Something For Sunday
By Dr. L. A. Kessee
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that the greater majority of us are certainly familiar with the story of the Wise Men from the East who saw HIS STAR, and immediately began to make the necessary preparations to go see Jesus—the newly born King of the Jews. More often than not, when nativity scenes are erected in public places as well as on the front lawns of some private homes, we see those Wise Men, along with the Shepherds from the meadows in and around Bethlehem, crowding the scene which features Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.
I could spend a lot of time in this article making the case against the inaccurate manner in which nativity scenes display the presence of all of these characters who are assumed to have been at the scene. But I am going to resist the temptation to do that, and come to the point that I wish to make in this article… i.e., the great extremes to which one is willing to go when “WORSHIP OF THE LORD” is important to you.
And… with that in mind, allow me to remind you again that, in this story of the Wise Men (who were students of the stars), as chapter 2 of the Gospel of Matthew opens, they are arriving in the city of Jerusalem with a question on their lips. “Where is HE that is born King of the Jews?” According to the original language of the New Testament, the word “saying” in verse 2 indicates an action that was repetitive. In other words, they kept on asking the citizenry as they went about the city.
The current king on the throne, Herod, heard about this inquisition on the part of the Wise Men with regard to the birth of the “King of the Jews.” Herod was so concerned about this matter that he called a meeting with the Chief Priests and Scribes who made up the leadership from the sacred sector of society. Herod asked these leaders where Christ should be born.
Having ascertained information from the Scripture indicating Bethlehem as the birthplace of that Christ, Herod then called a private meeting with these Wise Men. During that meeting, Herod asked these men in Matthew 2:7 concerning “when the star first appeared to them in the East?” The answer the Wise Men gave Herod to that question is recorded in Matthew 2:16. According to that verse, they said it was about two years ago.
That bit of information is of the utmost salience to us today. HERE’S WHY! The answer the Wise Men gave Herod means that when they arrived in Jerusalem, they had already been traveling for the last two years; and… they HAD NOT as of yet REACHED their desired destination… i.e., Bethlehem!
Why did these men do that? Why did they travel for two years, one way, to Jerusalem and still had six more miles to go? Well, my friends, according to Matthew 2:2, those Wise Men said, “We have seen His star in the East, and ARE COME TO WORSHIP HIM.” That’s it!
These men traveled all this way unprotected from exposure to the heat of summer two times; the cold of winter two times; the changing of foliage in autumn two times; and the refreshing showers of spring two times. All of this was endured by them because it was most important to them to make it to Jesus in order that they might worship Him.
I do not know the number of miles they traveled making this trek from their homes in the East to Bethlehem. But… I do know that worship was important enough to them that they did not allow distance to determine their decision to worship Jesus. Matthew 2:11 lets us know that when these Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem, they worshiped Him! HOW FAR IS TOO FAR TO GO WORSHIP HIM? These Wise Men might possibly suggest that if it takes LESS THAN two years to travel from your home to the place of worship… it’s NOT too far!
