I’ve often heard it said that there’s ‘nowt so queer as folk.’ I can readily agree with that sentiment, but I think I’d like to add ‘particularly if you are religious.’ That includes me - obviously! As everyone is well aware, we can be pretty quirky and behave in the strangest of ways. And we can do the complete opposite sometimes too, because we often fail to behave in a way that most people would think is blindingly obvious.

I found myself thinking like this whilst reflecting on the familiar story of the Wise Men who were determined to find ‘the newborn King of the Jews’ because they had seen his star and wanted to worship him. It’s a powerful story and sadly one that ends in a brutal massacre. Like many a despot Herod wanted to hang on to his throne and protect his dynasty (although he was quite willing to kill his own relatives if they threatened him!).

All this was very familiar. I had read it many times before. But what particularly struck me this time was the behaviour of the ‘leading priests and teachers of the law.’. They knew their stuff of course, which is why Herod called them all together. If anyone would know where the Messiah would be born, it would be them. After all, it was their job to know.

But as I read and then re-read this well-known story, it suddenly struck me that whereas Herod took the news seriously (seriously enough to engage in mass slaughter) and the Wise Men took it seriously (enough to give up a year or two of their lives to search for Him) those who should have been interested most showed little or no interest at all!

I find that staggering because the Jews of Jesus day were longing for the Messiah to appear. They had been waiting for Him to come for centuries and they had such high hopes of what would happen when He did arrive: peace, justice and best of all an end to foreign oppression. As one writer puts it: “They looked forward to the arrival of a supernatural deliverer, one who would be anointed like the might heroes of the past: a new David, but greater even than David was” (Clements Sting in the Tale).

I wonder why they behaved so strangely. Perhaps they felt threatened and that they would lose their influence. That is a pretty common human reaction. Or maybe they didn’t expect God to show up and speak to them through a group of pagan astrologers. That is not uncommon either. People often fail to recognise God at work when He chooses to operate in ways they little expect or like. But the God of the Bible is predictably unpredictably. You can never put Him in a box.

Or was it just that they knew the story, but don’t really believe it could be true. I meet lots of people like that. They are part of that large group that live in the UK today who think that the Christmas message is a bit of a fairy story and it doesn’t really have anything to do with real life.

And so the ones who should have know best lost out whereas the ‘Wise Men’ made followed their God given instincts and ended up finding the one they were searching for. It makes me wonder why so few people follow their example today. The Christmas message has so much to offer, and those who fail to check it out miss out on so much.

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]