Scripture: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “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.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:” ‘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.'”
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And 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.” After 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. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And 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. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Matthew 2:1-12 ESV
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Observation: Recapping yesterday’s Daily Focus, Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant. Being a kind and godly man, he decides to divorce her discretely to avoid adding to her shame. So, the Lord sends an angel to speak to Joseph in a dream and announces what the prophet Isaiah foretold: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,“ quoted from Isaiah 7:14. Thus when Joseph awakes from his dream, he follows the angel’s directive and marries Mary and abstains from sex until she gave birth to the Christ-child. Matthew then concludes his version of the birth story by telling his readers that Joseph named his stepson Jesus (a derivation of Joshua, which means “God is salvation”). Matthew adds that Jesus’ prophetic messianic name, Immanuel, means “God with us.”
For today’s reading, Matthew quickly turns to a unique event found only in his Gospel: the magi’s visit. Matthew tells us these wise men first seek an audience with the aging King Herod in Jerusalem. Given the Jewish historian Josephus mentions a lunar eclipse occurring soon before Herod died in 4 BCE, most biblical scholars conclude that Jesus’ birth happened in the same year. This dating should not concern us regarding the reliability of the Bible because our Gregorian calendar’s estimate of the year of Christ’s birth has no scriptural basis. Even his birthday (December 25) has nothing to do with biblical evidence. The early church fathers selected the date to override a pagan winter festival.
Returning to the birth narrative, Matthew tells us these wise men first stopped in Jerusalem to inquire further directions to find “he who has been born king of the Jews”—uncharacteristic of us modern men—lol! When paranoid Herod (who executed his wife and two sons) hears the news, he seeks the counsel of his chief priests and scribes. Appealing to Micah’s prophecy six centuries earlier (see Micah 5:2), they inform him that the child must be in Bethlehem. Thus, the wily king summons the magi to determine when the star appeared and sends them on their way with instructions to return with the child’s exact location so that he, too, may worship him (vv.1-8). The story concludes with the magi’s arrival at the house where Jesus and his parents reside. Falling prostrate, they worship the Christ-child, presenting him their royal gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they return home another way (vv.9-12).
Historical note: Church tradition holds that the gifts symbolize royalty (gold), divinity (incense), and burial (Myrrh). However, theologian D.A. Carson contends that their offerings were commonplace for a king during that era. More to the point, the value of these gifts would cover the costs of fleeing Bethlehem and settling in Egypt for a season (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, p.89).
Takeaway: Given the later date of the wise men’s arrival in Bethlehem, the Christian church celebrates the first Gentiles (non-Jews) to behold the Christ-child on January 6 to signify the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Epiphany (from the original Greek epi (on) + phaino (appearing). Interestingly, the word “epiphany” has developed a secondary meaning of personal revelation: “a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In our biblical narrative, these wise men experienced a personal revelation when they gazed upon the Christ-child and were overwhelmed.
Our takeaway and part? For Matthew, the magi were merely the supporting cast. They served only to introduce us to the King of the Jews—a title bestowed on Jesus both at the beginning (verse 2 above) and end (Matthew 27:37) of his life. For God’s people, it was also a symbol of hope—of salvation from the enemy (Zechariah 9:9-13). Indeed, the wise men revealed three aspects of this Gospel of grace for us:
- The Good News is for all humanity. No one is beyond the reach of God’s salvation. Our Father graciously unveiled the King of the Jews to pagan astrologers who were as far from his favor as you and I were before our regeneration.
- The Gospel teaches us how to discern and obey the will of God. The magi no longer needed a star to guide them. They would hear directly from God through a dream that they were to avoid Herod and find a new way home.
- The Gospel calls us to action. God did not simply lead a band of intellectual stargazers to a coronation. He inspired the magi to go and seek the Christ-child, to bow down and worship him joyfully, to give him the best from their treasures, and then to go home and share their revelation.
In sum, our Epiphany passage is about keeping up appearances—revealing the Son of God in us so that wise men and women might find him!
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, whom wise people seek. And we thank you that when we seek him, we discover his grace and discern how to follow and reveal him to others. So, please help us keep up appearances and show Christ to the least, the last, and the lost by lovingly serving them and sharing his good news. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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