When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”
Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
Matthew 2:1-12 (NABRE)
Two search parties with two very different motivations.
Already, the Christ Child is being hunted. From the start, Jesus lived as one rejected. Even upon learning that Jesus is the Messiah long foretold by the prophets, King Herod, in his greedy rage, attempts to put to death the consolation of Israel. The “experts” in the Hebrew scriptures, the chief priests and the scribes, would have known that the Messiah was foretold to liberate the Jews from the oppression of evil. To them, that meant the expulsion of imperial Roman forces and government structures from Palestine. Regardless, they knew who He was and what He was sent to do. Yet, tragically, they chose not to take heed and follow Him. Instead, they foolishly sought to destroy Him. It almost doesn’t make any sense. Why would they try to thwart their own liberation?
And yet, how often can we, despite knowing of the beauty and rest of Heaven, neglect our salvation? We know what awaits on the other side of death, yet we choose sin. It is the ultimate folly, and we have only ourselves to blame. But we cannot let the fear of missing out propel us forward. When we run away from something, we zig-zag and climb over things and go every which way to try and escape. We have no destination but an undefined area of security that offers us no guarantee of providing lasting shelter.
Re-framed, the task is not so much to run away from that which we fear, but rather to run toward that which we love. The destination is, ultimately, God. But do we not have access to Him already? So He is already with us. In fact, He grasps our hand and gently leads us to where He has created us to be: Heaven. Our fallen humanity may not want us to be led by God, but we possess the intellect and the will to help us do so anyway. We also have the grace of God to help us forward in our struggle. He is with us all the way and is for us.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 