P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

CONNIE: Where would you have been on that first Christmas day? Journeying with the wise men? In the field with the shepherds? Or asleep in Jerusalem? Are you among the wise ones who still seek Jesus?

LONNIE: Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Well, the Christmas season is in full swing, as we can tell from the traffic at the shopping malls and the music on the radio stations.

CONNIE: And we’ll be adding our own selections to the list of Christmas songs being played.

LONNIE: That’s right—in fact I hope you enjoy hearing the great songs about the birth of the Savior as much as I do. And I hope you enjoy hearing the story over and over again, because it certainly bears repeating.

CONNIE: Well, that must be true, because the story of Jesus’ birth is told twice in the Bible itself, isn’t it Lonnie?

LONNIE: It is indeed. Both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke tell the story. Mark—the shortest of the Gospels—skips over the birth stories and launches right into the ministry of Jesus. John, on the other hand, starts his Gospel even farther back—revealing that Jesus was alive and well in heaven with God long before that special night in Bethlehem, but then he too skips ahead and focuses his attention on the years of Jesus’ ministry.

CONNIE: Why do you suppose that is, Lonnie—I mean why do the Gospel writers all focus on different stories about Jesus?

LONNIE: It broadens our perspective, don’t you think? I mean, when something really big happens in the world, don’t you find yourself flipping from channel to channel on the TV, trying to get different people’s take on what’s happened?

CONNIE: I sure do. And so I suppose to get the clearest picture of Jesus and His mission here on earth, we need to consider His life from the four different perspectives we find in the Bible.

LONNIE: Definitely. That will give us the clearest and broadest picture of Jesus. But in our program today and again next week, we’re going to approach the story in a different way. We call our program today “The Christmas Wise Men,” and I’ll be telling the story directly from the gospel of Matthew, only. Usually when we have a Christmas pageant, or someone gets up in church to tell the Christmas story, we blend together elements from both Matthew and Luke. So we hear about Gabriel coming to Mary, and wise men coming from the east, and shepherds coming from the fields, and Joseph and Mary coming from Nazareth to Bethlehem—all in one story.

CONNIE: There’s nothing wrong with blending the two Gospel accounts together into one is there?

LONNIE: Of course not, but I think it’s good once in a while to read the story one Gospel at a time. To find those special lessons that each of the writers wanted us to learn. So today, let’s consider the story as it’s told in Matthew.

CONNIE: Along with some of the music that Matthew’s story has inspired.

LONNIE: Of course.

LONNIE: Matthew begins his Gospel with a sense of anticipation. Taking us back through Israel’s long history, reminding us of Jesus’ great human heritage as a son of Abraham and of David. And also of Israel’s long history of hope for the coming of their deliverer—their Messiah—the one who would be called “God With us—Emmanuel.

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, Jennifer LaMountain, from This Christmas CD

The Christmas Wise Men

LONNIE: Anticipation was running high in Israel in those days. And hope. Hope that a deliverer would come—sent from God. But the trouble was that people didn’t know what they needed to be delivered from. And it’s not a whole lot different in our world today, is it?

Perhaps there’s a sense in which we’re all wishing and hoping for some sort of knight in shining armor to ride up and deliver us from our own personal problems. Maybe it’s a boss, or a coworker who’s just impossible to get along with. Or a job that bores you and just doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. In your dreams, don’t you wish that just the right opportunity would come along—or just the right person show up—and take you away from all of that?

Maybe it’s a marriage that’s gone sour, and you can’t help but dream about the perfect man or woman you wish would come into your life—someone to put the spark back in your romance, make it seem like a joy to come home at night and be with them. You’re looking, hoping, maybe even praying for a deliverer to come and save you from the doldrums that have stalled your life in tedium and frustration.

Perhaps its financial problems you’re praying to be delivered from. Or joblessness—maybe any job would seem like a blessing to you right now.

Or it may be illness that’s dragging you down—your own illness, or someone who is near and dear to you. Whichever it is, it can really take the life out of you. And you may be praying that you’ll find just the right doctor who can point you to a miracle cure.
In one way or another, almost everyone is hoping and praying for a deliverer. Just as the people of Israel were praying to be delivered from the yoke of bondage to the Romans on that night when an angel came to Joseph in a dream and announced that the child that Mary, his betrothed, was carrying was a Deliverer—just the kind of Deliverer His people needed.

There were doubts in Josephs’ mind. There were seemingly insurmountable problems to face. It was a disgusting and disgraceful thing to find out that the woman you are engaged to marry is already expecting a child. And the man was troubled. I would be too. But Joseph had decided to do the most honorable thing—when a totally different solution presented itself.

Let’s read the story as it’s told in Matthew 1:18-23

“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’ ” (NRSV)

Did you ever notice that Matthew gives the Savior two different names in the space of just three verses? Now, there’s nothing too strange about that—you remember the verse from Isaiah where the Messiah is given a whole list of names all at once—Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, etc.

Here in Matthew, He is called the Deliverer—the Savior—Jesus. And He’s also called Emmanuel—God is with us.

What an amazing thing. God right here with us—in the form of a little baby, who is to be a Deliverer.

But did you notice what He is to deliver us from? “He will save his people from their sins!”

Deliver us from the thing we most need deliverance from—even if it’s not what we most feel the need have right now.
What an astounding revelation this must have been to Joseph—and to Mary. Can you imagine what thoughts must have been going through that dear young girl’s mind about that time?

“Mary Did You Know”, Mark Lowry, from Mary Did You Know?

How could Mary know all of these things as she lay there, nursing that tiny baby boy? Matthew spends very few words on telling us about the birth of Jesus. There are no angels singing in the sky, no shepherds hurrying in from the fields. No poetic praise coming from the lips of Mary. No little drummer boys or oxen and lambs keeping time to angelic harmonies. In fact the story is told almost exclusively from Joseph’s perspective. Matthew simply tells us that Joseph “had no marital relations with [Mary] until she had borne a son, and he named him Jesus” (1:25, NRSV).

The next thing we hear is that wise men from the east appeared in Jerusalem, following a celestial sign that has made them aware of the birth of one who is to be the king of the Jews.

This is truly an astounding, unexpected turn to the story. For in the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew has given us every reason to think that the whole Jewish nation would be waiting in anticipation for the birth of their Messiah—that it would be children of Abraham, who would thrill to the sight of a new star in the sky, heralding their Savior’s birth.

Instead we find foreigners searching for Him. And when King Herod inquires of the religious authorities about where the Messiah is to be born, they reply almost nonchalantly—“Oh, that’s supposed to happen just down the road in Bethlehem.”

Notice they don’t interrupt their religious services to go in search of Jesus. They just deliver the theologically correct answer, and then go back to their regular business.

Business as usual? When the Savior of the world has been born?

And the wise men are left on their own, to find their way to the quiet little village of Bethlehem, guided by the star.

“O Little Town of Bethlehem”, Steve Darmody,

They didn’t come unprepared—those wise men. Somehow they knew in their hearts that the One who had been born should be honored with gifts.

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11, NRSV).

They brought treasure chests with them—imagine that. Knowing they were going to visit royalty, they came prepared with gold, frankincense, and myrrh—three of the costliest items that could be obtained in their native land. And they offered them to the baby.

What a contrast with what His own people offered Him! For King Herod didn’t send gold to honor the newborn. Instead he sent steel—in the form of swords and spears used to kill all the young children in Bethlehem!

Joseph, of course, had already been warned of what was coming, and morning light on that horrific day found him, along with Mary and the baby boy, already on the road south out of Bethlehem, going to Egypt where Jesus would be out of reach of Herod’s monstrous ego.

Why would people respond that way to Jesus?

Why did Herod try to kill Him while He was still a defenseless infant?

Why did the religious leaders want to kill Him later, as He taught and served His people? It’s a great mystery. As deep as the secrets of the human heart.

Friend, how does your heart respond to Jesus today? Do you want Him in your life? Or do you wish He would just go away to Egypt and leave you alone?

As you contemplate the birth of the Christ Child—and the life of Jesus the Man, Jesus the Savior, what does your heart say? Is it warmed with thoughts of His love, His ministry? Or does the thought that one day He will return to claim the kingdom that belongs to Him strike fear in your heart?

If you could, would you kill Him? Or would you shout Hallelujah—the Lord has come!?

“Why Isn’t Everybody Singing Halleleu?”, Del Delker, from Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas

Oh, friend, the birth of Jesus is something to sing and shout about isn’t it? Thank God for the infinite gift of His dear Son. This Christmas, won’t you resolve to keep Jesus close? Don’t send Him away to Egypt. Let Him live in your heart. Let Him be your Savior. Let Him be your King!