The Magi

There are so many great bumper stickers on cars, and I enjoy reading them, one of my absolute favorites says; “𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝗺!”  Who doesn’t enjoy the sweet story of Jesus’ birth and the wonder of the wise men bringing Him gold, frankincense and myrrh? In Matthew 2 we can read the story of the Magi who saw Jesus’ star and travelled a considerable distance, under difficult conditions, to Jerusalem to seek Him out.  Once there, they enquired of King Herod, the Chief Priests, and the Scribes, scholars who studied the scriptures; “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒔?  𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑯𝒊𝒎.”

These incredible researchers of the Word of God immediately quoted Micah 5:2 telling the Magi; “𝑰𝒏 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒂.” These learned men, academics, including the High Priest himself, chose not to seek out the Christ even though he was born only 5 miles away! They knew the scriptures but were not changed by them. They understood Biblical information but did not apply it to their own lives.

In contrast, the wise men headed off to Bethlehem and verse 10 and 11 tells us, “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒊𝒎.”  This verse tells us the star had not been visible during the whole of their travels, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy when they saw it again.  The Magi had heard the Word of God and acted upon it.  In faith, they travelled to Bethlehem.  The wise men stood on the scriptures, sought the Christ, and found Him!

Isn’t this Christmas season wonderful? A time when we can celebrate our love of Jesus the King, a time when we can freely talk about our wonderful Savior, and our testimony can ring out in symphony with the greatest of Christmas carols.  𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.  𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘺.   𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨!

Celebrating the birth of our Savior with you,