Matthew 2 has the memorable story of the Magi.  Since it is so familiar, I wonder of we have given much thought to the oddity of it.   Think about the following two things:  

• Why are gentile astrologers coming to seek a Jewish king who they heard had been born?  
• Notice the contrast in action between the supposedJewish king Herod and the pagan astrologers: The first seeks to kill his own Messiah, while the pagans fall down and worship him.  The exact opposite of what you expect.  

The Gospel of Matthew uses this story to foreshadow that Israel, for the most part, will reject their Messiah (as Herod did) and the Gospel is to be sent to “all nations” (i.e., Gentiles which the Magi represent. See Matthew 28:18-20 for this commissioning).    

Another interesting thing to notice is how Matthew uses worship to open and close his Gospel.  These pagan astrologers worship the baby Jesus and then the Gospel closes with the disciple worshiping the resurrected Lord (28:17) just before He sends into the world to proclaim the good news.

That begs the question: What should our response be to him???  Hmm!