Lessons from the Wise Men

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Lessons from the Wise Men's Reaction to the Christ ChildAfter Jesus’ birth the wise men, or magi, inquired in Jerusalem, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Having been instructed to go to Bethlehem, for that was where the prophets had written, they went on their way. When they saw the star stopping over where the Christ child was, “they were overjoyed” and seeing Jesus, they “bowed down and worshiped him”. Then they presented Him with their gifts. (See Matthew 2:1-12)

The Wise Men’s Reaction to Seeing the Christ Child

The wise men knew enough to follow the star, undoubtedly already having some kind of awareness of God’s intent for Jesus to come into this world. This was confirmed when they inquired about Him in Jerusalem. When they finally arrived, worship sprang from the great joy they felt at having found the prophesied One.

Lessons for Us:

God told the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13) — Just as the wise men didn’t give up their pursuit but wholeheartedly and earnestly pursued Him till they found Jesus, so we too need to seek no matter where the journey of life takes us. We may need some help along the way but His star will reappear and He will be found.

Worship is the logical reaction to an encounter with Jesus. He is worthy of all honor and praise. He is the One of whom many prophecies have been fulfilled (Lk. 24:44-47; Heb. 1:1-3; 1 Pet. 1:10-12). He is the One who would bring salvation from the penalty of our sin and one day reign supreme, having overcome death, sin, and the evil one.

The Wise Men’s Offerings to the Christ Child

Out of a heart of worship, the magi presented their gifts. “… they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (Matt. 2:11) They gave Him what they had of great value, perhaps not realizing that their gifts may well have represented Jesus’ life as the King of kings, Great High Priest, and our Suffering Savior.

Lessons for Us:

But, what gifts do we have fit for a King? What can we give in return to the One who intercedes on our behalf so that the penalty for our sin is forgiven? What can we offer the One who gave His all for us? The Apostle Paul urged believers in Rome, “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.” (Rom. 12:1)

He doesn’t need our worship. His worth isn’t dependent on what we offer Him. If it was, He wouldn’t be God. But, He wants us to seek Him so we can be in a relationship with Him. He doesn’t want a forced homage from us but one that springs from a heart of joy at having followed His star and found Him just as Scripture says.

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Jesus … God With Us

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… they will call him Immanuel — which means, “God with us.” (Matt. 1:23)

What a powerful description of Jesus — “God with us.”

Reflect on the Significance of Immanuel, God With Us

Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, let’s look at each of the three words in that highly significant name given to Jesus.

GOD with us.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Heb. 1:3)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (Jn. 1:1-5)

God WITH us.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn. 1:14)

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Phil. 2:6-8)

God with US.

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet TO ALL WHO RECEIVED HIM, TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED IN HIS NAME, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (Jn. 1:9-13)

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt. 28:20)

Let’s make sure the One we celebrate is more than a baby in a manager. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us!

For More About Jesus: Christology Resources

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Holiday Reminders Needed

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Holiday Reminders Needed So We Don't Forget

Highlighting, underlining, to-do and to-buy lists, calendars, sticky notes, catch phrases, digital notifications, and so many more tools help us not forget what’s important to know or do. The same should also be true spiritually. God has taught us wonderful truths that provide answers, help, and hope in Him. Yet, without constant reminders, we’re bound to forget.

This can be especially so during busy seasons of life, like the holidays. We can get so caught up in what we must do during this time that we skip spending time alone with the Lord. We plan to resume after getting through the busy patch. We always need help remembering Him but we especially need holiday reminders about what’s most important.

Some Holiday Reminders for Christmas

We can get so consumed with buying and wrapping presents, going to parties, and decorating. When we do, we tend to forget what’s most important. Click on links below to help you reflect on what you need to remember.

(These posts form the basis for the Christmas Reminders Curriculum.)

Reminders for New Years

We can get so consumed with ringing in the new year that we forget the new life we have in Christ Jesus. Click on the links below to take time to remember the newness of life in Him. His mercies are “new every morning” (Lam. 3:21-22).

Reminders for Other Holidays

For articles, books, and resources about other holidays, go to:

What have you done, or what will you do, to remind yourself to keep focused on the Lord during the holidays? Will you turn to Him as the source of help and hope to remain steadfast in your walk with Him?

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Celebrate the Lord

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Celebrate the Lord and Coming King

At Christmas we tend to think of Jesus as a meek and mild baby. Yet, the angel let the shepherds know that more than an ordinary baby was born that day. In addition to being a Savior, the Messiah, the angel identified Him as the Lord. As we consider the significance of Jesus being called Lord, what response can we have but to celebrate Him at Christmas and always.

We Celebrate Him as the Lord our God

The angel used one of the names used of God the Father. God Himself came down to earth. — “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).” (Matt. 1:23) This is the Child prophesied in Isaiah 9:6.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We Celebrate the Lord as our Maker

As our Creator, He has the rights of ownership over us. We were made for Him, not the other way around.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (Jn. 1:1-3)

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Col. 1:15-16)

We Celebrate Jesus as our Master

As Lord, Jesus possesses the authority. He is the Master, the One who determines how life should be lived. He is the One to whom we are accountable. And so, …

whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col. 3:17)

We Celebrate the Lord as the King

When announcing Jesus as the Lord, the angel let the shepherds know that the meek and mild baby born that day was also the long awaited King. Though initially a spiritual kingdom, there will come a day He will return and physically reign as the “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14; 19:16).

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (Isa. 9:6-7)

A Christmas Celebration that Lasts All Year Long

All of this translates into Someone to be respected and revered, trusted and obeyed, honored and exalted. That’s who the angel proclaimed to the shepherds –“a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Lk. 2:11).

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:8-11)

Let’s celebrate our Lord this Christmas and always! He is worthy to receive all “praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:13).

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Celebrate the Messiah

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People in Jesus’ day thought the Messiah would deliver them from the oppressive rule of world powers, that He would come as their King. Though the Old Testament Scripture does point to two different events of the Messiah coming into this world, they didn’t acknowledge that God’s Anointed would first come as their suffering Savior. Consequently, we read,

Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ (Mk. 8:27-29)

Many people were confused about Jesus’ identity because He came in a way they didn’t expect. They overlooked the prophecies of the Messiah first coming as a humble servant who would sacrifice His life to spiritually deliver us from the penalty and power of sin.

Celebrate the Savior

The angel, however, made it clear to the shepherds that the babe in the manger was the Messiah.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Lk. 2:11)

Why it Matters that we Believe Jesus is the Messiah

When the angel told the shepherds the Messiah was born “in the town of David” (Bethlehem), it let them know where to find Him. But, it undoubtedly also served as a reference to the prophetic words of Micah 5:2, helping to cement in their minds that this was the promised Messiah.

To deny Jesus as the Messiah is to doubt the veracity of God Himself. We find many prophetic promises about this Christ, the name given in the New Testament for the Messiah, that were fulfilled in this Person who already came. Some related to His second coming are yet to be fulfilled. It’s too much of a coincidence for all these prophecies to be fulfilled in one person and yet not be the Messiah. Either we believe God or we don’t.

We can’t look at all these prophecies in this post so the following links, which take you to our affiliate sites, will provide resources to help with that.

Why We Celebrate the Messiah as Good News, a Cause for Great Joy

Before Jesus came people looked forward to the coming Messiah. He was a long awaited hope fulfilled. Today we look back and celebrate His coming.

As the Son of God, only Christ, the Messiah, qualified to take on our sin, to be our Savior. To know we have a blessed, eternal home in heaven because of Jesus should excite us. To be able to have a relationship with the Almighty God, the Holy One, because our sin is forgiven due to the Messiah’s coming truly is good news.

Further, as prophesied, the Messiah will come to earth again, abolishing death and defeating the devil who is the enemy of our souls once and for all. Of that time, we read in the book of Revelation:

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15)

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” (Rev. 12:10)

How can we not celebrate, with great joy, what the Messiah has done and is yet to do!

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Celebrate the Savior

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Celebrate the Savior

In a dark world, we still have a reason to celebrate. As the angel told the shepherds long ago,

“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you” (Lk. 2:10-11).

It’s hard to know if the shepherds understood the full significance of the proclamation of Jesus, “a Savior has been born to you” (Lk. 2:11). But we do know that they understood enough to celebrate. They left “glorifying and praising God” (Lk. 2:20).

  • We have the whole of Scripture to help us grasp the need for and significance of having a Savior. Shouldn’t we all the more celebrate the Savior this Christmas and always?

We Celebrate a Savior Who Delivers Us from the Gravity of Sin

Go back to the beginning pages of the Bible and read how God created people in His own image with the intent of being in a relationship with them. He put only one stipulation on them, not to eat the fruit of one specific tree. Their disobedience would result in eternal separation from a holy God, their Creator. They would die not only physically but also spiritually.

Though God gave people laws to show them how to live a holy life, mankind could never perfectly keep the law to bridge that gap between them and God. Yet, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16)

Only a sinless person, God Himself, could ever become an adequate sacrifice to pay the penalty our sin deserves. And so, we have the events celebrated at Christmas when God incarnate, came to earth as a sinless baby who would later die for our sin but also be raised from the dead.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Phil. 3:9)

Sin has grave consequences which Jesus willingly took on Himself so we can be made right with God. Let’s celebrate the coming of the Savior this Christmas and always.

We Celebrate the One who Saves us from the Grip of Sin

Though saved from the penalty of sin, we still have our sin nature. We can identify with the Apostle Paul when he said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing” (Rom. 7:18-19). But, don’t stop reading. Paul concluded:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom. 7:24-25)

We have a Savior who gives us power to rise above. As we yield to Him, He saves us from the grip sin has on our lives. Change is possible because of Jesus! Let’s celebrate Him this Christmas and always.

We Celebrate the Savior Who is Powerful Enough to Deliver Us from the Groanings of Sin

Pay attention to the news and you know we live in a sin ridden world, filled with much pain and sorrow. One day, however, our Savior will usher us into an eternity where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev. 21:4). Wrongs will be made right. Justice will be served.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). We may not be able to escape the effects of sin in this world, but the day will come when He delivers us from the very presence of sin, and that gives us plenty of reason to celebrate even now.

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