God’s Great Love and His Gift

Matthew 2:1-12

GOLDEN TEXT: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—John 3:16

THE story of God’s love, manifested through the gift of His Son to be the Redeemer of the world, never fails to captivate the minds and hearts of His people. And while the true significance of Jesus’ birth is not understood by the masses of the people, yet the yearly commemoration of the event stirs the emotions of mankind genuinely and deeply. Yes, whether the world is at peace or at war, the spirit, of Christmas almost seems to permeate the very air, creating in the minds of many who are not otherwise believers in Christ, a temporary spirit of good will that even block-busting bombs and torpedoes cannot completely destroy.

What is this spirit of Christmas that is so sweet and so powerful? What is it that makes the Christmas season so different, that so often transforms hate into good will, and causes men, women and children almost everywhere to forget their differences and together join in a celebration the essence of which is the desire to make others happy? It is the spirit of giving, which, in turn, reflects the principle of love. God loved the world, and He gave to the world a most precious gift—a gift which, properly received and appreciated, will result in everlasting life.

True, the pure motive of unselfishness is often sadly lacking in Christmas giving. Too often commercial interests selfishly exploit these noble sentiments of the human heart. But despite these distortions of the idea, the power for good will and peace and joy which the spirit of giving exercises in a world otherwise ruled so largely by selfishness and hate, is a wonderful example in proof of the fact that the secret of lasting joy is to be found only in the adoption of love as a motive for all we think and do. Selfishness has blighted the joy of the world for more than six thousand years, but this will be changed, when, gradually, throughout the Millennium, the people are educated in the ways of love and inspired to be guided by it.

God’s official announcement of Jesus’ birth was made to the shepherds, and in time to enable them to confirm what they had heard while Mary and the babe were still in the stable. The visit of the wise men, while closely associated with the birth of Jesus, apparently occurred sometime later. Not that this matters specially. The birth of Jesus means so much to believers that the natural tendency has been to crowd as many details into that “holy night” as possible, and so the sometimes see the shepherds and the wise men pictured together worshiping the child Jesus at the manger.

But our lesson for today indicates that this was probably not the case. First the wise men went to Herod and inquired of him where the child could be found, explaining that they had seen His star—indicating His birth—while still in their native land in the past. When the wise men were filially led to Jesus, they found Him in a “house,” not in the manger where the shepherds visited Him. (Matt. 2:11) It is significant, also, that in this account Jesus is referred to as a “young child,” not a babe.

Matthew 2:16 indicates that the wise men had first seen the star some two years previously, and upon the basis of this Herod ordered all the male children of two years and under killed, in order, if possible, to destroy the coming King of the Jews. Thus the story of the wise men not only reveals to us that Gentiles as well as Jews were moved by the birth of the Savior—and that wise men as well as shepherds appreciated, to some extent at least, the significance of what had occurred—but it also reveals the sinister plot of Satan, through Herod, to thwart the divine plan of salvation by destroying the seed of promise.

Probably the wise men, when bringing their gifts to the new-born King did not know that the child was God’s greatest gift to men. Nevertheless, by it we are reminded that the spirit of giving brought home to us so vividly at the Christmas season, is not all one-sided.

Without God’s gift to us there would be no hope of life for anyone. All of God’s gracious promises depend upon the service rendered by Jesus in giving His life as man’s redeemer. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” (II Cor. 9:15) But while the main purpose of God’s gift was that the human race might be redeemed from death, His giving is also an example for us to copy. God wants us to be like Him—He wants us to give.

God invites us to give Him our hearts. (Prov. 23:26) In giving our hearts to God, we give Him our all, and, through His Word, He directs the manner we are to use that which we have committed to Him. And how meaningful will be the giving of our little gifts at Christmas if we keep in mind this larger conception of giving, and of how it displays one of the true characteristics of Godlikeness. God gave a most precious gift to us, and we give to Him our all, and out of that reciprocity of love there springs forth, as from a fountain, unfathomable depths of joy and peace which the selfishness of the world can neither give nor take away.

QUESTIONS:

Why is the spirit of Christmas so powerful in the hearts of believers?

To whom did God make the official announcement of Jesus’ birth?

What lesson is there for Christians in the bringing of gifts to the new-born King by the wise men?

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