The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 2:1-6, 9b-12, “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,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel….hey departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.1

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”

I’m sorry to have to eliminate some verses, but for the sake of brevity, we need to today.

The “magi,” called wise men in the KJV, were “a caste of wise men specializing in astrology, medicine and natural science.” They had apparently come from Persia (modern Iran). Daniel w as in Persia, and may have been their original source of information about the coming Christ. Verses two (2) and six (6) should read, “…we in the east have seen His star.” Where the shepherds in Luke 2 had to seek out the Christ Child, the magi were led to where He was by a star. That there was a significant time lapse between the shepherds and the magi can be noticed in the change of scenery. In Luke, the child (brephos) is an infant; in Matthew, He is a bit older, a young child (paideon). In Luke, the shepherds visited the animal shelter, where He was born; in Matthew, He is in a house (oikia).

Notice, too, that they “fell down and worshipped Him” –not His mother or father– Him alone! They also brought Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. It was the custom in those days that the lesser brought a gift to the greater. That there were three gifts, however, does not mean that there were only three magi. The gifts alone are more important than the number of gift-givers. Gold speaks of His Kingship, for He is to be the King, not only of Israel, but ultimately of us all. Frankincense has reference to His Deity, and myrrh references His death that would be for all ages.

The question for us is: Have we recognized Him as King over our lives? Have we received Him as LORD? Are we being obedient to His commands and directions for us?

We love you immensely, and hold you faithfully in our prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Special Note: Nana is now home from the hospital. She is resting and doing well.

Thank you for your prayers! Merry CHRISTmas!