Epiphany of the Lord

Notes
Transcript
Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Open to the Light
Open to the Light
At Christmas time we like to sing:
“Tidings of comfort and joy…”
But the arival of Jesus can also be unsettling.
Matthew’s gospel offers us two very different reactions to the arrival of Jesus. The Magi (the wise men) and Herod.
Matthew is telling us the good news about Jesus - who is coming - like Moses came - to set people free to lead them into a New Kingdom.
Herod’s response is blindness and fear - a desire not to see - but to deny or even to stop Jesus’ coming.
The Magi - the Wise Men - are a reminder - God’s Kingdom will come - even if we are not ready to receive it. Even if he has to bring in foreign Magi to remind us.
I will reflect briefly -
Herod - Comfort and Joy?
Echoes of Moses.
Magi - Open to the Light
Herod’s response, the Magi’s response - and the echoes of the story of Moses in Matthew’s telling of this story.
Herod: Comfort and Joy?
Herod: Comfort and Joy?
The wise men arrive:
2 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.”
They represent an optimistic sort of curiosity - excited to come and celebrate what God is doing - and even to bring gifts - to worship this coming King. Realising that he is more than just a King…
But what is good news for the Magi - is bad news for Herod…
3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
For Herod it is not ‘tidings of comfort and joy’ - and for all Jerusalem with him.
Herod is gripped by panic. His power, his carefully constructed world, is threatened.
He is in trouble.
Caught out.
There is something about the King Herods of this world. As you read the papers - as you watch the news… They don’t seem to care about right or wrong - they care about their own power.
I’m sure King Herod didn’t feel bad - he just felt threatened. .
The panic of a fragile King.
The panic of corruption and dishonesty.
The promise that you will be found out - and a willingness to do anything to prevent your own downfall.
He could have chosen to get his ego out of the way - embraced the coming of God’s Kingdom.
But none of us will get to the good news without letting go of something of ourselves.
Without swallowing our pride.
We might be a bit more like Herod than we’d like to think. When we cling to control. When we feel threatened by change. When good news disagrees with us.
Herod - Comfort and Joy?
Echoes of Moses.
Magi - Open to the Light
Echoes of Moses
Echoes of Moses
Matthew deliberately echoes the story of Moses.
Just as Pharaoh tried to destroy the liberator of Israel, Herod tries to extinguish the true King.
But God’s purposes triumph over the attitudes of self important Kings and powers.
Bad news for people like Herod.
But good news for those who understand.
In those days echoing stories from the Old Testament was a way of calling out the promises of God - the sorts of thing God does.
Stories about the birth of significant people would tell you a lot about them.
When Herod heard of the birth of Jesus -
Matthew 2:16 (NRSV)
16 …he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under,
Echoing what happened when Moses was born:
Exodus 1:22 (NRSV)
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile…”
Matthew will emphasise parallels that remind us to think about Moses.
Jesus and his family flee to Egypt - Again recalling the story of Moses. “Out of Egypt I have called my son…”
Just as Moses led the people from slavery in Egypt - to Freedom in the promised land - So Jesus is destined to do something similar.
Just as Moses was the lawgiver - so Jesus gives the law in the sermon on the mount.
Matthew - in the middle of the bad news of a stubborn King Herod - is letting us know that God’s Kingdom will come - even if it will be a long and difficult road.
Herod - Comfort and Joy?
Echoes of Moses.
Magi - Open to the Light
Magi: Light Breaks Through
Magi: Light Breaks Through
We are complicated people.
So easily capable of deceiving ourselves this way and that.
Jesus says to us:
Matthew 7:7 (NIV84)
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
And there is so much for us to consider. So much for us to take into account.
Are we seeking?
What are we seeking?
What if we find what we are looking for?
How will we respond.
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Herod fails to recognise the coming of the Messiah - he even fails to recognise that Jesus birth is good news.
Don’t read
3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
He - and Jerusalem - chasing the bottom line. Chasing paper. Overly invested in walls of protection and under invested in generosity.
Israel has become the Egypt that the people longed to escape.
No longer seeking - Herod has decided he likes what he has found and closed his heart to the hope of any good news.
Light Breaks Through
Light Breaks Through
Matthew 2:1 (NRSV)
1 …wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
The actual Greek language for these Wise Men was:
Magoi apo anatolon.
Magoi - is not so much a word for people who are generally wise.
It means ‘astrologers’.
And ‘anatolon’ as much as it means ‘East’ now - was more particularly related to ‘sunrise’. (The direction of the sunrise).
Astrologers from the direction of the rising sun
Is probably a long winded way of putting it.
But it helps us to realise a few things.
These Magi, these astrologers, were outsiders.
They came from a different culture, with different beliefs.
Yet, they were open to God's leading in a way that Herod and Jerusalem were not.
The symbolism of the East - where the sun rose - reminds us of the possibility of a new day - a new dawn - new hope and possibility.
And even though they didn’t have the rich Theological tradition that Herod and the leaders of Jerusalem had to lean on - they seemed to realise the coming of Jesus just through the movements of the Sun, Moon and Stars.
As Paul would later say:
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now;
Even the stars seemed to proclaim Jesus's birth! The Magi, attuned to the cosmos, recognised this sign and responded with faith.
Open to the Light
Open to the Light
Isaiah reminds us:
1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
It is a new year - and a new day.
You can be like Herod - stuck in your old ways - terrified at the prospect of God’s good news. You can stick to your own circles of knowledge and experience never learning anything new.
Or you can be more like the wise men. Open to the news - the good news that God is breaking through.
As strange as they might have been to this foreign land - imagine how strange it was to them.
Open to the Light
Open to the Light
I hate to admit it, but I see a bit of Herod in myself.
Not the murderous rage, thankfully, but the same tendency to cling to control and resist the new.
December has given me the gift of a bit more time than usual.
The school run looms in the near distance… Early wake ups, uniforms, lunches and late homework.
Instead of rushing to my computer to get my work done I’ve been cycling, walking, running. Finding time - to turn off the outside voices.
And turn off my own voice - constantly working out what to say and do.
And remembered to listen.
I’m learning to be a bit more like the Magi and less like Herod.
Be more like the Magi - less like Herod:
Be a seeker - Keep your eyes open. Watch for what God is doing.
Be humble - Herod remains in Jerusalem - but the wise men leave their secure spaces to go and find what they are looking for. They humble themselves to the new.
Worship - It seems so insignificant. But all the Magi have come to do is worship Jesus…
2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
God will do the rest.