The story of the wise men coming to worship Jesus Christ is amazing. The Lord has moved Matthew to make sure he included this encounter because all are welcomed into the presence of our Lord and Savior. The primary purpose of Matthew’s Gospel was to encourage the Jewish community to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. However, whether they accept Him or not, God has a plan for the entire world to have an opportunity to do so. What is amazing about our God, is how He is able to get our attention. These wise men were from the east and they were astrologers, so God used a star to draw their attention toward Jesus Christ. They interpret the meaning of the star to be a king of the Jews has been born. They were on the right track, but Jesus was coming to be King of Kings. Once God had their undivided attention, they had to see Him for themselves and they made it a point to bring their offering of self and their goods.
In Matthew 2:1-12 the wise men are on a mission to find the king of the Jews. There are a number of things the Lord wants us to understand and He lets us see through the eyes of these wise men. Once they arrived in Jerusalem the star disappeared. Then they saw Herod’s palace and assumed this is the place. They go in to find out this is not the place. Once they leave the palace the star shines again. Before we move forward; why did God cause the star to disappear and allow them to go to the wrong place? First, we have to remember what appears to be the best is not always the place we find the best. God needed to change their thinking because they assumed He must be born in the best there is to offer. Their minds were being changed to let them know, we can’t be caught up in the glitter. If we do, then the opportunity to be in the presence of the Lord will be missed. Therefore, God had to change their minds, so they would embrace Jesus once they came into His presence. This is why the star disappeared once they arrived in Jerusalem.
As the star appears they follow it, and know they are being directed to where they can find Jesus. When they arrive at the house, they are overwhelmed with joy, because they are about to see Jesus. After entering the house they immediately kneel down and begin to worship Him. If they were led directly to Jesus without stopping in Jerusalem, they would not have welcomed Jesus into their hearts. God had to make a stop in Jerusalem in order to change their mindset, for them to welcome Jesus into their lives. The same thing happened to us before we accepted Jesus. Our minds had to be changed so that we would be willing to welcome Him into our hearts. There is no question of us being welcomed by Jesus, but are we willing to welcome Him into our hearts? Continue to walk in your blessings!
