Advent Day 13

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich.” ( 2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV )

If you have been reading our post long, you know that the Puritans are a love of mine. Johnathan Edwards, John Bunyan, and their fellows have influenced my beliefs and preaching. Sinclair also loves the Puritans and speaks of Bunyan in today’s post.

We seek to be devoted to following God’s will. We try to make wise and good decisions after reflecting on His will. Yet, often we stumble and fall into what Bunyan calls “By-Path Meadow” or “Doubting Castle,” face to face with “Giant Despair.” This happens often when we are too confident. We have seen a glimmer of God’s plan for our life and think we understand the totality of His plan. We all do this; I have done this only to be strongly corrected by God. We think to ourselves, “Well, God led me here, obviously; He must want me to do this.” Then we wind up at a dead end.

The wise men were neither Jewish nor Christian believers. Yet they were led by God on an incredible long-distance journey to seek the new king, God incarnate, Jesus. We are certain that they knew a greater power led them, and they received direction from angels. What they did not know was who was leading them. That was Yahweh, the living Hebrew God. But there was something missing. They could see the star; they most likely had some intelligence information from the prophets or beliefs of others. Yet they could not stop seeking Him.

If we examine their journey, their route of travel makes sense. The star was leading them to Bethlehem. They traveled to Jerusalem, the capital and location of the King. Surely, he knew what was happening. I expect they thought Herod knew of and could direct them to the new King, who was probably in Jerusalem. They may have assumed everyone in Jerusalem knew about this momentous event. They were probably more than a little concerned that no one had any idea of what they were speaking about. Herod had spies everywhere. I am certain he, too, was more than a little concerned when they reported the foreign scholars seeking the new king. Matthew wrote, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;” (Matt 2:3 ESV). Jerusalem was more than troubled. They knew Herod’s temper and feared what he might do in response to a threat to his rule.

At some point in Jerusalem, the wise men realized they were in trouble. Their pilgrimage and their lives were in danger. Without God’s intervention, the story could have ended here. This is also how God works with us. He often works in and through ways we do not expect. Human logic dictates a new king born will be found in a royal palace. Divine wisdom works differently. In a fallen and sinful world, God's plan of salvation descends to the lowest and the least to restore us to God. Sinclair wrote that the early church fathers saw that the Messiah had to become what He was not so that we could become what we are not. Our king was born in poverty and humility. Paul captured this in 2 Corinthians 8:9 when he wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

Divine wisdom dictated the Messiah would be born and live in borrowed accommodations. He lay in a wooden manger as his first bed. He would have no home of His own, nowhere to lay his head. At the end of His life, He would again be laid on a piece of wood. This time, a cross, not a manger, and after his death, He would be laid in a borrowed tomb.

God rescued the wise men and rescues us when we err in judgment. God’s plan was not disrupted by their miscalculations; He is sovereign, and His will shall be done. As we close in on the end of the year, we become more aware of our errors. What great assurances we can take in God’s sovereignty. God’s wisdom lies at the heart of humility and humiliation of Christ. The wise men did not see this, yet despite their errors, they reached the place where they would see God’s glory in the flesh. Saul did not see this; he saw folly at the heart of the cross, as do those outside Christ. It was not until he was on the Damascus road that he saw the glory of God. We know those in Christ can also backslide and forget the glory of God. Be strong in faith, find peace in our assurances, and remember Christ went from the wooden manger to the wooden cross for you.

Grace and Peace

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Sinclair Ferguson, The Dawn of Redeeming Grace”, The Goodbook Company, 2021.