Day 23: Matthew 2: 1-12, Luke 2: 21-39
Passages for the Day
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 ”In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 ” ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Luke 2:21-39
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 ”Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then had been a widow for eighty-four years. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
Points of interest:
· ‘After Jesus was born’—you’ve probably picked up on the fact that we’re moving out of the prophets and into the gospels, the Bible’s four stories of Jesus’ life and ministry. Today, we’ll look at two different stories surrounding Jesus’ birth.
· ‘Magi from the east came to Jerusalem’—these Magi are somewhat mysterious. They appear unexpectedly, and depart just as quickly; so we don’t know much about them. They’re most likely astrologers or magicians from Persia or Arabia. They remind me of the Queen of Sheba, who also came from far away—possibly Arabia—because of the great things she heard were happening in Jerusalem. They also remind me of Isaiah’s prophecy, in chapter 66, that people from far away would come to Jerusalem with offerings.
· ‘the one who has been born king of the Jews’—you have to wonder why these Magi cared so deeply about the birth of a foreign king. This reminds me of yesterday’s passage, when the re-building of Jerusalem’s temple fulfills the desires of all nations.
· ‘When King Herod heard this he was disturbed’—it’s easy to understand why Herod might be disturbed. As far as he knew, he was king of the Jews. It’s a title he worked very hard to gain for himself. During the confusing period of Roman politics after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Herod expertly navigated the constantly changing political environment, insuring he stayed in the good graces of whatever Roman general happened to control the area at any given time. To put himself in line for the throne, he married a Jewish princess, and then proceeded to assassinate her entire family, eliminating any potential rivals. He even executed more than one of his own sons, when they seemed to become threats. Herod was not the kind of person to take news of this new king kindly.
· ‘for this is what the prophet has written’—they’re quoting Micah 5:2,4.
· ‘When they saw the star, they were overjoyed’—apparently, the Magi temporarily lost track of the star that had guided them to Judea (the Roman name for what had been Judah). Maybe they stopped watching it because they assumed they’d find this young king in Jerusalem, since it was the capital. When things turn confusing in Jerusalem, the star reappears to finish its job. This star is, by the way, an unusually precise guide; Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem, not a distance that a star could usually help you navigate.
· ‘they bowed down and worshiped him’—the religious experts in Jerusalem know exactly where to find this prophesied king, but they don’t bother to go to see him. Herod wants to know where he is, but presumably only so that he can kill him. It’s only these strangers from far away who seek out the king to honor him.
· ‘gold, frankincense and myrrh’—frankincense and myrrh are two aromatic oils that were imported from the East. Gold is a shiny, pliable metal often used as an expensive gift—but you probably knew that already.
· ‘having been warned in a dream’—these Magi may not be familiar with the Jewish prophets, but God finds other ways to speak to them: first the star, and now a dream.
· ‘when it was time to circumcise the child’—from the time of Abram, male children were circumcised to signify their inclusion in the covenant between God and Abram.
· ‘a pair of doves’—this indicates that Joseph and Mary were poor. If they could afford it, they would sacrifice a lamb instead (Leviticus 12:8).
· ‘before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah’—by Jesus’ time Messiah became the blanket term for the hoped-for future king we saw in our Isaiah passages: the Branch, the Root, the Servant, etc. Messiah essentially means, ‘Chosen One.’ Literally, it means, ‘anointed’; a common way to commission someone for a special role (like king or priest or prophet) was to ‘anoint them with oil,’ pouring oil over their head as a symbol of God’s Spirit resting on them. Simeon sees in the child Jesus the fulfillment of everything Isaiah and the Psalms had been looking forward to, and he’s honored to be alive when it finally happens.
· ‘he went into the temple courts’—Zerubbabel and Joshua (from the last two passages) did succeed in rebuilding the temple. By a strange set of circumstances, their temple did indeed end up being grander than Solomon’s. It started out quite modest, but several hundred years later, Herod lavishly remodeled it. He was trying to buy back some popularity after killing off the royal family.
· ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel’—I think in this poem Simeon is riffing off of some of our Isaiah passages. Just like in God’s blessing of Abram, Simeon foresees both the Israelites and the rest of the world benefitting from what will happen through this child.
· ‘a sign that will be spoken against’—Isaiah 11 (Monday, the 16th) spoke of the Messiah being a banner that rallied the nations. Simeon also sees Jesus as a very visible sign, but not necessarily a sign to which everyone will rally.
· ‘looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem’—to redeem is to buy back from slavery. You’ve probably gotten the idea by now that Jerusalem was a really big deal for the Jews: it was part of the land God had promised to Abram; it was David’s capital city; it was the site of Solomon’s temple; and its glorious future was spoken of by the prophets. Jerusalem’s status was basically what the Jews of the time used to measure whether or not all was right with the world. And all had not been right for a very long time. The Jews had been returned from exile, and had eventually rebuilt the temple; but they had never really been strong or free (except for a very brief time under the Maccabees) since the Babylonian conquest. They were ruled by a long string of empires: the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and now the Romans. The people of Jerusalem were still waiting for God to rescue their city from foreign domination, and to turn it into the envy of the world of which the prophets had spoken. To Anna, it seems that the time has finally come.
Taking it home:
· For you: Upon encountering Jesus, the Magi respond by presenting him with their treasures. Consider if there are any talents, resources, skills, or connections you have that could in some way be used for what God is doing in the world. Pick one of those things, and tell God that you’re willing to offer it up to him.
· For your six: Simeon was not satisfied until he got what he had been waiting for all of those years—the opportunity to personally see Jesus. Ask God that he would give your six whatever it is they are most looking for in life—a sense of purpose, joy, intimacy, security—and that he would sustain them in their journey as they search for it.
· For America: Pray today for those who feel threatened, angry and on-edge about Jesus. Ask God to bless them and to loosen their sense of offense. Pray that they would have experiences that more closely resemble the Magi’s than Herod’s.