Do Unto Others Daily Devotional for Oct 17, 2024

The entire 5 weeks of daily devotionals that accompany the Do Unto Others Campaign for Kindness is available here: DailyDevotionals

Week 2: “Finding Common Ground”

Day 1: A star to reach Zoroastrian priests
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Context: Who were these wise men (Greek magoi) who came from the East seeking the newborn “King of the Jews”? They weren’t “kings” (the Christmas carol notwithstanding), and the text never said how many there were. “From the east” probably meant they were Persian, most likely Zoroastrian students of the stars. They followed an unexpected star toward the alluring hope that a new King offered the world a fresh start.

Reflection:
• These weren’t the first Persians in the Bible. Over 500 years earlier, Persia defeated Babylon and let exiled Hebrews go back to Jerusalem. The Persian king Cyrus received high prophetic praise (cf. Isaiah 44:24 – 45:6).
The prophet called him God’s “shepherd” and God’s “anointed” (Hebrew mashiach), even though God said, “you don’t know me.” Are you at all surprised that God would move a prophet to so praise a foreign king with limited (if any) grasp of “correct theology”?

• The followers of a foreign religion may have tracked the star for as much as 18-24 months. (After their visit, Herod brutally ordered the death of every boy 2 years old and younger.) Yet when these wealthy foreigners “saw the child with Mary his mother [a poor peasant girl],” they fell to their knees and “honored him.” What does that tell you about the God who invited Zoroastrians through the stars and valued their worship of the newborn king?

Prayer: Lord of the whole world, you didn’t want only people with the “correct” theology to share heaven’s joy at Jesus’ birth. Thank you for caring enough to reach far beyond human boundaries to share that joy. Amen