To Read: Matthew 2:7-10
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
This is one of those moments in Scripture when the writer allows us to figure out intent for ourselves. John makes no comment on the words of Herod – but the intent is clear – Herod is not being truthful, but would like the child to be found so that he can take his life. What a wicked heart – that he would lie about his desire to worship the newborn king! This kind of response will not be unfamiliar to Jesus throughout his life – in fact, you see this again and again in his public ministry – some will trust in Jesus, and others will want to kill him. It is hard to find people who are neutral about Jesus throughout his life, and that is because his claims are so magnificent. Either he is the King of all the earth or he is a horrible liar and a hateful person who will ask his followers to follow him into persecution and death. Herod is worried about his own throne being threatened, but others will seek to minimize the importance of Jesus because they don’t want to wrestle with their own sin or go about the trouble of making a regular practice of worship or conform their lives to the Word of God. Even from his birth, Jesus is asking us to make a choice: will we worship him or reject him?
The wise men make the right choice here, and their response is magnificent! The emphasis in the Greek is even stronger than it is in English when it says, ‘they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.’ This isn’t lazy writing here by John – he’s expressing, ‘how many times and how strongly can I emphasize their crazy joy?!’ God is providentially inviting these Gentiles leaders to worship the one true King – the king of all nations, by bringing the star right over the place where he lived. Isn’t it just a delight to think about these men – learned scholars, highly respected, who have traveled long and far, are now bursting with joy?! I’m reminded of when an NFL defensive lineman makes a sack and then they do some ridiculous dance in front of 70,000 people. They are like, ‘who cares? I am brimming with joy and that joy just has to be expressed.’ The wise men can’t contain themselves, and why should they? The King is here. We adults have a lot to learn from children in this way at Christmas – they have a wonder about them, an anticipation, a joy, that is commendable. May we never lose this joy.
Song to Sing: Away in a Manger
This is perhaps the only Christmas song that might contain a mistake. We don’t know the author’s intent, but it’s said ‘Little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.’ Now maybe the writer is just thinking of a moment when Jesus was perfectly at peace, but it would be wrong to insinuate that Jesus never cried as a child. He surely did, and bore all the other challenges of being an infant – needing to be changed, being hungry, and so on. He was fully human and willingly took on that challenge so that he could truly die, and feel all that too – for me and for you.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, guide us this Christmas. Like the star led the wise men, lead us to a place of everlasting joy because of the birth of the Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Echoes of Eden: Christmas Parades! The one in Florence was nice, but featured the Grinch way too much. I mean, his heart changes at the end – but come on, just not the best Christmas character.