Love Leads

Be Prepared

Matthew 2:1 HCSB

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,

Matthew 2:1–2 HCSB

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Be Prepared.

1. To see opportunities.

Matthew 2:2 HCSB

saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

a. The wise men were looking for more. (Highlights Children’s Magazine) the idea behind Highlights has turned into digital versions complete with story lines, and characters but the concept is the same. You look for specific things hidden in a picture. The idea in both is simple we miss so much when we give things a quick glance. (misspell a word on the slide on purpose?)

i. We have seen

1. The wise men knew that there was something important going on, they had seen something special, they had heard of something important. Possibly from just looking in the sky but likely a combination of what they saw, and things they had studied and heard and read from what we know of as Old Testament manuscripts brought east with migrant Jewish Scholars. Whatever the case their journey started with seeing something that was out of place, doing some digging to find out what it could be and going from there.

ii. We want to know more

Matthew 2:3–8 HCSB

When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah: because out of you will come a leader who will shepherd My people Israel.” Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”

1. So much of our interaction with God boils down to choice. I know that I have talked about choice when it comes to our relationship with God in the past but just about every interaction we see between God and humanity in scripture comes down to that one word. The fact is every concept, every command, every idea, ever act of service, everything we read and study and claim must be considered and decided on. It’s the same with the Wise men. They could have stopped with seeing something different and walking away. They had a desire to know more, so they dug in to what they could and when that failed them, they made a deeper commitment to find out more, and so they set out for the place that the answers should be found. The palace of the then known King of the Jews. Herod. (Herod was not a “legitimate” king of the Jewish People, in fact he was not even a decedent of Jacob he traced his line back to Esau. One of the reasons he was so interested in what was said, is because he knew he was not “legitimately entitled to the throne. He was also not above doing whatever it took to ensure he stayed on the throne Elaborate)

2. To go wherever you must.

The wise men knew they needed more information to keep going.

Matthew 2:3–8 HCSB

When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah: because out of you will come a leader who will shepherd My people Israel.” Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”

i. Where is he?

1. When they got to the Palace they wanted to know where the child would be born. The king didn’t even know as is evidenced by him asking the Jewish scholars for the answers, answers that any Jewish person looking for the Messiah would likely understand. The Magi could be excused for not knowing the answer to where Jesus was going to be born. The Leader of the Jewish people not so much. They asked the question thinking that the palace made sense, or at least the center of the Jewish government. Of course the future King would be born in the Palace right. I am almost sure that they thought they may have finally come to the end of their journey. When they asked the question, they probably figured they would be led to his room…

ii. Don’t stop with book knowledge keep going.

1. When they found out the answer they again were faced with a choice to keep going to keep searching for peace, or to stop. They chose to keep going. So many times we get to this point in our search for a meaningful relationship and we stop short. We don’t push forward because doing so requires something more. Perhaps we are tired, perhaps we were hoping it would be easy, perhaps we think that the next step is just too much to be expected. We come up with reasons and excuses but the bottom line is we don’t want to push any further, because doing so may mean a shift in our comfort zone…

3. To give your very best.

Matthew 2:9–12 HCSB

After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east! It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

a. The wise men knew that this was something and someone special.

i. We have seen HIS STAR

1. A few interesting notes about the star.

a. Stars naturally seem to travel east to west across the sky, one of the reasons we say the Sun rises in the East and Sets in the west. Science has shown us that the sun and stars are fixed in the sky, it’s the earth the moves. For a star to appear and seem to travel isn’t so much of a stretch if the stars are behaving the way they were set up to behave. From east to west, but Bethlehem is five miles directly south of Jerusalem….(map) The fact that the star appears again when the get out of their audience with Herod is pretty cool, but that it travels ahead of them to Jerusalem, going from north to south makes it pretty amazing. One possibility is what they are seeing isn’t a star at all but that it could be the Shekina glory of God, the same thing that lead the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years as a pillar of fire and a cloud. Whatever it was God was leading the wise men in a miraculous way, assuring them that the one they were looking for was more than just a baby.

ii. We have come to worship.

1. The wise men were there to worship the one that was going to change the world. They had been convinced through what they saw, what they heard and what they studied that they needed to do more than just say hi, they were coming to worship. (definition of worship)

iii. Present the gifts you have prepared to give.

1. Much has been said about the gifts that the Magi brought. The gold, frankinsense, and myrrh were precious, the old testament prophets lay out a possibility for their meaning, the fact that Gentile wise men would bring precious things to the son of God showing all the kingdoms of the world would one day recognize Gods soverienty. Others ascribe further meaning. Gold for a King, Francincenece for His life on earth that made things better (insence tends to make things smell better) Myhrr for the ultimate sacrifice he would give. These are nice thoughts. But what strikes me most is that these men had thought about and prepared to give things of great value to the Jesus. They then traveled across the country caryihng those things with them, not taking the easy way like so many do ( last minute gift giving) and they presented them to Jesus without regard for what he would do with them.

This Weeks Challenge

Call one friend or family member when you get home today and invite them to Candle Light service tomorrow night at 7. Share Gods gift of Love with the ones you love!