Daily Devotion for December 11

INTRO

This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent. Historically, our Scripture is a Scripture read on January 6 (Epiphany). As you read the following passage, highlight the important words/events.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2: 1 - 11

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[b] and have come to worship him."

3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ[c] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'[d]"

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

QUESTION:

What do YOU see in this passage?

What do YOU consider the biggest point of this passages?

EXAMPLES (not an exhausted list)

1. Birth of Jesus
2. Prophecy fulfilled
3. Magi (pagans)
4. Herod sees Jesus as a threat
5. and the list goes on...

HISTORICALLY

a lot of emphasis was placed on the Magi. Who were they? How did they know? Why did they come?

In the first service, the choir will sing (from Handel’s Messiah) “For Unto Us” One of the powerful messages of this piece as well as the above passage is a reminder that Jesus is for US. Not just for our Jewish brothers and sisters, but for everyone (us).

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER: Romans 11: 17 & 18b

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches.