A grandmother’s funeral, a family singing without instruments, and an almost blind eighty-six-year-old grandfather who loudly interrupts the pastor mid-sermon, that memory opens a question about timing. After a year of losses, illness and closed businesses, is this really a good moment to celebrate anything? The preacher leads us to Matthew 2, where nothing is where it should be: a false king, an occupied country, and yet wise men from the east are overwhelmed with great joy. Listen if you need a reason for joy exactly when it is hardest to find one.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- The Magi go to Herod and ask about the newborn King of the Jews. What does this scene reveal about how out of place everything was when Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1-8)?
- Why is the reaction of Herod and all Jerusalem so different from that of the Magi, who travel from far away to worship Jesus?
- The speaker points out that God did not wait for things to get better before stepping into history. What does this tell us about God and how He works in hard times?
- In verse 10 the Magi are overjoyed when they see the star. What do you think was the source of their joy, when nothing around them was as it should be?
- The speaker describes his grandmother's funeral, where there was peace and singing alongside the sadness. How do sorrow and joy over the fact that Jesus really came fit together in your life?
- This week, in the middle of what weighs on you, how can you hold a small celebration of Jesus in your heart, as the Magi did?
