“Why Did Newborn Baby Jesus Make the Wisemen Search for Him in Jerusalem?” by Pastor Jim Buckman
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray you and yours are well!
Sometimes don’t you wish God would just tell you?
Maybe the Wisemen (however many of them there were); felt that way too? Why didn’t God just tell us? You can almost hear them muttering- “We could have avoided an extra trip!” or “My goodness, my back was already sore coming all this way!” or you know there had to be one of the Wisemen say, “Are we there yet?”
Can I submit to you that there are three types of disciples that we see here in the Epiphany of Jesus. Which we will be celebrating on January 6th @ 6pm in our Lake Forest sanctuary.
1. The ragamuffin religious “leaders” who study Scripture but put no stock in it. You know the type, they can still be found in pulpits (and some pews) to this day. They view almost all the claims of Scripture with contempt.
2. The self-movitated hypocrites. These people search the Scriptures and to their credit- at least they view the Bible as trustworthy. But these are disciples who really are only motivated by one question, “What is in it for me?” This is Herod and his crew. They will search Scripture to find an earthly benefit for themselves. Today, you will find these charlatans on tv pitching their “health and wealth” theology. They sell books with titles like, “God Has Your Plane Waiting For You- Just Tithe at My Church”. Bunch of circus clowns.
3. The faithful Magi. They don’t understand all of Scripture, but they want to give Jesus their best; somehow already knowing that what Jesus will give them is eternally superior.
But why doesn’t Jesus just directly reveal to the Wisemen that He can be found in Bethlehem? The answer is simple- so the Wisemen will turn even more to Scripture & tell even more people about their love for Jesus. Hope I see you on Jan 6th for Epiphany worshp service as we celebrate Jesus’ love for us.
Your friend in Christ,
Pastor Jim