Carson Village, Birmingham, Alabama
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people! ~ Luke 1:67. Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. ~ Matthew 2:2
We agreed to remain in our respective homes today. It was quite the party yesterday, and we needed time to recuperate.
Just kidding. It’s because it’s still cold out, and none of us felt like venturing out in it. Tomorrow is another day.
It got down into the teens last night! As you can see, by 7am, it was all the way up to 20⁰!
Once Blaine got all the heat we have running at full blast, we opened up our shades and discovered the neighbors received a new fountain for Christmas last night!
Whatever the issue is with their water line, the thing gushed for the next 3 ½ hours before someone finally showed up to try to take care of it. Blaine tried to locate an emergency number for the park, since it’s Saturday and the office is closed, but he couldn’t find one. One of the sweetest things I’ve seen in a while, was when two young teenaged boys came by on their bikes, looked at the fountain, and tried knocking on the trailer door. Despite trying several times, the owners never came to the door. Not sure why. Their car’s here. . . .
Anyway, the two guys who showed up at 10:30 worked for about 30 minutes before they left – with the water down to a bubble, instead of a geyser. Unfortunately, they pulled their pick up in front of it, so we couldn’t watch anymore. ☹ The water was off? fixed? by about 1:00pm. Show’s over, folks. . . . Let’s move along now. . . .
Not sure what good it did, since there’s still water flowing . . . .
We received some pictures from home of our grandchildren enjoying Christmas. Makes us sad that we’re not there, but so happy to see the joy on their faces!
Max, Cody, Alex and Loki photo-bombing the picture : ) Ready . . . . Set . . . . 
GO!!!!
That’s quite a feast Harper and Kade are laying out!
It looks like – One for me. One for Santa. One for me. One for the reindeer. LOL
Cooper with his new car. He’s already zooming around – even without the car!
Annie’s trying to navigate the mess.
Speaking of Christmas and gifts . . . .
Magi aka wise men aka astrologers aka . . . . They’re known by several names, and showed up sometime after Jesus was born and during the reign of King Herod (37BC-4BC when he died). So what’s their story?
The word used in Greek (the language the New Testament was written in) is magos, and according to the Lexicon it originated with the Babylonians and is the name given by the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, and others, to their wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augurs, soothsayers, sorcerers, etc.
We don’t know where these guys came from, other than “from the East”. East would be east of Israel at the time. And we don’t know how many there were. We just always assume three, because that’s the number of gifts mentioned in scripture, but all we really know is that there were more than one of them. And we don’t know where Joseph and Mary were residing at the time. They may not have been in Bethlehem as everyone assumes; the Magi only tell Herod that the King of the Jews has been born in Bethlehem. Obviously some time has passed if Jesus is now a child. But I digress.
Their first stop? Jerusalem. (You know I don’t mean that literally, right?) Why? Why didn’t they just go directly to Jesus? I mean, they had this star that they were following, so why take a detour? They were entering a different country, and it was customary to stop by and visit the guy in charge. Plus, they probably figured that as the current King of the Jews, Herod would know exactly where they could find Jesus. They most likely expected Herod to already be worshiping Him. They didn’t come to see a Savior, they came to find a King. So where else would they expect to find a new king of the Jews, but at the Jewish palace? Still, they had this star to follow . . .
Matthew 2:2 tells us that they came to worship him. According to the Lexicon, this use of the word ‘worship’ – “hence among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead, as an expression of profound reverence, hence in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or make supplication. It is used of homage shown to men of superior rank.” In this case, it is NOT used “as homage rendered to God or the ascended Christ”.
I think that means their visit – at least initially – was an acknowledgment of Jesus’s position and power as an ‘influential’ – a sort of a ‘he-must-be-great-to–have-a-star-point-him-out-so-we-gotta-go-see-him’.
How did they know to look for a king in the first place? I know – ‘they saw his star in the east’ – but how did they know???? The Chronological Bible I have suggests they heard of the Messiah’s coming; from Jews who had been dispersed years before by the Babylonians, etc., but how did they know about the star?? Unfortunately, I have no answer for that.
Where did they find Him and what was their reaction to finding Jesus? Jesus and his parents were in a house. (per Lexicon – an inhabited edifice, a dwelling) And once they found Him, they were overjoyed! Some translations say: ‘they rejoiced with exceeding great joy’ at seeing where the star stopped. Jesus was no longer a baby in a manger, but a child in a house. And they bowed down and worshiped him. By now, it was more than a bowing of respect, or seeking a king as mentioned above, because now they are worshiping. It’s quite possible that being in His presence influenced them to believe. He was more than just an up-and-coming king. Then they offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Such strange gifts to give a child! Can you imagine giving these to your young kids or grandkids (under 2 years old, remember)? It seems to me that these gifts prove that they were originally looking for an adult. How surprised they must’ve been to find a child instead!
I found this information on biblicalarcheology.com:
The traditional gifts of the magi—gold, frankincense and myrrh—may have had symbolic as well as practical value.
Researchers believe the medicinal uses of frankincense were known to the author of Matthew’s gospel. Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medical uses of frankincense.
Since the early days of Christianity, Biblical scholars and theologians have offered varying interpretations of the meaning and significance of the gold, frankincense and myrrh that the magi presented to Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew (2:11). These valuable items were standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world: gold as a precious metal, frankincense as perfume or incense, and myrrh as anointing oil. In fact, these same three items were apparently among the gifts, recorded in ancient inscriptions that King Seleucus II Callinicus offered to the god Apollo at the temple in Miletus in 243 B.C.E. The Book of Isaiah, when describing Jerusalem’s glorious restoration, tells of nations and kings who will come and “bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord” (Isaiah 60:6). Although Matthew’s gospel does not include the names or number of the Magi, many believe that the number of the gifts is what led to the tradition of the Three Wise Men.
In addition to the honor and status implied by the value of the gifts of the magi, scholars think that these three were chosen for their special spiritual symbolism about Jesus himself—gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming—an interpretation made popular in the well-known Christmas carol “We Three Kings.”Still others have suggested that the gifts of the magi were a bit more practical—even medicinal in nature. Researchers at Cardiff University have demonstrated that frankincense has an active ingredient that can help relieve arthritis by inhibiting the inflammation that breaks down cartilage tissue and causes arthritis pain. The new study validates traditional uses of frankincense as an herbal remedy to treat arthritis in communities of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, where the trees that produce this aromatic resin grow. Did the magi “from the East” know of frankincense’s healing properties when they presented it to young Jesus?
And once their worship time was complete, they left. But the story doesn’t end there. Instead, we learn that God also spoke to them in a dream! Just like Joseph! And told them not to return to Herod. And they listened! And went home a different way.
Why did God warn them? Because He knew Herod would comb the nation to find Jesus, and His family needed time to get to Egypt – not only to save his life, but also to fulfill prophecy. Another attempt by Satan to thwart Jesus from completing God’s plan to save His people.
Isn’t it great to know that God can use anyone He chooses to accomplish His great and perfect plan?!? He used these pagan Magi to set in motion the events that led to additional prophecy being fulfilled! And to protect Joseph and his family from evil. And, along with the shepherds, to show that Jesus came for everyone – great and small! How great is our God?!?!?!?