Day 1 – Blessed are those who search
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-2
The “Wise Men”, the “Three Kings”, “The Magi”, three figurines when you are setting up your nativity scene that are a bit different from the rest. We don’t know a lot about these individuals. We know they were from east of Jerusalem. Many think this means they were from the region of Iran and perhaps followed the Zoroastrian faith. We know they studied or at least noted the stars and were familiar with prophecies. But most interestingly, we see that they came to “worship him”.
They came across deserts, across cultures, across the unknown.
What would motivate these individuals to come? Was it curiosity? Was it grief? Was it longing? Was it love? Was it hope? Was it the same for all of them, or was it different for each one?
We don’t know why they came, but we do know that they were welcomed.
We know that they were invited in.
How are you coming into this Advent season?
Inward: Immanuel, God with us, what do you want me to know? What am I longing for? Welcome us to you with open arms and help us to know you more this Advent season.
Outward: Immanuel, God with us, what do you want us to do? Is there someone who needs to be welcomed? Is there someone searching that I can encourage?
