Arlington Woods Church
Pastor Grant
Pre-or-post message Questions for Reflection:
1. Matthew 2: 1-11 says, ‘After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’"
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew’s account of the Magi raises as many questions as it answers. What questions come to mind for you? (ie. Who was the Magi?) What is your understanding of who the Magi are? (If you are working together as a group, maybe you can each take one of the group’s questions and report back after doing some ‘digging.’)
2. The Magi asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?’ What kind of responses does the passage reveal? In light of attention and celebration being given this Christmas on Christ’s arrival, what kind of responses do you think are given in our world today?
3. We are told the Magi offered Jesus costly gifts, described as ‘treasures.’ The sermon does not address this, but what do each of the three gifts (gold, frankincense, myrrh) signify?
4. The sky God created served as a canvas for him to ‘draw’ worshippers into the presence of his Son. How has God drawn you to himself?
5. Matthew’s details about the Magi are limited. Upon seeing the child, we are told they bowed down and worshipped him. We are left to wonder, however, if being in the presence of God’s glory in his Son, ‘changed’ them moving forward and, if so, how it changed them.
Looking back over your life, when and how did God go from being a concept in your life to being real in your life? That is, has he ‘changed’ you? If so, what have been the implications of such a change?