December 15, 2015, Matthew 2:3-8

Page Hughes — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 12:57:08 +0000

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
When the Wise men came to Jerusalem and told Herod about the star and who they were in search of, why was he troubled? Why was Jerusalem in an uproar? I am sure there are many reasons but I wonder if part of it was jealousy? Herod did not want to share his kingdom with anyone. The people might have been upset because they did not want to upset status quo although they hated being ruled by Rome. I wonder if the city was upset because for centuries they had heard the prophecies and were supposedly looking for this Messiah that was to be born. The teachers of the law told them about this one to be born King of the Jews and yet He had come and they did not even know. For foreigners to come and tell them they were following His star must have been a slap in the face to the religious leaders. They were aware of all of the prophecies and yet they had missed what was so bright that people from other lands had seen it and known.
As I pondered these things it made me wonder how many of us today are missing Him as well. Maybe we are looking for a different kind of king like Herod was. We may be looking for someone who will swoop in and fix all of our problems when Jesus wants to mend our heart not all of the challenges we face. The king you are looking for may make life easier or better and make you wealthy or happy, but Jesus uses painful things and even times of famine to bring us into closer relationship with Him and to teach us about ourselves. You may be a Christ follower and have given your heart to Him, but have you ceased to look for His second coming? The signs are all around us. We too have an opportunity to watch and see because He will be coming again. When He does everyone will know but not everyone will be ready. Then it will be too late. The second time He comes He will judge the earth. Our challenge is to be ready and to help others be prepared as well.

Page HughesDecember 15, 2015, Matthew 2:3-8 – Page Hughes

December 15, 2015, Matthew 2:3-8