Friday,
January 6, 2023
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign
of King Herod. About that time some wise
men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn
king of the Jews? We saw his star as it
rose, and we have come to worship him.” King Herod was deeply disturbed when he
heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a
meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where
is the Messiah supposed to be born?” “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for
this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And
you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of
Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people
Israel.’” Then Herod called
for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when
the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to
Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me
so that I can go and worship him, too!” After this interview the wise men went
their way. And the star they had seen in
the east guided them to Bethlehem. It
went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When
they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They
entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down
and worshiped him. Then they opened
their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned
to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not
to return to Herod. Matthew 2:1-12
The magi are (according to
tradition) the first Gentiles to recognize the Christ child as the promised Messiah. As they disappear into the Eastern horizon we
see their mission completed, tying together Christian and Jew, worship, and warning…the
meeting of holy moments with political danger.
And so, the Lord, God of Time and Eternity enters
the cesspool of humanity’s darkest hour with foreign dignitaries bowing at his
feet, showering him with expensive gifts of honor, while a Jewish king
frantically seeks to kill him.
Epiphany is (or should be) a stark reminder that
popularity and politicking are short-term issues; godliness is forever. The Son of God came to this world to offer
humankind salvation – eternal life. Herod’s monstrous reaction, killing every
male child, born within the time frame he learned from the magi[1], was a temporary
and heinous rejection of God’s will. And
it is played-out that way every time a human grab for power is brought to
bear. There is little difference between
Herod, Vladimir Putin, Stalin, Hitler, Sadaam Hussein, or, well…you get the
point…and the dog-and-pony-show, if you just watch Washington operate.
For You Today
There are about 2,000 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper on
today’s topic, explore some of these:
Star of Wonder
and The Cry Heard in Ramah
Images: Title Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal
property of the author, or in public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
