Matthew 2:2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.” There are several things that I find amazing about the three wise men. 1. They were persistent! They followed a star for two years! They must have come from very far away because they tell Herod that they first saw the star 2 years ago (that’s why Herod has all the boys two and under killed – this makes me want to cry because both my boys are around that age and I can only imagine the pain that order caused). I wonder how often we never find the prize at the end because we fail to follow the star for the time needed to get all the way there? 2. They weren’t as wise as I’d have thought. They asked the current king where the new king was. Did it ever occur to them that maybe he wouldn’t be happy about the thought that he was going to be dethroned? Of course, if they thought a new king had been born, it would be rather logical to look in a palace first rather than in a barn. So, maybe the two cancel each other out and make it a neutral point. 3. They kept their eyes on the bigger picture of who Jesus was. They were giving gifts to a two-year-old… I’d have given him a ball. But they remembered that he was a king, and they gave Him gifts that were worthy of a king. They didn’t lose sight of what and who Jesus was just because of a set of temporary circumstances – that he happened to be a two-year-old. That’s a good lesson for me. I need to remember who Jesus is and not get so stuck on the circumstances surrounding me that will change over time. Ultimately, Jesus is in control and is God and is faithful and is my Rock. The changing circumstances, whatever they may be, don’t change the fact that He is King over everything, even my craziness! Cool stuff from 3 kings!
Matthew 2:11 They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I think it’s funny that Jesus is always shown as a little baby in pictures with the wise men. If the star appeared when He was born, then He was about 2 years old. I have a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old, and let me tell you… those painters should have painted Jesus running around playing instead of sitting quietly on Mary’s lap! Granted, He was God, so maybe He knew that He should be still and thank the nice wise men for his gifts, but I can just see Him stopping what He was doing and looking at the gifts, then at his mother, and then at the wise men, raising his eyebrows and going back to his games. Gold, frankincense and myrrh? Dude I’m a 2-year-old boy! Can I have a truck? (Yes, I know they didn’t have trucks back then) But, then again, since He was perfect, maybe He politely jabbered some nonsense (unless He was also linguistically advanced), smiled and sat like a good boy until they left. It’s kind of funny to think of God as a 2-year-old. Granted, since He was perfect and sinless, He probably behaved quite a bit better than my 2-year-old, but I think He was still a little boy who wanted to do little boy things and wrestle with his dad and touch every, every tool on the workbench – twice! It gives some humanity to His deity. It also helps me remember that He really did experience a lot of the things that we, as humans, experienced. I know I normally think of his experiencing human things as something that happened as an adult, but I wonder if Jesus ever had a crush on a girl? Or did a girl ever have a crush on Him, and He has to politely and kindly let her know He just wasn’t interested… What must it have been like to have a been 10 and known the thoughts and feelings of everyone around you? Or maybe that was something that came up gradually. Who knows. It’s an interesting thought to me, though. Okay, enough rambling. There are the random things I think about at 5am.