Day 13 – Matthew 2:1-12
by Meg

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth we find the story of the Magi – people who came from afar to search for the one who was promised. They brought gifts of gold, incense and spices to honour Jesus, and worshipped the baby born in a manger. However, while the Magi rejoiced to find Jesus, Herod was greatly troubled to hear of Jesus’ birth, and if you read on you will see that he takes drastic measures to try and get rid of this threat to his own power and authority.

Here we see two different responses to the news of Jesus’ birth. Think for a moment about how you respond to Jesus. Do you search after him and worship him, as the Magi did? Or would you rather cling on to your own authority in your life?

The Magi in their worship brought gifts that told of who Jesus was: gold for a king, incense for a priest, myrrh for one who would die as a sacrifice for us. Think for a moment about what gift you could bring to Jesus this Christmas. For example, Jesus is called “wonderful counsellor” in Isaiah 9:6. One gift we could give Jesus would be to turn to Him when we are in need and receive his counsel, and for us to listen to his advice in our lives.