Matthew 2. 1-23 – What are you looking for?

Matthew 2. 1-23 – What are you looking for?

There must have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of people from Greece to India, from Ethiopia to the frozen wastes of Northern Europe, looking at the stars, trying to understand, predict, and control events in their world. Most people believed in astrology in the ancient world. But God tells us in His Word, not to have anything to do with attempts to consult the dead or foretell the future. Astrology, witchcraft in all its forms, divination in all its forms, is not how God wants us to get information. Hear what God says specifically about astrology:

Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. (Jer 10. 2 NLT cf. Isa 47. 13f NLT)

How gracious of God, despite that, to speak into people's darkness, using exactly the tools they were used to: the movement of the stars. Despite the fact that they were looking for truth the wrong way, God spoke, possibly through the planets Jupiter and Saturn crossing paths. Jupiter was the royal planet and Saturn had for a long time represented Israel. This happened three times in 7BC and is consistent with the story as Matthew tells it. These wise men could read the message – a king of eternal significance, born in Israel. God is a God of grace who welcomes all nations. “Mission”, the Gospel for the Gentiles, is one of the big themes in Matthew – who wrote for Jews at a time when Gentiles were beginning to pour into the Church.

Yet why did only a few wise men from the East – an unknown number from a tribe of mystics in Persia – find their way to Bethlehem? Their search was not just frivolous. They weren't looking to know whether it was a good time to buy camels. They were the ones seeking truth, meaning, understanding. And, crucially, they were prepared to pay the price. It's amazing that men “with so little to go on should venture so far. God promises his people – and I think all people can call in on this promise – “you shall find me when you seek me with all your heart”. (Jer 29. 13)

The Magi, then, were looking for truth, knowledge, understanding. Their study led them to understand that something important was happening, and they felt they needed to be there. They were looking for a sense of connectedness with something bigger and more important than themselves. May God enable us, in 2014, to be people who are looking for truth: not just dry facts, but deep truth, truth that is understanding; truth that brings meaning into out lives.

Herod by contrast was looking out for himself. He was looking for power, and searching out threats to that power. Half Jewish, half Idumean (Edomite) he had come to power in a blood soaked coup. When he became king he killed the remains of the previous dynasty, including his own mother and sons; and slaughtered half of the Sanhedrin. The death of a few dozen babies in Bethlehem was nothing to him. He was a man of ruthless cruelty, paranoid about his own position. That was what mattered to him: his own prestige, comfort, ….

He knew enough about the Jewish faith to understand the hope and promise of Messiah coming. But he wasn't interested. Even if the Bible said it, even if God had promised it, even if God Himself were fulfilling his promise, he was going to put a stop to this. If he ended up fighting God, he wasn't too much bothered.

I hope none of us will start this year simply looking for our own interests. What a desperately sad way to live your life. How sad to see what God is doing, and deliberately set yourself against it.

The Chief priests and teachers of the law were looking for – precisely nothing! They were able to rattle off from Micah 5, 2-4, that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. (Fulfilment of Kingdom promises was another of Matthew's themes) Yet there was nothing of anticipation, nothing of hope; no excitement. No overwhelming desire to set out for Bethlehem. Nothing. They had their books; they had their knowledge and their information. They could dish up the facts, but they were neither acting upon them nor anticipating any God-action upon them. Their perceived “job” was to keep the temple open, to keep the tithes coming in, to make sure everyone kept the law, and to avoid rocking the boat. Maybe they were sold out to Herod. Maybe they were protecting their own skins. Maybe they were too diffuse a group of people to have a shared aim.

Sadly, there will be some who are looking for – nothing. It is tragic to be full of knowledge and information, able to rattle off chapter and verse, yet neither be changed by it nor expectant as a result. I wonder why that might be? It may be a matter of perspective.

For some of us, we don't know enough about God's word. How many of us never open the Bible between Sundays? How many only read a verse at day? I love “Word for Today”, but if you only read the verse and the comment, it's a bit like chocolate buttons: on its own it's not a healthy diet. You really need to do the “bible in a year” thing as well! How many of us have ever read the Bible from cover to cover? If you don't know God's word, if you are not absorbed by it and absorbing in into yourself, then the rules of perspective work: it's just too far away from us.

But how many of do read the Bible every day, have read it all, know it well, yet read it without any curiosity; without any passion, without any excitement. We're simply gathering ammunition, confirming our own prejudices, instead of begin curious about the meaning and excited about the direct voice of god? How many of us have the information at our fingertips – yet there is other information ready to hand as well – our tradition, our fears, our personal comforts and preferences are bigger, louder, closer than God's word. When Elijah had battled the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him, and “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life” (1 Kings 19. 3 AV) The enemy loves to make us “See” what he plans to do: his works of destruction seem close up, huge and loud.

Ass a result of turning the volume down on God's word, or allowing it to be drowned out by other voices, we can live without expectancy. We can live without obedience to the Word. We can be looking for nothing. That's not how God wants us to be.

And lastly, what about Joseph? Joseph had already made the journey from “looking for a quiet life” but he couldn’t have that with Jesus in his family! As he takes Mary and the infant Jesus to Egypt, and back to Bethlehem and then to Nazareth, he was seeking the well-being of Another and for the fulfilment of his own calling. Here was a man who had, despite the immense cost and pain, stepped up to the plate, suppressed his doubts about the girl he loved, followed God's guidance in dreams, and married the already pregnant Mary... This carpenter was now a man with a mission. Did you ever notice that Matthew traces the ancestors of Joseph, the husband of Mary, although Joseph wasn’t Jesus' father? That's because Matthew is interested in law, not biology. And legally, Joseph took on the responsibility of a Father to Jesus. That was his mission. This was Joseph's call: to ensure that whatever Herod or anyone else did, this Child who had been thrust into his life, would in turn grow up to adulthood to save his people from their sins. And to that call, he devoted his time, spiritual gifts, his opportunities and energy. This upright, good man, with a carpenter's eye for detail, is developing an openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit through these dreams. When God says “go” he is willing to go.

This year, we need to be people who are like Joseph. People who are seeking the welfare of Another. People who are not living for ourselves, but living a life defined by the Servant King. And we need to be people who are seeking to fulfil God's call upon our lives. “What is God calling me to do? Because that, however costly or uncomfortable or embarrassing, I am going to do!”

I'm going to give the last word to “Word for today” for 31 December: “So, ‘hats off to the past and coats off to the future!’ Roll up your sleeves, go to work, and expect great things from God.”

© Gilmour Lilly January  2014