Key Thought
God does the unexpected! There was no way anyone would suspect Easterners would come to worship a Jewish King, especially a baby one. No normal person would have expected a King to be born in Bethlehem, the little town of insignificance. No faithful Israelite would have ever believed astrologers would be led to the true God through their false, stargazing, worship. (Remember that astrology was steadfastly condemned under Mosaic Law!) But then, God doesn't have to do things the way normal, right-minded Israelites, Gentiles, or modern people do them. Aren't we glad God is full of surprises! Aren't we glad he sent Jesus as his greatest Surprise!
Today's Prayer
O Sovereign and Almighty Lord, please forgive me for trying to tame you and make you predictable. You have always been full of surprises. Please “surprise” me in my lifetime by bringing your salvation to every nation, language, tribe, and people in our world. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Today's Verses with Jesus
(key verses in bold)
1 Jesus was born in the town of
Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born,
some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the
baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and
have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as well as all the people in
Jerusalem. 4 Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of
the law and asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 They answered,
“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this in the
Scriptures: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are important
among the tribes of Judah. A ruler will come from you who will be like a
shepherd for my people Israel.’ ” Micah 5:2
7 Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them
the exact time they first saw the star. 8 He sent the wise men to Bethlehem,
saying, “Look carefully for the child. When you find him, come tell me so
I can worship him too.” 9 After the wise men heard the king, they left.
The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above
the place where the child was. 10 When the wise men saw the star, they were
filled with joy.
11 They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother,
Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave
him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But God warned the wise men
in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a
different way.
13 After they left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, because Herod
is starting to look for the child so he can kill him. Stay in Egypt until I
tell you to return.”
14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and
his mother. 15 And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to
bring about what the Lord had said through the prophet: “I called my son
out of Egypt.”
16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he
gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding
area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he
learned from the wise men. 17 So what God had said through the prophet Jeremiah
came true: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah of painful crying and deep
sadness: Rachel crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because
her children are dead.” Jeremiah 31:15
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream while
he was in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel, because the people who were trying to kill the
child are now dead.”
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother and went to Israel. 22 But he
heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea since his father Herod had died. So
Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the
area of Galilee, 23 to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what God
had said through the prophets came true: “He will be called a
Nazarene.”
