God gave the magi a shining star to guide them (2:2). This star did not appear in the Holy Land. It appeared to men far away—far away from the Holy Land; far away from the holy city; far away from the holy temple and the holy religion; far away from the holy Bible, the holy people, and the holy priests. Far away from all these holy things, the shining star appeared to some pagan men in a pagan land. The shining of that star stirred up these pagan wise men regarding the King of the Jews. I do not know how these wise men were stirred up regarding the King of the Jews, and I do not want to guess. There have already been too many imaginations concerning these wise men. At any rate, they came from the East, the Orient, and realized that the star indicated the King of the Jews.
The wise men had the living vision, the heavenly star, and the Jewish religionists had the Bible. Which do you prefer to have—the Bible or the star? It is best to have both. I like to have the Bible in my hand, and I like to see the star in the heavens. It is best to be both a pagan and a Jew as well. As to the Bible, I am a Jew; as to the star, I am a pagan wise man.
After the wise men experienced the vision of the heavenly star, they got into trouble. This trouble came from their natural concept. Although we may have the Bible and the star, we must recognize that trouble may come from our natural concept. The wise men saw the vision and, realizing that it indicated the King of the Jews, they assumed that they should go to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation, where the King of the Jews was presumed to be (vv. 1-2). Their decision to go to Jerusalem did not come from the light of the star. They went to Jerusalem because they were distracted from the right track by their natural concept. Jerusalem was the wrong place. It was the capital and the city where the temple was located, but it was not the place where Jesus was born. Because the wise men were misled, they caused a serious problem and nearly caused the young child Jesus to be killed. If it had not been for the sovereignty of God, the young Jesus would have been killed as a result of their mistake. Their error cost the lives of many young ones (vv. 16-18). Be careful: you may have the Bible and the star, but do not follow your natural concept.
Many times you have the vision, but when you consider the matter in your mind, you are distracted and misled by your natural concept. Your human concept distracts you from the right track. Whenever you are distracted like this, you need the Bible. After you have arrived at the wrong place, you need the right book. After the magi had gone to Jerusalem, the wrong place, they were corrected through the Scriptures. From the Scriptures they learned that the right place was Bethlehem, not Jerusalem (vv. 4-6). If they had not been misled by their natural concept, the star certainly would have led them directly to the place where Jesus was in Bethlehem. But they were distracted and went astray. Thus, they needed to be corrected by the knowledge of the Bible. When the magi had been corrected by the Scriptures, had departed from Jerusalem, and had been restored to the right track, the star appeared again (v. 9). Living vision always goes along with the Scriptures.
However, none of the religious people in Jerusalem went with the magi to Bethlehem. This is quite strange. If you had been a priest among those priests, would you not have gone with the wise men to see if Jesus had actually been born in Bethlehem? If I had been there, I certainly would have gone to find out for myself whether or not Christ had actually been born. But none of them went. They had knowledge and they could tell people that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem; yet, none of them went for themselves. Although they were for the knowledge of the Bible, they were not for the living Person of the Messiah.
How about today’s situation? Many are very scriptural, but they care only for the Scriptures, not for the living Christ. If the Jewish religionists had cared for Christ, they would have gone to Bethlehem, which was not far from Jerusalem even by the ancient method of travel. Although Bethlehem was not far, none of the scribes, elders, or priests bothered to go. This proves that you can have the knowledge of the Bible without having a heart for the living Christ. To have the vision is one thing, to have the knowledge of the Bible is another thing, and to have a heart for the living Christ is still another thing. We all need to pray, “Lord, give me a heart for You. I want to see the vision and I want to know the Bible. But even more, I want to have a heart that seeks You.”