The message of the Magi, the shepherds and Herod.
The world is getting ready to celebrate “Christmas”, the supposed birthday of Messiah. Shop, malls and online stores are busy preparing to face the shopping rush. All the people are caught up in the Christmas frenzy. How much time is spent meditating on Yahshua Messiah, the reason for the season?

"Now when Yahshua was born . . . there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem"(Matt.2:1). When did the magi visit Messiah? Popular notion shows the magi coming behind the shepherds. This was not so. When the wise men enquired of Herod where the King of the Jews was born, Herod turned to the wise men in his court for an answer. ‘In Bethlehem of Judaea’ they answered, quoting from the prophet Micah. The wise men then proceeded to Bethlehem and found the Babe. They worshipped Him and after presenting their gifts, they went away to their own country.

Now these are the details surrounding the visit of the magi, but there is much more for us to gain from this passage than just the details of their visit. We learn, more importantly, from the magi of the East, how we should respond to the presence of Messiah.

". . . and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy"(Matt.2:9-10). The star, which indicated of the presence of the Messiah, caused the magi to "rejoice". Matthew doesn't simply report that the magi "rejoiced", but he reports that they "rejoiced with exceeding great joy". Rejoicing "exceedingly with great joy"-- does that describe us when we are in the presence of Messiah? Messiah is always with us because we have the word of Elohim with us. When we read how the magi responded to the physical presence of Messiah, we must keep in mind that we are always in the presence of Messiah. The apostle Paul insists that we should "rejoice in the Lord always"(Phil. 4:4).

We should be encouraged by the faith of the magi--they were rejoicing even though they had seen only the star but not the Messiah. The star was all the assurance the magi needed to be convinced of the presence of Messiah. We too must remember that the Bible gives us the assurance of the presence of Messiah. And this presence should make us ‘rejoice exceedingly’ because we too will see him one day,

The second response they had to the presence of Messiah was that they "worshipped Him" by giving Him "gifts". “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matt.2:11)

In the countryside some shepherds were tending to their sheep. An angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to them and gave them glad tidings of the Saviour’s birth. The poor shepherds left their flocks and went to see the Child and then went and told others what they had seen.
Shepherds were held in low esteem by the general public. The work of tending sheep was generally given to the least member of a family. Because they were with the sheep throughout the day, they probably smelled like sheep. They could not mingle with other people and generally kept to themselves. They probably tended to the seep that would one day be sacrificed in the temple. They appeared to be pious people who were waiting for the Messiah. They left their sheep, something on which their livelihood depended, and ran to Bethlehem to see the child.

Herod, when he heard about the birth of the King of the Jews, was troubled. He was about to face opposition to his rule. He was an Idumian, a descendent of Edom, and probably heard of the coming Messiah. But he decided to eliminate the opposition by planning to kill the child. So he told the Magi to return from Bethlehem and tell him so that he could go and ‘worship him’. When the Magi went back to their own country by a different way, Herod was angry and killed all children below two years of age.

The wise men in Herod’s court knew the scriptures. They could tell exactly where Yahshua would be born. They knew that Messiah would come into this world.  But they had no interest to go and see for themselves when the Magi went in search of the Babe. Sadly, these experts had the right information but were personally uninterested in meeting the Messiah for themselves, just like some “Bible scholars” today. They thought that since they had Abraham for their father (John.8:9), their entrance into eternal life was guaranteed.

Let us ask ourselves, "How often are we moved by the presence of Messiah to worship Him by bringing Him gifts?" What kind of gifts can we bring to Elohim? Paul tells us in Rom.12:1, how we are to worship Elohim and what kind of gifts we are to bring," I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohim, which is your reasonable service”. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh might have been acceptable to the infant Yahshua, but not to the resurrected Messiah.

This Christmas let us examine our hearts. Are we like Herod, who was interested only in solidifying his position and power? Do we see Messiah as an obstacle to our worldly lives? Are we like the chief priests and scribes, interested in studying the Bible only for academic interest? Remember what Peter said in John.6:68, ‘thou hast the words of eternal life’. The Bible is the word of Yahweh. John.5:39,’Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.’

Or, is our response like that of the Magi and the shepherds, who sought out Messiah when he was born, so that they could worship him? Let us ask ourselves, "How often are we moved by the presence of Messiah to worship Him by bringing Him gifts?" What kind of gifts can we bring to Elohim? Many of us leave church on Sunday full of joy after an hour of worship only to have the rest of the week bring us stress. Why does this happen? This happens because when we leave church we often cease to worship God. If we could understand how to worship Elohim from Monday to Friday, then we will be joyful Christians, always.

Some people think that by giving some money to the church or spending time in church makes them Christians. Paul wants every part of our life to be a form of worship to Elohim. That means your marriage, your role as a parent, your job--all of these things are to be treated as contexts for worshipping Elohim, by living good Christian lives which are acceptable to Elohim and bring glory and honour to him.
Messiah is always with us. He wants us to rejoice in Him, and He wants us to worship Him by bringing gifts. Not material gifts but He wants you. Yahshua was born for you, he died for you. The key to true joy is found in worshipping Him.