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,
Something really important in Matthew to remember is that this is written by Matthew, Levi, the apostle who was a tax collector. Matthew was seen as a traitor to the Jewish people as he worked for the Roman government. He would collect taxes for the Romans for the Jews and that was a rough trade. We think paying taxes today is hard, but in Matthew’s day, it worked like this: the Roman government would basically sell a trader’s license, saying that they wanted, let’s say, $5000 in taxes. Certain people would bid on that license and the highest bid won. So, Rome would get their $5000 plus whatever else was promised. But, the tax collectors had to make a living for themselves. So, not only would they collect the tax bid, but they would have to collect even more. A $5000 license could easily mean that the tax collector would bring in many times that because the tax collector would bilk the people many times over for it. If they owed $100 to Rome, the tax collector, with the authority of Rome, and with Roman muscle behind him, could collect $300, $400, $1000 if he wanted.
The Jews saw this as theft. The Law of God demanded that they have certain tithes and offerings that they would give to the Temple and to the kingdom for the purpose of being Israel. But, now they were occupied by a foreign government demanding new taxes. There wasn’t much left for them to live on. God is good, and there arose lots of ways for them to get by, but it was hard. In their eyes, not only were they to pay an occupying hostile government money, but then, if a Jew was collecting it, that man was seen as a great traitor, working against God and His kingdom.
Matthew knew what it was to be an outsider. To his people, he was worse than a Gentile. Then Jesus chose him to be an apostle and he realized what it was to belong. He paid back what he stole from the people and worked to make it right. So, for his text this morning to be chosen as the Gospel text for Epiphany, well, that must mean something. For this outsider to tell the story of real outsiders coming to Christ, shows us what he’s trying to do. Matthew is telling the Jews to whom he is writing that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all people, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, tax collector and carpenter. If Matthew can belong to God, then so can anyone else.
He begins by telling us that Jesus was born, then, in Bethlehem, the city of David, in Judea. He was born in Bethlehem, a name which, in Hebrew, means house of bread; and there, the Bread of Life lay in a manger. I think there’s something there for us to see, that the Bread of Life would be in a place where animals would normally eat, now lays in a place on our altar where we would eat. What Matthew is pointing out in the start of his account, and what he gives us from the mouths of the priests and the scribes, is pointing out that this Jesus must be the Messiah, born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, born in Judah. He is a Jew among Jews, a true Israelite, and no question the Messiah.
But, it is not Jews who first seek out this Messiah in Matthew’s account, it’s magi from the east, outsiders, men from pagan lands with pagan gods. It’s good for you to know that magi were truly wise men, probably not really kings, though many likely were rich due to the services they provided to the king and his court. They were scientists and astronomers; they were skilled in almost every science, including theology, which, until very recently, because of some very stupid decisions made by the culture around us, theology was always seen as the queen of the sciences, the lens by which science made sense. The magi likely weren’t Jews, and they probably had never been to Israel, but it seems that they were very familiar with the Old Testament texts, due to Daniel, yes, the Daniel of the lion’s den, who was a magi himself in Babylon.
These men, perhaps, were proto-Christians, people who believed in a coming king, but didn’t know who or what or when, without obeying the Israelite laws. When the star appeared over Bethlehem, they were paying attention and they knew immediately what it meant. They were scientists, and, apparently, this was a unique cosmological event. They paid attention. They waited, and they came.
These magi would have been outsiders, not of a king’s court, and certainly not of Israel, yet they did the right thing. They went to Jerusalem, they paid homage to Herod, and they wanted to know where the new king was, the king of the Jews, the king so powerful, the stars showered Him with attention. And when they asked, Herod freaked out. He lusted for power, even assassinating family members for threatening his reign. To have a new king born in his own territory, a king to threaten his rule, a king he knew nothing about, was the ultimate threat. But he was shrewd. The magi would have no knowledge of his real intentions, so he urged them to return to him with news of this king, so he could go and worship him.
Of course, that’s an interesting part of the text, too, that the magi wish to worship this king, and Herod asks to do the same. This really does mean worship, though we probably are so disconnected from the word today that we mostly use it wrongly. To worship someone, as the magi are using the word, is to prostrate yourself before another, kissing their feet or their garments, showing that they are holy and they have authority over you. When we use worship today, we generally just use it to describe going to church, but it’s much more than that. This is literally to say, “I’m not worthy, but you are worthy.” We worship Jesus when we come to church, but worship is within the service, and it is not the whole of the service. Most of the service, if you pay attention, is Jesus talking to you, not you worshipping Jesus. But enough of that.
Now, Herod figured out when the star appeared, that gave him a pretty good idea as to when this king was born. This, of course, becomes clear when we talk about Herod slaughtering the holy innocents of Bethlehem, when he killed every boy under two years of age. Whether that means that the magi took two years to get to Bethlehem or he was just hedging his bets, we don’t know. But, again, Herod’s lust for power shows in that he’d rather murder little babies than have his reign threatened.
But the magi go on their way from Herod’s court, and they find the holy family in Bethlehem, obviously still there after all this time, Joseph likely having found work as a carpenter in the city. He had family there; he might as well raise his own there, too. They saw the child, Jesus, and they did just what they said they would do: they worshipped Him. They fell at His baby feet, kissing them, and showing all that this toddler, whose feet had barely started taking steps, ruled the whole world. Then they showered Him with gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts they gave Him to demonstrate what they thought of Him, what they knew of this boy from the prophecies of the Scriptures, that He is the Messiah, and because He is the Messiah, He is the prophet of prophets, the priest of priests, the king of kings. Gold for the king, frankincense for the priest, myrrh for the prophet. These were also death gifts, if you will, where Jesus would laid in a rich man’s tomb, and rubbed down with incense and perfumes. So, they served to show His offices, but also to show that He was born to die.
There in Bethlehem the magi worshipped Jesus, gave Him gifts, and went back to where they came from, avoiding Herod, having been warned in a dream. I think it’s interesting that Matthew doesn’t say where they came from; it implies that not only did Matthew not know, neither did Mary. The magi seem to have appeared from their country, worshipped Jesus, and left, saying nothing of who they were or where they were from. Sure, we have some traditions in the church, naming three of the magi, there could have been a lot more, really, as Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. They might have been from Babylon, Persia, or Arabia. No one really knows, and it doesn’t matter.
Matthew’s point, in all of this, is to show how Jesus is for the world. The sons and daughters of God, even from afar, will stream to the brightness of His rising. They shall the see the radiant Son of God, the Son of Mary, and will worship Him. They will bring the good news of His coming to all people, and the darkness of sin in this world will fade before the glory of the Lord. Jesus is for the world. Jesus is for the outsider. Jesus is for the sinner. Jesus is for you.
Jesus chose Matthew, a great sinner, a traitor to his people, as one of His chosen apostles, one He would send to the whole world, whose words would last for over 2000 years until today. Matthew was chosen, so, too, are you. The magi were chosen, so, too, are you. And thank God for that. If Jesus is not for all the nations, then we have no hope. We were Gentiles, outsiders, belonging to people who had been scattered away from God’s Word and His people. Our ancient forebears had forsaken God and followed after false idols. But, in God’s mercy, He sent His Word into the world to redeem us. And that Word was spread through the message of the apostles, and those whom they taught, and those whom they taught, and those whom they taught, even until today, that you might hear and believe that this Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the World.
This Jesus, at whose baby feet the magi worshipped, would have those feet nailed to the cross to bear your sins away. And not only your sins, but the sins of Mary, the sins of the magi, even the sins of Herod though he rejected the mercy of God. Jesus died to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Though I am a Gentile, though I am a dark sinner, Christ died for me, and He died for you. He came to die. He came to save you, and so He has. He called the magi, foreigners to a foreign land that they might worship Him, and, even though it would not come for thirty more years, begin to prepare Him for His death. He brought the magi to Himself that they might show you that this is the purpose of the Christ, to save you through His sacrifice.
Even the worst of men can be saved. Even people from pagan lands can be saved. Even Herod, the most evil king we can think of, could have been saved. And so, too, are you saved. You are. You are redeemed by the prophet who foretells the mercy of God upon repentant sinners. You are redeemed by the priest who has made all sacrifices ever need for repentant sinners. You are redeemed by the king of kings, who rules over all things, and has declared you worthy to be in His kingdom, which will have no end. Epiphany is all about Jesus for the nations, Jesus appearing to the Gentiles, drawing them to Himself. And so, this Epiphany, Jesus draws you to Himself, through Word and Sacrament, that you might worship Him, but that He might comfort you with the hope of salvation. So you have been saved, so you have been redeemed, and so you shall live with Him forever, the prophet of prophets, the priest of priests, the king of kings. 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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