Do you see the words above? Read through the list to see what they are? No, I mean read them NOW! Did you see it? Each of these words are used so often in our modern speech that they have lost their impact. When nearly everything is “amazing” or “wonderful” what sets anything apart as truly amazing?
When you read the Christmas story for the first time you are amazed at it. You cannot grasp how God became man and came as a little Baby in “the little town of Bethlehem.” You are astonished by the love of God that He would send His Son to be the Redeemer of a lost, sinful human race. You wonder about it.
Christmas 1933 saw the introduction of a “new” Christmas carol. I put new in quotation marks because the song wasn’t new. It was a folk song well known in the hills of the Appalachia Mountains. A songwriter b y the name of John Jacob Niles was traveling in the Appalachia mountains when he heard a little girl sing a few lines of this song. He went home and put the words to a haunting melody and the song became an instant classic. Here are the words to the first verse.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die
For poor on’ry people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
Do you still wonder about Christmas? Or, has it become just “old hat”? This Sunday we will look at how some of the characters in the account of Christmas reacted to the news of the birth of the Baby Jesus.
Let’s add wonder back to Christmas and again be amazed at the story.
“We three kings of orient are; bearing gifts we travel afar…” So says the popular Christmas carol, “We Three Kings.” Tradition even names these “kings”; Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior. We’re even told they are from three different countries; Babylon, Persia and India. Did they ride camels? Did they come from different countries? Let’s see.
Matthew 2:1-12 (click to read) records the account of the visit of the Magi. First of all, no where are they called kings. Rather they are Magi. Most likely they are associated with the Magi of the Book of Daniel. Having been influenced by Daniel’s prophecy they likely had been watching for this event for centuries.
Second of all, we have no idea of how many Magi came. We know they brought three gifts. But, the number of the people who came in this caravan is indeterminable. Could this entourage of people numbered into the hundreds? Certainly! It is possible it was large, loud and learned.
Third of all, they saw a star in the sky. This star reminded them of a passage the old sage Daniel told them about five centuries earlier. Numbers 24:17 points to a star that would appear at the coming of Messiah. Daniel predicted a certain amount of time to pass before the coming of the “Anointed One.” These learned scholars were not only watching the sky, but they were also watching the calendar. Now they knew the time had come to travel to the place Messiah was born.
Without a GPS or map, they simply traveled to the best possible place a king would be born. The capitol city of Jerusalem seemed like the only viable city for this to occur. So, they came to that town and excitedly asked “Where is He who is born King of the Jews?” Being told it was about 5 miles south in the little town of Bethlehem they went. The came, they saw, they worshipped and they left.
Saturday and Sunday our children will present a wonderful presentation of the musical, “Wise Guys and Starry Skies.” Both performances will be at 6:00 pm. Plan to attend at least one presentation. And, ask yourself how wise you are this Christmas season. Are YOU looking for Christ or not. The Wise Guys looked for Him! Wise men today still look for Him.
Did you see it? Each of these words are used so often in our modern speech that they have lost their impact. When nearly everything is “amazing” or “wonderful” what sets anything apart as truly amazing?
