Matthew 2:1-4
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”
When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Greg and I watched a sitcom recently in which a teenager found himself caught in a lie. His older sister convinced him that the best way to get out of it was to tell even BIGGER lies until people began to buy into the story and believe them to be truthful. Of course, this ultimately backfired, and the boy had to “come clean” about what had really happened.
Every single one of us has heard some news that had us scrambling to find out the details…to ask around and “get the skinny” on what was really going to happen. At the heart of the matter, we wanted to know what effect it would have on our own lives. Would this be good news for us…or bad news? When things are rocking along pretty well in our world, we don’t like to think about a change…especially one that might cause us some trouble!
Hopefully, such news has never left us terrified…at least not for the same reasons as Herod! Most assuredly, let’s hope that we never believe that the way to correct misinformation is with more untruths. At the heart of the matter, Herod was operating in fear and pride. His ego would not allow him to consider another king…not even one sent from God. So when he heard news that the Messiah had been born, all he could think about was figuring out a way to find Him and kill Him – or to convince his soldiers to do this! Now that’s some fear and pride at work!
I would hope that none of us plots evil things to cover our own sins – or to deal with our fears and the things that we believe will disrupt life as we know it! But just in case, let me leave you with this thought. Jesus is the light of the world. He tells us in John 10:10 that “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” There is nothing to fear about Jesus! With Him, ALL things are possible.
When a sense of fear or dread comes upon you, remember the Good News of Jesus Christ. Say a prayer and ask Him to help you squarely face whatever is in your path…and to give you wisdom and faith as you follow His lead. Like Herod and the “scholars”, we have two paths from which to choose. Make the right decision…follow Jesus, the King of Kings! Worship Him and walk in His ways, and you’ll never have to worry about the outcome.
©2014 Debbie Robus
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