laugh with scorn. What an odd picture: learned men with much wealth kneel in homage before a Child.
The gifts the Wise Men bring should not impress us most. What should impress us are their ears of faith, which God gave to them. Their ears took in God’s Word and believed, despite appearances. Their ears led them to the real King of the Jews.
“Where is the One born King of the Jews?” The same question demands to be asked at the end of our Lord’s life, as well. To find the King of the Jews during Herod’s day challenged those distant travelers. In Pontius Pilate’s day, who crucified Jesus, the question becomes more formidable to answer.
So we will not miss our King, God takes much care to respond to the question. Like before, God again uses Gentiles. A Gentile, Pontius Pilate, stands before Jesus. He asks without blinking, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Our Lord speaks a “yes,” allowing death to come and claim Him.
Other Gentiles will surround Him and offer Him gifts—a scarlet robe, a crown of thorns, and wine mixed with vinegar. More Gentiles will come to surround and mock Him. They bark out words, not realizing them to be true: “Hail, King of the Jews.”
To make sure no one misses this King, God uses Gentiles to nail a sign above His head. The placard reads, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.” So, where is the One born King of the Jews? He is where the Father wants Him to be to save you. Jesus hangs on a cross, shedding His blood. Jesus gives up His breath, His Spirit, and dies. Why? So His Spirit may fill you with His life and glorify you into eternity.
So, where is the One born King of the Jews? God still needs to answer the same question for us today. For if He doesn’t, our inclination toward false worship will lead us to the wrong place. We still need God’s help; otherwise, we will not come to where Jesus promises to be for our life and salvation.
Like Jesus, God in the toddler before the Wise Men, He comes to us today in ways the wise of the world will reject. Only those, whom God makes wise, will recognize Jesus coming to us today for our salvation. How can we be sure? Scripture tells us.
Baptism saves you (1 Peter 3:21). Baptized into Christ Jesus, God joins you to His Son in His death. The Holy Spirit raised Christ from the dead by the Father’s glory. Why? So you may also walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-5).
Jesus commanded the Church’s first pastors, His Apostles: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:23). The One born King of the Jews comes to you in words of forgiveness, spoken by a sinful pastor.
Jesus sharpened the focus of His pastors’ proclamation. They are to preach repentance into the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47). Every sermon is to point you to your salvation found in Christ Jesus.
Our Lord also commanded those pastors to celebrate His Supper, which Jesus reveals is His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ words tell us so.
So, where’s the King? Two-thousand years ago, the Magi found Him in Bethlehem, as promised. Today, He is here, in His preached Word, in His Sacraments, where He promises to be.
Bethlehem means “house of bread.” In this place, this House of Bread, we find Jesus, the Bread of Life. He is our King, born to bring us back to God by His birth, life, death, and resurrection, which He delivers to you now in this place, as He promises. Amen.
