Three Choices

Little is known about the men who came to worship Jesus as the King of the Jews. They are called wise men or Magi. They came from somewhere east of Israel. But the story of these men traveling to find Jesus is a picture of how, even today, people relate to Jesus.

In Matthew 2:2 these wise men come and ask, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”

These men were not Jewish. They had no national, ethnic, or religious connection. They should not have even cared about the king of the Jews.

God had revealed to them through a star that a king of the Jews was to be born and that he would have an impact on them and the world.

In Matthew 2:3 when Herod found out about these wise men and what they were asking, it says that it disturbed him and all Jerusalem.

Herod didn’t want any competition for the throne and title as king of the Jews. Herod had already had a wife and two brothers killed because he thought they were plotting against him.

If Herod was disturbed, then that was reason for the people in Jerusalem and all Israel to be disturbed because he would stop at nothing to secure his position as king.

In Matthew 2:4-6 Herod calls together the chief priests and teachers of the law to see where the king of the Jews was to be born. They inform him it is in Bethlehem.

In Matthew 2:9 the wise men are given the information and they head out for Bethlehem.

The chief priests and teachers of the law don’t go. They don’t even send any representative.

Keep in mind, the wise men were Gentiles.

The chief priests and teachers of the law were Jewish.

Herod tells the wise men to find the child and get back to him when they do so that he can go and worship him. Herod also gets all the information about when the star appeared to the wise men.

We know he is doing that, not so he can go and worship the child, but so he can kill the child.

What is God revealing to us in this story of the wise men?

We see in the wise men, Herod, and the religious leaders three responses to Jesus.

The religious leaders were ignoring Jesus.

They told Herod where the king of the Jews or the Messiah was to be born. They knew scripture. They knew the importance of the Messiah.

In knowing all this, they had no desire to go and find and worship Him.

There are many people who know about Jesus. They know the facts of His birth, life, death, and resurrection but it is not important to them. They live their lives with knowledge but no relationship.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living based on a relationship with Jesus, not a religion of rituals.

Herod was afraid of Jesus and wanted to destroy Him.

Herod was king, and to hear that another king had been born was intimidating to him. Herod’s way of dealing with fear was to eliminate the source; in this case, it was Jesus.

Many people seem either to hate God or be mad at God.

They may feel that God has failed them or that He can’t be trusted.

God understands those feelings. We can express any feelings of doubt, fear, and anger that we have. That will not surprise or anger God. He will love us in the midst of those feelings and, by that love, transform our doubt.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting God’s love for us in the midst of trials.

The wise men were seeking Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that when we seek God, we will find Him when we seek Him with our whole hearts.

Matthew 7:7-8 tells us that when we seek, we will find, when we knock it will be opened, and when we ask, we will receive.

The promise is clear: When we really seek God, we will find Him and experience the reality of His presence.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeking God and finding Him.

We will either ignore God, be fearful of God, or seek God. Each of these will result in certain consequences.

God’s desire is that seek Him, find Him, and experience His love.

Seeking God and Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                            Joe