Seek, Find, Respond (12-21-11)

Psalm 70:4 - "Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; And let those who love Thy salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified.”"

In the account of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ we see this verse demonstrated in the lives of several different people from different backgrounds. Everyone who sought the Lord Jesus at His birth found Him, and as a result they rejoiced and were glad and glorified God. We're going to look at several of these individual accounts, and we'll begin with the shepherds in Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2:6-20 - "While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them."
The only location that the angel gave to the shepherds was that the Christ was born in Bethlehem. Now, Bethlehem was a fairly small city, but the angel didn't give the shepherds a precise location. He simply said "you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." I imagine there were quite a few mangers in the city of Bethlehem, but the angel assured them that they would find Jesus. And that's exactly what happened. The shepherds went in haste and found everything just as it had been told them by the angel. And look at the shepherds response - "When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds... The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them." They made it known that this Child was the Savior who was prophesied to come. And they glorified and praised God for all that they had seen and heard. These shepherds, these unnamed nobodies in society were among the first to see the Savior, and as a result of seeing Him they were overflowing with praise, and they couldn't keep it to themselves. They had to tell everyone they saw about what marvelous things the Lord had done for them.

The next account is later on in this same chapter, and that's the account of Simeon.
Luke 2:25-32 - "And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”  This man loved the salvation of the Lord, and he saw the salvation of the Lord in the person of Jesus Christ. And his response to seeing the salvation of the Lord was similar to that of the shepherds - "he took Him into his arms, and blessed God".

This chapter continues and gives us the account of a prophetess by the name Anna.
Luke 2:36-38 - "And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." The shepherds praised the Lord and made known to everyone what had been revealed to them. Simeon blessed the Lord and spoke to His mother and Joseph about the salvation of the Lord fulfilled through Jesus Christ. And here we see Anna giving thanks to God and speaking of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Each response is one of praise and worship to God accompanied with a message to a particular group of people. I think this is an interesting illustration of the way that God uses those to whom His salvation is revealed. God has called us to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Everyone who sees the salvation of the Lord responds in worship for who He is and what He has done, but along with this God gifts His people with certain abilities and calls us to minister accordingly. Some people He uses to go through the streets proclaiming the salvation of the Lord to all men, others He uses to take the word of God and encourage the individual, and still others He will use to help others grow in respect to salvation.

The final account we're going to look at is that of the magi in Matthew chapter 2.
Matthew 2:1-11 - "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw 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. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
Here we're told of the magi who sought the Lord and found Him, but we're also told about Herod. Herod told the magi to search carefully for Him, which they were doing, but he was not willing to search himself, because he wasn't interested in seeing the salvation of the Lord. The magi however did seek the Lord, and when the found Him they rejoiced and fell down before Him and worshiped Him. I find this interesting. In the first account we looked at those who were seeking, the shepherds, were nobodies, men of no influence in the community. The sought the Lord and found Him. And here we see the exact opposite end of the scale. The magi were men of great influence and position. Whereas the shepherd was the blue collar worker of the day, the magi were the astronomers, the great scientists of the day. But their results are the same. They sought the Lord and He revealed Himself to them.

It doesn't matter what background we come from, or how influential we are in the community, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's the common bond that holds us all together. Jesus said "the one who seeks shall find." It doesn't matter who you are, when you seek the Lord He reveals Himself to you, and when He reveals Himself to us, our response in seeing Him is to fall down before Him and worship, and also to proclaim what great things we have seen and heard.

Psalm 70:4 - "Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified.”