Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. – Matthew 2: 1-2,10-11
The wise men saw a star rise and suspend over a certain place. Maybe they oohed and awed for a little while, or maybe they inspected and deflected for a long while. We do not know everything. They did not know everything either, since we see they had to stop for directions.
Maybe they were skeptical along the way, or maybe they prayed with thanksgiving all day. We do not know. We do know they noticed God at work and believed and eventually followed His lead. And we know their following came to fruition as seeing Jesus removed all suspicion.
God is the Creator and Keeper of the stars. Only God can pluck one from the sky and place it anywhere He wants. And only God can carry men from lacking clarification to rejoicing in His affirmation that they didn’t need all the information to make it to the destination!
Dear Lord, help us turn over our apprehensions and hesitations to You. We need your star to remind us that you always fulfill your promises. Anything keeping us from our Keeper needs to be left at Your feet. We want to rejoice in our destination with the Author of all creation!
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Wow, all week long I have been so encouraged and refreshed by these awesome posts! Thank you!
Paula, I agree. These have been amazing posts; very encouraging and refreshing. We are so happy to have you joining us! God bless you.
Thank you for posting these, I have loved reading them and as always I’m in awe of our God! I’m always visualizing the words in my head and I can just see the wisemen being excited, a little lost, hopeful they are following something true and real. I can only imagine their faces when they see the bright star and then baby Jesus!! God is good!
Mondee
Mondee, thank you so much for being here with us on the blog. I have loved reading too this week and have been very encouraged by the posts. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and yes God is so good! God bless you.
There are some things that seem to always be overlooked in this story. I used to believe that this whole story happened in one single night, mostly because that is what I was always taught. Then I actually read it for myself and paid attention to the details. Consider: It says, “AFTER Jesus was born…” and “going into the HOUSE, they saw the CHILD…” Why would God put a star in the sky over the place where Jesus WAS GOING TO be born BEFORE Joseph & Mary were even there? Before Jesus was even born? The order to go pay the taxes wouldn’t have even been given yet. Mary wouldn’t have even been pregnant yet. Or Elizabeth with John the Baptist. Luke 2:7 tells us, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” He was not born in a house. He was born, technically, in a sukkah. The wise men “saw the CHILD” not the baby. It was approximately 2 years before the wise men showed up. Bethlehem is only 5.52 miles away from Jerusalem, so it wouldn’t take Herod more than a few days to realize that the wise men weren’t coming back. Herod ordered the death of the young children, 2 years old and younger, because Jesus would have been about 2 years old. If this whole store was happening on the night Jesus was born, wouldn’t Herod have only needed to order the death of the NEWBORN BABIES? Why order the death of those a year old if Jesus was only hours old? I could go on. The star appeared on the night Jesus was born to announce the birth of His Son, Jesus. Stars are used for navigation. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, to show us the way, because He is the way to the Father (John 14:6). I am so very thankful to have Him showing me the way, instead of trying to navigate this life all on my own. I have enjoyed this week & look forward to the remaining 3 weeks.
Tashina,
Thank you for posting that information. I too caught the words, “house and Child” and thought about how much time must have passed since Jesus’ birth and wondered WHY?
I want to dig deeper and research for myself some of the things you have written.
So thank you sister in Christ!
Thank you Tashina for sharing those insights with us and thank you for being here with us on the blog. God bless you.
I, too have enjoyed reading the posts each day. They have gone right along with the star theme, and Jesus being the Light. Thanks for doing them every weekday.
Birdie,
Thank you for being here with us and so glad you have enjoyed the posts. I really have too. God bless you.