January 7, 2024 Sermon
Sermon title: “The Wise Men Arrive”
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
(Other lectionary choices include Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7 and 10-14, and Ephesians 3:1-12.)
Matthew 2:1-12
The Visit of the Wise Men
1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “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.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘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.’ ” 7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then 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.” 9When 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. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On 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. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Today is Epiphany Sunday, and the ecclesiastical color is WHITE. This day (January 6th, actually) is the traditional day that the Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem to see the newly-born Baby Jesus. Hence the title of today's sermon, "The Wise Men Arrive". {{READ "The Wise Men", from "Tales of the Stable, Christmas stories from those who were there", by The Rev. Roger Lynn and his late wife Veronica Lassen.
The Wise Men
Down through the years we’ve been given all sorts of names and titles. Some folks know us as kings. Others call us the Magi. Some say we were Asian. Mostly though, we get referred to as Wise Men. But regardless of what we are called it is rather amusing, because at the time we never would have dreamed that anyone would worry about calling us anything. How could we have known that we would be remembered? How could we have guessed that what we did would so capture people’s imagination? You’ve never really known very much about us. That Matthew fellow is the only one who ever wrote down our story, and even he didn’t tell very much. But that hasn’t stopped the dreamers and the storytellers over the years from expanding what little they had to go on into countless stories and conjectures about who we were, what we did, and why.
You call us the Wise Men – but in looking back at what we did, it seems as though such a title is paradoxical at best. It might be more appropriate to describe us as foolish, starry-eyed dreamers. Maybe that is why we have so often captured the imaginations of dreamers. They see something of themselves in us. With nothing more to go on than the appearance of a star, we packed up our traveling gear, collected a few precious tokens, left our homes and our families, and set out on a journey to another land. Does that really sound like something “Wise Men” would do? Is it really the kind of example you want to lift up for your children to follow?
I wish that I could explain to you why we did it. But I can’t. I couldn’t explain it then, and I’ve never been able to explain it since. Knowing about the star was one thing. After all our years of study and observation of the heavens, it was an easy matter to see in that new star an announcement of some great importance. There were many scholars from all over the world who came to the same conclusions about the star. What set us apart, and what I cannot explain, is that we chose to follow the star. It was the voice of our intellect and our reason which spoke to us about the star’s meaning. It was another, deeper, voice which called us to follow. How can I explain such a voice? How can I tell you what a difference it has made to respond to that calling?
But respond we did! We went to find the One who’s coming even the stars proclaimed. Our searching led us first to a foolish, lost man named Herod. He was not really a Jew. He was not really a Roman. He believed in nothing. He was at home nowhere. So, he was quick to jump at the bits of nothing which we threw his way. “Beware of beautiful strangers,” we told him. “Watch for an unexpected change of fortunes.” It was the kind of foolish nonsense which people such as Herod thrive on because they don’t know to even look for anything more.
We told him all this so that he might assist us in our search, and indeed he seemed anxious for us to find this One who would be king. But he took us for fools. “Find him so that I may come and worship him,” he said to us. But as he spoke, we could see the truth in his eyes. It was not worship which he had in mind – it was death. It did not take a Wise Man to see as much.
Well, we didn’t let on that we knew. We threw him a few more bits of insignificant “wisdom” and went on our way – promising to return when we had completed our quest. But even knowing what we knew and having seen what we saw, we could not have suspected the enormity of the tragic slaughter which would later result from the orders of that lost and haunted man. But we knew enough to rid ourselves of his company and steer clear of him in the future. You would do well to remember that a king who would slaughter the innocents will not cut a deal with you.
The remainder of our journey was over all too quickly. We located the house and found the child. We stayed only a little while, and yet it might have been ten thousand years for the impact it made in my memory. Our gifts were presented – those trinkets which had seemed so shiny and precious when we started, but now seemed to pale next to the wonder of this One before whom we knelt. We presented our gifts, and then we left.
You may wonder why we did not stay longer. I will tell you, though it is with no pride that I do so. In the few moments we were in his presence, we could see the shadow across his face. It was the shadow of his death. And we knew, as surely as we knew anything, that to stay with him would be to share in that death. And so, we left.
But I will tell you one thing more. From that moment on, I have never really understood what it means to be wise. We were wise enough to recognize the star, and foolish enough to follow it. We were wise enough to see Herod for who he was, and foolish enough to avoid his promise of rewards. We were wise enough to recognize the child for who he was, but we were not foolish enough to stay. Perhaps the real wisdom would be to see beyond the shadow of death to the promise of life, and to risk staying to find out.}}
Did you notice that in our Scripture reading for today that there is no mention of HOW MANY Wise Men were there? To be precise, there had to be at least TWO, because it says “Wise Men” and not “Wise MAN.” We have just always assumed THREE because of their gifts to the Baby Jesus, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Also, notice that the Scripture reading doesn't name them - so we don't really know their names. There is a tradition that has arisen that says their names were Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior - but that's unmitigated hooey, as a college professor of mine used to say when he thought something was not true! Anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter. The point Matthew is making in his Gospel is that the birth of Jesus was so important that people of different cultures and different religions paid attention and came to the Holy Birth.
Something else: did you notice that the Wise Men visited Baby Jesus in a HOUSE and not a stable? (The Gospel of Luke has the stable with the shepherds.) That isn't a problem for me, and I hope it's not for you. Luke emphasized certain things, such as Jesus is for OUTSIDERS, such as shepherds who couldn't always make it to religious services. And maybe Luke had an “environmental” interest, too, in having Jesus being born outside to embrace all of Creation! (That's just me, and maybe a seminary professor I first heard that idea from. Maybe we should have sung “The Spacious Firmament” today to emphasize that Jesus is here for EVERYTHING, including the sun, moon, and stars!) (Mention some "Spacious Firmament" lyrics.) Matthew's interests are different from Luke's, and that's okay!
Regarding the Magi or Wise Men looking for a star..... In the ancient world, the belief was that everything was connected. If there was something different in the patterns of the stars, then there would be something different happening on the earth. For a long time, scholars have been trying to figure out what happened on or around the time of Jesus's birth. Halley's comet appeared in the time frame of 12-11 B.C. But that would be a little early for our story. It is known that Herod the Great, the mean old king who ordered the slaying of all males under two years old, according to the Scripture, died in 4 B.C. So that means Jesus had to have been born before he died, if we believe the Scriptures. (By the way, that makes it hard to figure out exactly what year Jesus was crucified and resurrected. We do know that Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 A.D., so Jesus had to have been present then, if we believe the Scriptures, and I DO! Tradition has said that he died at 33 years of age, but he could have been a little older or younger. Not that it matters, but we really cannot pin down exact dates.)
Listen to this from N. T. Wright, from his commentary, “Matthew for Everyone”: The star “could have been some kind of supernova. More likely is the fact that the planets Jupiter and Saturn were in conjunction with each other three times in 7 B.C. Since Jupiter was the ‘royal’ or kingly planet, and Saturn was sometimes thought to represent the Jews, the conclusion was obvious: a new king of the Jews was about to be born.” I can see why Jupiter was the “royal” or kingly planet: it's the biggest planet in our solar system. But I have no idea why the planet Saturn was associated with the Jewish people.
Wright goes on to say that Matthew is not telling us these things to satisfy any astrological interests we might have. “Nor is he offering us the kind of cozy, picture-book story we have created for ourselves out of it, with strange but gentle oriental kings bringing gifts to a child....” And Matthew doesn't say that the Wise Men were royal, either. What Matthew IS saying, however, is political dynamite. Jesus is the TRUE king of the Jews, whereas Herod the Great is actually an impostor, a usurper. Herod dies soon after Jesus's birth, but the house of Herod would continue on, and that family did not take kindly to anybody who claimed to be “king of the Jews.”
Matthew really wants us to read his whole Gospel before we decide anything. And if the birth of Jesus represents the birth of the REAL king of the Jews, what Matthew is saying is that such a ruler would not be for the Jewish community only, but for the whole world. Look at the end of Matthew's Gospel: Jesus commissions his followers to go out and make disciples from every nation. By the way, the chapel at my seminary, Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, is called “The Chapel of the Great Commission.” Jesus “commissions” us to go out and make disciples of all nations. And look at what the Wise Men brought the Baby Jesus as gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Those gifts were thought in the ancient world to be what one would bring to a king or even a god.
Again, consider the whole story, Matthew is saying. At the beginning, Gentiles from faraway lands seek out the Baby Jesus. At the end, a Gentile representing the Roman Empire, Pontius Pilate, will order Jesus to be crucified. Did you hear how the Wise Men were warned in a dream NOT to return to King Herod? Well, Pilate is warned in a dream his wife had NOT to have anything to do with Jesus! Pilate's soldiers are the first Gentiles since the Wise Men to call Jesus “king of the Jews.” Except Pilate's men bring gifts of a crown of thorns, and Jesus's “throne” is a cross. At the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, there's a bright star to follow. At the end, darkness will cover the earth, and out of that we'll hear a single Gentile voice saying, Yes, he really was God's son - and that's in Matthew 27:54.
Closing out his commentary on this passage, Wright says - and this moves me every time I read it – “Listen to the whole story, Matthew is saying. Think about what it meant for Jesus to be the true king of the Jews. And then - come to him, by whatever route you can, and with the best gifts you can find.” Amen.
Pastor Skip
