A Savior for All (Matthew 2:1-2)

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

I will be quite brief today, but the point I want to make is so powerful.  If you have attended church much, you are used to the phrase "Jew and Gentile."  Gentile refers to anyone of non-Jewish heritage, and in the Bible, often refers to Christians.  The book of Romans is full of references to both these people groups, but with the main intention to make the point that, "Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too" (Rom. 3:29).  Jesus did not just come to save any particular group, race, gender, or social standing of people.  When we are talking about Jews and Gentiles (anyone who is non-Jewish, so...everyone else), it is clear that Jesus came to save everyone.

Now, what I came across this morning as I was reading Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey, is that when we want to know more about these wise men and where they came from, we have to ask ourselves "where is East?"  Of course, the answer to that depends on where the writer is.  If I live in Indiana and am referring to NYC, I would say they came from the East; however, if I was living in England and referred to NYC, I would say they came from the West.  Christians in Rome would think "East" and think of Babylonia, where also the word Magi comes from in Greek.  However, if the writer was living in the Holy Lands, and the Jewish nature of the book of Matthew suggest that it was written in the Holy Lands, then "East" would have been the Arabian dessert.  This makes sense because the frankincense and myrrh the wise men brought are harvested from trees that ONLY grow in Southern Arabia. 

So....why is this a big deal?  Well, Arabs were not of Jewish decent, and therefore they were Gentiles. So at Jesus' birth he was worshiped by the shepherds (who were Jewish) and the wise men (who were Gentiles), which represents all the people that Jesus was born to save!  In the Christmas story, the two groups of people who came to visit were Jews AND Gentiles.  I don't know if that makes you as excited as it does me, but it makes me smile to think that Gentiles (the one-day Christians) were able to worship Him when he arrived, too.

That's all I have today. :)