Day 14 – The Gospel Spreads

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
~ Matthew 2:1-2

The word of the King’s arrival has now spread from outside the boundaries of Israel to the Gentile world. This moment is just beginning to scratch the surface of many people from all nations coming to hear about who the Messiah is. They will travel to Israel to hear see the coming King and to follow Him.

“And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.” ~ Isaiah 60:3

God’s light has come into the world. As John 1 says that the light of men has come but the world did not recognize His true identity. Though not realizing that the Savior of the world had come, they were coming to hear what the fuss was all about.

By hanging a sign in the stars, God had given a birth announcement to the entire world. These magi were the men who were observant enough to take notice. They clearly saw the star that God hung in the sky and they sought out this new King that they may come and worship. This is our first peek into the gospel going into all the nations.

God has left all of the world without excuse when it comes to a knowledge of His character (Romans 1:20). He reveals aspects of who He is through the things that He has made. In this instance, God let the heavens declare that His glory had come to earth.

Here in Matthew 2, the nations come to see the King, but at the end of Matthew we see the command of Christ for all His followers to go and take His message to the outermost reaches of the planet. God has given His gospel and has formed His chosen instrument, the church, to carry that gospel to the nations.

The light of the nations is not a star, it is Jesus. For all who trust Him as Lord, we have that Light dwelling in us. So we have to to carry that light into darkness that all may see, take notice and bow their knee in worship.

The responsibility of the believer in this Advent season is to let their light shine among all the other noise. We don’t have to catch a flight abroad to make that message known. Hope in Him, speak of Him, love like Him and you will have the chance to reflect Christ wherever you are.

May we be the light of all the nations, even if we start by being a light to our neighbors.

Prayer

Take a few minutes to ask God to let His light shine through you. Pray for the strength and opportunity to take the gospel to your neighbors and to the nations.