“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” (Matthew
2:1-3, NLT). The wise men seeking “the newborn king of the Jews,” which led to Herod’s
jealous rage. After all, Herod should be worship because he was the “king”, and
reigned over the Jews at that time… so it seem…
The wise men seem to have
specialized in astronomy, but they may have interpreted dreams and had other
special knowledge and abilities. They referred to Jesus’ “star.” The Book of
Numbers mentions a “star”
(24:17) coming out of Jacob (refers to a location of God’s people), but how
would the wise men have known that the star represented the Messiah? Perhaps
they were descendants of Jews who had remained in Babylon after the Exile and
thus grew up knowing the Old Testament prophecies. Or they may have studied
ancient manuscripts. Or perhaps God had given them a special message. In any
case, they travelled to Jerusalem, the capital city, expecting to find a young
king there. Herod had no idea what they were talking about but felt threatened
by this talk of a “king.” So he assembled the Jewish religious leaders and
asked them.
“[Herod] 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’” (Matthew 2:4-6).
Interestingly, the Jewish leaders told
Herod and the wise men that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (see
Micah 5:2), but they didn’t go
themselves. These visitors – the wise
men – from faraway lands recognized Jesus as the Messiah when most of God’s chosen
people in Israel did not.
The wise men travelled
thousands of miles searching for the One who had been born King of the Jews. “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!” (Matthew 2:9-10). And
when they found Jesus, the King of the Jews, the Messiah, God’s Son, they
joyfully worshiped him and presented gifts fit for a king: “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (2:11).
Think about this: Sometime
knowing ‘about’ God doesn’t lead us to seeking the real God. King Herod was a
very religious man, but when he found out that there was a “King” to be born,
he was threatened, furious and rage to jealousy and planned to kill baby Jesus.
The priests and teachers of religious leaders knew that the Messiah would be
born in Bethlehem as the Scriptures said and yet they didn’t go seeking Him for
themselves. We can be religious, talks and talks, words by words, evangelized
and teaching people, but it doesn’t matter to God if we didn’t seeking God’s
King for ourselves. God always give us “star” that will lead us to Jesus. Like the wise men, our
focus should be on the “star” and
do whatever it takes to find the Truth. And when you find the Truth (I’m sure
you will if you follow God’s lead), the “star” become
insignificant to you because now you have found God’s King, the Messiah, God’s
Son – Jesus Christ – and your heart will be filled with water spring of joy! The
immediate reaction will be telling, you can’t help it but to burst in worship!
“You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32, NLT)
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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