Thought of the Day !!

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"

"In Bethlehem in Judea," they said.

Matthew 2:1-5 (NLT)

Matthew calls these men Magi. Magi were actually Persian priests who played an important role in advising kings in their own land. They probably specialized in things such as astrology and interpretation of dreams and quite possibly even magical arts. They may have been followers of Zoroaster, who was a Persian teacher and prophet.

The Magi are led by a star to Jerusalem where they ask around. And when King Herod hears about this, the bible says that he was “deeply disturbed” (verse 3).

This is when Herod calls the leading priests and teachers of the religious law (also known as the chief priests and scribes) so that he can find out where this so called “king of the Jews” was supposed to be. They come in and tell him that he’s to be born in Bethlehem.

I should point out that these religious leaders are the ones in the know. They should’ve been the ones running right out to Bethlehem on the least little chance that the prophecies that they’d heard all this time were actually coming true. But we know the story. The wise men are sent, and they are the ones who wind up worshiping Jesus and offering him gifts instead of the "religious" leaders in Jerusalem.

The priests and religious teachers are the ones in the know…but they don’t go. Why is that? Could it be that things were too comfortable for them? Could there be other reasons that they didn’t react, such as lack of faith or even lack of caring?

What about us today? Are we more like the magi who would give up of our time and energy and effort and even gifts so that we could worship Jesus? Would we travel 2 or 3 hours each week if it were the only place we could worship Him? Or do we know about him, but don't really "go" out of our way much to be the person he wants us to be?

May we all be the ones in the know. And may we all be ones who go.

In the love of Christ,
greg