6 January 2019
Text: Matt 2:1-12
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
For
those of us in the Church who are not of Jewish heritage, today, the Feast of
the Epiphany, marks our adoption into the family of God. We were lost, but now are found. We were on the outside looking in, but now we
have been grafted to the Tree of Life. God
has indeed raised sons of Abraham from the stones.
The
Magi were not children of Israel, but they worship the true God. We don’t know if they had access to the
Scriptures, but it does seem likely. These
Magi were “wise men,” and may well have been some kind of magicians or
astrologers. But when they come to
worship the King, they are not treating the stars as gods or seeing themselves
as servants of astrological fate. For
they have come to fall down and worship the Creator, the Redeemer, the King of
kings and Lord of lords.
Whether
by prophecy, or in spite of the magic arts, these Gentiles have been led to the
Christ, to the Savior, to the true God in the flesh. Think of what they could have done with this
knowledge. They could have come to kill
him to seek power for themselves (which is ironically what King Herod attempted
to do). They could have just ignored Him
and gotten on with their lives as men of respect and wealth in their own
country.
But
instead, they go on a long journey, on “camels of Midian and Ephah” bringing “gold
and frankincense,” as the prophet Isaiah foretold. And they “shall bring good news, the praises
of the Lord.” For what did these
gentiles bring back in exchange for the precious cargo that they left with the
Baby King? They brought “good news,” the
Gospel, to the Gentiles. They brought
praises to God! No more praises for
stars, for stars are creatures and servants of the Lord. No more magicians’ spells, for the praises of
God are more powerful. No more being
outside of salvation by virtue of their genealogy, for they are destined for
adoption as sons. Indeed, this Baby King
will go to the cross, not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. His blood will atone for the world, and His
forgiveness knows no boundary or border, no language or tribe.
And
in the decades to come, disciples of this King Jesus will likewise preach good
news, as St. Paul was given grace “to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to being light for everyone what is the plan of the
mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things.”
St.
Paul would indeed preach Christ and Him crucified to the ends of the earth, to
Jews and Gentiles alike, though it would be the Gentiles who would be most
attentive and receptive to this good news. And the apostles of Jesus will indeed preach the
Word and establish churches in the far-flung lands of the Magi, bringing the
light of Christ into the places where darkness formerly reigned: the “thick
darkness” that covers the earth and its peoples. “And nations,” as the prophet says, “shall
come to [His] light, and kings to the brightness of [His] rising.”
Light
is indeed a theme of the Feast of the Epiphany, as the light of the star led
the wise men to the child Jesus, who is the Light of the world: “Arise, shine,
for your light has come.”
And
again, the Magi don’t travel to seek power for themselves, either by usurping
the power of Jesus, or by snuffing out His life. What did they do when they found Him? “They fell down and worshiped Him.” This word translated as “worship” means that
they humbled themselves bodily before our blessed Lord. The Greek word used here is related to the
act of a dog licking his master’s hands.
It is an open demonstration of submission. Traditional art often portrays the wise men
as kings. There is nothing in our text
to explicitly indicate this, but the text in Isaiah’s prophecy seems to
indicate this. At any rate, kings or
not, they were certainly highly regarded men: leaders of their people. It is not ordinary or normal for powerful and
wealthy men to travel hundreds of miles to worship a baby.
They
knew that Jesus was God, dear friends, and they were not ashamed to bow before
Him in worship.
And
the gifts they bring bear significance. These
are not trinkets, but incredibly expensive items. They do not shrink from their duty to offer
Him tribute as their Lord and King. They
do not rationalize stinginess by arguing that it would be better to give Jesus
something cheap, and give the money to the poor instead. No, indeed, they bring
Him gifts that our text describes as “treasures.” As this Jesus would later preach, we believers
are not to store up treasures for ourselves on earth, but rather lay up our treasures
in heaven. The Magi do that very thing,
bringing offerings to show their love and gratitude to the One who will die to
save them, and save their descendants for centuries to come.
They
bring gold, which is money. Gold is also
the stuff of kings. Gold is used for
jewelry and for a show of office, as kings wear crowns and wear symbols of
their position that are forged in the yellow metal. To give our Lord gold is to confess that he
is, as the Old Testament prophets declare, the King from the House of David,
from whom the scepter will never depart.
They
bring frankincense, which is burned by temple priests. Incense rises into the heavens, visually reminding
us of our prayers that ascend to heaven.
And incense has a pungent aroma, reminding us of the sacrifices offered
by the priests. God commands the use of incense
in worship, and to bring Jesus frankincense is a confession of His priesthood. Jesus stands as the Intercessor between God
and man, for He is both fully divine and fully human. He makes atonement once and for all, for Jew
and Gentile, for men and women, for free and slave, for young and old,
redeeming sinners of every tribe and tongue by virtue of His priesthood that is
above all priesthoods.
They
bring myrrh, an oily perfume used to embalm the dead. This is an unusual gift for a baby, but it is
a confession that this child was born in order to die, that this priest is also
the sacrifice, that the atonement that He comes to effect for all men who are
baptized into, and believe upon, His name, is offered to all people, even as
Jesus is offered upon the cross. But the
myrrh is only symbolic, for His body will see no decay, and the large bag of
myrrh brought by the Marys to the tomb that first Easter morning to anoint Him
will go unused on that day.
These
days, myrrh is often blended with frankincense and burned, providing a sharp
and sweet aroma that reminds us of the sharpness of the law, the sweetness of
the Gospel, and the beauty of our Lord’s salvation, which ascends to the Father
as a “pleasing aroma.”
The
wise men are indeed wise, for they seek Jesus, they worship Him as God, and they
offer gifts to Him: as King, as Priest, and as Sacrifice. They follow a light to the Light, and they
outsmart the pretender king Herod (whose name means “fox”), who seeks to kill
the true King. They leave their
treasures with Jesus and Mary, but they bring even greater treasures “to their
own country.”
And
on this Holy Day of the Epiphany, the “shining upon” us of our Lord Jesus
Christ, we mark another epiphany, a revealed truth that St. Paul refers to as “the
mystery of Christ.” For “as it has now
been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” that “this
mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and
partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
Let
us, like the Magi, dear friends, bow down and worship Him in humility, confessing
Him as our King, our Priest, and our Sacrifice, the Savior of our people and of
all people, the Light shining in the darkness. And let us bring Him the treasures of our
labor and of our hearts.
“Arise,
shine, for your light has come.” Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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