The Magi's Sacrifice of Worship

December 26th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Matthew 2:9-12 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

After being told by Herod to proceed to Bethlehem to find the Child, the star reappeared to the magi, and they were elated to see it again. Being in Jerusalem, they were just five miles from Bethlehem, and the star “stood over where the Child was.” Clearly, this star was not a heavenly physical body but a light pointing the way to the Christ (cf. Exod. 40:34-38; Ezek. 10:4).

Notably, the star stood over the “house” where Jesus was. It appears that Joseph and his family had returned to Bethlehem to live in more modern accommodations. Clearly the events of Luke 2:21-38 had already transpired (i.e., Jesus’ circumcision, Mary’s purification, etc.), and now Jesus is called a “child” (Gr. paidion) rather than a “baby” (Gr. brephos, Luke 2:12). This implies that some time had passed and that Jesus was no longer an infant. It also implies that since Mary and Joseph offered the poor man’s sacrifice in Luke 2:24 (cf. Lev. 12:6-8) that the magi did not arrive with their gifts within the first 40 days of Jesus’ life but sometime afterward. Had they arrived at His birth, Mary and Joseph could have offered a lamb from the riches given to them by the magi. Also, the fact that Herod decreed the murder of all children in Bethlehem under the age of two (2:16) points to Jesus as a “child” perhaps up to two years of age.

Realizing that they had found their King in the house, the magi instantly fell prostrate to worship Jesus. The scene in v. 11 pictures Jesus with Mary, yet the worship given is specifically for Jesus. No doubt the magi were delighted to meet both Mary and Joseph, yet they only worshiped Jesus, for He and He alone was worthy of praise. Then, as a vital component to their worship, the magi offered expensive gifts that expressed a sacrifice stemming from the overflow of the joy they felt after beholding the Son of God with their own eyes. Their three gifts are often associated with the character of the Christ-child: gold for His royalty, frankincense for His deity, and myrrh for His humanity. Gold has always been a symbol of wealth (cf. 1 Kings 6-7, 9; 2 Chron. 2-4) and of royalty (cf. Gen. 41:4; 1 Kings 10:1-13). Frankincense was an expensive perfume used with the grain offerings (Lev. 2:2, 15-16) and in royal parades (Song 3:6-7). And myrrh, also a perfume (Gen 37:25; 43:11), is associated with Jesus’ humanity because of the way it was used as a numbing potion for Christ at His crucifixion (Mark 15:23) as well as the fact that it was mixed with other spices put on His body when He was buried (John 19:39).

In order to protect the magi, God appeared to them in a dream to warn them not to pass by Herod again. Obviously God was communicating with them and directing them as He had done with Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, and Simeon. He tends to do that with all of His faithful children!

Food For Thought
Some are like Herod; they hate Christ. Some are like the religious leaders in Jerusalem; they know the Scriptures but pay no attention to them, neither heeding God’s warnings nor obeying His teachings. Their indifference to God makes them no better than Herod. But there is a third group, like the magi who sought Jesus. They respond to God’s call and subsequently seek to know the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the ones who are giving, reading the Scriptures, obeying God, and sharing the Truth. Clearly, they are the ones perpetually worshipping the Christ!