Home by another way

Those Wise Men spent some time on the road, made an unfortunate detour to Herod's palace, showed up with 3 gifts (which is why we think there were 3 wise men), and went home by another way.

It seems when you encounter the fullness of God in person of Jesus, your life just simply doesn't follow along its old path.  Your path to home takes a new route.  Your life shifts.  You are changed.

It is good to remember that when 'following the star' is scary and uncertain.  Step out; trust God.  Who knows where it will all lead?

If Momma ain't happy

If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

 

Do you know this old saying? I think it is always good to remember.  Some folks' unhappiness has a way of being spread around.

So it was with Herod - King Herod - in Jerusalem.  Herod came from a line of rulers who were known for their ruthlessness.  Making Herod unhappy (any of the Herods) was dangerous business.

So what were the Wise Men thinking?  This faux pas alone raises a question as to how wise they really were.  They stepped right into Herod's palace and inquired about the birth of the King of the Jews.  No wonder  "When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him"  Matthew 2.3

I expect that King Herod thought there was a new king in the making - one who would grow in power until he competed with Herod, power to power, winner take all.  The fact that this newborn was to be King of the Jews only shifted Herod's concern from the rise of a Roman competitor to a possible leader of a revolution....and, might I paraphrase, When Herod wasn't happy, no one was happy.  Lots of young boys paid the price for Herod's fear, a fear that would grip another Herod 30 years later when confronted with the grown Jesus. 

In the end, both Herods were sure they had won this confrontation with an erstwhile 'King'.  Neither understood the kind of power Jesus held - the power of love which knows no bounds, which is willing to lay down its life for the sake of the other.

Herod might have had control of the palace.  Jesus reigns eternally from a greater throne.  Herod had good reason to be nervous; his time was indeed running out.

Follow the star

Which star are you following?

I raise this question because the Wise Men were following a particular star.  This was the star which was to foretell the birth of a new king.  (This pre-occupation with stars has led some to call these visitors astrologers - rather than astronomers.)

This was a special, once in a career sighting of a cosmic sign.  These visitors made a commitment to follow through on this star - to follow it to its conclusion where its real meaning would be revealed. 

The only real trouble that Matthew notes around this star journey is their side trip to visit with King Herod - which almost cost them their heads and eventually cost many young boys their lives.  Apparrently asking the powers that be about the birth of a power to come is dangerous business.

The star stopped over Jesus' home, or so the story goes.  It lead them to the place they needed to be.

How about you?

Are you following a star? 

Which star is it? 

Is it a star of your own devising or a cosmic sign?

Could it be a bit of light in the dark given as a guidelight along an unfamiliar path?

Could this star be leading you to the place you need to be?

Jesus is the light in the darkness.  Are we following his star to a place of unexpected new life?  Are we headed to that place where we will become all that we can be as servants of Christ?

Which star are you following?

Follow the star

Those Wise Men - or Three Kings - or the Magi (lots of different titles because no one truly knows who or what Matthew was pointing to with his story of these visitors) arrive at Jesus' side as much as two years after the birth.  They have been following a star.

This means they had to wait until night fall each day to take up their journey.  It was only in the dark that they could confidently take up the journey again: not in the day light when they could see the bumps and curves up ahead, but in the dark with all its hidden obstacles and dangers.

 I have never thought about it this way before.  To get where they wanted to go, these Wise Men had to depend on the light provided by cosmic forces....or should we say God.  They had to trust in what they could not see or foresee.

One step at a time, in the dark, trusting in the Creator of the Universe to lead us to new life.  Applies to us today as well.