3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Jesus was born in the Judean town of Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great, a consummate politician and the man who ordered the rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. Not long after, three men arrived in Jerusalem from Arabia. They were men who tried to understand the meaning of life, philosophers and stargazers. They were strangers in the city, and began asking people where they could find the new king. Everyone was confused – no such announcement had been made from the King’s palace – but the three travellers were insistent: ‘We study the skies for signs, and they have told us that you Jews have a new king. He has a special star that rose over the eastern horizon some time ago. This is a once in a lifetime occurrence, so we’ve travelled hundreds of miles to honour him.’
The whole of Jerusalem began to gossip, and then panic, since astrologers were taken very seriously in those days and there was indeed a new star in the sky, rising up from the east towards the roof of the sky. Was this a power grab by some foreign ruler? News soon reached Herod, who was equally disturbed. This was a man who could negotiate with anyone, and had ruthlessly crushed all opposition, yet how could he beat a rival who didn’t exist? So he gathered all his own religious leaders and wise men together and asked them what it could all mean. ‘Only the Messiah could cause a star to appear in the sky,’ they agreed.
Herod, although born a Gentile, had declared himself to be a Jew and worked very hard to prove his religious credentials. But there was no way he was going to be usurped by anyone, certainly not a baby from out of the prophets’ scrolls in the Temple. ‘Do the scrolls tell us where this Messiah is supposed to be born?’ Herod asked his scribes. One of them pulled out a scroll from the prophet Micah:
But you, Bethlehem, nestling in the shadows of Jerusalem, forgotten among the towns and cities of Judah, are far from the poor relation you appear to be; for you are the mother of God’s chosen one – the one who will guide his people and rule them with justice and equity, the Good Shepherd.
Herod was an arch-manipulator and quickly drew the travellers into his web. Secretly he summoned them into his inner chamber, a place where it was very easy to be hypnotised by the king’s wealth and power. Herod easily gained the information he needed. ‘This child appears in the writings of our prophets, and will one day be a great king as you also have seen. We know he will be born in Bethlehem, but since you were the ones to see the star first, only you know the exact time the child was born.’
It wasn’t too long ago.‘That’s wonderful news!’ lied Herod. ‘I too would like to pay my respects to the babe. Please go on to Bethlehem and make full and thorough enquiries until you find this young miracle. Then come back here and tell me everything you find.’
The wise men were not so wise that they saw through Herod’s scheme: they didn’t know that the king’s Judaism was only skin deep and he was more than willing to assassinate the one the Jews had been waiting for for hundreds of years. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the star they had been watching was hanging right above them in the centre of the night sky: they knew they were in the right place. Their wait to meet the Messiah had only been a few weeks, but still they were filled with joy and anticipation.
On arriving at the family home, they were welcomed in. Jesus was still very young, in many ways just another baby laying on his mother’s lap, but something about the scene led the three men to bow down and worship him. They had brought precious gifts from their culture: gold, frankincense perfume and myrrh ointment.
Then, like Joseph, they were visited by one of God’s heavenly messengers in a dream: ‘Do not return to Herod; he means to harm the child.’ So they returned home by another route and evaded Herod’s spies.
(Author: Simon Hall)Spring into Balance
Are you coming out of something hard? Some words from Premier as Spring starts to bloom. (Author: )
Wisdom
In Job 28 it speaks of all the wealth mined from the earth, but how wisdom is much more precious than any of the valuable things which come from the earth. (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
Happy Lent!
If daily life is is crowded, Lent could be the best news of the year so far. (Author: Breathe Network)
Winter and Summer
"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You". (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
Do you want to work for God or with God?
"If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."
Exodus 33:15, NIV (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
Knowing God for Real
"Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
The Hidden Power of God in our Life
"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
Faith takes action
One Sunday at church, as the speaker shared the word of God, I realised that Christians may not be understanding faith as they should. Some people are taking faith to mean believing in God to do something for them, instead of believing God will help them (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
Inside Out
“Imagine if you had some deep, dark secret ... something that brought you tremendous shame. But instead of being able to hide it away, you had to wear it on your skin, so that the first time anyone saw you, they saw your secret.” (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
The great unchangeable I AM
I’m writing this seed on New Year’s Day, having had time to reflect on the past year, and recalling my experience of the faithfulness and steadfast love of God through varied, changing circumstances of my life. (Author: Seeds of the Kingdom)
Word for you today adapted for young people
Gary Larson captured a common misconception of Heaven in one of his Far Side cartoons. In it a man with angel wings and a halo sits on a cloud, doing nothing. A caption reads: 'Wish I'd brought a magazine.' (Author: UCB Media)
Matthew 2:13-23 - Week 8 - Day Five
Not long after the wise men had left the area, Joseph was once again visited in his dreams by a messenger from God. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:13-23 - Week 8 - Day Four
We would do well to remember that our current view of Christmas is as far removed from Jesus’ world as can be. Even with all the work of the angels, God’s promise of salvation is at risk from day one. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:13-23 - Week 8 - Day One
This is a difficult story. Matthew wants us to understand the extent to which God has protected Jesus, and the prophetic nature of every element, but the suffering caused cannot be completely overlooked. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:13-23 - Week 8 - Day Two
Christians who live in Palestine today are much more likely to hear this passage during Easter than we are. In fact, in the west it is nearly always missed out. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:13-23 - Week 8 - Day Three
Christmas is really
for the children.
Especially for children
who like animals, stables,
stars and babies wrapped
in swaddling clothes. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:1-12 - Week 7 - Day Four
The three magi worshipped God in the way that seemed to make most sense to them: they brought the most beautiful and valuable items from their own culture. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:1-12 - Week 7 - Day Three
Though Matthew seems to be unconcerned with the details of Jesus’ birth, that’s not because he thinks what we now call Christmas is unimportant. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:1-12 - Week 7 - Day One
Matthew’s story that ‘explains’ Jesus’s birth is so different to Luke’s that we sometimes forget all about it. Luke gives us a much more rounded story, and in a traditional Christmas service Matthew’s story is often tacked on at the end. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 2:1-12 - Week 7 - Day Two
Today we are somewhat like Herod: multicultural monarchs of our own little kingdoms. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:18-25 - Week 6 - Day Five
This is how it all started: how the one called Yeshua the Messiah – the one we Greek speakers name as Jesus Christ – came to be born among us. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:18-25 - Week 6 - Day Two
Joseph’s decision to protect Mary rather than obey the letter of the law raises a question that comes up over and over again. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:18-25 - Week 6 - Day Three
One thing that Jesus does is move the debate about sin away from behaviour and towards our hearts (5:28, Jeremiah 31:33). (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:18-25 - Week 6 - Day Four
There’s a version of Christianity which has a strong focus on keeping us all free from sin, or even the taint of it. A term that has been used over and over again to describe this version is Puritanism. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:18-25 - Week 6 - Day One
This week Christmas comes early. Given last week’s focus on women, it’s right to note that Matthew’s focus in his Christmas narrative is on Joseph, and not Mary. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:1-17 - Week 5 - Day Five: Mary
And finally we come to Mary. She is unlike her ancestors in this genealogy: Jewish, saintly, and comparatively passive. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:1-17 - Week 5 - Day One: Something different
This week we’re going to do a few weird things. Firstly, since it’s Christmas, we’re going to go back to the beginning of Matthew and start from Chapter One, Verse One. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:1-17 - Week 5 - Day Two: Tamar and Rahab
Tamar is a classic example of the kind of woman Luke has so studiously avoided. She is trouble. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:1-17 - Week 5 - Day Three: Ruth
Ruth’s story is well-known, yet worthy of another look. Like Rahab, she trusted in Yahweh against the odds, and like Tamar she grabbed her rights to a family with both hands! (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 1:1-17 - Week 5 - Day Four: Bathsheba
Matthew is clearly no big fan of Bathsheba. He won’t even name her. The three women we have heard about so far have their stories told in a very matter-of-fact way, but Bathsheba is subject to judgement. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:12-22 - Week 4 - Day Five: Targum
Eventually John was put in prison; Jesus knew that this was the time his life was going to move out of first gear. And he could no longer hang around with John’s disciples, it was time for him to start something new. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:12-22 - Week 4 - Day Two: Our context
‘When I said ‘Follow me,’ I wasn’t talking about Twitter,’ reads a cartoon doing the rounds on the social network sites. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:12-22 - Week 4 - Day Three: Reflect
This is a simple exercise, but no less effective for it. We will return to it again and again over the weeks. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:12-22 - Week 4 - Day Four: What Now?
This passage is about the response of the disciple. In that sense, there isn’t a particular thing that you should do. But you probably already know what you need to do. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:12-22 - Week 4 - Day One: Historical context
Anyone who tries to make Matthew’s gospel into history should read the first verse of this passage. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:1-11 - Week 3 - Day Five: Targum
So now that God the Father had announced that Jesus was his son, what did God do? Through his Spirit he led Jesus far away from all the gossip and the fame-hunters and whatever the equivalent of the Paparazzi was, and took him to that place... (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:1-11 - Week 3 - Day Four: What Now?
The most obvious response to this passage and the previous reflections on it is to do something loving. I’m thinking about how to get to know a family that has just moved into my street. But I think the ultimate challenge is to be loving. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:1-11 - Week 3 - Day Three: Reflect
Take some time to meditate on these verses. Here David is asking God to test him. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:1-11 - Week 3 - Day Two: Our context
When we talk about making important decisions, sometimes we ask the question, ‘do the ends justify the means?’ Is the bloodshed in Afghanistan justified by any potential peace? (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 4:1-11 - Week 3 - Day One: Historical context
This is a really interesting passage. Matthew’s gospel has an amazing literary structure, whereby the whole book ‘folds in two’, with a point somewhere around Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah as the place where the fold takes place. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3:13-17 - Week 2 - Day Five: Targum
While John was continuing to preach his message, Jesus arrived from Nazareth and joined him. Nazareth? Who has even heard of the place? It is a tiny village in Galilee, full of ignorant people, the kind of place you only go to if you have to. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3:13-17 - Week 2 - Day Four: What now?
What do you need to do to ‘fulfil all righteousness’? What was it about Jesus’ baptism that was the fulfilment? Was it getting baptised? Getting baptised by John? Being humbled? God’s pronouncement? (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3:13-17 - Day Three: Reflect
Matthew is not interested in what Jesus thinks about the voice from heaven – the voice is definitive and final. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3:13-17 - Week 2- Day One: Historical context
How do we meet the adult Jesus? One might expect a dramatic entrance. Instead, John emphasises Jesus’ obscurity: he is from an unknown village in the ‘wild west’ of Galilee. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3:13-17 - Day Two: Our context
God’s messenger comes from the edges, from the unfashionable place, pretty much from ‘out of nowhere.’ This is a theme that will continue over and over again throughout Matthew. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3: 1-12 - Day Five: Targum
This is it, the beginning. John the Baptist appeared in the desert out of nowhere, with a message that was both familiar and strange. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3: 1-12 - Day Four: What now?
Here’s a simple exercise. Think about a place that is important to you. It could be a place where you live work, play or socialise. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3: 1-12 - Day Three: Reflect
Take a bit of time to reread the passage from two different perspectives. Firstly, imagine you are in the crowd, a curious Jew wondering what this crazy prophet has to say. What do you hear, and how does it feel? (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3: 1-12 - Day Two: Our context
John is announcing the ‘Kingdom.’ Even though we live in a United Kingdom, it’s a fairly alien concept. Over the years translators and commentators have talked about the ‘reign’ or ‘revolution’ of God to try to get over the sense of a dynamic change. (Author: Simon Hall)
Matthew 3: 1-12 - Week 1 - Day One: Historical context
In the structure of Matthew’s gospel, this is the beginning of the main story. (Author: Simon Hall)
Devotionals
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