We all worship something or someone. We may not be religious, so the thought of worship may be alien to us, but if worship is defined as our glad response to what we value the most, it is easy to see that worship can be found in everyone’s lives. We may worship money or work or clothes or people; we may worship at football matches, fashion shows or music concerts. As Matt Redman sings, ‘everybody praises the thing they love/ Everyone announces what they adore.’ (‘One Name Alone’)
The Bible makes it explicit that Jesus, even as a baby, drew worship (Matt 2:11), which in Israel was reserved for God alone. The fact that as an adult He accepted worship was one of the things that infuriated the religious people of the day (see John 9, for example). They couldn’t make the connection between true worship and a human being in front of them.
The Magi don’t seem to have had this problem, perhaps because they came from the east and didn’t have the same cultural baggage that the Jews carried. Ultimately, they were wise because they recognised something of who Jesus was, even as a baby. They recognised him as ‘king of the Jews’ (Matt 2:2) as did Pontius Pilate (Jn 19:19); the Bible goes even further and declares Him ‘king of kings and Lord of Lords’ (Rev 19:16). When we see Jesus in this way, we too will be drawn to worship, and will find ultimate wisdom.