PRAYER PRACTICE
SPOKEN PRAYER: Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.
REFLECTION
Wise Men and Women
by Dave Mann
Of all the characters of the original Christmas story, the magi are my favorite. There is an interesting contrast between the religious leaders in Jerusalem and the magi. Supposing that the appearance of the star was a sign that the reigning king (Herod) must have had a newborn child, they stopped at the palace in Jerusalem. But they found no royal newborn there to honor. Herod, suspecting that there might be a challenge to his power, called on the religious leaders to ascertain what the Hebrew prophecies might say. The priests actually knew the Scriptures and correctly cited Micah 5:2, pointing the magi to Bethlehem.
The magi were delighted, especially when the star reappeared and confirmed the matter, as it moved toward Bethlehem. They advanced to Bethlehem, where they presented their gifts and worshiped Jesus. These mysterious men -- from a pagan culture, probably immersed in astrology, presuming that stars had power to give spiritual advice – these people, in some ways very distant from the truth, actually drew near and worshiped Jesus.
But the chief priests, what did they do? Did they have the slightest bit of curiosity that perhaps the Messiah was born? Did they even send a go-fer to Bethlehem to check it out? They had the Scriptures, they had the head-knowledge, even able to cite the specific verse of the birthplace of the coming Messiah. But did this knowledge move them one step closer to respond to God, asking Him to move them into a closer walk with the Lord? Sadly, no.
As I write this reflection, I suppose that most of those who read this will be like me. We have more in common with the chief priests than with the magi. We have knowledge of the Scriptures, we can cite chapter and verse for a fair number of passages, we are involved in religious events, especially at Christmas time. We are not involved with the stars; we would not make a long, hard trip to honor an unknown newborn king.
Because of this comparison, I fall on knees and pray:
O Lord, use the example of the magi to shake us out of our spiritual and religious slumber. Lord, use the curiosity of the magi to move us to worship, to obey, to offer our gifts and ourselves to you. May we be wise men and women who truly follow Jesus. Amen.
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