The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew, the second chapter:
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
The visit of the Wise Men marks for us in our liturgical year the end of the Christmas season. Christmas is not just a single day on December 25th, but an entire season, 12 days in fact, in which we contemplate and celebrate the incarnation of Christ, His coming into our flesh to save us. It used to be that the Church would celebrate all the feast days of the Church year. We’ve mostly left them behind, which I’m not sure this is the best thing for us, but if we did celebrate them, we’d be reminded of much.
The festivals of the Church inform us of the lives of the saints and remind of the good that Christ has done in them and through them. The word festival actually comes out of Church language, and it just means a time when we celebrate a feast. So, when the Church has a festival day, it means that there’s a theme of the day and it centers on the Feast of the Lamb, the Lord’s Supper. We know the big festivals: Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Reformation Day. But the Church celebrates, or can or should celebrate, hundreds more. We feast around the lives of the Apostles, Matthew, John, Thomas, etc. We feast around the idea that God brought truth into His Church by the Church Councils of the first millennia. We feast around the reformers of the 16th century. We feast around angels and mothers, the Confession of Peter, the Holy Cross, the martyrdom of John the Baptist, and others. We feast.
And during the Christmas season, it is no exception. We feast on Christmas Day, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Word made flesh, the Babe, the son of Mary. The 26th, we feast around the life and death of St. Stephen, the first martyr. The 27th, we feast around the life of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. The 28th is the feast of the Holy Innocents, the lives of those boys who were killed by Herod’s rage in Bethlehem, in a text that follows the visit of the Magi today. The 29th is David’s feast, and how we look at his great sins and greater Savior. The 1st is the feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. The 2nd is a modern feast, the feast for 19th century theologian William Loehe. All of this is to remind of life and death, of the impermanence of this sin-filled existence and the eternity of life in Christ, and all of this is done by strengthening our faith through the wonderful gift of the Feast, the Supper of the Lord.
The Christmas season is a time for reflection on Christ and how He has gifted us with these men, these young martyrs, these events. And these gifts He’s given are for us and, because of His incarnation, the entire world. But, while we feast during the Christmas season, we do tend to get caught up in ourselves. We tend to think of the celebrations of the Church and our own families. Those aren’t bad things, but we should constantly be reminded that our Lord turns us outward to the world as well. Christ came not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. And so it is with the Visit of the Magi.
The Magi were an interesting group of people. Some describe them as astrologers, little more than what you might pick up in your daily newspaper or 1-900 line. In truth, the Magi were scientists, philosophers, sociologists, and collectors of all things interesting. These were men who were well-educated, well-treated. They were smart, they were studious, they were everything today’s scientists think they are. But the Magi also were pagan, or at least, had their roots in pagan societies.
We first hear of them in the book of Daniel, where we discover the Jews in exile in Babylon. The king of Babylon has taken over Jerusalem, slaughtering many and taking its best citizens to Babylon itself so they may serve the culture there. That’s what exile really kind of was in the ancient world; it wasn’t just a slaughter through war or making sure that people could never go back home, it was adding to the dominant nation’s culture by taking the best of what the conquered one had. And one of the best citizens that Israel had was Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar saw the greatness in Daniel and put him into school that he might come and serve the king by his studies. Daniel was to become a Wise Man, a Magi, and so he did.
Now, we can’t talk today about all that Daniel did, but suffice it to say, Daniel, a faithful Israelite, served his king well, despite many others’ attempts to kill him or dishonor him, and served his God faithfully. One of the best things he may have done is to introduce the existing Magi to the Word of God, the Scriptures, what we think of as the Old Testament. The Magi would have taken all that information to themselves, studied it carefully. And, 600 years after the death of Daniel, when they saw a star rise in the West, they knew Balaam’s words in Numbers 24, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…” They knew that when the star appeared, the scepter would rise. This scepter is the rule and reign of the king, the king who would be named Jesus.
These Wise Men, these Magi, knew the Scriptures better than we do, and they knew what they were looking for. Even though they may have started as pagans, they were brought to faith, they were brought to come and worship the King of Kings, and so they did. The wisest men in all the world came to worship a baby born in a backwater town. These wise men remind us that we are not alone; our Lord has saved also the world, and by His Word, He brings them home to Himself.
We have to remember, the Wise Men didn’t covert to worship our Lord because of some miraculous sign in the heavens. They didn’t believe in God because they saw signs or received visions. They didn’t need fancy scientific instruments to discover Him. They didn’t need to peer into the mysteries of the universe and try to reconcile God and science and philosophy and astronomy and mathematics. They heard the Word of God and believed it. They saw the sign in the heavens, yes, but it only told them that it was time, the King was finally born. They had already been looking because the Scriptures promised it was coming.
We need to be reminded of this, too. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has come into our flesh, to be born as a baby, that He might live so that He might die, came to redeem the world, and so He has. This news, however, doesn’t get carried on CNN. It doesn’t get carried on Fox News. It’s not delivered through NPR. It’s not announced from the White House. It’s not in the Governor’s Mansion. It’s found in the Word of God. The Scriptures tell us that beautiful are the feet of those who carry the Good News of Jesus to the world. That’s how it gets spread.
Daniel was an evangelist before he was a Magi. He didn’t know that would be his role when he was taken into exile, but it was. He taught a pagan people, unbelieving scientists about the Good News of the Messiah who would come and save the world. He taught them about the darkness of sin they sat in and how the glory of the Lord would shine through the darkness, how the nations would be drawn from the darkness into His marvelous light. Daniel knew this Good News was not just for the people of Israel, the Church, but for all people. We should know this, also, and strengthened by this Word and by our Lord’s Sacraments, we should have no fear as we go into the world, spreading this message.
Make no mistake friends, this is what you are called to do. If you’re not telling others about Jesus, about what He’s done, about how He’s saved you, perhaps you should look at yourself and ask if faith is indeed yours. If you cannot see the enormity of what Christ has done for you in His death and resurrection, in the forgiveness of your great sins, and, out of great joy, share that with those who are around you, perhaps you just don’t get it yet. Christians are called to share the Good News of Christ with the nations, with our neighbors, those whom God has put into our lives to serve. That is essential; it’s not saving, but it is the first and most proper response to what God in Christ has done for you.
That’s why we celebrate the feast days, to remind us of the lives of those holy men and women who have come before us, that we might be strengthened by their witness, that we might emulate their lives, that we might be encouraged and edified to go out and do the same. And today, this Festival of Epiphany, we look to the Magi, how they sought after the Lord who they had come to believe in, how they worshipped Him, how they sought even to bring the evil King Herod with them, how they reverenced the Lord with gifts of great value, how, even, they protected the Lord and His family, those whom they had come to love, by obeying the Word of the Lord as it came to them in a dream.
This festival day, we look to the world and see it in great darkness. We bear the Light of the World, Jesus the Christ, into that darkness, that they should lift up their eyes all around, and see; that they should all gather together, they should come to the Lord; their sons shall come from afar, and their daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then even you shall see them and be radiant in Christ; your hearts shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to Him, the wealth of the nations shall come to the Lord… In the joy of faith, they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news even to others, they shall bring the praises of the Lord. And you shall rejoice, for the Lord has chosen you, placed you here to do this, also, strengthened you to do this, encouraged and edified you to do this. And He does so today, and every day, as we look to all that He has done for us in this world, for you, and for the world itself. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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