Bible Reading: The Magi

How it works: At the outset of each new school year, Christian Students on Campus breaks the seal on the New Testament and launches into a Bible reading schedule. We read one or two chapters daily for 180 days and when it’s finished, we start over. As a junior, this is my fifth lap around the track and I wasn’t too sure that the reading could still be fresh. However, I discovered something new in Matthew chapter 2 that set the tone for the rest of this semester’s reading.

The Magi and the Scribes

Matthew 2 contains a lot of familiar “Christmas story” material—namely, details about the magi from the east. Many of us have heard how they follow the Star of David and arrive in Jerusalem before Herod to ask after the newborn King of the Jews (v. 2). Herod’s scribes peruse the Scriptures and report that Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem (v. 5). The magi leave the scribes and follow the star until it leads them to the Christ (v. 9). In a dream the magi are warned not to return to Herod, so they “depart by another way to their country” (v. 12). This is all old hat.

The important thing to take note of in these verses is the difference between the magi and the scribes. The scribes possess a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures; they know exactly where to find Jesus and they pass this knowledge along to the magi. However, the magi are the ones who go on to find the Lord while the scribes stay behind with Herod in Jerusalem. Why didn’t the scribes go, too?

It is because the scribes treated the Scriptures as mere knowledge, while the magi were led to Christ through the Word. Jesus Himself had something to say about this. In John 5:39-40, He said to the scribes, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life…Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” It is possible to contact the Bible yet miss out on the Lord Jesus, our life. In the same way, we can be one of two types of Bible readers. We can read the Word and yet miss the Lord, or we can receive it in a way to find the Lord Jesus. The root of the matter is whether or not our heart is seeking.

Come to Me

The verses from John 5 contain two parallel phrases: “Search the Scriptures,” and “Come to Me.” This indicates that the main point of searching the Scriptures and reading the Bible is to come to the Lord and contact Him. The magi understood this because when their heart sought the Scriptures, they sought and discovered Christ. They were a fine example of Jeremiah 29:13—“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” As Christians today, we should not come to the Bible for knowledge or doctrine; we require a seeking heart so that we touch God through our reading of the Bible.

The Word, the Heart, and the Star

If we look at the story of the magi in its summation, we can see that the magi had three “ingredients” in their journey to the Lord Jesus. They had the Word of God telling where Jesus was, a seeking heart, and a star to guide them to Bethlehem. It is easy to understand what the first two items are. As for the star, Daniel 12:3 says that we Christians “shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” The believers are like stars leading others to God. In order to reach Him, we not only need the Bible and a proper heart, but also fellow Christians to journey with onward to Bethlehem.

Continuing with our reading in Christian Students, we not only are learning to seek God daily in the Bible, but we are doing so as the Body, journeying onward through the semester together. We are living a magi life—discovering Christ in a new and fresh way through our daily reading and a seeking heart.

Want to join me? Download the Christian Students daily Bible reading schedule into your smartphone and share you enjoyment on social media with #NT180!

By: E. Kedzie