Dec. 17- Third Advent - The Wondrous Story of the Wisemen

HOME CHURCH OR SMALL GROUP/CLASS QUESTIONS 1. “Breaking the Ice” question: (group facilitator) 2. Check-ins: What’s been happening in your week(s) since last meeting? Introduce yourself if new/new people in group, check in with each other 3. Care: Needs in the group; name needs and sentence prayers (short sentences/ open ended, not long-winded) at end 4. Compassion: What compassion work is the group planning? Are you inviting your neighbors to join? 5. Group Announcements (church-wide and group-only) 6. Dig in: Any reflections, discernments, disagreements from last week’s teaching (or since you last met)? Look at the Bible passage(s) again and read some of them out loud in the group (and other verses that may have been mentioned). What jumps out at you? (3)These questions are only guides. You may go other directions based on the Bible passage and teaching as well! Matthew 2:1-12 + What is your favourite part of the holidays? Why? + This passage of scripture involve several characters. In what ways can you identify with Why is the third candle pink? EACH? What does that look like? (e.g. I understand Herod’s desire to stay in control be- cause...) The season after Christmas Eve, Christmastide, has 12 days. From Christmas Day to the + Divination and astrology were forbidden in the law, and yet God uses these to draw the evening of January 6th, Twelfth Night, is also known as Epiphany (January 6). Magi to Jesus. What insights does that give us on God’s mission? + The religious leadership of Israel did not go with wisemen/magi. What does that tell us BIG IDEAS: Revealed in each of the characters in this account about their lives, expectations, and motives? + The Magi + The wisemen/magi would have likely served the imperial court in Persia. Yet they pay hom- + Herod age to a baby not born in a royal family (appearance wise) or palace. Would they have had + Jerusalem People doubts? They do not turn around and recalculate. The signs must have been strong. What + The Religious Elite does this tell us about them? + Jesus + Herod ruled by fear and further controlled that fear with the threat of direct Roman rule, if he were to be removed. Living (and controlling) by fear is a destructive way to live. In what THE TEXT: Matthew 2:1-12 ways do we bow to fear in our politics and in our lives? Name what those fears are based on 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from (threats of..., etc.). the East came to Jerusalem 2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? + If God is at work everywhere (in order to draw people to Jesus), along with deception and For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” spiritual forces of evil, how does this change our view of others in other religious/belief systems? There are nuances to discuss. 2:3 When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 7. End and Homework: Final questions, prayer huddles for personal requests. Consider breaking into small groups (huddles) of 2-4, by gender, if large enough. “The temptation for Christians in modernity is to equate the kingdom with ideals that we assume represent the best of human endeavor: freedom, equality, justice, respect for the dig- nity of each person. These are all worthy goals that Christians have every reason to support, but goals that are not in themselves the kingdom. To equate these ideals with the kingdom Was Christ Born on Christmas Day? is to separate the kingdom from the one who proclaims the kingdom. “Jesus is Himself the By Ben Witherington III, PhD. Smyth & Helwys Matthew Commentary established Kingdom of God”. Stanley Hauerwas As early as the time of the church father Hippolytus (d. AD 236), Jesus’ 2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the birthdate was said to be December 25, and John Chrysostom (AD 347–407) Christ was to be born. 2:5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the agreed. The view of these scholars prevailed in various parts of the church, prophet: 2:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, including in Africa and Asia Minor. However, the Armenian Church, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shep- followed by some Orthodox churches, held out for January 6 and still follow this herd my people Israel.’” 2:7 Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined tradition today, though most churches go with the Western date of December 25, with from them when the star had appeared. 2:8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and January 6 being Epiphany. look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” It is sometimes argued that the December date was picked because it happened to be the date of the Roman Saturnalia, and when Chris- tians came to the fore under Constantine in the early fourth century they sought to replace pagan celebrations with Christian ones. This is a possibil- ity as an explanation for why the date was picked, but there was nothing in the 2:9 After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them Saturnalia celebration (which involved slaves and masters exchanging roles and priv- until it stopped above the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw the star they shouted ileges for a day) that explains the nature of the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth. joyfully. 2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed The celebration of Christmas in Rome is attested as early as AD 336, which is to say down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, in the year before Constantine’s death. frankincense, and myrrh. On the other hand, nothing in the stories from Matt 1–2 or Luke 1–2 rules out a mid-winter birth. It cannot be argued that the date was picked to coincide with the winter solstice since that date is December 21, not December 25. Sometimes it is suggested that since Luke 2:8 mentions flocks in the field, a time other than winter must be meant, however the Mishnah (Se- 2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route qal 7.4) suggests that sheep around Bethlehem might well be outside at this to their own country. time of year. Bethlehem was in fact the region where sheep were raised and prepared to be used for sacrifices 6 miles away in Jerusalem, so it would be surprising indeed if there were no sheep and shepherds outside in this region that had many such shepherds. It is thus possible, though the evidence is not TAKE OUTS: compelling one way or another, that Jesus was born on December 25. What we can Have you written off ... say with more assurance is that he was certainly not born in 1 BC or AD 1. (Note God condescends to meet them... that there was no 0 year programmed into the calendar when the turn of the era was Are you here responding to the call... calculated in the early middle ages.)