Matthew 2:1&2 says, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea 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.”
I make this play on words, “the three unwise men,” from the three wise men in the Christmas story taken from Matthew Chapter 2. Matthew does not say there were three wise men, only three gifts. There could have been three, four, or twelve. One thing we know is that they did not find Jesus as a babe in the manger, but as a young child in a house. They may have been kings, as the song says. All I can see that made them “wise men” was their understanding about the Savior’s star and the fact that they wanted to worship Jesus. Matthew also called them wise men. If they had arrived at the manger, what a contrast there would have been between them and the lowly shepherds. We could always look to David who was a shepherd and a king.
Today I want us to look at three men who could have been wise, but chose to be foolish. Wisdom is a choice.
The first man is a rich farmer (Luke 12:16-21). This is a parable of Jesus. The man is not named. The parable is an example. The rich man could have been a business man, a doctor, or any other profession. The farmer in this parable was a good farmer. He had bumper crops. He was also a selfish man. His plan was to take care of himself for many years. He was ready to retire and live in pleasure. He did not give thanks to God for the good weather that produced these crops. I wonder if he even brought the tithe of his crops to God? His mistake was that he left God out of his farming and his life. He was rich toward himself, but not toward God. His plan for his future was short lived. He was not able to keep all his bounty. His soul was required of him the very night he planned his retirement. He could have wisely been rich toward God, but he foolishly chose to be selfish.
The second rich man is real, but his name is not mentioned. He is living the good life in the presence of Lazarus the beggar (Luke 16:19-31). There is a blessing in helping the poor. Proverbs 14:21 says, “He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.” Both of these men died. The angels carried Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man was buried and woke up in hell fire. He then became the beggar, asking for Lazarus to cool his tongue with a drop of water. Abraham reminded him how in life he had the good things, and Lazarus the evil things. This rich man chose the pleasures of life that quickly pass, only to receive the flames of torment that last forever. He became a believer in the flames, too late to warn his five brothers. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to choose wisdom.
The third rich man came running to Jesus seeking eternal life (Mark 10:17-22). That was wise. He had been keeping the commandments. That also was wise. He was close to being a wise man indeed. At last, he could not die out to self. He denied the cross and clung to his great possessions. In Romans 1:14, Paul said he was debtor both to the wise and the unwise. We can learn a lesson from the three wise men who worshipped Jesus, and even a lesson from the selfish three unwise men!
I think it’s always a blessing to think of how the wise men came to Jesus’ birth likely knowing very little about what He was going to do for the world. Even though they were rich, they had the simple faith to go and worship Jesus. Sadly, the three unwise men likely had much more information about Jesus (or at least the scriptures in general) but they still refused to obey him. May God make us like the wise men who came in simple faith.