Know Bible, No Jesus

By Grant Gaines

LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball players to ever live. He has won 2 NBA championships, four NBA MVP trophies, is a ten time NBA all-star, was voted Athlete of the Year four times by multiple media outlets, and has won two gold medals in Olympic basketball for the USA. As you could imagine with a resume like that, LeBron James is rather popular. He is a constant fixture on Sports Center’s Top 10 Plays every evening, he is the star of numerous marketing campaigns, and is a regular visitor to nightly talk shows on all the major television networks.

If that were not enough, his 6’8″ body frame, his burly beard, and his iconic receding hairline makes the 29 year old LeBron James rather hard to miss, but that’s exactly what happened earlier this year in a hotel sports bar. That’s where LeBron-one of the most famous and most recognizable people on planet earth right now-was carded to make sure he was over 21.

You can almost see the scene right now-a sports bar, the place where ESPN is on every TV set 24/7, the place where television and radio hosts mention LeBron’s name a countless number of times every day, and the place where LeBron’s face is as identifiable as the Mona Lisa is the exact place where LeBron was not recognized.

That is almost laughable. For an employee at a sports bar not to recognize LeBron James would be like a seminary professor reading the Bible and not recognizing Jesus Christ. Oh wait, that did happened in Matthew 2.

You likely know the story’s title as, “The visit of the wise men” but this story has a subplot that might as well be titled, “The procrastination of the foolish men”. This subplot involves the king of Israel-King Herod-and the smartest religious leaders of their day-the chief priests and teachers of the Law.

As you will recall, the wise men came from the east (Matthew 2:1) to king Herod and asked, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2, NLT). Intrigued by their question, Herod gathered, “…all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the Law…” (Matthew 2:4, NIV) to help him answer the wise men’s question.

Without hesitation the religious scholars knew the exact location of the Messiah’s birth-Bethlehem-and were even able to quote some Scripture to back up their answer. Mystery solved, the priests were satisfied.

But not the wise men. They are known as the “wise” men because when they read that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, do you know what they did? They went to Bethlehem. Genius!

This Christmas season a countless number of people will drive an illogical number of miles to spend an unreasonable amount of time standing in an unending line for the next latest and greatest gadget. People will brave the weather, the crowds, and the costs to get a hold of this gift that will ultimately become the product of a garage sale or landfill when next year’s model comes out. When people hear about a good deal, they go and capitalize on that good deal.

But the Scriptures make no indication that the teachers of the Law or Herod made any such move when they heard the greatest news of the arrival of the Messiah. We read of the wise men leaving the palace and making the short 5.5 mile trek to Bethlehem, but those who knew the Scriptures better than anyone did not follow suite and as a result, they missed out on the Messiah.

They were 5.5 miles from the redemption, 5.5 miles from freedom, and 5.5 miles from true life but they missed out on it all because they didn’t connect their knowledge with their actions.

Do you make the same mistake as those men? When Jesus invites you to, “Come to [Him], [when] you…are weary and burdened, and [He] will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NIV), do you come to Him in prayer? When the Commander of the Hosts instructs us to simply, “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalms 46:10, NIV), do you take the time every morning to listen to His promptings? And when Jesus sums up the entirety of the Law by saying, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…[and to] Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:27-40, NIV), do you spend your days considering just how you might love God and love others in every moment?

When we fail to apply these truths to our lives, we too miss the Messiah. Sure, we may have received Him as our personal Lord and Savior but Jesus never intended to be a distant memory that you reflect on, but a present Provider that you desperately depend on.

Don’t just know the story of Jesus’ birth, make this Christmas season the one that you live out its message-Christ gave all He had so that others might know Him. Will you do the same?

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