Advent
Meditation
December
18th
26.
So what has God said?
Matt
2:3-6 When
King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem
with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests
and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what
the prophet has written: " `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 be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
In
gender banter and gender jokes, there often crops up the assertion that
men get lost going places because they won't stop to ask the way!
If there is truth in this, is it because men don't like to appear not
to be in control “as men are supposed to be”? Flat pack constructions
from DIY superstores are also a good illustration of this. How
many men work on the dictum, “Put it together and only turn to the instructions
when it gets difficult”? Perhaps this is unfair, but it is certainly
true for many people. When it comes to spiritual matters it is
no less true. How many of us just plough on through life, determining
to get it right on our own so, “You don't need tell me what to do!”?
These
wise men from the East act as a good antidote to this way of thinking.
Here they are; wise men who have travelled a long way, probably
with a big entourage, and certainly bringing expensive gifts (as we'll
see later). If they've come this far, you'd think they could manage
it to the end. But the last steps are sometimes the most difficult.
They're looking for a king so they come to the capital city and
enquire. When the existing king, Herod the Great, heard this he
became concerned. Being a king in those days was always an uncertain
thing, especially if you were insecure to start with, and there were
often palace coups. A new king has been born? Where?
He calls for the people who should have the answers – the religious
leaders. They know about prophecy and the like; they should be
able to help. Well yes, they say, if this is the Messiah, the
holy scriptures indicate he will be born in Bethlehem.
That's what the prophecies we've studied all our lives tell us.
Do
you notice the staggering difference between that land and our own in
the twenty first century? If wise men turned up today on such
a quest, if it could gain credibility, and the royal family were sought,
who would they turn to? To the government? To scientists?
The general lack of credibility of the established church suggests
that the church would be the last to be consulted. And if they
were? How many of our church leaders would be able to say, “Well
the Bible says….” with any authority? The established church is
not known for holding onto the Bible as ultimate authority, ultimate
truth!
But
before we are too hard on others, what can we say about ourselves?
The people Herod referred to were able to say, “Well God has said…”
and quoted Scripture. This takes us right back to the very first
meditation when we considered the integrity of Luke's writing in particular,
when we suggested that this was all very carefully researched, and that
applies to Matthew's writing as well. We can come to a large measure
of understanding and trust in the Bible through research, but at the
end of the day, we have our greatest assurance about it after we have
come into a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Have you that relationship? Have you come to that place of assurance
with Him when you read His word, that this is alive, this is true, this
is trustworthy, this is what it describes of itself, this is ‘God-breathed'
(2 Tim 3:16)? It is here that you find your security in God, more
and more as you read it more and more. May it be so!
If
you wish to e-mail us any comment on this meditation please click here
:
tony.thomas@rochfordcc.co.uk
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