The Wisemen
Matthew 2:1-12
Discussion Questions:
1. What does the star mean to the wisemen?
2. What do the wisemen do in response to the star?
3. Why do you think King Herod reacts to the wisemen’s message the way he does?
It makes perfect sense. When the wisemen go searching for the king of the Jews, they expect to find him in a palace.
I
nstead they find King Herod, who is none too pleased to hear about the birth of a new king. When Herod sends the wisemen on, they continue to follow the star until it leads them to an ordinary home, a set of ordinary human parents, and an ordinary child.
Yet, they must believe Jesus to be special, for they offer him rare and expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And they offer something even more costly. Having been warned in a dream, the wisemen decide to disobey the earthly King Herod and go home another way, in order to protect Jesus.
It’s the heartbeat of heaven.
Like Elizabeth who chooses joy over jealousy and Joseph who covers Mary’s shame, the shepherds take the good news to others at the risk of further rejection and the wisemen protect Jesus’s physical safety at the risk of their own.
They are capable of great love because they have had an encounter with an even greater Love. His heartbeat guides them.
When has someone shown you agape love, putting your needs above their own?
When have you shown agape love to someone else?
If Christians, as Christ-followers, consistently followed Him into acts of selfless love, how would it impact the world?