Read: Matthew 2
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: A familiar Christmas song is based upon the second chapter of Matthew: "We Three Kings." However, the Bible never indicates that the visitors to the new family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were kings; they are called Magi, which means astrologers/scientists (in other words, they studied the pattern and movements of planets and other celestial bodies in a scientific manner in order to determine if there were relationships with happenings on earth). The Bible also doesn't indicate that there were three of them; we're simply told that they brought three gifts to the child Jesus: gold, incense, and myrrh. What we do know is that the Magi were Gentile (non-Jewish) travelers from a faraway country in the east (perhaps Persia), and we know that the gifts that they brought were appropriate for a King (see Psalm 72.15, Isaiah 60.6, and Psalm 45.. Matthew again reminds us that the birth of Jesus fulfills Old Testament promises concerning the coming Christ (Messiah/Savior), due to His birth in Bethlehem, His family's brief sojourn to Egypt, and His following upbringing in Nazareth. Once again, Matthew draws a portrait of Jesus as a King for both Jews and Gentiles...a King that is for the whole world. Matthew also show us through the Magi (who were, ironically, Gentiles) that the appropriate response to Jesus is always worship.
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