December 23, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Insiders and Outsiders

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Mighty God, Your grace is superabundant, filling me to overflowing. Teach me to share this good news.

Read Matthew 2:1-12

[1] After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem [2] and asked, “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.” [3] When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. [4] When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. [5] “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: [6] “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'” [7] Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. [8] He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” [9] After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. [10] When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. [11] On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. [12] And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

We need to read the biblical story without the distorting lenses of Christ-card images.

 

We have seen that Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus traces his descent from Abraham, to whom was given the promise that “all peoples on earth” would be blessed through his faith (Gen. 12:1–3). The arrival of the mysterious “Magi from the east” (1), seeking the newborn “king of the Jews” (2), signals the fulfillment of that ancient prediction. The long-anticipated pilgrimage of the nations (Isa. 2:3,4; 66:18–24), coming to worship Yahweh and lay their treasures before him, has begun! Thus, the birth of Jesus represents nothing less than the turning point of history, an event of significance for all peoples on earth.
The story contains a dramatic and disturbing contrast between the spiritual hunger and devotion of outsiders and the fear, blindness and sheer hypocrisy (8) of powerful insiders, who, despite possessing the Scriptures, failed to recognize the coming of the reign of God. The Magi represent people without access to the Bible, who follow the light God gives them and come by surprising routes to the Savior of the world. Meanwhile, the political and religious establishment represented by Herod and the priestly class reminds us of the terrifying possibility that Scripture can be used to defend and support an unjust and oppressive system. Matthew warns that those who abuse the Bible in this way will be bypassed by grace and remain in darkness.
The Christmas story contains sobering challenges and difficult choices. Will we, like the religious leaders in Jerusalem, read Scripture in ways that leave a corrupt and wicked world unchallenged and unchanged? Can we rejoice in the knowledge that God leads people to his Christ without human agency and that those same people display an ecstatic joy in the manger that is too often missing from our spirituality? Are we ready to face the suffering involved in worshiping Jesus when, as here, the empire strikes back?

We have seen that Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus traces his descent from Abraham, to whom was given the promise that “all peoples on earth” would be blessed through his faith (Gen. 12:1–3). The arrival of the mysterious “Magi from the east” (1), seeking the newborn “king of the Jews” (2), signals the fulfillment of that ancient prediction. The long-anticipated pilgrimage of the nations (Isa. 2:3,4; 66:18–24), coming to worship Yahweh and lay their treasures before him, has begun! Thus, the birth of Jesus represents nothing less than the turning point of history, an event of significance for all peoples on earth.

The story contains a dramatic and disturbing contrast between the spiritual hunger and devotion of outsiders and the fear, blindness and sheer hypocrisy (8) of powerful insiders, who, despite possessing the Scriptures, failed to recognize the coming of the reign of God. The Magi represent people without access to the Bible, who follow the light God gives them and come by surprising routes to the Savior of the world. Meanwhile, the political and religious establishment represented by Herod and the priestly class reminds us of the terrifying possibility that Scripture can be used to defend and support an unjust and oppressive system. Matthew warns that those who abuse the Bible in this way will be bypassed by grace and remain in darkness.

The Christmas story contains sobering challenges and difficult choices. Will we, like the religious leaders in Jerusalem, read Scripture in ways that leave a corrupt and wicked world unchallenged and unchanged? Can we rejoice in the knowledge that God leads people to his Christ without human agency and that those same people display an ecstatic joy in the manger that is too often missing from our spirituality? Are we ready to face the suffering involved in worshiping Jesus when, as here, the empire strikes back?

 

Apply

Reread the questions just raised and prayerfully consider your response to them.

Closing prayer

Sovereign God, may my eyes see new insights this Christmas season. I pray that new insights will bring new joy and celebration.

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