Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:51:22 -0600
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Dec. 28); BP: Mt. 2:1-12; RBTTY: Rev. 19; Zech. 5-8
December 28 "On Seeking the Savior"
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He that is born King of the Jew? For we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him’."
Matthew 2:1-2
As someone once said, "Wise men still seek Him."
They’d come a long ways, these visitors from the east, in search of One Who’d be "born King of the Jews." And, their purpose in seeking Him was singular and clear: "To worship (Grk. ‘proskuneo’—‘to kiss, crouch before, lie prostrate, etc.’) Him."
Who they were, how they’d come to learn about Him and why they wanted to worship Him is little more than speculation. The first ones who took special note of Jesus’ birth were the lowly shepherds (Lk. 2:8-20), with the aged Simeon and prophetess, Anna, doing so some eight days later (Lk. 2:25-38).
Even so, again, we know little of these foreign visitors, other than the fact they’re called "Magoi" in the Greek text, which comes from the root word "magos" and basically means "magician, sorcerer, etc." But, history records these men were a type of Oriental scientist from Persia and most likely their philosophers and/or priests.
Likewise, the fact that they’d "seen His star in the east and had come to worship Him" lets us know they were likely stargazers, who engaged in divination based upon what they saw in the stars. Regardless, we do know they were Gentiles in search of the Promised One from God—and isn’t this a beautiful picture of what would happen later on in Jesus’ ministry and continues until today?
Assuredly it is. Hallelujah! These "seekers," of whom we don’t know the exact number, lived in an idolatrous society that worshipped the stars as "the host of heaven" and even named the planets according to their idol-gods (Amos 5:26). It’s possible they’d heard of Balaam’s prophecy that a "star should arise out of Jacob" (Num. 24:17) and that’s what intrigued them; however, the fact that they were in search of a Person, not a planet, lets us know they’d also heard other prophecies about One Who arise in that particular day-and-age while Herod was on the throne (Gen. 49:10).
Thus, it’s clear these were "men on a mission." We’re not told how long they’d traveled, although there are some who conclude it’d possibly been as long as 1-2 years. Regardless, the fact remains that they’d traveled a long distance, did arrive, bearing gifts and chose to "obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29) when they returned home. Hallelujah!!
Oh, dear Pilgrim, if those—who were "without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12)—could make seeking Christ their "magnificent obsession," why shouldn’t we? May we, like them, be wise today by putting Christ first (Mt. 6:33) and then seek to lead others to Him as well.
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He that is born King of the Jew? For we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him’."
Matthew 2:1-2
As someone once said, "Wise men still seek Him."
They’d come a long ways, these visitors from the east, in search of One Who’d be "born King of the Jews." And, their purpose in seeking Him was singular and clear: "To worship (Grk. ‘proskuneo’—‘to kiss, crouch before, lie prostrate, etc.’) Him."
Who they were, how they’d come to learn about Him and why they wanted to worship Him is little more than speculation. The first ones who took special note of Jesus’ birth were the lowly shepherds (Lk. 2:8-20), with the aged Simeon and prophetess, Anna, doing so some eight days later (Lk. 2:25-38).
Even so, again, we know little of these foreign visitors, other than the fact they’re called "Magoi" in the Greek text, which comes from the root word "magos" and basically means "magician, sorcerer, etc." But, history records these men were a type of Oriental scientist from Persia and most likely their philosophers and/or priests.
Likewise, the fact that they’d "seen His star in the east and had come to worship Him" lets us know they were likely stargazers, who engaged in divination based upon what they saw in the stars. Regardless, we do know they were Gentiles in search of the Promised One from God—and isn’t this a beautiful picture of what would happen later on in Jesus’ ministry and continues until today?
Assuredly it is. Hallelujah! These "seekers," of whom we don’t know the exact number, lived in an idolatrous society that worshipped the stars as "the host of heaven" and even named the planets according to their idol-gods (Amos 5:26). It’s possible they’d heard of Balaam’s prophecy that a "star should arise out of Jacob" (Num. 24:17) and that’s what intrigued them; however, the fact that they were in search of a Person, not a planet, lets us know they’d also heard other prophecies about One Who arise in that particular day-and-age while Herod was on the throne (Gen. 49:10).
Thus, it’s clear these were "men on a mission." We’re not told how long they’d traveled, although there are some who conclude it’d possibly been as long as 1-2 years. Regardless, the fact remains that they’d traveled a long distance, did arrive, bearing gifts and chose to "obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29) when they returned home. Hallelujah!!
Oh, dear Pilgrim, if those—who were "without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12)—could make seeking Christ their "magnificent obsession," why shouldn’t we? May we, like them, be wise today by putting Christ first (Mt. 6:33) and then seek to lead others to Him as well.
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