Encounter #7

Men of a Different Culture, Ethnicity, Language,  Religion  and  World  Worship Jesus

Matthew 2

“After Jesus’ birth, wise men from the East arrived in Jerusalem.  
They asked, “Where is the One who was born to be the king of the Jews?  
We saw His star rising and have come to worship Him.”
Matthew 2:1-2

Meanwhile, in an ancient Arabian region, three kings become aware of an extraordinary Event being signaled by a new Star appearing in the Eastern sky, clearly visible to these highly respected leaders of nations (likely present-day Iran.)   Can God be at work in nations that do not worship the Creator-God of the Bible?  Can He communicate to their hearts . . . minds . . even if they are not of the religion that was born out of the Bible?  

Jesus’ physical entrance into our world was within the context of the religion that grew out of the Bible . . . Old Testament and New Testament.  But God’s Heart reaches across all human barriers, including religions.  Stories of God’s engagements with people of all nations, languages, and religions have no human barriers nor categories.   .   .  God’s Heart is not limited to any of the barriers that we identify on earth . . . religious, cultural, ethnicity or language.  God used the “heavens” to identify and guide an unlikely array of worshippers to find Him.  They recognized that “worship” was the only thing to do in response to the One they encountered in tiny, human form.

Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and now three kings from “The East” . . . not of the Faith of Israel . . . but with a recognition of the heavens and the Creator Who used the heavens and the earth to bring His Reality into human awareness.  The three wise men . . . kings in their own right . . . knew that something completely unique in history was taking place . . . a Divine Event was unfolding.  They were determined to be a part of the experience.  At great personal cost, they came. Their eyes on the heavens, they found the Baby.  They experienced the Child, and they responded in worship. . . acknowledgement of The One announced by stars of the sky, yet in the tiniest, most vulnerable form of human life.