Pam Padgett ... teacher
Wise men in the east saw the star of the one born King of the Jews and came to worship the King ....
Matthew
2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his
star in the east, and are come to worship him.
When they came to Jerusalem and asked where the child was, king Herod
and those of Jerusalem were troubled by what the wise men said. After
inquiring of the chief priests and scribes what had been written about
the birth of Christ, Herod called the wise men asking when the
star appeared, then sent them to Bethlehem with instruction to return to
him when they found the child, trying to deceive them by saying he
wanted to worship the child as well ...
Matthew 2:3
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and
scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should
be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it
is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda,
art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a
Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had
privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the
star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search
diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me
word again, that I may come and worship him also.
When they left Herod, they rejoiced greatly when they saw the star, and the
star led them to the exact place where Jesus was. Even though Jesus
was a baby and not in a royal palace but in a manger (Luke 2:7), the
wise men believed that Jesus was the King of the Jews, worshiped Him,
and presented gifts of treasures worthy of a king ...
Matthew 2:9
When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which
they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over
where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with
exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they
saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped
him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him
gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Even though king Herod had instructed them to return to him, they obeyed
the instruction God gave them in a dream to not do this. God knew that
king Herod sought Jesus to destroy Him. King Herod spoke deceitfully
about why he wanted to know where the child born King of the Jews was,
but by obeying God instead of king Herod they did not fall into his trap
...
Matthew 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 13
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to
Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his
mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word:
for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
This is a wonderful account of following God and rejoicing in His guidance.
One of the things that especially stood out to me in this account is how
joyful the wise men were to see the star. I thought of how joyful we
are when we receive guidance from God by the Holy Spirit, knowing that
His way leads us to the exact place we need to be. Just as the star
stood over the very place where Jesus was, the guidance we receive from
God is sure and will not fail. And when we receive a word from God by
the Holy Spirit, this shows that we are children of God being cared for and led by God.
The wise men also submitted themselves, not considering themselves
better than a baby in lowly circumstances, since it had been revealed to
them that this was the King of the Jews they were led to find. I
thought of how we must submit ourselves to the word of God, not
considering our own wisdom but submitting to the wisdom of God,
following the leading of the Holy Spirit and worshiping God by obeying.
And when the wise men were given instruction from God which was contrary to the instruction king Herod had given them, they obeyed God. This is an example for us of obeying God over man. And we see that the wise men were kept from falling into the deception of king Herod as they obeyed God.