Wise Men Still Lay All Earthly Treasure Before Him

HEAR.

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.

MATTHEW 2:10–11

SEE.

“Exceedingly with great joy.” When was the last time that could be said of you? It is, in my estimation, one of the most convicting things in the New Testament Scriptures. It’s the feeling you experienced when the Holy Spirit first circumcised your heart, and you knew that God had overcome you with saving grace.

But notice, the worship was not complete. The “exceedingly great joy” the magi experienced was not enough.  The worship ended with an exchange; they received great joy, and they gladly gave up the worldly treasures knowing that WHO stood before them was of greater worth than their earthly goods.

That’s how all glorying over amazing things is. A man sees a beautiful woman, and more often than not, it is not enough to drink in her beauty with his eyes. He must point her out to his friend, or he will whistle at her to praise her, or he will take no chance at giving up the opportunity to praise her beauty to her face. So it is with Jesus.

The magi traveled some 900 miles because their joy was not complete with the seeing of the Star of Bethlehem. Their joy was only complete when they saw the One to whom the star was pointing—Jesus, the Messiah—God in the flesh.

TOUCH.

The Gentile magi are a convicting lot for the people of God today. They were willing to give of their valued treasure to pay homage due the Messiah, the one born king of the Jews. And their example should lay a model before us; what does it look like, practically, to worship Jesus as Lord? Matthew says that wise men still lay all earthly treasure before Him.

Today, wise men are like a man who found a treasure hidden in a field. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matt. 13:44). The field is not what excites them; no, what excites them is the treasure and the everlasting, all-satisfying, never-dulling, never-failing treasure is the Son of God. He is the One who reveals the Father in himself (Matt. 11:25-26). He is the One who promises true Sabbath rest (11:28-30).

This promised rest will extend itself to our anxieties that enslave our trust to money and all kinds of earthly treasures. Matthew/Jesus uses the same word for treasure in other passages of Matthew’s Gospel (Matt.  13;44; 6:19-20; 19:21). The connection seems deliberate. Jesus cares about our anxieties, and he cares about what our earthly treasures are doing to our hearts to inflame those anxieties, and in turn, He cares what are hearts are doing to one another.

This is why His atoning death on the Cross and His Resurrection matter. The work of Jesus Christ for His New Covenant people is such that He creates in us the ability to be free from worldly anxieties and idolatry so that we might hope in the One who is called “eternal life” (1 John 1:2, 3).

PROCLAIM.

God doesn’t need our money to accomplish His good pleasure. But what changes in our hearts and in our churches might come about when we wisely lay all earthly treasures before Him? What does the use of your treasures say to yourself and to the world about where your heart is?

In other words,  Does knowing Jesus bring you to your knees with “exceedingly great joy?”