a magi-cal adventure

Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men* from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,* and we have come to worship him."
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"
5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities* of Judah,for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'*"
7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"
9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

We take so much for granted in this story.

Travel was a very dangerous ting. You could be killed, kidnaped & sold into slavery, get lost, be robbed, or any number of horrible things.

There were no interstate highways & no RV's to ride around in. Travel wasn't just dangerous, it was hard. Imagine riding across the middle east on a camel today, let alone 2000 years ago.

Imagine what their friends & family said to them when they left wherever they came from, following a star. My friends & family would probably check me into a local mental hospital if I suggested I was gonna do something like that.

But these three guys just took off, looking for the new King of the Jews. And they found Him.

I wonder what they told their friends & family when they got back?

"Well, Mildred, how ya been? Ya know, we found the newborn King of the Jews..."

So much we don't know about this, so many questions about the whole thing.

I wonder if the wise men made it to heaven? I'd like to ask them all kinds of questions. Maybe they have a handout they give to folks when they get to heaven that answers the questions so they don't have to be eternally answering them?

;-)

The big deal for me was their faith. They stepped out in faith & went on an incredible adventure with God. And look what happened.

I feel like I'm on the same kind of adventure with downtown. Wonder how it'll all shake out?