Meandering With God

Matthew 2

I hope everyone is doing very well the first day after break. It's really tough to go to class these days especially with all the snow. You start making excuses for not going (Mark if you're reading this, I'm talking to you). But I must make a confession that I missed one of my classes today. I acquired a cold over the break (I know, excuses) and decided to take a nap after my 10:30. That nap ended up becoming a deep sleep. I felt so guilty *sigh*. What's even worse is it's the last few weeks before finals, so you feel even more guilty for not going to class. These are some great times to be in. The first IM I received when I logged on AIM was from a good friend of mine:

Friend (4:26:15 PM): dude
Friend (4:26:19 PM): i gave up on life or something
krzymono (4:31:53 PM): wait wut
krzymono (4:32:06 PM): that's sissy talk
Friend (4:32:14 PM): i hate school man

Yea, that's a friend who just received his exams back after break (seriously how messed up can professors be). So if you are in a similar situation as he is in, hang in there. Oh and I'm on AIM like all day. I'm not really present at the computer, but I do like to use AIM a lot. So if you want to drop by and have a chat, I'm there (even if it takes me an hour or two to respond).

Now to the important stuff...
I really enjoyed Chapter 2. It starts off after the birth of Jesus Christ and the Magi come to Jerusalem looking for Jesus. They saw his star from the east and have arrived to worship Him. Now a note about the star because a lot of people like to make a big fuss about it (lol science). Here's what I think........who cares. Honestly it's not very important to me. Whatever people want to throw at it to debunk the existence of Jesus Christ, I really don't care. If there really was a star, then God is capable of making it work, and if there wasn't, well I think a lot of people in the past liked to embellish their stories a little.

Anyways, King Herod was the ruler at the time and is the one who sent the Magi to look for Jesus. The scripture says, "3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed." Now this is rather interesting. King Herod is the king right now, what does he have to be disturbed about? Is it that he senses a greater being or someone that can usurp his throne? Whichever it is, he feels a threat. So the coming of Jesus Christ was obviously something that was somewhat expected.

Here's a question, everyone knew the prophecy. Then why is it that only the Magi were present to worship Him when He arrived? Was it the fashion in which Jesus arrived on earth that they weren't accustomed to (maybe they were expecting something more grand)? Were people just skeptical? It's really tough to say, but try putting yourself in those shoes. Say you heard about the prophecy and knew something about it. Then you hear the news. What would your reaction have been? Do we still doubt Him? As much as we want to put 100% faith in Him, I think a lot of us still doubt Him and will always be skeptical. Even when something is so blatant (that even the king is disturbed by it), we're probably going to be quick to be skeptical about the event. These are the kind of things I like to think about. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary are all the protagonists of the story and Herod is the antagonist, but many times we forget the others. And sometimes it's important to point out the others, because those others are probably what we resemble the most. I don't know if that makes any sense (sorry, cold is kicking in).

The story continues on with Joseph. Joseph, again is very obedient and follows what he is told to do. He escapes to Egypt till Herod dies. Then he is told by an angel to go back to Israel because everything is supposed to be safe now. So he leaves for Israel only to take a detour because he was afraid of Herod's successor Archelaus, also Herod's son. So he took Mary and Jesus to the district of Galilee and lived in Nazareth. Now it's kind of weird that Joseph is told to do something only to do something else when God probably knew what was going to happen. That had me stumped for a bit, but in the end I concluded that it doesn't matter.

What does matter to me is Joseph and his characteristic. It's difficult to grasp how Joseph really was because we only read the good things. How difficult is it to this? Now I tried to bring this into a more applicable scenario. As much as we think we know what we're going to do, God might have something different stored in for you. Now I know that sounds very cliche and something you hear every Sunday, but really it's the way it works. I had a pastor in the past who shared with us his life before becoming a pastor. He lived like every normal Korean kid and probably was expected to become a doctor or lawyer. His life took a huge turn when he went to the Marines because he really didn't know what to do. If you ever see this guy, this guy has one of the smallest body frames and is nowhere fit to be a soldier. But there he was and he became a member of force recon. Then he became a firefighter, a teacher, then finally studied to become a pastor. He is only in his 30s. He shared with us how each turn he has taken showed him something different. Ultimately all this led to becoming a pastor because he's met so many different people. Now our lives might not necessarily take 180 degree turns like his, but we should be ready regardless. Joseph probably had no idea he was going to have to take care of the world's messiah. That's how unpredictable life is.

Joseph's role is made somewhat minute because of who Jesus is, but let us not forget Joseph and what he went through. While we may not have to take care of the messiah, we do have to be ready for whatever God brings to us next.

For my summary notes:
Visitors Arrive From Eastern Lands
1-6 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, and Magi came to seek Him and worship Him. King Herod and the rest of Jerusalem were disturbed by this news. King Herod wanted to know where Jesus was born and the priests and teachers told him Bethlehem in Judea like the prophet was written.
7-12 King Herod called the Magi to find out where Jesus was and to report back so he can worship Him as well. The Magi went on their way, saw the star and found Jesus with Mary. They worshipped Him and gave him treasures and headed to their country on a different route because they were warned by a dream not to go back to Herod.

The Escape To Egypt
13-15 The Lord told Joseph to leave and escape to Egypt because Herod was going to come kill them. So He took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, where they stayed till the death of Herod. Another prophet was fulfilled.
16-18 Herod was furious and decided to kill all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger. This was another prophecy that was told by Jeremiah.

The Return To Nazareth
19-23 After Herod died, God told Joseph to go to Israel. However, after learning that Archelaus, son of Herod, had been given reign. Thus, after being warned by a dream, Joseph took a detour to Nazareth, fulfilling another prophecy.