January 4, 2009 Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12 "Wise Men" 1-4-09

If I tell you I’ve had an epiphany, what do I mean?

I’ve had a sudden intuitive insight into the essential meaning of something. Revelation struck me and I saw something appeared clearly for the first time.

Epiphany can also refer to the appearance or manifestation of something or someone. Today, we begin celebrating the season of the Epiphany of Jesus Christ. We contemplate the revelatory appearance of Christ and look forward to the day when he appears again.

This season begins by watching the Magi meet the Messiah. The text of this story is Matthew 2:1-12 on page xxx of your pew Bible.

Text:

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.

Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.


Our plan for the morning is to walk through this story together and then look carefully at the wise men in order to learn lessons about Jesus and his epiphany – his appearance to the Magi and to us.

Matthew’s account of Christ’s birth begins with a minor but interesting historical problem. He writes, “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born…” Now, this seems pretty innocuous, but we know with certainty that King Herod died in 4 B.C. Four years before our calendar marks Christ’s birth Herod dies, but our text says Jesus was born during his rule. What’s going on here?


The calendar used at the time marked its first year as the year Rome was founded. It’d be like us changing our calendars to year 1 when we founded the United States of America. In this system the year today would be 232.

In the 6th Century Dionysius Exiguus moved year 1 of the calendar to the birth of Christ. Unfortunately, he goofed up and missed the event by roughly 6 years, so by our current calendar, Christ was born in 6 B.C.

Now it really doesn’t matter when Christ was born, but that he was born. However, the significance of this time shift relates to a possible explanation of the star which leads wise men from the East to Jerusalem in search of the King of the Jews.

These men most likely came from Babylonia which is modern day Iraq. We call them wise men, but the text labels them precisely. They’re “Magoi” or Magi. They’re magicians, mystics, and astrologers. They look for answers to life by examining the heavens.

In this story they seek the meaning behind a particular astronomical happening. We hear them asking around the city, “Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

We’ve heard these words countless times during the Christmas season. Maybe you’ve heard a child say them in a nativity play. We need to hear them again for the first time to notice their strangeness.


The Magi aren’t Jews waiting for a Messiah and they don’t know for sure if anyone significant has been born, but they saw a star as it rose above the horizon that enables them to say “The King of the Jews has been born. Where is he?”

How can they know this? One plausible explanation comes from an interesting explanation of the heavenly light they inquire about.

In the year 6 B.C. – the year Christ was most likely born – Saturn and Jupiter aligned in the sky forming one light. At that time people called Jupiter the “King Star” and Saturn the “Sabbath Star.” The combination – the coming together of – the “King Star” and the “Sabbath Star” leads the Magi to conclude that a king of the “Sabbath People” – the King of the Jewish people has been born. They come to the Jewish capital to find him and to honor this newborn king.

When Herod hears about these Magi asking around the city about the birth of a Jewish King he freaks out as only Herod can.

Herod, an Arab Jew, rules over the area on behalf of Rome. He loves his power. He jealously guards his position of being in charge.

Previously he killed three of his sons in order to retain the crown on his head. So when Herod hears these mysterious travelers from the East asking about the birth of the “King of the Jews” his core value – power over others – is threatened.

All Jerusalem is frightened as well because they don’t know how Herod will respond to the potential birth of another king.

Herod summons the theologians and the clergy to ask them where the Messiah will be born. They tell him the Biblical prophecy of Micah 5:2. The Savior will be born in Bethlehem.

This prompts Herod to meet secretly with the wise men and he sends them to Bethlehem with instructions, “Search for the child; and when you’ve found him, let me know so that I can also go and pay him homage.”

There’s something fishy about Herod’s instructions. Bethlehem rests 10 kilometers from Jerusalem. In a 2 hour walk Herod could find the child and honor him personally, yet he sends emissaries instead. Also, Herod refers to the one born as a “child” not as the “Messiah” and certainly not the “King of the Jews.”

Even now Herod has murder in his heart. He knows, “If Jesus is king, I can’t be king.”

Herod responds like everyone who rejects Jesus as Lord of their lives, “If Jesus is king then I can’t be king. If Jesus is king of my life then I am no longer king of my life. If Jesus rules my life, then I no longer rule my life. I simply cannot have anyone taking my godlike independence and self-determination from me.”

The wise men set out for Bethlehem and as they go they see the star again, and it leads them to the infant Savior. It’s interesting to know that Jupiter and Saturn united three times in 6 B.C. – on May 29th, October 1st, and December 5th. This event usually happens once every 20 years, but when Jesus was born, it happened three times in one year.

The wise men find Jesus, and in Eastern tradition they bow down before the baby with their heads touching the dust of the floor in submission to him. They offer Jesus precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

After honoring Jesus and giving him their best gifts, the Magi experience great joy. The text literally says, “they rejoiced with a great joy exceedingly.” After directed in a dream to return east by another route, the Magi return home.

So this is our story. Let’s spend the rest of our time looking closely at the preposterous presence of the Magi in this birth narrative. We’re so accustomed to hearing about them that we no longer realize the scandal of their inclusion.

The Magi linked the study of the stars – astronomy – with the study of the message in the stars – astrology. They believed that humanity dwells in a magnetic-symbiotic relationship with the macrocosm of the heavenly bodies.

So if Babylonia had a daily newspaper, these men wrote the horoscope. They’re the psychics, palm readers, and fortune tellers of our day. They’re the new agers of our time.


The religious establishment rightly opposed them. Rabbis believed God rescued Israel from the astrologers and any power the power the stars might have to direct human life. They so despised astrological teaching and the Magi that one Rabbi of the time wrote, “He who learns from a magi is worthy of death.”

How do these quack astrologers find their way to the infant Jesus and into our Christmas pageants? Their presence must be a historical fact because no writer of Jesus’ life would ever make them up. They’re the fly in the ointment of Jesus’ birth.

Or are they?

What does their presence tell us?

The Magi provide a foretaste of the kind of people attracted to Jesus. The people who loved Jesus naturally were prostitutes, tax collectors on the graft, despised soldiers, a Samaritan adulterer, ostracized lepers, and other sick people.

Jesus walked around with a motley crew in his wake.

The Magi reveal the “mixed bag” nature of every person who has not received Christ’s epiphany. They’re good creationally because God made them, but they’re bad characteristically because of sin. They’re good as bearers of the image of God, but bad spiritually because they remain separated from Him through rebellion. Bruner, 56.

The inclusion of the Magi in this birth narrative throws open wide the gates of the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s for everyone! God’s promise to Abraham that all people would be blessed through him comes to fulfillment in Christ as all people are welcome to receive of him when he appears to them.

The Magi are the first to reveal the truth that Hosea’s prophecy (2:23) is fulfilled in Christ. God says through his prophet, “I will show love to those who were called “unloved,” and to those who were called “Not-My People,” I will say, “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.”

God desires everyone to receive the epiphany of Christ. God wants everyone to have Christ revealed to them. He wants his son to appear to everyone.

The Magi didn’t have the answers – in fact they had tons of wrong answers – but God chose to appear to them. God chooses to give his Epiphany to the despised astrologers of Christ’s day.

This story tells us we can be critical of doctrines we don’t believe, but we must be careful how we treat people we disagree with.

How do we respond to people we disagree with. Do we fight them or do we invite them to see Jesus in the Bible, our community, and our lives?

Who does our community attract? Does our fellowship here attract the kind of people attracted to Jesus? Do we attract the motley crew that followed Jesus? Do mixed bag people find Jesus here? Paul calls us the body of Christ. Does this body appeal to the sick, misinformed, and ostracized people of our day? Do those who are not God’s people become God’s people here?

Are the Magi welcome here?

Conclusion

We must avoid Herod’s mistake of jealously guarding his power to rule and direct his own life and the lives of others. We can lay down our control and be ruled by our merciful God. Abundant joy awaits those who do.

This story reveals Jesus as the savior of all people. No one need shrink from his presence. He’s available to all. Even if our motives are mixed and our lives are messed up, when he appears, we can worship him and receive him as Savior and Lord.

We can also endeavor to be a community welcoming to those we disagree with and those who most need the epiphany of Jesus Christ. If God has his way, Jesus will appear to them and they will be changed.