Slices
Prepare
As many of us are caught up in preparations for Christmas, take time to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords today, in whichever way has authenticity for you at this time.
Bible passage
The Magi visit the Messiah
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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.’
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 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. 5 ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written:
6 ‘“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.”’
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 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.’
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Explore
The idea that the Messiah, the King of the Jews, might have come to earth, might have been born within his territory, was a threat to Herod. Yet it does not seem to have been a mystery to the priests and Pharisees. They already knew that Bethlehem would be the location for the coming one, from their own scriptures, and they saw their role as a protective shepherd. So, the magi’s journey to identify and worship the Lord gives us the first clear message that giving worship involves bringing the best we can offer in this life.
This account is a familiar story, but it is seldom told without a fanciful and anachronistic context. Today let us focus on the gift of the child come to earth, identified even from his young days as the Messiah, fulfilling the promises of God made hundreds of years earlier. The elevation of Bethlehem from a small, unimportant place to be the location of Jesus’ birth is just one of many ways in which Matthew shows God turning the world’s values upside down.
Respond
Give thanks for the ways in which God honoured his promises to send a Saviour, and what that means for you today.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Zechariah 3,4; Revelation 17
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Mission Events Coordinator Sue Hill as she continues to support the Mission Events team with the co-ordination and administration of national and regional events. Pray specifically for the smooth running of the recently updated booking system which now enables bookings for guests and volunteers for more than one year.
