Missing the Signs
Christmas is behind us, but for Christians, Christmas is all-year-round. I’ve been re-reading the Gospels and came to the story of the wise men the other day. It says in Matthew 2, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet…”
I was thinking about this text and about the wise men, the magi. They are most likely not followers of the Torah or Yaweh. They probably come from what we now know as Iran or Iraq. Maybe Babylon. And I’m wondering, how are they the ones who realize the sign in the sky? Why are they the ones that knew the Messiah was going to be born? How did the people of God miss it? No one in Israel sees it. It takes outsiders -- pagans, unbelievers -- to see that it’s the time for Christ to be born.
We read that Herod finds out about the wise men coming to honor this newborn king. He assembles all of the religious leaders, all the chief priests, and scribes of the people. He asks them, “What’s this all about?” And they know the Scriptures. They know Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel...” And that’s all they knew - that he would be born in Bethlehem.
So here you have the people of the Word, the people of God, who have what we would call “special revelation”. They have the Scriptures. The prophecies. And then you have the magi, the wise men. They have this general revelation -- God revealing himself through creation, through revelation outside of the Scriptures. And both of them missed it. Both of them missed out on the fullness of the birth of Jesus. The wise men knew of the time and the religious leaders knew of the place, but neither saw the whole picture. And it got me thinking about how easy it is for people like us, who claim to be people of the Book - People of the Word - to miss what God’s doing in the world. We teach, we preach, we study the Word, we meditate on it. But we can be so engulfed in the special revelation of God that we forget to look up.
What about this last year? Covid happens. There’s nothing in the Bible that tells us about Covid. It’s been another opportunity to either see what God’s doing or miss what God’s doing. What is God saying through the political unrest? Do we see it? What is he saying through the racial tension in the nation and in our city? Have we noticed his hand moving? What about organizations like BLM and others? We could write them off. But are they like the magi following the star? What are they seeing and noticing that we’re not?
So my question is this, are we in tune with both? Both God’s general revelation in the world and his special revelation in Scripture. That’s what makes the best pastors, the best ministers. That’s what made the prophets stand out. Matching up the Word of God with what was happening around them and then calling people back to the heart of God. I’m continuing to wrestle with this in my own heart. It’s a question I’m asking myself and I hope it’s a prayer for us all:
God, show us what you’re doing. Help us to be faithful to Scripture, but not forget to keep our eyes and ears open. Help us to know your Word and to know our neighborhoods. Help us to pay attention to view the world around us through the lens of Scripture, by the power of your Holy Spirit. Help us to be a people who know your Word and see your hand. Amen.
