December 31, 2020

Today’s reading
Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 2:4 KJV
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

Like many of you I read through the different accounts of the “Christmas Story” this time of year. It’s almost kind of peaceful to think about and reminisce about the story of Jesus’ birth. I usually read through it a little earlier than most people because I try and prepare some messages themed around Christmas for our teenagers. Verse four of this chapter stuck out to me as I was reading over the account of the wise men. It says that Herod the king was troubled by the news of Jesus’ birth, verse 4 tells us that Herod gathered together the most religious men in his kingdom and wanted some answers from them. He wanted to know where he could find this Jesus. Herod was seeking Jesus for different reasons than the wise men obviously, Herod wanted Him dead. Notice Herod went to the right place for information, or so it would seem. Who would’ve known more about the birth of the Messiah than the religious leaders, the scribes and priests? All they could do was quote the prophets of the Old Testament to him, they didn’t have any concrete answers. The wise men had answers, they had followed the star that was prophesied, the shepherds who had been there on the night of His birth had answers, they had been visited by angels. The religious leaders had missed the signs, they had tragically missed the Savior. How sad is that? They were so busy being religious that they had missed the single greatest event in all of history. It’s a great reminder to all of us that God isn’t interested in how religious I am, He is interested in and longing for my fellowship with Him. Let’s remember the “reason for the season” as we say and put a high priority on our closeness to the Savior. May we be like the wise men and seek Him, and worship Him.

Frank Newsome