A Gift from a Young Member.
A Sermon by Dr. Green
Matthew 2:1-12
Last week I had prepared a communion meditation based on Matthew 2:1-12. Due to illness, I did not get to deliver that meditation, but John stepped in and did an admirable job with a mediation of his own. On Tuesday of this week, I thanked him for stepping in, and I asked him if he would mind if I expanded my original mediation into a sermon for the 1st Sunday in the Epiphany season, and he agreed that I could.
The facts of the story are these. The “magi “ or “wise men” came from the east, following a star, and they traveled to Jerusalem, and later to Bethlehem, so that they might worship the King of the Jews.
This text raises several questions. I will take them up in order.
First, how many wise men were there?
Most people note the three gifts, of Gold, and Frankincense, and Myrrh, and suggest that there were three wise men. By the 5th Christian century, tradition named them Caspar, or Gaspar (GAS-PAR), Melchior (MEL-KEY-ORE), and Balthazar (BAL-THA-SAR).
Second, where did they come from?
We know from the text of Matthew’s gospel that the wise men came from the East. Many scholars have noted that they followed a star and suggested that they were astrologers, Persians, and followers of Zoroaster (ZORO-ASTER).
No matter the country of their origin. Matthew portrays these mysterious travelers as wise and righteous Gentiles who traveled a great distance to worship and serve the infant Messiah who was rightfully “the king of the Jews.” He places them in stark contrast to King Herod, so unsure of his reign as to be terrified by the very thought of competition by another, even an infant.
There is a third question to be answered. Why did the wise men come to Jerusalem? According to the text, they came seeking a king because they professed to “have seen his star in the east.” That is a curious phrase. The sun rises in the east, as do the stars, and a better translation may be that they had “seen his star at its rising,” meaning they had witnessed the very birth of the star.
Maybe it went like this. One night the star was not there, the next night, it was. It would have taken an Astrologer to notice that. Or it may have been even more dramatic. Maybe, one clear night as one or more of the magi gazed at the heavens, the star suddenly flamed up, visible in an instant.
For more than 2,000 scholars and astronomers have tried to determine what it was that the wise men actually saw.
Some have suggested that it was not the birth of a star they saw, but the death of a star. Stars sometimes flare up to new heights before collapsing back upon themselves in death. Others have suggested that the wise men followed a comet that they mistook for a star. Others have suggested that the sudden appearance of the star was an optical illusion caused by the alignment of two heavenly bodies. Still others have suggested that the star the wise men saw was not an ordinary star, visible to just anyone, but a special star, a sign visible only to the wise men because it was to them alone that God had revealed it.
All of these interpretations are possible, but I favor the idea of the star as a special revelation of God. I believe that the star was a special revelation just to the wise men for two reasons.
First, I believe it because Matthew seems to support this thesis. Read the text carefully. It is only 12 verses. In those verses Matthew never mentions that anyone saw the star but the wise men. And there is considerable evidence that no one else did see it. Here is the story as Matthew tells it. The wise men appear in Jerusalem saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and we have come to worship him.” The text says that “when Herod heard this he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him.” It was because he was troubled that Herod assembled “all the chief priests and the scribes of the people” to determine where the Messiah-King was to be born. The chief priests and scribes of the people told Herod that, according to a prophecy of Micah, the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. They even quoted (or misquoted) the prophecy, saying:
6 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 govern my people Israel. (See also Micah 5:2)
It is after Herod met with all his wise men and scholars openly that he met with the wise men, “secretly”, and “ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.“ No doubt Herod wanted to know the time of the star’s appearance so that he would know the age of him who was born “king of the Jews.” He is threatened by the thoughts of a God-given king. No doubt he remembered how God took the kingdom away from Saul and gave it to David. The messiah is to be a king like David. Anyway, after Herod the date of the Messiah’s birth, he says to the wise men, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” It seems to men that if just anybody had seen the star, then Herod would not have had to depend on the wise men to finger the child for execution, which, according to Matthew, he certainly had in mind. 1
There is another reason I believe the star may have been a special revelation by God to the magi. I believe it because throughout scripture it often pleases God to reveal God’s Self and God’s plan to some, while hiding God’s Self and God’s plan from others. There are many instances. I would mention only the case of Saul of Tarsus to whom the risen Christ appeared as he traveled to Damascus breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. You know that story. Saul is traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He is eager to throw them into prison. About noon a bright light flashes around Saul, and Saul fell to his knees. And he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” In Acts 9:7 we read: “The men who were traveling with (Saul) stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.” (I know this gets complicated when the story is retold in Acts 22 and 26, and the companions of Paul see the light, but do not hear the voice. Nonetheless but my point stands. God reveals God’s Self to some while hiding God’s Self from others.) Perhaps, in the same way, the chief priests and scribes of the people, and ultimately Herod himself, heard the Word of God, they had the scriptures speaking of Messiah’s birth, but I doubt they saw the light of the star.
To sum up, I would suggest that searching for a star in heavens or in history is a vain quest. The star was God’s star, a revelation given by God to a select few, to the wise men.
And some will no doubt ask: “Worth, had we been present would we have seen the light of the star that the wise men saw?”
That is a sticky question. I like to think that if we had been traveling in caravan with the wise men, seeking the king they were seeking, we would have seen it. But only God knows. According to St. Matthew Jesus did say “Blessed are the pure in heart, (i.e. “those with a single intent”) for they shall see God.” Perhaps, in truly seeking God, we, too, would have seen the star, on the way to our final destination.
Now let me say one thing more about the story of the wise men and the star. We tend to associate it a little too closely with the Christmas Story of Luke. Our church year arbitrarily fixes the birth of Jesus on December 25th, the winter soltice. It fixes Epiphany, in which Jesus is revealed to the magi on January 6th. The two make-up the so-called “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Yet, in point of fact, these two events may have been separated by months, or even by a year or more.
That is o.k. When we set out our manger scenes, it is alright for us to include the wise men. How can we better represent that the Jewish messiah came for the blessing of Jews and Gentiles? How do you set out your manger scene? At my house, first we set out the baby Jesus, then Mary, then Joseph, then the animals, a donkey, a cow or two, a few sheep. Then we set out the shepherds, at least one carrying a lamb. Then, at the outer edge of the scene, we set out three wise men, bearing gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And usually we set out camels for the wise men. Matthew does not mention camels, but camels are not too big a stretch. The wise men traveled from “afar,” they needed reliable transportation, they were well-to-do, camels were the Lexus of the day, ergo, camels for the wise men.
Now I believe this story, and I love it. Though they are not always strictly Biblical, I love the traditions that have grown-up around the story of the wise men who followed a star from the east.
I love to sing:
We three kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts, we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
I love the story of “The Other Wise Man” told by Henry van Dyke. It tells the story of Artaban, who through a series of adventures failed to rendezvous with his fellow wise men, and some how missed seeing the Christ as a child. But he did meet him later, in the same way that many will meet him.
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:37–40 RSV)
And I love the poem by John Erskine that assumes there were three wise men. He writes:
As they came from the east
Following a star.One said:
The sun burns,
The moon changes,
Stars are faithful.One said:
They shine in all tongues,
Every heart knows them,
By starlight there are no borders.One said:
The world widens
By starlight,
The mind reaches:
Stars begat journeys.
This poem makes three powerful points, and I want to touch on them briefly as we ponder this marvelous journey in obedience to God.
The first wise man said that “Stars are faithful! “ They are indeed. For generations uncounted, the constellations, the North Star, and the Southern Cross, have been the guides of sea captain’s and explorers, point of reference to count on.
The Christmas star is more faithful still. I am not talking about the celestial body that (whatever its origins) led the wise men to Bethlehem. That star is invisible to us now, and, the Bible speaks of a time when God will roll up the heavens and the stars with them. But then as now the real star of Bethlehem will shine brighter that all the rest.
I speak of course of him who is called, “the Bright and Morning Star.”
Most of the great lights of history flare up for a time, then sputter and die. Life fails, reputations are dimmed; even great men and their lessons are forgotten. And yet the infant king of Bethlehem shines on.
Once his star was visible only to a few; but today the nations bask in his glory. He is the supreme revelation of the Father.
Morning Star! O Cheering Sight,
ere thou cam’st how dark earth’s night!
Jesus mine, in me shine.
Fill my heart with light divine.
If we are not following “Bright and Morning Star,” we are still walking in darkness, without God and without hope in the world, we don’t know where we have come from and we don’t know where we are going.
The second wise man said, “by starlight there are no borders.” Stars never ask us for our passport. They never favor one nation or one race over another. They shine on the ghetto with the same brightness that they shine on the most exclusive suburbs. The wise men from the east were the first gentiles to worship the Jewish Messiah. God is like the stars of the sky. God is no respecter of persons. God’s rain, sunshine, star shine, love, and blessing, fall upon each of us and all of us in equal measure.
Several years ago, Elayne and I had the good fortune to be at Riverside Church in New York City to hear Dr. James Forbes preach on the occasion of Epiphany. He noted that Epiphany was also the anniversary of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered in the very pulpit in which he stood. In the course of that speech, Dr. King said:
I have a dream, that someday, black men and white men will sit down on the red clay hills of Georgia, and judge one another not for the color of their skin, but for the content of their character.
Some say that racism in America is dead. I am not sure. If it is, then other “isms” have arisen to take its place. The natural state of the human race is division. Yet Jesus Christ came to unite us. In the case of Christians, according to John 17, he prayed “that we might all be one.”
If we are still holding on to our prejudices we are not yet serving his kingdom.
The third wise man said, “Stars begat journeys.” That is true, stars kindle dreams, they generate urges, they spark adventures, they win responses from those who study them.
The wise men studied the heavens, found a star, and followed it to Bethlehem.
We remember their journey, and the King they found at the end of it, and we know that we are on a journey, too.
We have come from God, and we are going to God, and as we make that journey, we know that God goes before us, and comes behind us, and in the person of his Son, walks with us.
When we follow him, we are following God as surely as the wisemen from the east who followed a God-given star to Bethlehem and found the consolation of the ages.
There is no greater adventure than following Jesus the Messiah. He will lead some of us across oceans to far away lands. He will keep some of us close to home. It makes no matter, he is still with us, still directing, still leading.
O Star of wonder, Star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy Perfect light.
Notes:
1. The wise men and the chief priest and scribes
I think it is remarkable that Herod asks chief priest and scribes to search the scriptures. And he ask the travelers from the east, what they had seen in the sky. Knowing that, it is reasonable to ask, “What did the chief priest and scribes know of the star?” On this subject the scripture is silent.
It is also reasonable to ask, “What did the wise men know of the Hebrew scriptures?” The scripture is equally silent on that. In Matthew’s gospel it is not at all uncommon for people who are totally ignorant of God’s Messiah to serve him. This is certainly the case in Matthew 25. There Jesus tells the parable of the coming of the Son of Man, ‘when he gathers the sheep on the one hand and the goats on the other, and both herds discover that, in failing to serve the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters they have failed to serve him, and in serving the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters, they have served him.
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’
2. The slaughter of the innocents (Matthew 2:16-18)
It is hard to pin down the slaughter of the innocents under Herod. Many have suggested that the slaughter that Matthew had in mind was a slaughter of infants by the Romans that occurred previous to timetable for the birth of the Messiah established by Matthew. On this matter the text is ultimately silent.