In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Christ is born! Glorify him!
Well might Herod be troubled at the news of the birth of the King of the Jews, for all Jerusalem knew him to be an Edomite, of the sons of Esau, and not a son of Israel through Judah. The last Jewish king he had had executed decades earlier and had taken the crown for himself with the help and support of the Senate in Rome. And the wise men from the East come to him beseeching, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?” “Where is he,” say they, “who will remove you and your line from your place of honour?” And he panics, and he is alarmed: “How can I remove this accusation against me?” he asks himself and he concocts a plan.
I too, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, receive visitors from the East, wise men seeking out the King. They come to me asking, “Where is your King? Where is God?” And they do not find him within me: despite the words of the Apostle to me, “For you are the temple of the living God,” (2 Corinthians 6:16) I have not made even a manger in my heart for the Lord to be placed. And I panic, and I am alarmed: “How can I remove this accusation against me?” I ask myself and I concoct a plan.
And I have a choice. I, like Herod, unable to present to my visitors the King of All within my heart could send them out in an attempt to kill the King and expect others to suffer the consequences of my actions that the accusation against me be removed, or I could hear the Gospel and repent. I could turn again to the living God, “Lord, I am not worthy of the honour you have given me,” I could pray, “yet I turn again to you in repentance.” And what a great marvel! For in that moment, without hesitation, whenever we rise up in repentance before God he comes and dwells within us.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, turn again to the Lord. Let us repent and place our faithfulness in him, then he will—in that instant—honour us and make us worthy of all the promises he has given us in Christ and be heirs of eternal Life.
To our incarnate Saviour, “born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,” Jesus Christ be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir of God through Christ.
— Galatians 4:4–7
When 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 have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.’ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
— Matthew 2:1–12