Ⅱ
Matthew 2:1-12 reveals that to find Christ is a living matter; it is not a matter of mere doctrinal knowledge of the Bible:
A
The star appeared far away from the temple in the Holy Land, from the Jewish religious center, from the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and from all the religious ones; instead, there was a star showing something of Christ in a heathen land.
B
Merely to hold the Bible in our hand and read Micah 5:2, saying that Christ will be born in Bethlehem, does not work; we may have the Bible, but we may miss the heavenly star.
C
The star is the living revelation, the living vision, not the old and dead doctrinal knowledge of the Scriptures, not the dead knowledge of Micah 5:2; what we need today is not merely Bible knowledge but the heavenly vision, the up-to-date, instant vision, the living vision, the vision that human concepts can never teach.
D
Even if we have the knowledge of the Scriptures, we still need the instant, up-to-date, living star to lead us to the very street and the very house where Jesus is.
E
After receiving the living vision, the magi were misled by their human concept and went to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation, where its king was presumed to be; their being misled caused many young boys to be killed—Matt. 2:16.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 2:4-6 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written through the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means are you the least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, One who will shepherd My people Israel.”Jesus was born in Bethlehem…The strange thing, however, is this: far away from the so-called Holy Land, far away from the genuine religion, far away from the temple, far away from the Jewish religious center, far away from the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and all the religious people, was a star showing something of Christ in a heathen land. It did not appear to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, the heathen…The first case of finding Christ in the Scriptures was not by the Bible. The magi did not have any Bible knowledge—they did not even have a Bible.
Those chief priests and scribes knew the Bible so well, but the Lord did not go to them. He went far away to a heathen land to reveal this matter to some pagans, not through the Scriptures but through something which human hands cannot touch—a heavenly star.
We may have the Bible, yet we may miss the star. To hold the book in our hand is easy, but to wait and look unto the star is rather difficult. We simply do not know when and where the star will appear. We may study the Scriptures and obtain a degree in those studies, and we may learn all that the Bible has to say about Christ, but we simply cannot determine when the star will come. The book was with the Jewish people, the religious people, but the star appeared to the heathen. Have you seen this? We may think that the star should have appeared to those priests praying in the temple, but it appeared to some pagans far away from the temple. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “New Testament Service,” pp. 276-277)
Today’s Reading
We all need to see this star!…What is the star? The star is the living revelation, the living vision, not the dead knowledge of the Scriptures in the letter…What we need today is not merely Bible knowledge but the heavenly vision, the instant vision, the living vision, the vision that human concepts cannot teach. To know Christ today is something living, not according to the knowledge of the Bible in dead letters but according to the living, heavenly star.We cannot circumscribe, confine, or restrict the Lord with our religion… When we insist that we are right and others are wrong, the Lord may leave us and go to the ones who are wrong.
Numbers 24:17 says, “There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob,” but this star did not appear to any of the people of Jacob. The star out of Jacob appeared to the pagans.
Now consider what the magi did: They saw the heavenly star and they followed it, but they made a great mistake…They realized that this star signified the King of the Jews; therefore, they reasoned that they should go to Jerusalem and inquire of those who would have knowledge of such matters. Their going, as we know, caused much trouble. I do believe that if they had not turned to their natural concept, but continually looked away to the star in the sky, the star would have gone before them all the time, leading them directly to the place where Jesus was. They need not have gone to Jerusalem. They were thoroughly wrong and caused many young and innocent lives to be taken. The Jewish religious leaders had the knowledge, and the magi had the vision. Nevertheless, those who received the vision made a great mistake and, apart from divine intervention, would have caused the loss of the little child Jesus. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “New Testament Service,” pp. 277-278)
Further Reading: Finding Christ by the Living Star (booklet); CWWL, 1970, vol. 3, “Being Delivered from Religious Rituals and Walking according to the Spirit,” chs. 2, 10