God has a messenger


DDG, Unit 19, Session 5, Day 1 – Matthew 2:1-12

In the story of the Magi, have you ever wondered why, when asked where the King of the Jews had been born, Herod didn’t just look at them bemused? He was the King in Israel. He had no new-born son. He knew they weren’t looking for him. Immediately, he sent for the chief priests and scribes and asked where the Christ was to be born. The anointed One. The Messiah. He recognized that such a procession at such a time could only mean the Messiah had been born. Unlike those who had seen baby Jesus at his dedication, Herod wasn’t celebrating.

How did you respond when people first confronted you with the Good News of the One who came and died that we might live. I don’t mean the first time you heard it. You may have grown up surrounded by church and its language and culture. I was. Some of my oldest memories are of singing in the children’s choir at my local church. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t really even read at that point. I remember confirmation classes and Sunday School. The first people who ever really told me that Jesus loved me and wanted to save me from my sins were students at my high school. Not classmates. I didn’t know them. I don’t know how they came to know me. I just knew they were weird. They wore the big red badges that said “Get Smart, Get Saved,” and I ran every time I saw the badges. They meant well, but I wasn’t interested. At least I wasn’t contemplating homicide like Herod was.

Why is the wisemen’s seeking and worshiping of Jesus relevant to how the gospel message led us to find Jesus?

I’ll let you contextualize that yourself. For me, it was that sometimes the unlikeliest people showed up in the unlikeliest places to bring a message I didn’t think I needed to hear. Or even wanted to hear. But I’m so glad they did. Now, I get to be someone else’s unlikely messenger. Lord, make the just the right messenger for the right time to the right person. And, if necessary, look a little weird in the process.

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