Magi

5. Worship and Warning

Starting a Journey with Jesus, Day 5  (Matthew 2:7-12)

What gift do you have that you bring to worship Jesus?

Then Herod secretly called the Magi and found out from them the time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go search and inquire about the child.  When you find him, report it to me, so that I may also go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and there was star which they had seen in the east, and it went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.   When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.   When they came to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him and they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.   Warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they withdrew and returned to their country by another way. (Matthew 2:7-12)

Notice the contrasts between King Herod and the Magi. (more…)

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4. Worship the True King

Starting a Journey with Jesus, Day 4  (Matthew 2:1-6)

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea at the time of King Herod. That’s when Magi from the east showed up in Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and we have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was upset (and all Jerusalem with him).  He called together all the chief priests and teachers of the Jewish people, and he questioned them about where the Messiah was to be born.   They said, “In Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘And 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.‘”  (Matthew 2:1-6)

Bethlehem was just a short distance south of Jerusalem,

(more…)

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