⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ⁶ ‘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.’ ” ⁷ Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. ⁸ 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.”

Herod’s ruse, though quite clear to us as the readers, must have been transparent to the religious leaders in the “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” sort of way: “I want to worship the child-king also.” Always currying concessions from the obstinate Jewish leaders, this insecure Roman puppet was laying out a trap.

The chief priests and scribes, themselves anxious in the face of the threat to their own positions of prominence, see an opportunity to take advantage of Herod’s own obsessive insecurity. They readily tell him of Micah’s prophecy of the importance of Bethlehem of Judea as the birth place of the God-promised leader of His people. Their ambivalence is borne out, though, by the most notable observation that there is no record in all of history, Biblical or otherwise, that the chief priests and scribes or any other religious leader of the Jews even lifted a foot to walk the five miles or so to Bethlehem to check out the rumor. Let Herod take care of the situation! This is truly amazing if not pathetic. They preached and taught the Scripture, but were not submissive to the Scripture.

Herod, on his part, guided by his own jealousy, consulted with the magi, the foreign scholars as it were, to figure out the exact time-table they were following. “Go find him and let me know where he is so I can worship him as well.” Seemingly, he was joining in the anticipation of participating in the miraculous event as a worshiper. This subterfuge, though quite obvious to us readers, seemed quite benign to the magi or at least did not arouse suspicions. They were too preoccupied with their own anticipation to recognize duplicity in others.

Oh, that it were true that every one, upon hearing the Good News of Christ, had as sincere a heart as the magi and have a genuine desire to worship Christ as they did.

Lord, forgive me for my pride, insecurity and fear. Help me worship the Lord Jesus Christ in humbleness, confidence and in love.