The Wise Men as a Pattern for Worship
Many of the accounts in Scripture are patterns for worship. That is, often when the writers of Scripture recount an event, the Holy Spirit is revealing a deeper truth about how the Lord desires to be worshipped. This is the second in a series on patterns for worship in the Bible.
When we read the Bible, we find that there are multiple layers to what we read. The first layer is the actual story that is written – the events that happened or the words that were spoken – that we can picture in our mind. This is a basic, factual, surface-level reading of Scripture. But there is a deeper level.
Jesus said, “The Scriptures point to Me” (John 5:39). So there is another layer of understanding, where the Scriptures carry a deeper meaning and reveal the nature of Jesus to our hearts. As we read the Bible, our goal is to go beyond the surface-level recounting of events and actually see how a particular passage speaks of Jesus.
One simple verse in the New Testament that reveals a beautiful truth about Jesus is Matthew 2:11, which recounts the visit of the wise men: “They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
In this verse, we see a clear pattern for how Jesus desires to be worshipped.
“They entered the house and saw the child.” First, we behold Jesus.
“They bowed down and worshipped Him.” Then we worship Him for who He is.
“They opened their treasure chests and gave Him gifts.” Then we open our hearts and pour our love on Him.
Isn’t that beautiful? This passage is simple, yet it speaks clearly of how Jesus desires to be worshipped.
It is also interesting to observe the three gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Throughout the Bible, gold speaks of divinity – Jesus is God. Frankincense speaks of worship and prayer – He is the One who will be worshipped forever. And myrrh speaks of suffering and death – He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
So when the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they not only gave us a pattern for worship, but the very gifts they brought spoke of Jesus as the Son of God, the One worthy of our worship, and the suffering Savior. How beautiful He is!
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.