La Biblia

 

Matthew 2:1-12 : The Visit of the Wise Men

Estudio

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Comentario

 

Christmas Gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Por New Christian Bible Study Staff

The Adoration of the Magi, a Design for Bas Relief.

In the Christmas story, the wise men bring gifts to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The gold is listed first, because it is the inmost - signifying good, e.g. the good that we do when we love the Lord and the neighbor.

The frankincense is next. It signifies rational truth, which is the set of true ideas that we know, not about external things like cars or cooking, but about what is really good, and what is really true.

These rational truths are built on earlier knowledges that we learn, before we have really made them our own. Those early knowledges about spiritual things - often learned in childhood - are represented by the myrrh.

In a way, these gifts are really a reciprocation. We can't actually give them to the Lord until the Lord has given them to us. We necessarily start out by learning and doing the Lord's law (myrrh). The Lord can then call up those memories to become rational truths (frankincense). Then, over time, and with effort, those truths can be transformed into good (gold). The wise men from the East had gone through this process of learning and becoming vessels that could receive truths and goods. They were able to perceive the Lord's birth, and find him, and bring gifts to him.

La Biblia

 

Lamentations 3

Estudio

   

1 I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

2 He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.

3 Surely against me he turns his hand again and again all the day.

4 My flesh and my skin has he made old; he has broken my bones.

5 He has built against me, and surrounded me with gall and travail.

6 He has made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.

7 He has walled me about, that I can't go forth; he has made my chain heavy.

8 Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.

9 He has walled up my ways with cut stone; he has made my paths crooked.

10 He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.

11 He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he has made me desolate.

12 He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

13 He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.

14 I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.

15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.

16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he has covered me with ashes.

17 You have removed my soul far off from peace; I forgot prosperity.

18 I said, My strength is perished, and my expectation from Yahweh.

19 Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

20 My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me.

21 This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.

22 [It is of] Yahweh's loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn't fail.

23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

24 Yahweh is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him.

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.

30 Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him; let him be filled full with reproach.

31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.

32 For though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

33 For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,

35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,

36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn't approve.

37 Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn't command it?

38 Doesn't evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?

39 Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.

41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; you have not pardoned.

43 You have covered with anger and pursued us; you have killed, you have not pitied.

44 You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.

45 You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.

47 Fear and the pit are come on us, devastation and destruction.

48 My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 My eye pours down, and doesn't cease, without any intermission,

50 Until Yahweh look down, and see from heaven.

51 My eye affects my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.

52 They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.

53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.

54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.

55 I called on your name, Yahweh, out of the lowest dungeon.

56 You heard my voice; don't hide your ear at my breathing, at my cry.

57 You drew near in the day that I called on you; you said, Don't be afraid.

58 Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul; you have redeemed my life.

59 Yahweh, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.

60 You have seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.

61 You have heard their reproach, Yahweh, and all their devices against me,

62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.

63 You see their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.

64 You will render to them a recompense, Yahweh, according to the work of their hands.

65 You will give them hardness of heart, your curse to them.

66 You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.