Wise Guys
I love how God’s word is living and breathing in our lives. It is constant and unchanging but He reveals himself to us in new ways as we search the scripture. I feel like I’ve been able to read the Christmas story with new eyes multiple times during the past nine years. This year the gospel account of Matthew was the one that spoke most to me.
Matthew’s account shows the need for the young family of three to have to flee Bethlehem to escape the killing spree of King Herod.
So often when talking to Christians who have suffered greatly, they speak of how they were touched knowing that Jesus understood their pain. They were not enduring anything greater than the pain he had endured. Because God came down and dwelt among men, they felt a more intimate connection. He created the universe but cares enough about us to understand the suffering we may be experiencing. This is true of so many of life’s experiences, it should not surprise us that Christ would intimately understand what it means to have to flee our homeland. Even if he was young, I’m sure he grew up hearing the stories and knowing the weight of the journey taken.
We group the magi in with the shepherds, warmed by the embrace of rich and poor alike coming to worship together… the only thing is they didn’t… at least not for the Messiah’s birth. The word ‘child’ in verse 9 could be translated to infant or young child… it’s vague. But the word ‘house’ in verse 11… it comes from the Greek word meaning… house. Not manger or barn. Mary and Joseph had settled down. They may not have found room in the inn… but they made room somewhere to raise their family. They were at home when the wise men found them.
I imagine it would have been easier to leave had they been still hanging around the manger… still transient… but they weren’t. They were building their lives in Bethlehem. It may not have seemed welcoming at first, but they were making it home. Then visitors dropped by. They brought gifts, but they also brought danger.
I’m sure when the wise men first asked Herod about the prophesies they didn’t realize it would put the Messiah’s life in danger. They were just seeking to follow the star. Not only did Herod call for the death of Jesus, but he killed all the males his age to ensure of his death. Herod killed the males two and younger. Jesus may have been a toddler roaming around the house.
Being around refugees and knowing the price some people pay (quite literally) in order to escape, I wonder… were the gifts of the wise men immediately used just to ensure their physical safety? We know a family that had just purchased a nice home just before the bombing started. They counted the costs and walked away from it. Their lives and the lives of their children were more important. Everything of value is sold or bartered in order to preserve their lives and the lives of their children. They must have cash… their land is no longer of any value. The gifts of the wise men are significant. They were gifts for a king… gifts for a priest… and gifts foreshadowing Christ’s death. But were they also significant in his escape? They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. Was Joseph able to support the family while they were there or were they shunned as outsiders? Once Herod died, they seemed eager to return… not to settle long term in the land of Egypt.
Christmas is an amazing time to celebrate the fact that God loves us so much he chose to humble himself, leave His throne, and dwell among us.
Sometimes though we create an image that the Bible doesn’t portray.
We create a sweet safe manger, with soft clean hay.
We picture them leaving the barn for a nice international vacation.
We didn’t paint an entirely realistic picture for the girls this year either. We told them that most people think of their being three because there are three gifts, but we honestly don’t know the number. We explained the time lapse between the birth and the gifts of the magi. But we left out the harsh reality. They’ve heard bits and pieces from children in the neighborhood. They are discovering the world isn’t always a happy pretty place.
Maybe one day they’ll see both sides of Christmas too.
The miracle of God’s love… and the heaviness of the world He came to save.
Matthew’s account shows the need for the young family of three to have to flee Bethlehem to escape the killing spree of King Herod.
Matthew 2:9-23The girls have been interested in the Wise Men this year. They’ve noticed that not all nativities include them and have questioned why. I think so often we want to put them at the manger. We want the worst part about the story to be that Immanuel, God with us, was born into a smelly bed of hay. We want to picture this humble baby being worshiped by royalty, not as a refugee on the run.
9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
The Flight to Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Herod Kills the Children
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The Return to Nazareth
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
So often when talking to Christians who have suffered greatly, they speak of how they were touched knowing that Jesus understood their pain. They were not enduring anything greater than the pain he had endured. Because God came down and dwelt among men, they felt a more intimate connection. He created the universe but cares enough about us to understand the suffering we may be experiencing. This is true of so many of life’s experiences, it should not surprise us that Christ would intimately understand what it means to have to flee our homeland. Even if he was young, I’m sure he grew up hearing the stories and knowing the weight of the journey taken.
We group the magi in with the shepherds, warmed by the embrace of rich and poor alike coming to worship together… the only thing is they didn’t… at least not for the Messiah’s birth. The word ‘child’ in verse 9 could be translated to infant or young child… it’s vague. But the word ‘house’ in verse 11… it comes from the Greek word meaning… house. Not manger or barn. Mary and Joseph had settled down. They may not have found room in the inn… but they made room somewhere to raise their family. They were at home when the wise men found them.
I imagine it would have been easier to leave had they been still hanging around the manger… still transient… but they weren’t. They were building their lives in Bethlehem. It may not have seemed welcoming at first, but they were making it home. Then visitors dropped by. They brought gifts, but they also brought danger.
I’m sure when the wise men first asked Herod about the prophesies they didn’t realize it would put the Messiah’s life in danger. They were just seeking to follow the star. Not only did Herod call for the death of Jesus, but he killed all the males his age to ensure of his death. Herod killed the males two and younger. Jesus may have been a toddler roaming around the house.
Being around refugees and knowing the price some people pay (quite literally) in order to escape, I wonder… were the gifts of the wise men immediately used just to ensure their physical safety? We know a family that had just purchased a nice home just before the bombing started. They counted the costs and walked away from it. Their lives and the lives of their children were more important. Everything of value is sold or bartered in order to preserve their lives and the lives of their children. They must have cash… their land is no longer of any value. The gifts of the wise men are significant. They were gifts for a king… gifts for a priest… and gifts foreshadowing Christ’s death. But were they also significant in his escape? They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. Was Joseph able to support the family while they were there or were they shunned as outsiders? Once Herod died, they seemed eager to return… not to settle long term in the land of Egypt.
Christmas is an amazing time to celebrate the fact that God loves us so much he chose to humble himself, leave His throne, and dwell among us.
Sometimes though we create an image that the Bible doesn’t portray.
We create a sweet safe manger, with soft clean hay.
We picture them leaving the barn for a nice international vacation.
We didn’t paint an entirely realistic picture for the girls this year either. We told them that most people think of their being three because there are three gifts, but we honestly don’t know the number. We explained the time lapse between the birth and the gifts of the magi. But we left out the harsh reality. They’ve heard bits and pieces from children in the neighborhood. They are discovering the world isn’t always a happy pretty place.
Maybe one day they’ll see both sides of Christmas too.
The miracle of God’s love… and the heaviness of the world He came to save.
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