Love Comes Near: An Advent Bible Study, Dec. 19th Read Matthew 2:1-2 Write Isaiah 60:3 Isaiah 60:3 - " Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." "What is most surprising to you in these two verses in Matthew?" That kings wanted to pay homage to a child. "For being 'wise' men, it seems unwise to me that they would go to the current king of the Jews (Herod), a man with a hot temper and a huge ego, and ask for his help to find the baby who would one day usurp his throne, so they could worship him. But, maybe the mistake is only that obvious in hindsight. I think they must have assumed that since Herod was himself Jewish, that he was al- ready aware of the new king, or that the new king was, in fact, Herod's child. "Regardless, God uses these unlikely characters to tell his story. "What Godly purpose do you see for including the Wise Men and Herod in the Christmas story?" It increases the reader's perception that maybe there really is something to this Jesus Christ, that 3 wise men would wish to seek Him out as a small child. ----- "Reread Isaiah 60:3 and read Numbers 24:17 "The Jews believed these Old Testament prophecies pointed to a messianic de- liverer. "Write any thoughts or reflections you have about seeing the fulfillment of these prophecies in Jesus' birth story." I guess my only thought is that it seems that these prophecies in the Old Test- ament do point to the events surrounding Jesus' birth and life. ----- Love Comes Near "The 'east' had a reputation for wisdom. Read 1 Kings 4:30. God made Solomon wiser than the people out east. That was a big deal. The Wise Men in our story were likely very smart, and were also likely into astrology. They studied the stars and were probably fascinated by them. So, because of their extensive study, they would have been wise in the ways of many cultures, and keyed in on the prophecies of scripture that referenced stars or bright lights. "So, how intimate and how wise that God would draw the Wise Men to Jesus in a way that made sense to them. We don't know how the story ends for the Wise Men after their encounter with Jesus, but I love this glimpse of how it began. "How has God drawn you to himself in unique and special ways? What or whom did he use to first point you to Jesus?" The rightness, the decency, the love and human caring that Jesus preaches and demonstrates in the Bible draws me to God, magnetizes my direction towards Him, because I believe that I can by studying God's teachings make myself with God's help into a better person, someone that would be of service and benefit to oth- ers more than I am currently doing. I think in the history of God as shown in the Bible, it shows an active God trying to reach the people and to teach them in right ways and good doings. It's hard to say, but it just *feels* right to try and get closer to God, more mindful of Him in my everyday doings. It feels like I will come out of the process of getting closer to God to be a much better and more worthwhile person to know ... not to make myself "better" than other people, but to make myself more humble instead of prideful, and maybe to get myself to taking better care of this vessel of life named David, as well as taking better care of those I love and those I have yet to love. I think the road to God is a road towards self-fulfillment and good, rich liv- ing. With Jesus more and more in my life, it just feels like life will be- come more worthwhile and satisfying, even if there are trials along the way. What did God use to point me towards Jesus? I think good, faithful and gen- tle Christians I have known in my life like Jack Heffelfinger and Bob Pope have affected me ... they are such good people and were easy to love because they cared about me and about other people. Their love wasn't just a liking- from-a-distance kind of thing, but is an acting love, a caring and gentleness that I would be honored to try to emulate, and it comes from Christ living in them. Church ministers are ministers because they feel called to be close to God and to try and spread a bit of God and Jesus to other people. Most minis- ters I have ever known were very good people, dedicating themselves to a life of service to others for Christ's sake. Living for the sake of Christ seems like a very fulfilling way to live a life. So I pursue knowledge of Christ to gain such fulfillment, and maybe as I grow, to help others reach more ful- fillment in their lives too.