Matthew 2:1–12

January 6 2013 Epiphany Sermon Idea

The Epiphany of Our Lord

Epiphany Melodrama

Matthew 2:1–12

Rev. Reginald C. Quirk, pastor, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Cambridge, England

Sermon Outline

The Epiphany Story Is a Narrative of God's Working,

in the Midst of Which Sages and Kings Alike Are Rather Incidental.

1. Dramatis personae:

1a. Herod

1b. The Magi

1c. God

1. The action

2a. Who are brought to Jesus?

2b. How are they brought?

2c. How do they respond?

Sermon

There is something about the coming of the Wise Men to Bethlehem that suggests to me the atmosphere of the silent movies. I can imagine it being played out to the accompaniment of atmospheric music of the theater's piano. The setting is exotic, and the characters royal, magical, and mysterious. There is that essential ingredient—the evil villain, the irredeemably wicked King Herod, cunningly trying to deceive the Wise Men with bare-faced trickery—just the sort of character we love to hate and would surely hiss and boo if he were portrayed in a melodrama. And there is the irresistible triumph of good over evil, as the Magi complete their quest. There must be a moral too, of course, such as "Evil schemers never get the last laugh." And if that were the case, this sermon could be short and sweet. Having been reminded to be good and honest and true, we could leave it at that.

But, in fact, that won't do. Because this isn't a narrative of overboard pastiche of melodramatic proportions. Nor are these larger-than-life characters playing their respective parts. There is, in fact, an ordinariness and a real-life quality about it. And it really isn't a story of good men battling against evil men. More than anything else,

The Epiphany Story

Is a Narrative of God's Working,

in the Midst of Which

Sages and Kings Alike Are Rather Incidental.

1a.

Take King Herod, for example. "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" (vv 1–3).

Was Herod really all bad? To be sure, most people despised him as a wicked tyrant, and the slaughter of the innocent children was not altogether out of character. In fact, there was a saying going around Rome, attributed to Caesar himself, that it was safer to be Herod's pig than Herod's son—for in his old age he murdered three sons, together with his wife and mother-in-law. That, I think, is why all Jerusalem was troubled with Herod at the news of the newborn king brought by the Wise Men. They surely feared that Herod would overreact in such a dreadful way. And, by the way, if you feel that the murder of the innocent children of Bethlehem is almost too hard to believe, I would suggest that desperate dictators of our own day have more than matched Herod's cruel ruthlessness. There are mutilated human beings and mass graves to demonstrate it. And for the same reasons—because political assassinations of any rival or opposition seems to be the only sure way to keep an unpopular regime in power.

Herod was a nasty piece of work and hard to describe in decent language; it is undeniable. But he spoilt the villain image by having a surprisingly compassionate side too. He built the last temple. When times were hard, he eased people's burdens by excusing their taxes. In the famine of 25 BC, he expended his own wealth to feed the starving people. Don't begrudge Herod some credit for that—indeed the world could do with a few who would follow his example today.

Forgive me if I extend this digression from the point for a little longer. For there is a solemn warning in the cruel and jealous reaction of Herod. The plain truth is that Herod simply did not have the highest respect for human life because it is human life. The Bible establishes the permanent value of human life for its own sake, because it is made in the image of God. And for that reason, said God as Noah and his companions returned to populate the land after the flood, it is to be protected to the hilt. Herod's reaction was, in fact, a logical consequence of putting a relative value on life, of weighing up its usefulness to a person or persons who assume the right of sovereignty over life, which truly belongs to God. This is a most important lesson for our day, where this clear insight faces the challenge of a tide of opinion and attitude and the challenge of a whole new range of ethical problems centering on new medical technology, for example, or on the rights of the unborn child over against those of his or her mother, and so on. The value of that human life does not lie in its size or in its usefulness or the probable quality we might expect for it. It resides in the fact that it is created in the image of God.

The point we were considering before being waylaid was that Herod was in some ways an ordinary sort of tyrant and no exception to the rule that every mother's son's got a heart somewhere.

1b.

And the Wise Men, too, were perhaps remarkable people of their day, but by no means unique. The Bible calls them Magi, and we know a little of the ancient Magi. They were philosophers, astrologers, and soothsayers—a kind of priesthood of the Persian god. The Bible probably makes reference to two other representatives of the Magi at least—namely, Elymas the sorcerer and Simon the magician, or Simon Magus, both in the Acts of the Apostles. Their craft, it seems, was verging on disreputable alchemy. The Wise Men in this incident may have been sincere seekers of truth, but it wasn't through the virtue of their own great wisdom and insight that they found their way to Bethlehem.

1c.

And this, really, is what we must appreciate as we revisit a familiar Bible story—that we must see the working of God at the heart of it. It was he, after all, who put that star in the sky. In an everyday saga of fairly ordinary folk, the hand of God makes it quite extraordinary and full of significance for other ordinary folk like us in whose lives God's hand is still working. And we can pose a number of questions about it that will point out the working of God. Who are brought to Bethlehem? How are they brought? What are they brought to see? What obstacles would try to prevail against the grace of God? What is the appropriate reaction of the soul that has been so directed to Christ? These are all rhetorical questions; at least, we all know the answers to them. But as we consider these questions, they will lead us to find God at the center of the text and God at the center of our own lives.

2a.

Who are brought to Bethlehem? However much is unclear about the Magi, this much is plain enough. They are Gentiles. That is to say, they were not of the people and the faith of God's people Israel. And yet there is a strong indication that they are to be counted among God's people. Both our Old Testament and Epistle Lessons speak of God enlightening the Gentiles, those who were formerly regarded as having no claim on God's grace or favor. And it is part of the same fulfillment of God's encompassing love of the world and every person in it that we, too, are brought under the shelter of God's salvation in Christ.

2b.

How then were they brought to Bethlehem? Once again the only satisfactory answer to this question is "by God, and by God alone." These men were astrologers. But their craft made more sense than the astrology practiced today. For they did not look for the influence of the heavenly bodies on earthly life so much as signs from God, a message popped into the regular backdrop. Of course, all this was still no more than speculative nonsense. Except, that is, if God were prepared to meet men where they were on one occasion and to speak to them by a star, by the very thing for which they were looking. And indeed, God had prepared the world so that there was, seemingly everywhere, an expectation at this time that a prince of peace was about to come. This was the God who was prepared to meet people where they are to bring his grace to them. You recall how he spoke through the dreams of Joseph and Pharaoh and the servants of Pharaoh—just at a time when people looked to dreams for messages from God. He is, too, a God who meets us where we are. When we are not seeking him, he finds us. While we are yet sinners, Christ dies for us. And this is what the Magi were brought to see—their salvation and ours, as the Son of God had been born in the likeness of men.

And could any opposition prevail against this dispensation of God's so practical love? None at all—not even the desperate ruthlessness of the tyrant Herod. Rather, he unwittingly enlightened these Gentiles with the truth of which he and his people were custodians—the truth of God's Word, profitable for correction, reproof, and teaching, the New Testament says, because it is inspired by God. And the prophet Micah of centuries past spoke in this time to direct Gentiles to God through Christ to the little town of Bethlehem Ephrathah among the clans of Judah, and still the prophet points the way for us. And God's grace is not thwarted.

2c.

And finally, as for the response of these Wise Men, is there not real wisdom here? Their response was threefold. First, we are told that they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Second, it says that, having fallen down, they worshiped him. And third, having opened their treasures, they brought him gifts. There is no hint of paying a price here. Nor can there be in our offering to God. St. Paul asked, "Who has given a gift to [God], that he might be repaid?" (Rom 11:35). All we call our own is truly God's gift to us. But again, St. Paul has another term to describe the offerings of the saints. He says they are "enriched in every way" for all your generosity, which "will produce thanksgiving to God" (2 Cor 9:11–12). The idea is that God has given us the gift of our redemption (and not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of his Son as a Lamb without blemish). Thereby, he has won the offering he desires, our hearts. The Wise Men's first reaction was one of exceeding great joy. Such was the tone of their worship before their Lord and Savior.

May God give us such joyful hearts, renewed in the knowledge of his gracious and saving love. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.