Star of Wonder Star of FRIGHT

Wise Men Worship the Young Child
courtesy photobucket.com

January 6^th is the commemoration of Epiphany which is the twelfth day after Christmas.

Usually it is a celebration of Light and we are reminded of the bright star of wonder that shone and declared where the Christ Child was to be.

Gleaning from Pastor Jerry’s sermon on Sunday, he gave us some interesting facts about following the Star.  The shepherds ran to follow the star after the message from the angels.  They found the babe in a manger and worshipped him there.

Matthew 2:1-12 relates the story of the wise men from the East who studied the stars and traveled perhaps 1000 miles probably on camels because they had seen his star in the east.  We assume there were three, because they brought three gifts, but there could have been many more than three. 

These men were priests of their religion and they believed each child at birth received a guiding light to carry them through their life.  Light was a part of their faith.

Their journey brought them to Jerusalem where they inquired, “Where is he that has been born King of the Jews?”  King Herod heard about these wise men and their request, and he was greatly troubled and frightened, and summoned all his scribes and priests to search the scriptures.  They read from the prophet Micah and from Isaiah where Bethlehem was to be the place of his birth. 

Herod pretended that he was interested in worshiping the new born king and asked the wise men to let him know when they had found the child. 

The wise men continued to search and were overjoyed when they found the “young child in the house.”  By now Jesus might have been two years old, and he was no longer in the stable.

The wise men were divinely warned in a dream to return home by a different route as Herod was determining evil and wanted to harm the young child. 

King Herod was frightened by the message of the wondrous star and in his hopes to destroy the newborn king; he issued a decree that all the Jewish male children two years old and younger were to be murdered.

An angel warned Mary and Joseph and they took the young child and fled to Egypt until the wicked Herod was dead and another ruled in his place.

 

These wise men were foreigners, Gentiles and diligent in their study of astrology.  As they were busy studying, God had shown them the Star and they acted with abandonment to begin their search.  All seemed a mystery until it was revealed to them to follow the star of Wonder and finally find the Christ.    

 

Jesus Christ is not just for the Jew, but Gentiles may also come to worship him.

 

"I wonder as I wander out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior came forth to die."