The Greatest Gift of Christmas in ASLSample

Wise Men Worship

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was King. After Jesus was Born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked people, “Where is the child who has been born to be the king of the Jews? We saw the star that shows he was born. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard about this, it upset him as well as everyone else in Jerusalem. Herod called a meeting of all the leading Jewish priests and teachers of the law. He asked them where the Messiah would be born. They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem, in Judea, just as the prophet wrote:

‘Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are important among the rulers of Judah. Yes, a ruler will come from you, and that ruler will lead Israel, my people.” ( Micah 5:2)

Then Herod had a private meeting with the wise men from the east. He learned from them the exact time they first saw the star. Then he sent them to Bethlehem. He said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, come tell me. Then I can go worship him too.’’ After the wise men heard the king, they left. They saw the same star they had seen in the east and followed it. The star went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. They were very happy and excited to see the star. The wise men came to the house where the child was with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshipped Him. Then they opened the boxes of gifts they had brought for him. They gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they went home to their families own country a different way.

This is, maybe, an interesting part of the story. Because the wise men asked the King, “Where is the child who has been born to be the King of the Jews?” Now, how did Herod respond to that? He was not happy about that. The  Bible didn’t really say he wanted to be the only King of the Jews but we can think of it that way. Maybe he was jealous that there was another king. Maybe he wanted people to worship him only, not the newborn king. 

Herod told the wise men to go find him so that he may worship him, too. Was King Heord really going to worship the newborn King? No, he was planning to do something bad. Find out why on the next day. But I want to focus on the wise men. When they saw the star and followed it they finally arrived to see the newborn king. They gave gifts and bowed down to Jesus and worshipped him.

Here a few questions to think about:

1. Where were the wise men from?
2. What did the wise men ask King Herod?
3. How did King Herod feel?
4. Who did the wise men worship?
5. When King Herod said to the wise men “ go find him so that I may worship him, too”. What is the real reason when he said that?