This morning we are going to read and talk about this account of the visit of the Magi. And it is found in Matthew chapter two, Matthew chapter two, verses one through 12. And let us hear from God's word. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him. After listening to the king, they went on their way and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. May God add his blessing to this reading of his word. There's so much that is curious about this account of the Magi, so many unanswered questions. We don't know who these men were. We don't know how many there were. We don't know where they came from. We also don't know how they connected a particular star with the birth of a king of the Jews and why they would come. such a distance to honor him, to honor his birth. What we do know is that these Magi who came to see Jesus were from a foreign country, as I mentioned in the children's sermon. They were not from Israel. They were from a country east, somewhere east of Israel. They were looking for a king of the Jews. They came bearing gifts. They came to worship him. And we know that the news of his birth was something of great joy to them. That's what we do know. Now, For as much as we don't know about these Magi, it's fairly clear that Matthew includes this account in his gospel because he wants to tell us something about Jesus. He's telling us that from the moment of his birth, he was recognized as being the king of the Jews, the Messiah who would come not just to save the Jewish people, but also to be the hope of all nations of the earth. And so these Magi were not just making a celebratory visit. They weren't just coming to wish Jesus happy birthday. They've come to pay homage to him. They've come to submit to him they have come to worship him. They saw this child as one who would be the Savior of all who trusted in him." So Matthew's account of Jesus being visited by the Magi is a picture of a king of the Jews who would be relevant to people beyond the borders of the nation of Israel. And this is an end times picture that's being given to us here, a picture of fulfillment. It's what was predicted by the prophets, the prediction of a day when God would send his anointed king to save his people, to establish God's kingdom, and then to extend his rule beyond Israel, the Bible tells us, to the very ends of the earth. And with the birth of Jesus, the things promised by the prophets begin to take shape and they become reality. The King has been born and with these Magi coming, we see the nations already at this very early point in time coming to worship him. Now the passage we read for our response of reading this morning from Isaiah 60, this is one of a number of passages in the book of Isaiah that speak about the coming of the nations to the nation of Israel, being drawn to Israel and in particular to Zion, the city of Jerusalem. The image used in that passage is one of a bright light that the nations see and which they move toward. And this morning I'd like to use that image from that passage in Isaiah as we think about the coming of the Magi to see Jesus. And so I want to talk about three things. One is light has come into the world. The second is the nations are coming to the light. And the third thing is that we are to shine with this light in this present world. So first the light has come into the world. Isaiah 60 verses 1 and 2 says, Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples. But the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you. Now, the picture that we get here is the entire earth being covered with darkness. Imagine living in darkness all the time. It's hard enough getting up, right? When the sun hasn't come up yet. Well, what if the sun never rose? It'd be like being blind. Except in this instance, everyone would be blind. There would be no one who could see to describe things, no one to give directions or to warn of danger. And usually evil is associated with the dark. When we hear the expression, the dark side, we immediately know what this means. Things happen under the cover of darkness that don't happen in the light where they would be exposed. And unless we are trying to hide ourselves, we tend to avoid and fear dark places. And so living in darkness is to live handicapped. It's to live in peril. And, you know, there's a lot of confusion in our day about what to believe and how to live. It's like living in the dark, like being blind. Our postmodern world, we've become cynical. about whether we can ever know the truth. And generally people who claim to have the truth are considered by others to be arrogant. But when we think about it, if those who believe that they have the truth are arrogant, then those who believe that no one can have the truth are equally arrogant since they believe that they have the truth, that no one can know the truth. We can agree that many people are confused about truth and there are many competing ideas out there about what's true. But that doesn't mean that truth does not exist. It doesn't mean that it can never be known. The Bible gives an explanation for the confusion that exists. And the explanation is that much of the world is living in a sort of darkness, and so it's unable to see the truth that God has made known. In this picture painted for us by Isaiah 60, the entire earth dwells in constant and impenetrable darkness. But then in this little corner of the world, in Palestine, in Israel, a light appears. And it's not just any light. It's the light of God's glory. It's the light of God himself. In other words, God appears. Now, being students of the Bible, the first thing that should come to our minds here is the light that filled the most holy place or the holy of holies in the temple. That was the light of God's presence with his people. And we should also think of the pillar of fire that gave light to the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness and the pillar of fire gave light to them by night. In the midst of the darkness, God provided light for his people. And that light again was God himself. Now the light in the temple and the light in the wilderness. Those lights were only temporary. They were only pointers. They were only foreshadowings of the true light that was yet to come. The light that Isaiah speaks about in chapter 60. And so when we get to the New Testament, when we jump ahead, we find the apostle John telling us in chapter one of his gospel, that this light that Isaiah spoke about, this light has finally come, has come into the world. John says the true light, which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. And as we read further in that chapter of John's gospel, we see that this light of which he speaks is the word of God that has been made flesh. He's speaking about Jesus Christ. The only son of the father, John says, full of grace and truth. With the coming of Jesus, the light of God's glory began to shine in the dark world. The word of God made flesh, the embodiment of God's truth. Living right here among us in the world. Here's the answer. to the blindness, the darkness of this present world. Here's the answer to confusion about the truth. The one who is himself full of truth has appeared. He has spoken. He has acted so that our darkness and our blindness and our confusion can be lifted. But to have that darkness dispelled, we must come to Jesus to receive the light that he brings. And that brings us to the second point, that the nations are coming to the light. The light that arises over Israel is not just for the nation of Israel. They're the first beneficiaries of the light, but they're not the only ones. After Isaiah announces that the glory of the Lord has risen upon Israel, he goes on to say this, he says, and nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. And then he says, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. Now the Magi who came to Jerusalem looking for the one born King of the Jews, they were the first to come to the light of God's glory. That was in Israel. They get the prize as being the first. Now many more would come from every nation, tribe, and tongue over the centuries, thousands. millions, billions, they would come. And they're still coming. They're coming because they have seen his light. They're coming because they want to escape the darkness of this present world and the confusion that is here. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And as the nation streamed to this life, this light, we too must come with them. We must come if we want the light and the life that he offers. If we want to know the truth, the reason why we're here, the purpose of our lives, the goal toward which we are headed. If we want wisdom to know how to live in this present world, if we want to have the hope for the future, hope that there's something more and something better. All of these things are found in Jesus, who is the light of the world. The Magi recognize this in Jesus, even though he was still a small child. He hadn't taught anything yet. hadn't healed anyone yet, hadn't died on a cross or risen as a savior. He had done none of these things, but these magi saw in him the light of God's glory. They were drawn to him and they came to worship him. Is there anything in life that is worthy of such dedication and devotion. Is there anything worthy of our worship? Jesus claimed to be that thing, that one. He claimed to be the end of the darkness, the confusion, the hopelessness of this world. He claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life. He backed up those claims through the wisdom of what he taught and through the works of power that he performed. He backed it up through his own resurrection from the dead. The Magi were right to come to worship him and their dedication to this young child would be vindicated when he became a man and would bring to them the salvation that they sought. If we want what Jesus came to bring, we need to come to him as the Magi did. We must offer him not just frankincense and gold, but all that we are and all that we have. We offer him ourselves in full and complete devotion. We have to become his worshipers, you see. But in exchange, we get a life that is meaningful. We get a life that is full of purpose, full of joy. The Magi rejoiced when they saw his star and rightly so. One more thing about this light. It's not just a light that illumines. It's a light that also brings glory. And this is the last point we are to shine ourselves with this light. Isaiah doesn't just say that the glory of the Lord will be seen. He says that his glory will be seen upon you. And he goes on to say that the nations who come will come to your light. There's a transformative effect of this light on those upon whom it shines. Over the years, there have been those who have advertised different sorts of light or lights that was supposed to have had medicinal effects, curative powers. I don't know whether any of them actually work, but the light of God's glory does work. It has a transforming and a healing effect. It makes those who walk in it glorious as God is glorious. We don't become God, but we do come to reflect the glory of his character, of his power and of his life. And this change in us is a good thing. It's a good thing for us. But it's not just for us. When Jesus left this world, he sent his spirit to be upon us and to be within us. And he calls upon us as his people to now be his body in this world. to be as Jesus, filled with his life, filled with his glory, being transformed and carrying on his work in this world. Jesus said to the apostles before he went back to heaven, he said, as the Father has sent me, I am sending you. He breathed on them. They receive the Spirit of God. When people look upon us, what do they see? Jesus, who said, I am the light of the world, also said something else, which I think is even more phenomenal. He says, you're the light of the world, said to his disciples. You're the light of the world. Shine, he says, by your good works. Let others see those good works so that they may glorify God who is in heaven. When people look upon us, is God being glorified? Do people see the glory of God in the lives that we live? Are we shining with this light that has appeared in this dark world? The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians, he talks about how we have this light, this glory in clay vessels. We're not there yet. We're not fully transformed yet. We are weak. We still struggle with sin. We still struggle with doubts and with hardships in this world. And yet we are called upon to go out and to shine with the glory of God before a watching world, both by the lives that we live and by the message that we bring. We ought to be telling people about the glory of God in Jesus Christ. We are to shine. I was reading recently in a publication by Mission to the World, our mission agency. This is by Mike Pentagill. And he says this, he says, there is still much work to do. Nearly half of the world's 6.9 billion citizens belong to a people group that is unreached by the gospel. More than 300 million people in the world today don't have a Bible available in their own language. Over a thousand people will die before you finish reading this article, and most of them don't know Jesus. Matthew 24, verse 14 tells us, and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. And Mike says, that time has not yet come. And he goes on to speak about the call that God gives to all of us to be missionaries in this world. It's not something that we need to go around to another part of the globe to be, but actually that's what he's interested in. And he's challenging us, all of us, with the possibility that God may be calling us to do that. He talks about, he doesn't use this language, but it reminds me of Paul's words about having this glory of God in clay vessels. And he says, Mike says this, he says, no missionary has ever been sufficiently qualified to serve God. And every missionary I have met feels horribly unprepared for the task at hand. Your ability and skills are less important on the mission field than your willingness to serve others. You don't need training, certification, or a job title to bring the gospel to the world. You only need an obedient heart inclined toward God. God clearly gifts people in different ways for doing things. But if God is calling you to do a particular work, He's going to provide you with the resources you need. You may not have it within yourself, but God may bring someone else alongside of you to complement your gifts. He'll provide the financial resources God will provide. This is the work that he is doing in this world. Light has come into the world. It has shined in darkness. And that light now is shining through us, the people of God, those who themselves have come into this light. God's glory has appeared. It's come in Jesus Christ. The nations are streaming toward it. We need to shine so that others may see, so that others may continue to come and bring glory to the one who deserves all our worship, all our adoration and all our praise. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you that you have brought light into this world. Thank you for giving us eyes to see, for lifting our own blindness. Lord, thank you too for the calling that you have given to us to reflect this light to a very dark world, a world that is very much in confusion about the truth, a world that is without hope concerning the future. We pray, Lord, that through us the light of Jesus would be clearly seen and that many would be drawn to this light, trust in him and be saved. We pray this, Lord, in his name. Amen.