SEEKING THE KING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.”

Matthew 2:1-8

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Shepherds tending to their flocks by night received the news via an announcement from an angel. They went quickly to find the baby who the angel said was the Messiah, the Lord.

Meanwhile, there were others who were seeking Jesus as well. Our scripture passage tells us that “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem” seeking the one who had been born “king of the Jews”. We’re told this happened during the time of King Herod who became very disturbed when he was told of the Magi’s claims.

The word Magi is actually the plural form of the Latin word “magus” which means skilled magicians or astrologers. This helps us better understand why the Magi said these words:

“We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

There is no other account in the scriptures where anyone else was drawn to Jesus by the star that positioned itself over Bethlehem when Jesus was born. It would have been this astronomical anomaly which aligned with the timeline of the Messiah’s coming proclaimed by Daniel (9:24-27) and the words of Balaam (Numbers 24:17) that stated a star would rise from Jacob that led the wise men to seek the king of the Jews and there was no better place to start than Jerusalem.

Of course, we know Jesus wasn’t there and Herod had no knowledge of the events that had occurred to the south of Judah’s capital city and so he was very much caught off guard by the Magi’s arrival. Scripture tells us that the Roman king summoned all the “people’s chief priests and teachers of the law” to find out what they knew about when the “Messiah was to be born”. They told him:

“In Bethlehem in Judea 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.’”

Armed with this information, Herod “called the Magi secretly” to find out “the exact time the star had appeared” and then “sent them to Bethlehem” with the following orders:

“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.”

So now there were two more seekers of Jesus, two interested in finding the newly born Messiah, two who had entirely different motives.

The Magi were seeking to honor the baby Messiah, bringing gifts as a tribute. They were willing to journey a long distance to do this and were not deterred by ending up in the wrong place their first stop.

King Herod on the other hand had no intention of going to Jesus or worshiping Him. Rather, he was only interested in killing this child and eliminating any competition or threat to his own authority.

Today, we find much of the same thing. We find people who are genuinely seeking Jesus with the intent of finding Him, worshiping Him, and giving Him all their honor and praise

Conversely, others seek Jesus but with no intent of bringing Him any glory or respect. Rather, they want to discredit Him, disrespect Him, and damage His place and position in the world. Like Herod, they would love eliminated all together.

What we learn from this story is that those who seek Jesus with the right motives do find Him. If you are among those looking for Jesus and the blessings He brings to anyone who places their belief and trust in Him, then know you can enter this new year finding Him. He longs to enter into fellowship with you and to bring you salvation. If you have already sought and found Jesus, then join me in helping others to become seekers and finders, answering Jesus’ call to make disciples of all nations.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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