Three Wise Men (Part 3) by Maxie Dunnam

In my two previous articles (read part 1 here and part 2 here) we focused on two of the big truths the three wise men can teach us.

One, only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited.

Two, the wise men not only know their wisdom is incomplete they know they can’t save themselves.

Those who are wise always know that their wisdom is incomplete. When we can’t go any further in the wisdom that is ours, we seek wisdom elsewhere, and when we come to the end of our human understanding, if we are wise, we turn to God.

Why the Wise Men Sought Jesus

The wise men not only know their wisdom is incomplete they know they can’t save themselves; and that their salvation is beyond their science and their system. 

Why did the wise men start on their quest in the first place? The need of their life, the deep yearning for meaning, drove them to it. They had not found salvation and meaning in their studies, their systems, their science even in their stars. So, in their wisdom, they started looking for Christ. In their wisdom, they sought that which they lacked, and they left all to find the King.

When Human Systems Cannot Save Us

I’m afraid many nations today find themselves in the same place as those wise men before their journey. Current answers are insufficient: secular humanism is a rising tide, so the state will define moral norms, and the Church seems to bend to cultural pressure. Wise men know that their wisdom is limited; they cannot save themselves. Where will they go? Where will we go? God alone is our salvation

I closed the prior article sharing a reference to an interview with Chuck Colson. The questioner asked, “Aren’t you bitter? What are your regrets?” Colson said, “Just as Watergate demonstrated the corruption of man, so it helped show me my desperate need for God. It led me to Romans 8 where Paul provides the answer to the tormented cry of the human soul evoked in Chapter 7: “It is in Christ Jesus that we’re set free.” (Rom 8:1-4)

Salvation in Christ Alone

The Touch of the Master’s Hand, a poem by Myra Brooks Welch, captures this monumental truth. The last verse is climactic:

And many a person with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine;
A game – and he travels on.
He is “going” once, and “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crows
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.

Let us take that journey to that house beneath the star. In your mind now, look down at the manger – and the little Baby Jesus cradled there. The wisdom of the ages is here. Paul put it, “In him the fullness of the Godhead chose to dwell bodily. His name is Jesus because He and only He can save His people from their sins.”

Look at Him, and in your mind reach out now, and take that little hand, feel the little fat fingers of the Baby Jesus curl around and cling to your thumb. It’s the most familiar loving touch for anyone who has played with a baby. But the touch is divine. That Baby becomes a Man, a Man who taught and bled and wept, the crucified and risen Man who becomes our Saviour – who touches our lives all along the way – and the touch of the Master’s Hand is our Salvation.

Plant Jesus’ wisdom in your mind and heart. “He who wishes to save his life shall lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.” That paradox is an impenetrable mystery for the secular mind – but the cardinal truth of the Christian faith.