Dave spoke last night from Matt 2:1-12, the narrative which tells us of the wise men’s search for Jesus. As with so many aspects of the Christmas story, God does not work in ways we could predict. The birth of the long-awaited Messiah was not announced to the whole world but only to a few shepherds and to these foreign wise men. This event was the greatest thing that had ever happened to the nation of Israel in its entire history, but Israel was at the time ignorant of what had taken place. As always, this reminds us that God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. (1 Cor 1:27)
The wise men asked Herod about the whereabouts of the king of the Jews, but Herod had had no idea of the amazing events happening just in Bethlehem. In the same way, Jesus has come to earth, and despite all the celebrations at this time of year, many do not know or choose to ignore that this time is a celebration of that fact! Those of us who do know have a responsibility to let others know, for whilst we may not know everything about Jesus, we do know that He is the only answer for our world’s needs. The wise men also came, not simply because they had seen his star, but because they wanted to worship Him. Their curiosity and desire to see Jesus became their consuming focus.
These men saw the young child and worshipped Him and gave Him gifts. This has to be the order for all of us: we need to see and worship before we can give. Their gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) were costly, as was Mary’s, the alabaster box of costly perfume representing all her wordly possessions. Love and worship, generosity and gratitude should always be our response to the love of Jesus.
