The Magi Visit the Messiah
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.
Matthew 2:1-12
I ended yesterday’s post with the question, “Do you think gift-giving is sinful?”
There are so many passages in Scripture about gifts but the passage above is a perfect example of a tangible gift from a person who gives from a willing heart out of adoration to the receiver and rightly so because Jesus is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings (Revelation 19:16).
We give for various reasons and as a parent, it brings me great joy to bless my children; it is the closest I could get to grasp God’s delight when He sees His children receive His blessings. If a loved one gave you a gift, God moved that person to give it to you because according to Philippians 2:13,
“For God is the One working in you both to will and to work according to His good pleasure.”
From this we can see that God does indeed move people to do what is good because He is everything that is good. I have not yet encountered a person who thinks gift-giving is a sin. I could understand it becomes problematic and more like a bondage especially if people get in serious debt because of it.
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
James 1:17
[Image Credit: SE Result via Videos2Worship. Thank You for this beautiful picture]