Here’s a story about the 4th level of joy and how to get there (or at least to level 2 maybe) in your life.
“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 when it rose and have come to worship him’” (Matthew 2:1,2).
Local religious scholars in Jerusalem directed the Magi (wise men) to Bethlehem, because they know the ancient prophecy that named Bethlehem as the place of birth for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Jewish leaders knew the prophecies well.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it, why foreigners from the far east are going to worship King Jesus while the leaders of God’s very own Jewish people stay behind in Jerusalem?
It’s an early sign in the Bible that these leaders would continue over the years to miss Jesus, mistaking their own self-designed interpretation of the Scriptures as the truth instead of the real teachings that didn’t just fit their own opinions. They would mock Jesus for claiming to the Son of God and would not trust him, love him or worship him. So eventually they assassinated their own King of the Jews, sent to save them.
Sometimes, people who know their Bible well don’t know the real Jesus of the Bible well at all, and all the Bible head knowledge doesn’t penetrate their heart with faith and love.
If you can find the book of Habakkuk before everyone else in your group, but you can’t find it in heart to adore Jesus more than anger or alcohol, you can’t find it in your heart to love and forgive sinners like Jesus loves and forgives you, or you can’t spend intimate time with Jesus in prayer and Bible reading, then you’re missing out on Jesus like these religious leaders.
Come with me—I’ve missed out on Jesus, too, and I’m with you—I want to adore him more than my pleasures, I want to trust him more than my opinions, and I want to worship him and not anything else. Let’s leave our missed worship and messed up priorities behind with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, and let’s go to Bethlehem with the wise men.
“They went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed” (Matthew 2:9,10). The wise men know some things, but not everything, and are just looking for Jesus. God guides the way.
Anyone looking for Jesus, no matter who you are, what you’ve done, or where you’re from—God will guide you to him when you look and listen for his directions. God’s promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, along with some special circumstances, lead these men to Jesus who was probably a toddler at this time, living in a house in Bethlehem.
The wise men “were overjoyed.” That’s what happens the closer you come to Jesus, but let’s not miss this, that’s what happens when Jesus comes closer to you. These men made perhaps the longest journey of their lives, but Jesus made the journey of their lifetime. From heaven to earth. From throne to manger. From perfection to sin-poisoned. To save the world.
The one word in our English Bibles, “overjoyed,” doesn’t quite dazzle in comparison with the four Greek words in the original language of the Bible here. Literally the Greek is translated, “they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.”
That’s joy to the 4th degree! And it’s yours because Jesus comes to be your King, too.
PRAYER: Jesus, you are my King and I want to worship you in a way that the ultimate King of kings truly deserves. Guide me closer to you, and to the joy you give me. Let me express it in worship, and in works of faith that make you shine like the star. Amen.
TRUE OR FALSE: The wise men present their gifts to Jesus when he’s lying as a baby in the manger. (ANSWER here https://crosslifepf.org/messages/our-best-gifts/)
