“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,”
Whilst critics dismiss the entire account of Jesus’ birth, if not the whole Bible, those who claim to belong to Christ should have a totally different attitude. That is, as Christians, we MUST and SHOULD believe every single word, without exception, even if we don’t have all the answers. Many, though, carry unbelief in their hearts and minds, whilst outwardly agreeing with the veracity of scripture. What this does is to introduce rot into their lives, which will slowly eat away at certainty. It is usually unspoken, but oh how depressing, to carry an inner doubt cloaked in a claimed (false) faith!
So, get it straight, friends! Jesus WAS born in Bethlehem, the royal city that raised sheep for sacrifices in the Temple. It was about five miles from Jerusalem. But, the wise men (possibly astrologers, but may also have been rich men from north-east Arabia) knew something! There were, without doubt, more than three persons, including an entourage of servants. They had scanned their ancient books and knew that a king would be born in Jewish territory. The sign would be a star. Now, to us, a star is fixed and does not move to show us a pathway! But, it DID move and the wise men followed. More remarkably, it stopped above the house where Jesus was – at that time he was about two years of age, not new-born. How the star indicated one house out of others in a village, we cannot tell – perhaps a shining ray of light. And the clock was ticking – it did not take long for Herod to learn he had been duped by the wise men. By the time he ordered the murders of all baby boys aged up to two, Jesus was long gone, to Egypt. Believe it all – for God said so!
© 11 July 2024
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Published on www.christiandoctrine.com
Bible Theology Ministries
Swansea
Wales
United Kingdom