Episode Transcript
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
Matthew 2:1–2
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 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.”
CONSIDER
Did you notice those six words tucked into the first verse of today's text? "During the time of King Herod." Write those on a Post-it note and hold it for a minute.
A friend once told me a story about taking his young children to an art museum. They found themselves about halfway through the meandering gallery rooms of the place when he realized they were missing one of their daughters. The five-year-old had apparently lost the family and wandered away in the press and push of the museum patrons. As the family frantically scrambled back through the museum in a panicked search, they spotted her. She was kneeling in humbled reverence before a giant work of art. It was a painting of Jesus wearing kingly vestments and a jeweled crown. There to her right were her shoes which she had taken off and placed neatly to the side.
She had come to worship him.
That's the story of the day, isn't it? These Magi walked a thousand miles—from Babylon to Bethlehem. These wise men—Magi, the Bible calls them—tagged by the tradition as kings had stopped in the celebrated City of Kings in their search for a child born King.
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose . . ."
And did you notice the six words tucked into the first verse of today's text?
We . . . have come to worship him.
I want you to underline those words and then highlight them. I want you to write those words at the top of the page of Matthew 2 and then at the top of the page of Matthew 3 and 4 and 5 and every page on the thousand-mile journey to Revelation 21 and then go back and write your way to Genesis 1.
We . . . have come to worship him.
After all that, get them engraved on the front cover of your Bible. And if you are the tattooing type, go ahead and get them inked on the back of your hand.
The star-gazing kings walked a thousand miles. King Herod would not make the seven-mile hike to Bethlehem.
The Gospel of Matthew will artfully meander through the story of Moses as it unveils and reveals one greater than Moses—our King Jesus. Might we even see the first serendipitous allusion here.
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Ex. 3:4–5)
And what is a star but a burning bush in the sky?
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. (Matt. 3:10–11)
And that Post-it note you made earlier, with those six words you can't even remember now, "In the time of King Herod"? It represents the hard, cruel, even oppressive things in your life right now. They are losing their sticky and soon will pass. Only one thing will endure. Only one thing is necessary. And you have found it. Only one thing remains—those other six words.
We . . . have come to worship him.
PRAY
Our Father, how we thank you for sending your Son, our King. King Jesus, we have seen your star, and we have come to worship you. Come, Holy Spirit, set our hearts on fire like that bush that was burning but not burning up. We are the common bush. You are the glorious burning. Jesus, you are my King, and I pray in your name. Amen.
