OPENING STORY
An old king sat uncomfortably on his throne, fingernails dug into well-worn grooves in the wood as he waited nervously for the mysterious travelers to approach. All Jerusalem was abuzz with the rumors that these men were searching for a new heir which had just been born, yet neither the king nor any of his sons had just had a baby. This king was praised early in his reign for his effective administration, his shrewd ability to navigate the perilous waters of Roman politics, so that multiple Caesars had favored him, and who had undertaken some of the greatest building projects the ancient world had seen, including the enlarging of the ancient temple of his people.(1)
But the years had changed the king. He was still shrewd, but jaded. He was still energetic, but now his ambition knew no end. He took even wayward glances, whispers, and rumors as hard threats to his reign, and he had no compassion for anyone who stood in his way. He had been married ten times, and he had put to death his most beloved wife and two oldest sons. All Jerusalem groaned under the weight of heavy taxes, levied before Rome got their share. He left instructions that on the moment of his death, hundreds of the nation’s greatest nobles were to be put to death as well.(2) No one would threaten his reign, not family, not nobles, not even a helpless baby or a village of innocents. As these men approached, his eyes narrowed while his lips made a thin, cold smile. He would find out just who this supposed “King of the Jews” was, and put an end to him as he had put an end to so many rivals before.
TAKING NOTE OF THE SMALL STORIES
These mysterious Easterners are men who we’ve grown accustomed to calling “kings” and “Magi”, and their moment in scripture is brief. The ancient church celebrated their coming on the Sunday after Christmas, on a day called Epiphany, a day dedicated to celebrating the moment God revealed Himself in the flesh to the world. But in our modern culture, we often quickly gloss over this story. By the time Epiphany roles around, twelve days after Christmas, our trees and lights are back in boxes, Christmas carols are long banished from the radio, and the stores are all decked out for Valentine’s Day.
But I like holding on to Epiphany. The beautiful thing about the Church calendar is that, in a culture that wants to rush through to the next big thing, it forces us to slow down and take note of the small stories, like the wise men’s arrival instead of rushing right into the start of Jesus’ ministry. Scholars debate about who exactly these men were, and how they knew the appearance of a star meant there was a new king born in Judea. The Greek word for them is “magoi,” a priestly class of Zoroastrians who worshiped one god and believed he was symbolized by the eternal flames they kept in their temples. They were known for their wisdom, and skill in astrology, a practice which while condemned in the Old Testament, was still widely practiced in the 1st century.(3)
Most seem to agree they came from Babylon or Persia, which still had a large Jewish community, even after many had returned to Judea. As men who sought wisdom wherever they could find it, they likely had Jewish writings and maybe even the scriptures available to them, as there’s no doubt they were aware of the prophecies concerning the promised Messiah.(4) One of these prophecies was uttered by a man named Balaam, who prophesied for the king of Moab in Numbers 22-24, who just like these Magi came from Babylon.(5) The king of Moab had hired Balaam to put a curse on Israel, but the Holy Spirit came over Balaam and he uttered a blessing instead. That’s the amazing thing about our God, nothing stands in His way. He can even cause the lips of our enemies to bless us!
But God did something even more amazing through Balaam. He caused a Gentile and a hired enemy of Israel to be among the first prophets to tell of the coming Messiah, when in Num. 24:17, he says,
“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;”
These magi likely knew of Balaam’s words from the Jewish sages who were their neighbors. They may have even been especially intrigued since they came from a fellow Babylonian and maybe even a fellow magi. Here was testimony that God was already working among the nations, even among men and women who didn’t yet know Him, to draw them to himself.
KEEPING UP THE SEARCH
And so, when a new star appeared in an area of the sky long associated with the Hebrews, they knew it must be a sign that the scepter had risen in Israel and in the depths of their hearts they were called to worship a God they didn’t know. Many people for the past 2,000 years have speculated on what this star might have been. Some believe it was a convergence of Jupiter and Saturn which happened 3 times in 4 BC, others believe it may have been a guiding angel which looked like a point of light guiding the magi from the distance. The famous 17th century astronomer Johann Kepler believed it was a supernova which occurred in 2 BC and would have lit up the night sky for months, certainly long enough to guide the men to the newborn king.(6)
In any case, what exactly the star was or what it looked like doesn’t matter. The spectacle of a sign isn’t what is important, it’s what the sign is pointing to which is important. This is still true today. We often hear amazing stories of God doing the miraculous in people’s lives, and while I’m certain He does these things because He wants to help in the moment, He also does them to point people to Himself, to let them know He is here and He cares for us.
That’s what this star did for these magi. It reassured them that centuries of searching for a sign of God’s care wasn’t in vain. It demonstrated that this wasn’t any regular king, but rather even the cosmos itself would bear witness to the event. As one commentator put it, the appearance of the star demonstrates that Christ the King of all Creation has, out of love, ensured that all creation would have an opportunity to participate in His Incarnation.(7)
But when they appear in Herod’s court, they don’t find the chief priests and scribes expectantly awaiting the same sign. Rather they find a conniving king and a nervous ruling class. What is amazing is that none in Herod’s court seems to have noticed this sign. None of the religious leaders of Israel, the very men entrusted with the prophetic word through the ages, expected the arrival of the Messiah which the Magi anticipated.(8)
These are the same men who demand a sign from Jesus later in his ministry, despite his miraculous birth, despite even a star shining in the heavens visible to anyone who would take the time to look, when Jesus says in Mat. 12:38-42,
“An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah, because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”
Or, when giving the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he says,
“If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”(9)
The religious leaders were given prophecies and spectacular signs, and yet they are awestruck by the presence of the Magi. These men had traveled hundreds of miles along treacherous, bandit-filled roads, to a foreign Empire which was the sworn enemy of their own Parthian Empire. Even when the Magi appear, we don’t hear of the religious leaders of Israel following them to Bethlehem.
TAKING THE JOURNEY
Foreign Gentiles, who didn’t know a thing about God, were willing to travel all those months to worship the new King, and the religious leaders couldn’t be bothered to go the five miles between Jerusalem and Bethlehem!(10) Maybe they had forgotten the words of Micah 5:2, which tell us that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Maybe they thought it was impossible that such a little, unimportant hamlet could be the site of so great a moment in history. Maybe they forgot that David had been born there, that Rachel was buried there, and that Ruth met Boaz there. But honestly, I don’t think they forgot.
I just think they didn’t care. Like their old king, who had become ruthless and jaded with power, their primary concern was maintaining their own station at the expense of all else, even their relationship with God. Under a ruthless king and among cutthroat leaders, they were in survival mode. The arrival of the Magi should have been an occasion of great wonder and joy. Instead, in a world where any upheaval meant their lives could be forfeit, they fearfully wondered what this news meant for their own heads. Jesus could have been born right down the street, and they still wouldn’t have made the journey. So, because they had closed their hearts off to the good things of God, God stirred the hearts of faraway foreigners, just as He foretold all those centuries before through the Prophet Isaiah in the same chapter which we read earlier, where it says,
“And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising…
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”(11)
And in Ps. 72:10, when it says, “may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.”(12)
These foreigners, living in darkness, knew in the depths of their heart that they needed something more. Even the gifts which they brought reflected this longing. Since the beginning, their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh have been given significance by Christians as symbols of just who this child was. Gold was a gift fit for a king, incense was used in the offerings and prayers of the Temple, and myrrh was used in perfume and in the embalming preparations for those who had died.(13) To be honest, it’s just as likely the Magi chose these gifts because they were precious and fit for royalty and didn’t know their greater significance.(14) Still, the Holy Spirit is present in worship in a way that isn’t always immediately known, and I think that the Holy Spirit used their gifts to point us to the mystery that this newborn child was simultaneously King, Priest, and God.
ANSWERING THE CALL
God’s call to take the journey to worship the newborn king isn’t just for those born to privilege, or those born in the church. It isn’t just for pastors, scholars, and religious leaders. No, God’s call to worship is for anyone who will listen. And if you will listen this morning, you will find God is calling you to Him as clearly as if He had put a bright, shining star in front of your face this morning.
God is calling all of us this morning to Bethlehem, which means in Hebrew both “House of Bread” and “House of the flesh of burnt offerings.”(15) Jesus is God who took on flesh for us, who is the bread of life for us, who is the sacrifice offered up on the altar for us!
And the beautiful thing about that is that we don’t have to travel hundreds of miles through dangerous lands to find Him. We don’t have to study the stars movements to get a hint that He cares for us. He is here, right now. He already traveled a greater distance than we could imagine, when he broke into the Cosmos to live among, suffer, die, and rise again among us.
FOOTNOTES
(1) Carson, D.A. “Matthew.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Revised Edition. Vol. 9: Matthew & Mark. Ed. By Tremper Longman III & David E. Garland (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 109-110.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Johnson, Sherman E. and George A. Buttrick. “The Gospel According to St. Matthew.” The Interpreter’s Bible. Vo. 7. (Nashville: Pierce and Smith, 1951), 257.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Num. 22:5.
(6) Carson, “Matthew,” 111.
(7) Allen, Joseph, et. al. Annotations in The Orthodox Study Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1268.
(8) Ibid.
(9) Luk. 16:31.
(10) Johnson & Buttrick, “The Gospel,” 256.
(11) Isa. 60:3, 6.
(12) NRSV.
(13) Allen, The Orthodox Study Bible, 1268.
(14) Johnson & Buttrick, “The Gospel,” 259.
(15) Clarke, Adam. Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 5. (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press), 42. This is Jesus blood, shed for you. Take it and drink, remembering that His blood has cleansed and redeemed you.
Delivered January 06, 2018 - Cortez (CO) Church of the Nazarene
