Some men were wonderstruck by a strange new star that rose and hung over far away Jerusalem. They sensed that it was a supernatural phenomenon — a sign calling them to learn more about the Jews. Somehow, they learned about the coming Jewish King, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, and saw the star as a sign of His birth. The star lingered so the men decided to take a long journey to Jerusalem to find and to worship the Jewish Messiah.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they asked people: “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.”

The whole city heard about those strange guys and their message and everybody in town was disturbed by it, including King Herod. Herod called together the religious leaders for some research and found out that the Messiah was prophesied to be born in the nearby little town of Bethlehem. Then Herod had those disturbing Gentiles brought to him and they told him the exact time that the star first appeared. Afterwards King Herod sent the odd strangers to Bethlehem to find the child King and to report back His location.

Mysteriously, the star led the Gentile men to a house in Bethlehem and to a boy named Jesus. They saw Him and His mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped the toddler. They opened their treasures and gave the Christ child valuable gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then dreams set in.

The wise men were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod, so they traveled home by a different route. Then the Christ child’s stepfather, Joseph, saw an angel in a dream who told him to take the family and escape to Egypt. So, they fled during the night.

When Herrod learned that the disturbing Gentile men had left without reporting to him, he was enraged and ordered all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger killed because that covered the time the wise men first saw the star. Then there was weeping and great mourning in the village of Bethlehem which continues to this very day. But the Prince of Peace was alive in Egypt preserving the hope of peace on earth and goodwill toward men — the hope of glory in the midst of our fallen, broken world. “Wise men still seek Him.”

New Year / New Start?
A resolution
Is no solution
Because a fresh start
Without a healed heart
Seldom can impart
Lasting improvement
In the way you live.
That takes an inner
Revolution.
Be receptive
To Christ’s perspective.