Our secular world ends Christmas on December 25. However in the ancient church Christmas began on December 25 and ended on January 6. The waiting and preparation of Advent is completed and we celebrate Christmas; Christ is born, the Word is made flesh. The communities of worshiping believers can be heard singing the angels’ song: “Glory to God in the Highest.” This is a season of celebration; it is also a season of mystery. For it is during Christmas and Epiphany that Christians marvel at the amazing love of Jesus, who became human for our sake. Although the commercial lights and hype ends on Christmas Day, Christians should only be beginning their celebration of Christ’s birth.
Many of you are aware of the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The twelve days this song references are the days between December 25 and January 6. So, in reality, we should have just finished celebrating Christmas yesterday. Yes, I know the Christmas decorations are already down. In hindsight, we should have left them up another week. We spend time preparing for Christmas, we should spend time celebrating it. Yesterday began the season of Epiphany. The word epiphany means “manifestation” and refers in particular to the manifestation of Jesus as Savior not only of the Jews, but of all the peoples of the world. So today, we bring our Christmas celebration to an end with the story of the Wise Men. You may have some questions regarding this Epiphany celebration. We’ll do it in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions format.
Why do we celebrate Epiphany today? We celebrate the visit of the wise men who symbolize that God’s salvation is available to all person, not just the Jews.
Why is Epiphany known as the season of light? Remember the words of the prophet: “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light – a light that will shine on all who live in the land where death casts it shadow.”
You have heard that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.
It’s with this background that we want to take a look at the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem. We read the story together this morning. Just who were these wise men or magi? We’re not certain. They could have been astronomers (scientists who study the stars) or they could have been astrologers (looking for signs in the stars.) They were more than likely religious. Look at their opening statement “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.” It appears that they had some knowledge of Hebrew literature. Did they know they were coming to worship the Messiah or Anointed One? I’m not sure.
Why did they come? They more than likely had knowledge of the various religions in that part of the world. Maybe they saw the emptiness of all of them and followed the star to the king of the Jews.
When did they arrive? Luke’s gospel tells us about the night of the birth and he records the events of the shepherds and angels. It’s more than likely that the wise men did not arrive on the night of the birth. Many scholars place the time to a short time after the birth to as long as two years after the birth.
We had a bit of a controversy in our house this year. No one wanted the wise men in the stable with the shepherds. Certainly no wise men would be near the stable until after Christmas. Our wise men were on one end of the entertainment center, while the rest of the nativity was on the other. The day after Christmas, the wise men started their journey across the entertainment center and yesterday they finally arrived. Now to make it biblical, my children would have had to remove the shepherds and the manger, but they didn’t. So even in the pastor’s house the nativity scene has creative license.
How many wise men came? We don’t know, it could have been two to several hundred.
Despite all of these questions, we do have some answers. The wise men journeyed to Jerusalem. If a king was to be born in Israel, naturally it would be born in Jerusalem. They presumed the king would be born in a palace, not in a humble village like Bethlehem.
This produced instant chaos in Jerusalem. This was a threat to his dynasty, puppet dynasty that it was. Rome was really in charge. But if he didn’t squash this king, there could be a civil war and then Rome would come charging in and Herod would be nothing. Herod immediately was suspicious and jealous. The priestly leaders were just as concerned. They had relative religious freedom for the first time in hundreds of years. If a civil war broke out the Romans would come in squash the rebellion and take away the religious freedom. Herod asked the leaders, “Where is this king to be born?” The leaders said, “Of course, in Bethlehem.”
It seems everything then calmed down. Herod went to the wise men and told them to go find the child, worship him, and then come back to Jerusalem, tell him were the child was so that he could worship the new king as well. We know this story so well that it might breed contempt. The wise men continued to Bethlehem and they found the child. Verse 10 tells us that they entered the house…and fell down and worshiped him. Then they gave him some curious gifts.
- Gold – which spoke of his deity
- Frankincense – which spoke of his humanity
- Myrrh – a burial ointment, which spoke of his further sufferings and his death.
As if the story isn’t incredible enough, God comes and warns the wise men to leave and go home another way, because Herod’s plan is to kill the child.
So what can we make of this. As if we haven’t covered this subject enough lately, it all comes back to worshiping the king. Ralph Earle writes, “The contrast between the attitudes of Herod and the Magi affords an interesting study. Herod, in whom selfishness, suspicion, jealousy, moroseness, and cruelty had so blocked the channels of devotion that worship of another was impossible; The magi, foreigners who although they possessed only star light found no sacrifice too great and no gift too costly to express their devotion to the One that their value-sensitive consciousness told them was worthy of their highest devotion. Their offering will always breathe “the sense of wonder and thanksgiving that through the birth of this Child, and his subsequent life, death, and resurrection, the world has been redeemed.”
The wise men brought beautiful gifts to worship the king. They brought gifts that were worthy of a king. When you think about this king who has come, (and that is what we celebrate today. When the wise men caught sight of the star again over Bethlehem, they were filled with joy!) When you think of this king who has come, what gifts do you offer Him today. Are your gifts worthy of the king who has come? What kind of gifts do you bring to Him today?
Isaiah commanded the people, “Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
In this coming season, we will be looking at the amazing love that the Father and the Son had for us. Jesus came to save us from ourselves. He came to shed his blood on the cross and to die for our sins. He came to rise and set us free from the bonds of sin and death. He went back to heaven to prepare a place for us and he is coming back again to take us to heaven with him. What is our responsibility as believers? I like the way Connie put it not to long after we arrived. Our job is to go to heaven and take as many along as we can. Jesus told us to go and make disciples. That is what we are called to do as a church. It’s a calling that I take seriously and my prayer is that as a church we can take it seriously as well. I know your prayer is mine, that we have a church that is devoted to making disciples and teaching them everything that Jesus has commanded us to do.
And so may our lives lead people to God the way the star let the wise men to Jesus.
I’d like to finish with a beautiful new hymn called “Uncreated One.” It was written by Chris Tomlin who has written “How Great is Our God” and “Forever.” It tells about the gift of worship that we must bring to him.
