Weekly Devotion no 37
11 December 2020
Bible reading – Matthew 2:1-12[1]
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. This happened while Herod was king of Judea. After Jesus’ birth, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose. Now we have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was troubled too. 4 So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He also called the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Messiah was going to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied. “This is what the prophet has written. He said,
6 “ ‘But
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are certainly not the least important among the towns of Judah.
A ruler will come out of you.
He will rule my people Israel like a shepherd.’ ” (Micah 5:2)
7 Then Herod secretly called for the Wise Men. He found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem. He said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report it to me. Then I can go and worship him too.”
9 After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them. It finally stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road.
Reflection
Jesus was born in the city of David, reinforcing that he was from the line of David. In today’s passage, we see three different reactions to Jesus’ birth.
Firstly, we see a reaction of fear and hatred from King Herod. Herod had a reputation for keeping the peace in the region, thus keeping the Romans happy. But he kept himself in power by being suspicious of all who might challenge his position, to the extent that he assassinated his wife, mother and sons and anyone who he might view as a rival. So, for him to hear that a child had been born who would threaten his position as King of the Jews was like a red rag to a bull! Herod didn’t want anyone who would stop him from doing what he liked.
Secondly, we see the reaction of the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They knew the prophecies: that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. But they didn’t seem to think that this would actually happen! They told Herod the answer to his question, but didn’t seem interested in going with the wise men to see if the Messiah really had come.
And lastly, we see the reaction of the wise men. These were men of holiness and wisdom, who were skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural science. They were the teachers and instructors of the Persian kings. They came on this pilgrimage with an attitude of worship, and when they saw the baby, they bowed down and worshipped him.
We too can have different reactions to the birth of this baby who was born to be the King of the Jews, the Messiah. Does Jesus threaten our way of living such that we see him as a rival? We don’t want him to interfere in our life, we want to keep doing what we like. We therefore reject him. Or do we know the theory: we’ve been to Sunday School, we know what the Bible says and we take its good sayings and apply the 10 commandments to our lives, but we don’t want a relationship with Jesus. Or do we see Jesus as the Messiah, as our Saviour, as God’s son promised through the prophets of old, and we come to worship him.
I pray that we can
use this time of reflection in advent to consider how we respond to Jesus and
that we might be open to allow him to enter our lives that we might worship
him.
Hymn
Verse 1
Come, thou long
expected Jesus,
born to set thy
people free;
from our fears and
sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Verse 2
Israel's strength and
consolation,
hope of all the earth
thou art;
dear desire of every
nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Verse 3
Born thy people to
deliver,
born a child and yet
a King,
born to reign in us
forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
Verse 4
By thine own eternal
spirit
rule in all our
hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient
merit,
raise us to thy glorious
throne.
Prayer
Almighty God,
you sent your Son
into a world
where the wheat must
be winnowed from the chaff
and evil clings even
to what is good:
let the fire of your
Spirit purge us of all corruption,
so that, purified, we
may wait eagerly for him
whose coming is
certain, whose Day draws near,
your Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns
with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
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