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In the Gospel of Luke, it is the lowly and outcast shepherds who are the first to visit the child Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem; in the Gospel of Matthew, it is foreign magi who have journeyed for weeks, if not months, to come and seek the new-born king of the Jews. What is odd that it is not the respectable citizens of Jerusalem, nor the high priests or scribes of the temple that make their way to see the child. Even after the appearance of the magi in Jerusalem, none of them bother to make the two-hour journey across the small valley to Bethlehem to see for themselves what all this fuss is about and to confirm the signs in the heavens that the magi report.
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Recorded at St Paul’s, 10am (6’58”)
Epiphany Sunday
In the Gospel of Luke, it is the lowly and outcast shepherds who are the first to visit the child Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem; in the Gospel of Matthew, it is foreign magi who have journeyed for weeks, if not months, to come and seek the new-born king of the Jews. What is odd that it is not the respectable citizens of Jerusalem, nor the high priests or scribes of the temple that make their way to see the child. Even after the appearance of the magi in Jerusalem, none of them bother to make the two-hour journey across the small valley to Bethlehem to see for themselves what all this fuss is about and to confirm the signs in the heavens that the magi report.