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(8)
The disciples (Matt. 28:).
(9)
The man born blind (John 9:).
(10)
In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the Lord depicts the approach of that
servant to the king in the words "the servant therefore, fell down and
worshipped him" (Matt. 18: 26).
In this last case, the word means that the servant "did homage" before the king, not
that he offered idolatrous worship. The same thing may be said of some of the occasions
when worship was offered to Christ. In the case of the cleansing of the leper, recorded in
Matt. 8:, the leper calls the Saviour "Lord" and "worships" Him. In the same chapter
the centurion calls Him "Lord", but does not worship Him, though he exhibits a faith
such as had not, till then, been seen in Israel. We have no warrant from Matt. 8: 2 for
believing that the leper pierced the veil of His flesh and perceived the Saviour's deity.
He merely offered the customary act of homage that a Jew would make but which a
Roman soldier would probably withhold. The same must be said of the worship offered
by the woman of Canaan. Again, when the mother of Zebedee's children came to make
her request, she naturally did homage, but there is no reason to believe that her act of
"worship" was of a deeper character.
There are, however, a few instances of worship offered to the Son of God, that go
beyond this mere token of respect. These are the worship of the wise men, the worship of
the disciples after the resurrection, and the worship of the man born blind. Let us
examine these. The wise men who came from the East declared that they had come to
seek Him Who had been born King of the Jews, for they had "seen His star in the East"
and had come "to worship Him" (Matt. 2: 2). They stood by while their guidance by the
star was confirmed by the quotation from the prophet Micah, and then, following the star,
came to the house where they saw the young Child with Mary His mother. There they
fell down and worshipped Him, and opening their treasures, presented Him with gifts,
gold, and frankincense and myrrh (Matt. 2: 11). Being "warned of God in a dream" not
to return to Herod they departed to their own country another way.
The translation "wise men" is insufficiently specific. The word thus translated is
usually sophos, but here, in Matt. 2:, Magos, a word of Hebrew origin, is employed.
This name is used throughout the east, especially in Persia for a sect of philosophers who
studied astronomy and natural philosophy; who abhorred the adoration of images and
worshipped but one God. Their doctrines are said to have been derived from Abraham,
and, also, from Daniel, who received the title "Master of the Magicians" (Dan. 4: 9).
Historians indicate there was at the time a feeling of expectancy in the east of the near
advent of an extraordinary personage. These magi declared that they had "seen His star
in the east", but it is evident from the record in Matthew that they had temporarily lost
sight of the star, hence their questions, and their outbreak of joy when the star once more
become visible. Many different explanations have been offered to account for this
heavenly phenomenon. Some make elaborate calculations and show that about this time
significant conjunctions of the planet took place, but no conjunction of the planets can be
made to harmonize with the words of verse 9, that the star "went before them, till it came
and stood over where the young child was". Movement and rest are most definitely
predicated of this star, which would therefore appear to have been a celestial luminary of