“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” Matthew 2:1-3
In modern day nativity scenes, we almost always see 3 kings or 3 wise men representing these visitors from the orient. It was an ancient belief among many cultures thay when a great king or leader was born, a bright star would shine, announcing his birth, so the star the easterners followed had probably been shining for at least 2 years because it would have taken them that long to plan and make the journey by foot, following the star! So when they probably arrived, Jesus was probably already about 2 years old, plus vs.11 says they arrived at a HOUSE whereas Jesus was born in a manger. With all these things taken into account, the important truth is that the event of Jesus’ birth was so awesome and so important that it was even written in the stars and read and understood by non-Jewish, non-“Christian” astrologers from probably India or China! So they show up to the nearest king by where the star was leading, Herod, and asked, where’s the new-born King?
Now King Herod was pretty crazy! He had already eliminated any potential rival kings from his own household BEFORE the wisemen even showed up! Now he’s seen the wisemen who’ve come seeking a newborn King, thus Matthew’s remark that Herod was “disturbed”, which actually, may have been understating this situation! No wonder all of Jerusalem was on edge!
Many times in history, God has used unsavoury and even ungodly people to accomplish His purposes. This was the case with Herod. So, if God could use Herod, think what He could do with you who are actually AVAILABLE to Him! Pretty amazing, right?
Think about it!
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