Rebekah Gardner explores the story of the wise men in Matthew 2 by setting them alongside the “wise men” who appear elsewhere in Scripture—Pharaoh’s magicians, Babylon’s astrologers, and the court diviners who ultimately proved powerless when set against the word of God. What sets Matthew’s wise men apart, she suggests, is not their learning but their humility. They respond to God’s revelation—first through creation, then through Scripture, and finally in the person of Jesus—with openness, obedience, and worship.

Rebekah traces their journey from noticing a new star, to seeking understanding, to following God’s guidance even when it challenged their assumptions. Rather than resisting or interpreting God’s message on their own terms, they allowed His word to redirect their steps all the way to Bethlehem. Their joy on finding Jesus, and their willingness to bow before a child with no visible signs of royalty, reveal the posture of true wisdom: attentive, teachable, and ready to worship.

She encourages us to imitate their example this Christmas—to cultivate curiosity, to pause and wonder at God’s world, to open Scripture with expectancy, to listen and respond as God speaks, and to bow in worship before Christ. Their story endures because they humbled themselves before the Word of God, and found the one their searching had been leading them to all along.