Jesus' Family Album December 26 Devotional

MATTHEW 2:1-2, 10-12 | ¹ In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’

¹⁰ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him
homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The Magi or Wisemen, from the East, show us some other features of Jesus’ forever family. Not only does our Lord reach downward toward the marginal, obscure, and overlooked, like the shepherds, he also reaches out widely. This width is geographic, cultural, linguistic, and intellectual. The Magi came from a different continent. They are so unlike the shepherds. They are scholars familiar with the Torah predictions of a Messiah from Bethlehem (see verse 6), and are astrologers who look for connections between creation and history. They have a proto-scientific cast of mind, wanting to test their theory of natal stars and royal births. They are also adventurous and brave, ready to journey and seek and deal with a malevolent King Herod. But most tellingly—they are not Jewish. They represent the global reach of Jesus and the multi-cultural tenor of his family.

Rejoice today that your family is global.

Gracious God,

Thank you for reaching wide to the world as well as downward toward the little and the least. Bless your church today on every continent.

Amen.