25 Days of Adventনমুনা

Advent -- Day 20

Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Psalm 72:10-11

May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

Isaiah 60:3

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Matthew 7:8

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Meditation

All of our Christmas cards and songs picture the Magi appearing at the manger and laying gifts at the feet of a tiny baby. But Scripture is clear that this is not how it happened. The Magi embarked on a perilous journey of nearly 900 miles, traversing Persia and the Arabian desert, before landing first in Jerusalem and continuing until they reached the place where they would find him: a peasant house in Bethlehem. They were searching for the King of the Jews (though not Jews themselves) and locating him by following a star in the east. By the time they arrived, the baby was probably near toddler size and growing.

It had to have taken some measure of faith to believe what the star was indicating, that this tiny house held the greatest King ever to live, and then that this baby was the King they sought. But when they entered, they worshipped, laying down everything that they had carried for so long. These courageous and obedient pilgrims show something amazing about God that he likely does not want us to miss. They were not Jews. They were wise men from a far-off land who had studied for years and traveled for months to find a king.

These outsiders, just like the Jews whose hearts longed for his coming, sought a Messiah, and God did not deny them what they were looking for. What a perfect picture of those who seek Christ with all their heart. All who seek find him, even if they have to cross a desert and endure months or years of pilgrimage to do so.

Prayer

Father in heaven, you have graciously revealed rich and wonderful truths about your nature and plan that we could never have known on our own. The heavens declare the glory of your invisible attributes -- your eternal power and divine nature. But nothing in your created order could prepare us for the revelation that the God of majesty and sovereign glory is also the God who humbles himself to be born into a modest peasant family, making it possible for us to enjoy a loving relationship with him through the merits of his glorious Son. What we could never learn in nature, you have revealed in your word, which centers on the Person and work of Christ Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega. May I learn to humble myself and respond in love and obedience to the Lord Jesus, who has given himself to rescue and draw me to you, and may I become more like him in my spiritual journey. Amen.