Advent Week 3

Hope For Those Who Are Watching

Sunday, December 15

It is virtually impossible to guess what was running through the minds of the Wise Men as they approached the infant Jesus that night in Bethlehem.   Why had they come?  How did they know (or think they knew) that the star was a sign of the birth of a king?  It seems logical that they had read the words of the prophets, or heard from traditions the promises of a coming king, a ruler of the world, a person who would bring peace and justice, a messiah.   Astrological speculation ran rampant, and apparently they had come to associate the advent of this messiah with the coming of celestial signs.   Still, it is hard to grasp, and we wonder.   How could these men, highly involved in astrology, have known that THIS star was THE sign?   On what authority did they make their journey?   What were they thinking?  

We will never know fully what was in the mind of these Wise Men as they approached Jesus.  But one thing seems clear:  The Magi were WATCHING and they CAME with a sense of expectancy.  They came searching for something.  Perhaps they came searching for the peace and justice that this child was promised to bring in scriptures.  Perhaps they came hoping to be a part of some major cosmic event.  Perhaps they came in search of personal meaning or reconciliation with God.  Whatever the case, these magi were watching and hoping, and hope drove the Wise Men to Jesus.  

Hope continues to draw us to Jesus.  Christmas is a time of hope, not just the mundane hopes of life—hopes for the right present under the tree, or job promotions,  Christmasbonuses, or even a white Christmas.  Christmas is the time of deep hope within—hope for restored relationships, hope for joy in living, hope for peace in our world, hope for forgiveness and second chances when it comes to our own moral failures, hope for life beyond death, and hope for an ever-deepening relationship with God.  These are the hopes of Christmas.  And like the Wise Men, we watch, and we hope.   “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.”

Glenna Metcalfe