Hunter Christner

Are you traveling for the holidays this year? The Magi took quite a journey because of the first Christmas. They traveled hundreds to thousands of miles to find Jesus. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and his family lived in Nazareth, but the Magi showed up in Jerusalem looking for “the one who was born, king of the Jews.” These guys showed up days and maybe even months after the birth of Jesus. They weren’t kings either. The next time you see some guys wearing crowns and holding gold, frankincense and myrrh in a nativity scene you can think to yourself, “That’s not right.”

Who were these guys anyway, and why were they willing to travel that far to follow this bright light in the sky? Also called wise men, they were probably astrologers, magicians and people interested in signs of the future. They came from “the East.” That is, Babylon and Persia, which is where a number of Jews had been exiled to from Israel and Judah in the centuries prior. They were most likely Jews who knew what the Tanakh (Old Testament) said about the coming messiah to save their people.

God revealed the coming of Jesus to them by placing a comet or star in the sky. I’m not sure I would notice if a new star showed up in the sky, but these guys studied the night sky and knew that this was unique and different. The power and wisdom of God to reveal himself to exactly who needs to see him in the way that they will recognize it is incredible.

In John 1:9 the Bible says of Jesus, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” Sending Jesus into the world was God’s way of telling everyone that he loves them.

 John 3:19 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Remember, in the beginning “God said let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3). If God can say that about creation he most certainly can insert it into his creation.

This is the gospel: God loves you and me so much that, even though we are separated from him because of our evil deeds, he knows that we are never truly satisfied apart from him. Therefore, he sent his son, Jesus, into the world to live perfectly. Through Jesus he made a way for us to renew our relationship with him and live eternally with him by believing in his birth, life, death and resurrection. This is the real joy of the holiday season and the whole Christian life. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13 NIV).

As a result, we are granted the presence of God by his Holy Spirit. Although we don’t have to travel anywhere to find Jesus we are drawn to follow him because he is the true light.

 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 NIV). “As the wise men did, may we also bring Jesus into our worship. Many blessings to you and your family this Christmas.

(Hunter Christner is associate staff at Campus Ventures at Northwest College.)