For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated with the wise men in the Bible, who came from the east to worship "He who has been born King of the Jews" (Matthew 2:2). I remember as a little boy, some years when asked what part I wanted in our church's children's Christmas play, I would always choose to be one of the wise men. I just always thought it was so exciting how they just arrived from nowhere more specific than "the east," making a journey bearing gifts fit for a king, based on nothing more than "His star." I have never grown out of that fascination, in fact I would say that it is even stronger now than it was then. A few years ago I even learned that some historians believe that the wise men may have been trained in some of the teachings of the prophet Daniel, who had been put in charge of the wise men by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon about 600 years prior to the birth of Jesus. Daniel would have no doubt taught them the Bible, such as had been written down in his day, which would have included chapter 24 and verse 17 of the book of Numbers: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel..." It gives me chills to think that the Biblical teaching of Daniel would have survived and been handed down in a culture outside that of the Jews for 600 years. There is so much more that I want to know about these wise men who came to worship and recognize the King, and then vanished into history. I don't know to what extent they understood who Jesus was. I do know one thing, though. They had enough faith in this King of the Jews that they left home to travel to find Him, and they understood that He was worthy to be worshiped. Now, even though Matthew 2:12 tells us that the wise men returned to their own country after having given their gifts and worshiped Jesus, I believe that they came for the same reason that the rest of us have put our faith in Him throughout all of history. According to Hebrews 11:16, we who live by faith "desire a better country" than the one we left. And, the rest of verse 16 says, "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them."
Jesus is the Breath of Life by which we were created in the beginning. He is the King of a better country than we have here. He is the Lamb, who is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Revelation 5:12). He is the one who called to the hearts of wise men from another culture, who desired a better country.