Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
We are entering the liturgical season of Epiphany. Today is actually the Twelfth day of Christmas, the last day of Christmas season, but the Epiphany season begins tomorrow, January 6th, and will run until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
In secular usage, an epiphany is a discovery or realization that reveals the essential nature or meaning of something. An “I get it!” or “A-ha” moment when we understand the full truth of something as if a curtain has been drawn back to reveal what has been behind it all along.
In the Christian story epiphany refers specifically to the meeting of the Magi and the Child Jesus as the first manifestation or revealing of the Christ to the Gentile world.
In some seasons of the liturgical world preachers have to struggle to find something relevant to preach on. Epiphany is exactly the opposite. There are too many possibilities. And we have to choose one out of the too many.
One possible theme is that of gifts. As the Magi brought gifts for the child, what gifts are we given and how and to whom do we then give our gifts? Another theme is light in the darkness. The magi followed the light of one shining star to find the child and many of the other possible readings for today deal with light. We’ll look at those readings next week and sort of squish next week’s reading down a bit to make room for them. But this time around we’re going to talk about manifestation, about God’s plan being revealed to a wider world.
As we discussed last week, this was a dark time – a time of violence and misused power. Much like our own time, in so very many ways. It is beyond ironic that at the very time when those in power in our own country are doing their damnedest – and I do use that word intentionally – to begin a war with Iran, we should study this story of three men from Persia, which is to say, modern-day Iran.
Scripture scholar John Pilch suggests they would have been high ranking political-religious advisors to the rulers of Persia. The western idea of them as “kings” probably came later as scholars began to see a link between them and Psalm 72’s references to “kings coming bearing gifts,” and the fact that the three gifts brought – gold, frankincense and myrrh – were seen as “kingly” gifts that only royalty could afford. “Wise Men” is still probably our best label for them.
As political advisors they would have been among those in the East standing against the spread of Rome’s ever encroaching power. For these three important representatives to make the long journey to honor the newly born, “rightful” King of the Jews, would have been a deliberate political poke in the eye to Rome, and having delivered that “poke” they would have been wise indeed to take a different route home.
Persia was a large rich and powerful country which had many associations for the Hebrew people. It was the Persians who had carried them off into their long exile, but also the Persians who, their political point having been made, finally sent them home again to rebuild their temple. Ur of the Chaldees, the original home of Father Abraham, lies in the east around the border between modern day Turkey and Iraq. The Garden of Eden supposedly lay somewhere in that part of the east. The Persians had long loomed on Judah’s eastern borders.
Persia had the wealth and the political clout to be a threat to Rome. They also had the intellectual and religious clout to make a statement by simply noticing an old prophecy out of the Hebrew scriptures and following it into the present day. And it wasn’t Greece or Egypt or India that gave us the first “foreigners” to see Jesus – it was the Persians.
This child, this Christ, God’s plan incarnate was shown first to the poor and generally powerless among his own people, and then to these particular outsiders, the Persians. Although the visit of these three men was undoubtedly a political ploy, the magi were also priests of the Zoroastrian faith. God’s plan was first made manifest to three important priests who were also political advisors in the largest kingdom in the Near East. God’s plan was, from the very beginning, to show God’s love to the entire world – Jews and Gentiles alike.
Although Jesus never left his homeland, upon his death his followers exploded into the larger world, spreading the story of the living love of God until it filled every corner of the world. And although many, down through the centuries, have gotten it badly twisted and offered instead a dark and greedy version of Jesus’ teachings, that light still shines and the love of God is still manifest in so many ways – in both the realms of the mighty and in the grace-filled sharings of the humble.
Light is still manifested for us in our everyday lives whenever we open our eyes and our hearts to truly see what is offered us. And just as those long ago wise men chose to change their plans and return home by a previously undiscussed road, so we too, after any manifestation of God, end up going forward by another route – one unseen by us before but now revealed, and since its revelation we can no longer continue to travel the familiar paths we had known before. We cannot. We are drawn forward into new understandings of God’s will for us and for the world.
When we follow Jesus we always end up traveling by some new road.
In secular usage, an epiphany is a discovery or realization that reveals the essential nature or meaning of something. An “I get it!” or “A-ha” moment when we understand the full truth of something as if a curtain has been drawn back to reveal what has been behind it all along.
In the Christian story epiphany refers specifically to the meeting of the Magi and the Child Jesus as the first manifestation or revealing of the Christ to the Gentile world.
In some seasons of the liturgical world preachers have to struggle to find something relevant to preach on. Epiphany is exactly the opposite. There are too many possibilities. And we have to choose one out of the too many.
One possible theme is that of gifts. As the Magi brought gifts for the child, what gifts are we given and how and to whom do we then give our gifts? Another theme is light in the darkness. The magi followed the light of one shining star to find the child and many of the other possible readings for today deal with light. We’ll look at those readings next week and sort of squish next week’s reading down a bit to make room for them. But this time around we’re going to talk about manifestation, about God’s plan being revealed to a wider world.
As we discussed last week, this was a dark time – a time of violence and misused power. Much like our own time, in so very many ways. It is beyond ironic that at the very time when those in power in our own country are doing their damnedest – and I do use that word intentionally – to begin a war with Iran, we should study this story of three men from Persia, which is to say, modern-day Iran.
Scripture scholar John Pilch suggests they would have been high ranking political-religious advisors to the rulers of Persia. The western idea of them as “kings” probably came later as scholars began to see a link between them and Psalm 72’s references to “kings coming bearing gifts,” and the fact that the three gifts brought – gold, frankincense and myrrh – were seen as “kingly” gifts that only royalty could afford. “Wise Men” is still probably our best label for them.
As political advisors they would have been among those in the East standing against the spread of Rome’s ever encroaching power. For these three important representatives to make the long journey to honor the newly born, “rightful” King of the Jews, would have been a deliberate political poke in the eye to Rome, and having delivered that “poke” they would have been wise indeed to take a different route home.
Persia was a large rich and powerful country which had many associations for the Hebrew people. It was the Persians who had carried them off into their long exile, but also the Persians who, their political point having been made, finally sent them home again to rebuild their temple. Ur of the Chaldees, the original home of Father Abraham, lies in the east around the border between modern day Turkey and Iraq. The Garden of Eden supposedly lay somewhere in that part of the east. The Persians had long loomed on Judah’s eastern borders.
Persia had the wealth and the political clout to be a threat to Rome. They also had the intellectual and religious clout to make a statement by simply noticing an old prophecy out of the Hebrew scriptures and following it into the present day. And it wasn’t Greece or Egypt or India that gave us the first “foreigners” to see Jesus – it was the Persians.
This child, this Christ, God’s plan incarnate was shown first to the poor and generally powerless among his own people, and then to these particular outsiders, the Persians. Although the visit of these three men was undoubtedly a political ploy, the magi were also priests of the Zoroastrian faith. God’s plan was first made manifest to three important priests who were also political advisors in the largest kingdom in the Near East. God’s plan was, from the very beginning, to show God’s love to the entire world – Jews and Gentiles alike.
Although Jesus never left his homeland, upon his death his followers exploded into the larger world, spreading the story of the living love of God until it filled every corner of the world. And although many, down through the centuries, have gotten it badly twisted and offered instead a dark and greedy version of Jesus’ teachings, that light still shines and the love of God is still manifest in so many ways – in both the realms of the mighty and in the grace-filled sharings of the humble.
Light is still manifested for us in our everyday lives whenever we open our eyes and our hearts to truly see what is offered us. And just as those long ago wise men chose to change their plans and return home by a previously undiscussed road, so we too, after any manifestation of God, end up going forward by another route – one unseen by us before but now revealed, and since its revelation we can no longer continue to travel the familiar paths we had known before. We cannot. We are drawn forward into new understandings of God’s will for us and for the world.
When we follow Jesus we always end up traveling by some new road.
RSS Feed