Ancient Prophecy Guided Seekers to Jesus
Daily Scripture
Micah 5:2-5, Matthew 2:1-6
Micah 5
2 As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces,
one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.
His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.
3 Therefore, he will give them up
until the time when she who is in labor gives birth.
The rest of his kin will return to the people of Israel.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
They will dwell secure,
because he will surely become great throughout the earth;
5 he will become one of peace.
Matthew 2
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. 4 He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
because from you will come one who governs,
who will shepherd my people Israel” [Micah 5:2].
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Did You Know?
We’ve heard of Bethlehem, but what about ‘Ephrathah’? It meant ‘fruitful’ and was the name of the district surrounding Bethlehem.
Matthew said the “Wise Men,” visitors likely from the area of Persia (modern Iran), arrived, not with the shepherds but an unspecified amount of time “after Jesus was born.” Matthew’s Greek word magoi identified not “kings” (the carol notwithstanding) but students of the stars. When King Herod (no Bible scholar himself) called in the chief priests and legal experts, they quickly quoted Micah 5:2. That showed that many Israelites believed this passage pointed to the Messiah’s birthplace.
- Roman historians wrote about an ancient prophecy. Many expected a world ruler to arise in Judea. The Romans said Emperor Vespasian must have been that ruler—they missed the true king. The priests and legal experts missed him too, even though they recited Micah’s words about Bethlehem. The eastern visitors, hoping this new King would bring the world a fresh start, * didn’t miss him. How can you keep your mind and heart alert to where God is at work?
- The Magi didn’t say, “Where is the one born king of the Jews? We’ve come to negotiate a treaty” or “We’ve come to attend one of his meetings.” Scholar William Barclay noted that the magi had “the reaction of adoring worship, the desire to lay at the feet of Jesus Christ the noblest gifts they could bring.” ** As you plan for Christmas, how will you honor Jesus’ birth through “adoring worship” this year?
Prayer
A daily reminder from Pastor Hamilton: Our hope is that tonight or tomorrow morning, continuing through Christmas, each of you will, either in the morning or at night, take the time to write down three things you are thankful for. You might write these in the form of a thank you letter to God, or simply write down a journal entry.
Prayer: King Jesus, when you were born and the magi sought you as a newborn king, paranoid King Herod tragically took them more seriously than the religious experts. As I enter this Advent season, guide me to grasp the importance of your coming to earth as my king. Amen.
GPS Insights
Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory, who serves as a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection, wrote today's Insights. He helps lead worship at Leawood's modern worship services, as well as at the West and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
I’ve been very candid in this blog about my struggles with mental health and bipolar disorder. In the interest of being candid right now, I’ll confess that I’m currently having an episode. My mind is moving 100 miles per hour, and my leg has been tapping for three hours. My wife Janelle knows when I get this way, because I always pitch to her a convoluted, brilliant idea (which is not at all practical) that we must implement right away. Tis the season for manic ideation.
Being in this state on Black Friday made everything worse, because how many of my brilliant ideas would not be made better with all the stuff that’s on sale? Website hosts are running sales—time to buy three more domains for creative side projects. Now’s the time to renew my passion for indoor cactus gardening. Half off Lego nativity sets? Yes, please.
All that to say, I am entering this holiday season distracted, overwhelmed, and full of ideas that don’t really help anyone. Having the self-awareness now to recognize that makes me cautious, but also cognizant of all the past Christmases I’ve had a more benign version of this: my heart for charity is distracted; my schedule for volunteering is overwhelmed; my head is full of well-intentioned ideas that don’t really help anyone.
This holiday season, my manic mind and most of us need the same thing: a few moments of quiet reflection. Like the magi, we can bring gifts for our king, or many others in need. We can show up to worship earnestly, not just out of obligation. We can seek out the truth when it’s easier to just seek ourselves. Life is moving very quickly right now, and it won’t slow down until all of the presents are unwrapped and we’re eating leftover pie for breakfast. If I communicate nothing else with this post, let this be my point: take some time to think about what this season means, for you and for the world around you.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* The magi likely had interacted with Hebrews in their part of the world. They may have drawn hope from passages like Psalm 72, Isaiah 2 and Isaiah 11, which spoke of a coming ruler who would bring justice and peace to all nations.
** William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew—Volume 1 Chapters 1–10 (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 30.
