The Essential Jesus (Part 7): The Birth of JesusSample

Searching for Jesus

PRAY: God, I pray that as I read today, you would help me understand the truth about who your Son Jesus is.

READ: Matthew 2:1-23

REFLECT: In 1985, a group of liberal scholars founded the Jesus Seminar, supposedly to search for the real Jesus. Over the next decade, they isolated 176 events in the life of Jesus as reported in the Gospels, and then they voted on whether they thought each one really happened. The result? The scholars concluded that only 16 percent of the events did (or probably did) happen. The Jesus Seminar scholars have been criticized over the years for their bias: it's hard to find the Son of God if you don't believe he exists.

In Matthew 2:1-23, the Magi, or wise men, embarked on an honest search for Jesus. They asked good questions, followed the evidence, and remained open to the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah (v. 2). In the end, they found and worshiped him (vv.11-12). On the other hand, Herod was already biased against Jesus (vv. 3, 16, 20), and his search for him was unsuccessful.

Another feature of this passage is the odyssey of Joseph and Mary. Think about it. They knew God was at work on their behalf; angels, shepherds, and wise men visited them, and they knew better than anyone else about the miraculous circumstances of Jesus' birth. Their boy was the promised Messiah. So it would be natural for them to think that life would be safe and secure. Not so. God planned to make them vulnerable refugees (vv.13-15).

Sometimes being in the center of God's will means our lives won't be successful or easy; sometimes, he needs us to travel the hard road. We can be sure that no matter where he leads, God has a purpose in mind (Romans 8:28). In this case, he was protecting this special family (vv. 19-20) and, in the process, fulfilling the plan he had announced centuries earlier (v. 23). God always knows what he is doing in our lives, even when his plan isn't so clear to us.

APPLY: What are some ways you've seen God work in your life over the years? Has he ever taught you something important from traveling the hard road?

PRAY: Think of the most challenging situation you face today. Spend time asking God to show you what he is doing and to help you trust that he'll take care of you.