Matt 2, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:6 ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”Matt. 2:7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod,
the magi left for their own country by another way.
The feast of the Epiphany was last Saturday and we are now in the season after the Epiphany. I thought I would take a few days, in the season and share a few thoughts from this classic Scripture that is celebrated at each feast of the Epiphany.
Notice that when the Magi came to Jerusalem it says that their intention was to find the one who was born king of the Jews, sothey could worship him. They didn’t come to study him, or to learn more about him, but they came as worshipers. Too often we confuse worship with what we do when we come together to sing songs, but worship is a lifestyle, and heart disposition that sometimes manifests itself in praise, but is certainly not confined to that environment. Romans 12:2 says that the heart of worship is a surrendered life. I like to think of worshipers, again not just singers, as lovesick lovers of Christ. These are the true adorers that the Father is looking for. They have the heart, disposition, and lifestyle of a bride, consumed with first love. There are a few things about lovesick lovers of Jesus that I want you to notice in these verses, so that you get a better idea of some of the characteristics of true worshipers.
The first thing is, lovesick lovers, or true worshipers, see things other people just don’t see. They’re always looking for Jesus, and seemed to find him in everything and in every situation. The star that they had noticed was the fulfillment of a very obscure Old Testament prophecy that involves just one verse in Num. 24:17. It wasn’t some giant star like is projected in all of our Christmas plays, for if it had been many other people would’ve noticed such a dramatic change in the sky. As a matter fact nobody in Jerusalem, including all the former chief priests and scribes noticed anything different in the heavens. Only these Gentile magi noticed the fulfillment of this prophecy. They just saw Jesus in the Scripture, even though it was a very obscure Scripture, that nobody else seemed to see. Worshipers are like that. They’re always finding Jesus in the Scriptures everywhere else they look, and they seem to see him in all the situations of life. Isn’t that true about a lovesick lover; everything in life seems to remind them about the one who is their true love. True worshipers are consumed with Jesus and see him constantly even in the darkest night.