THE OFFERING OF THE MAGI.

MATTHEW ii. 1, 2.

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him."

(From the Gospel for the Epiphany.)

THE Nativity of Christ may be regarded as the festival of Angels; the Circumcision, as the festival of devout Jews, waiting for the consolation of Israel; the Epiphany, as the festival of all nations, being the manifestation of that dawning light which was to revive and bless the world. Thus we have come to the third marked passage in our Lord's earthly history-wise men conducted, by the guidance of a star, to the place where the infant Saviour lay. On an occasion so vital to the world's happiness, it seemed as if God would be, to speak with reverence, prodigal of miracle. All the powers in the heavens must testify to the greatness of Him that was born,-a moving star, proclaiming that He was "a light to lighten the Gentiles," just as the joy of the heavenly host had announced Him to be "the glory of his people Israel."

As we are 66 sinners of the Gentiles," our interest lies more directly in the teaching of "the star." In connexion with the manifestation of our Divine Lord, we read of three stars in Scripture; a star appearing in the East [No. 8.]

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-a star arising in the heart-a star in the Heaven of heavens, shining with everlasting brightness, and worshipped by all the sons of God. And these stars conduct one to the other, and derive their light the one from the other, all being emanations from the one orb of uncreated glory-from Him who is "God of God, and Light of Light." And thus our faith is led on from hope to hope, and from brightness to brightness. We begin by looking with adoring gaze at "the star of Bethlehem." In reverence and deep humility, we ask only to know whither its sacred light would lead us; and while asking of it, with our faces thitherward, there arises in our hearts another star,—the star of grace, the light of the indwelling Spirit, making our way plain, and our hope clear, and the grounds of our trust sure, and the promise glorious; till at length faith loses itself in the shinings of a higher Epiphany, and anticipates the day when shall hear from the lips of Him that is gone from Bethlehem into the Heavens, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star 1." In this way were the wise men led in our text. And, be assured, you are under safe conduct, and are advanced far on your way heavenwards, if, with true faith in your hearts, and with the free-will offerings of a holy worship in your hands, you can say with these Gentile strangers, inquiring for the infant Jesus, "We have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him."

We proceed to consider some circumstances connected with the visit of the wise men, as well as the nature of the worship they desired to offer.

1 Rev. xxii. 16.

I. And, first, let us advert to the character of the men themselves, and the occasion of their visit. "There came wise men from the East to Jerusalem." Who were these wise men? and what were the probable sources of their religious knowledge? Adopting the reading of the Vulgate, we commonly speak of them as the " Magi," a name by no means conveying the reproach that they practised the arts of sorcery, but a title applied by the ancient Persians to their most esteemed philosophers.

But whence had they any knowledge of Christ, or any care about Him? Some assistance in this way we can suppose them to have obtained from human sources. From the heads of those families which had branched off from the common stock of Abraham,-from the remnant of the ten tribes, scattered over the different countries of the East,-from the various proselytes, who, from time to time, went up to worship at Jerusalem, they could hardly fail to have heard something of the expectation of a Messiah; an expectation so general, that, as the Roman historian informs us, it prevailed throughout the whole Eastern world.

This accounts for some of the light these wise men had; it does not account for all, it does not account for enough to explain their subsequent conduct. Conjecture favours the possibility that they may have been acquainted with the traditional expectation of the Jews, based on the prophecy of Balaam, that Messiah's kingdom should be ushered in by the appearance of a star. But neither this nor the other glimpses into God's prophetical purposes, already adverted to, would account for the steady and intelligent

determination with which they set out upon and prosecuted their mission. We feel, as we read the account, that there must have been made to them a special revelation from Heaven. They do not say, "We have seen a remarkable star; and on the possibility that it may be, or on some traditional rumour that it is, a token of the birth of the long-expected Messiah, have undertaken this long journey." But, on the contrary, they used the language of strong confidence,-of men having good warrant for their errand,—of men who knew whose the star was, and who had been Divinely instructed in the sacred import of its shining. "We have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him."

"Have seen his star." The difficulties, which have been raised upon this part of the narrative, assume that the object seen by the wise men was a real star. But by the terms of the narrative we are not required to make any such supposition. Rather is it one which hampers us, as compelling the inference that it must have been seen by many others in Judea besides the wise men, as well as have attracted the notice of scientific men in other parts of the world. Yet, of the phenomenon being thus extensively visible, we have no evidence. And we, therefore, give a more reasonable account of the matter, as well as meet all the necessary conditions of the history, by supposing that a bright luminous appearance, having the form and similitude of a star, but visible only within a confined local limit, was first made to stand over them in the East, and then, after vanishing for a little season, was per

mitted to appear again—not stationary as before, but moving very near the earth's surface, and only resting when it had brought these wondering strangers to the spot, where, under a guise of deep humility, the world's Creator lay. Why the meteor disappeared-why it went not before them to Bethlehem at once-we are not told. Enough that the wise men acted upon such information as they possessed. Unto the Jews " child was born," and the government was to be "upon. his shoulders." Where, but in Jerusalem, should they find Him? "in the city of the great King; whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord," seeing that "there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David?" "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him.”

II. "Come to worship him." This brings us to our second topic, or the characteristics of that homage which these Gentile strangers offered to the infant Saviour. Their advantages, we know, were not many. But when we have seen what they believed, what they testified, what they sacrificed, and what they did, we shall see in them all the elements of an enlightened spiritual devotion, and feel that it was of worship like theirs our Divine Lord was speaking, when He said, "The Father seeketh such to worship him."

1. Thus, we cannot deny that their worship was the worship of faith,—the faith not of an intellectual consent merely; but a faith that inquires, and a faith that works. On the announcement that a Saviour is born into the world, they undertake a tedious journey in search of Him, through a desert and inhospitable