December 21, 2022
God Came to All Pastor Stephen M. Wood
Read Matthew 2:7-11 and Luke 2:15-18
Within the gospel accounts, there are only two that actually tell of the birth of Jesus—Matthew and Luke. Each of these accounts are very different and have different emphases within them. Luke has the census, no room at the inn, the angels and the shepherds. Matthew has the star and the magi.
When you read the above passages, while they present very different parts of the story—there is a common theme within both of them. That theme is that both the magi and shepherd would not have been the people that you would expect to be there at the birth of the messiah. The shepherds were working class people—nothing extraordinary or special. Yet God chose them as the group that the angel and a multitude of heavenly host would appear and command them to go and find the savior, the messiah who would be a babe wrapped in bands of cloth.
Then there are the magi. This group is one that searched the stars for signs related to events of the world. In some ways they would be closer to palm readers and crystal ball users than what we might deem ‘wise men.’ Again, God uses foreigners and outsiders to come worship and bring gifts to the new born king/messiah.
I think that the message this communicates is that Jesus, the messiah, the promised one of God is sent to the world for all people. Do we seek to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all people? Do we understand this story as good news for the world and not just Christians?
God works in mysterious ways. He doesn’t always do what we expect. It isn’t the religious leaders or the significant rabbis of the time that were sent to the messiah, but ordinary folks and outsiders that are the first to worship and then announce to all about this new thing that God is doing.
