Monday, December 14
Read Matthew 2:9-10
Because we have heard the story so many times, and because we learned most of our Christology from Christmas Carols, we have overlooked some very important details.
After the wise men received their instructions from King Herod, the Bible says, “and lo, the star, which they saw in the East, went before them”. Apparently the star had disappeared, and according to verse 10, they didn’t expect that star to appear again, but it did, and they rejoiced. It must have been close enough to the earth for them to follow it, because rather than leading them to Bethlehem, where Christ was born, it led them to Nazareth, right to the home where Joseph and Mary and Jesus were living.
I once knew a man who was born and lived in India. He was a scientist employed by the Coca-Cola Company and a staunch believer in Hinduism. Somewhere in the course of his life, he heard about the love of God as expressed in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Whether it was his natural inquisitiveness as a scientist, or his hunger for the true meaning of life, he knew in his heart he wanted to know more about this God who loved him so much that He sent His only Son to die for him.
My friend said one day, he went out to the banks of the Ganges River and knelt down to pray. He looked up into the sky and said something to this effect: “God, if the god I am worshipping is not the true God, I want to know this one, true God. If there is something else I need to learn about You, I want to know it, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to know it.”
Several weeks later, and much to his surprise, he received notice from Coca-Cola, asking him to transfer to Atlanta, Georgia to help in the development of what became the “pop-top-can”.
In his testimony to our discipleship class, he said, “Coca-Cola brought me to America to help on this project, but God brought me to America to learn about Him.” He became one of the best Bible teachers I’ve ever known.
Once these wise men from the East saw the star that reminded them of Daniel’s prophetic word, they left their home and family and spent a fortune in search of the new-born King of Israel, and God guided them on their journey every step of the way. Two years earlier, the long-awaited Messiah was born in Bethlehem, just six miles from Jerusalem. But even the religious leaders had not bothered to see if the rumors about Mary and Joseph were true, or if that boy-child that was born to that peasant girl was in fact the very Son of God.
What a shame that man gets so caught up in his dead “religion”, he misses the opportunity to discover and worship the one, true, and everlasting, living God.