Matthew 2:1–12

Epiphany Sunday

¹Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, "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." ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 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 shepherd my people Israel.'" ⁷Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸And 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." ⁹After 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. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And 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. ¹²And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

God said to his Christ, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession.” The Son delights in his inheritance. He calls it a “glorious inheritance.” He claims it as his own. Today, the Epiphany of our Lord, the Son of God receives his inheritance.

What is his inheritance? “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance,” says the Father to the Son. His inheritance is the nations. “In the heavens “they sang a new song, saying, ‘worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’”

“All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” Today, Epiphany is remembered as the day the Magi came from the east to worship the baby Jesus. Kings from gentile nations follow the light of the star that leads them to the Savior. Today this prophecy is fulfilled. For the peoples who dwelt in great darkness have seen a light, “and nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”

You and I are the people of the nations, the Gentiles as they were called. We are the people of his delight and his beautiful and glorious inheritance.

But let’s stop to think about the word “inheritance.” Suppose you receive a certified letter from a lawyer in a distant city. At first it might be a shock. You start to wonder if someone is suing you. Did you forget to pay a bill? Are you being taken to court for something? What could it possibly be? Then you open the letter and discover that a very wealthy relative has just written a will and made you the principal heir. You don’t know exactly how much it will come to but the lawyer assures you that it would be a fairly substantial amount.

Of course you are quite excited. Your mind goes over and over trying to figure out just how much it might be. Maybe I’ll be able to buy a new car, or house. Maybe it will pay for my dream vacation. Maybe it will pay for my kid’s college. Wouldn’t it be nice to retire? You can’t wait to find out.

But there is only one problem. In order to receive any inheritance, someone must die first. You can’t claim your inheritance until your relative dies. First of all that means you don’t have any idea when you will receive it. It means that you will have to lose a person who obviously loves you very much. It is a bittersweet joy. You certainly like the thought of being the heir to a fortune, but you would rather have this person with you, to share in his life, not just his death.

Jesus was to receive an inheritance. In the Psalms, the Lord said, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.” But someone has to die first.

And that someone was Jesus himself. In order to receive his inheritance Jesus chose to die himself. He died to redeem us, the nations, for his Father. He died to make us His glorious inheritance. He died to make us sons of God so that we could share in the inheritance.

He died because the nations were an abomination to God. We were born “dead in trespasses and sins, we once walked following the course of this world; following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. We once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” At one time, we, the Gentiles, the nations, were separated from Christ and strangers to the covenants of promise. We were without hope and without God in the world. We were far off, separated from the family of God. There was a wall of hostility between us and God.

Dead in our sins and trespasses. We were an abomination to God. We wallowed on the filth of our own sin and sought the darkness of the kingdom of Satan and death. We by nature deserve death and eternal punishment. We who wallow around in our bitterness, holding grudges, getting angry for every little, insignificant detail, refusing to forgive one another, making mountains out of molehills. We selfish, snibbling little children, who can’t seem to play together on the playground without getting into a fight. Yet we are the glorious inheritance of the Son of God.

So God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love, even when we were dead in our trespasses; even when we were his enemies; even when we were separated form him by a wall of hostility, made us alive together with Christ. By grace we have been saved and raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are his inheritance and he gives us an inheritance of the sons of God.

Therefore, we who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. He himself is our peace; he has broken down the wall of hostility that separated us from God. He has reconciled us to God and has come and preached peace to us; to a people who were far off and who have been brought near. He has torn down the walls of hostility toward one another. He has brought us near and made to one family, one inheritance.

Because of our self-centered nature Christ had to die himself in order to make us his inheritance. He had to suffer the agony of eternal separation from his Father; the pain of death and the punishment of hell in order to make us his inheritance, his glorious possession. By his death we are made alive. By his stripes we are healed. By his wounds we are made whole.

And on Epiphany the Star of the East sent forth its light and was seen by the Magi, the Wise Men of the East who understood its message. It was the Star of light which shone in the darkness so that the peoples who lived in great darkness might have a light to show them the way to The True Light.

That light led them to the Christ; that babe, born of a virgin, lying in a manger. The Star led them until it came and rested over the place where he lay. That star announced to the nations the coming of their Savior. And they came. And they knew that he was the King of kings, their Savior. And they worshipped. For that Epiphany he was revealed to them as the Son of God; the eternal Word; the Angel of Yahweh; the Only Begotten of the Father; the great I AM who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

That Child whom the star announced was God made man. God who had come into the world to redeem man for himself and make us his inheritance; his possession, and his greatest treasure.

That Epiphany, the light came and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. For behold darkness covered the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord rose upon us and his glory has been seen. All nations come to his light and kings to the brightness of his rising. Today we come, from every nation, we come and gather all together. We come to Jesus; his sons come from far and he sees and his heart is thrilled and exulted because all the nations come streaming to him. Many peoples come and say, “let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

Today as we come to the altar, we come with the Wise Men, led by his Word to Jesus. We flow to his holy mountain and here, at the altar we fall down on our knees and worship him. We worship the one whose broken body is given for us and whose blood flows down from the cross to us for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

We are his inheritance and we shall receive the inheritance of sons of God. An eternal inheritance, because of the death of this one, the Son of God.

And that Star which led the Magi to him, leads us. The Star is His Word which is proclaimed and is given us in the sacraments, His word which cleanses us and makes us his bride, spotless and without wrinkle and today he claims us for his inheritance.

Today that Star continues to shine. It continues to shed its light and lead the nations to Him. Wherever the gospel is proclaimed the Star shines. Wherever the sacraments are administered, the Star is shining and the nations are flowing to his holy mountain.

Today in our mission outreach the Star is shining. Today missionaries around the world spread the word of the Gospel; missionaries like Greg and Cynthia Sawyer in Hong Kong who are as the Star, leading people to that babe who saves them from sin.

Today, as you and I share with our friends and neighbors the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, the Star is shining. That same star which led the Magi is leading people to the Savior day after day around the world. Today the Star shines and the nations flow to Jesus.

We are his inheritance. We are his glory that adorns his robes. We are his people, purchased with his own blood to be his possession and the children of the Father. We are His eternal bride in whom he delights. We are the church of Christ here and now in this world; and then tomorrow we shall be the church victorious, gathered into his kingdom of glory forever and ever.

Amen.