Matthew 2:1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. 4 He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
because from you will come one who governs,
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.” 9 When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
Let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to you,
Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to you,
Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The United Methodist General Board of Discipleship has been offering online a ministry called Chuck Knows Church. It’s a series of videos about stuff we do and say and see around church, from a specifically United Methodist perspective. The videos are genuinely fun and entertaining and informative. All in all, it’s one of the potentially most effective ministries that the Church has produced.
I recommend that you check it out.
This past week, Chuck offered some background on the story of the magi who came to present Jesus with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. If you were watching the Circuit’s FaceBook page, you probably caught it, too.
And I warned you, on that FaceBook post, that there would be a quiz.
So let’s see what we know about the wise men.
First, in how many of the gospels is the story of the wise men found? Only in Matthew. We can guess as much as we’d like about the reason Matthew may have included this story, but in the end, guessing is all we have. We can’t get in Matthew’s head with any degree of accuracy.
Second, how many wise men were there? We don’t know. Matthew doesn’t tell us. We just infer that there are three because there are three gifts mentioned (v.11).
Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Third, when do the wise men come? I talked a bit about this last week. We don’t know. Again. We infer from Herod’s statement (v.16) that it was some time before the child was three:
When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.
Plus, Matthew tells us (v.11) that the Magi don’t come to a stable, but to a house. Apparently Joseph has put down roots in Bethlehem:
They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother.
Fourth, what does Matthew call them? He calls them magi, μαγος, which is a designation for people of wisdom from the east. They could be philosophers, astrologers, teachers, priests, sorcerers… we really don’t know. We assume they are astrologers because it is a star that guides them to the Child King. We call them scientists today because astrology is as advanced a study of the heavens as we find outside of Greece at that time.
What they are not is kings. So the bit that the first line of “We Three Kings” gets right isn’t in the title. It’s that the magi are vaguely oriental.
Not the first time one of our hymns has gotten our theology wrong. And it won’t be the last.
What the story gets very right is how broadly important Jesus is. For that matter, I’m a bit surprised that it’s Matthew who includes the story and not Luke. It is Luke who records the movement exploding far beyond Judea, through Paul, into the broader greek world. If somebody were to point out, even this early, just how wide the implication of Messiah is, I’d expect it to be Luke.
But I didn’t write it. I don’t make those choices.
Matthew doesn’t bother to point out that the heavens rejoice at Jesus’s birth. He doesn’t point out the good news reaching the shepherds first, one of the filthiest and most degraded groups in Judea.
He points out that a group of magi from somewhere in the east, non-Hebrews, probably worshipers of some other god, see a sign in the stars and figure out that something amazing was happening in Judea.
They aren’t Jews. They don’t belong to the local synagogue. They don’t even know who YHWH is.
They just know something amazing is happening, and they come to behold the Child King.
They have an epiphany, a revelation of a miracle, and with no back story and no context, they recognize that something important is going on, so they come not just to check it out, but to pay homage.
But today, the Church claims a monopoly on miracles. If there’s going to be an epiphany, it has to happen through us. If Christ is going to come again, it’s going to be according to the way we understand it.
Since when does God play by our rules?
The Good News Matthew tells through the magi isn’t such good news for the institution that is the Church. It’s good news for a world that is often unknowingly looking for a revelation from God. It’s good news because this is a story that tells us that God can work through any means God chooses to bring humanity an epiphany today.
We, meanwhile, have our noses stuck in a book, expecting a revelation through the very ancient words that tell us, time and time again, that revelation happens wherever God chooses to make it happen.
During Jesus’s time, it is the people with their noses stuck in books who miss the revelation of Christ.
Friends, we can’t afford to miss Jesus. We as a church can’t afford to be blind to the Messiah we find in the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien, the prisoner, the hungry, the abandoned. If we forsake them, then we should remember that God’s historical response is to forsake us. We as individuals can’t afford to bury our heads in our books and our presuppositions and miss the blessings and miracles God is working around and in spite of us every day.
We can’t afford to miss that.
Sure, there are occasional moments of epiphany that happen through the Church and her people, but increasingly, God’s miracles are happening outside these walls, outside this Body.
And increasingly, it is the world outside the Church that’s catching on to the grace and mercy God is working all around them, while the Body trudges on slowly into atrophy and inevitable death.
The world may not call those moments by their Divine Name, but that doesn’t make them any less miraculous or God-sent.
We can’t afford to miss that.
Friends, we have to open our eyes and call out those God moments, proclaiming, Behold! The risen and powerful King! Behold! Emmanuel, God with and through us!
We have to open our eyes to the inevitable epiphanies happening all around us every day. When we do, God’s Spirit will speak to us and breathe through us and make us powerful proclaimers of the goodness of God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
