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Weekly Devotional

January 4, 2010

God’s Peace be with you all.

Matthew 2:1-12   In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,  ² asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."  ³ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;  ⁴ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.  ⁵ They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:  ⁶ 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"  ⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.  ⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."  ⁹ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  ¹⁰ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  ¹¹ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

This coming Wednesday we will celebrate the Epiphany, and it is on this day that we remember the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus.  While we certainly like to say that there were three Magi, we do not know the number for sure.  As you can see from the above text, we don’t know how many there were, just that there were three gifts presented.  The text above is really all we know about the Magi, as they are not presented in any of the other gospels.

The word “Magi” is an English transliteration of the Latinized Greek word magoi.  The Greek word stems from the old Persian version, which may be in reference to the caste system of the Zoroastrian religion.  It is a religion that shares some similarities with Christianity.  Zoroastrians also believe in a single God, however they believe that God gave them the stars through which they prophecy.  This makes many believe that it was actually Zoroastrians that came to visit the baby Jesus.  Some bibles will list them as “wise men” or even “kings”.  Until the protestant reformation, “kings” was the main way to describe them based on the prophecy of Isaiah 60:3, which says the messiah will be worshiped by kings.  However, “wise men” is the more appropriate term, because it refers to educated people.

Beginning next Sunday, you will notice that the Paschal Candle will be at the head of the aisle until Lent begins.  The season after the Epiphany (and before Lent) is known as the time where Jesus is “revealed” as the light of the world.  Therefore we will light the Paschal Candle every Sunday as a reminder that the Word of God has come into the world, and revealed for us.  This celebration begins on Epiphany, and continues until Ash Wednesday.

In our prayers this week:  Wendy (Still in Mary Black), Ann, Joseph, Lisa, Kim, Robert, Sharon, and Catherine 

God’s Peace,

Pastor Judson