Sunday 8th January 2023
Sermon by Stephen Mourant
Matthew 2: 1-12
At Epiphany we celebrate Jesus being revealed to the non-Jews as Saviour of the world. Matthew’s account of the nativity is from Joseph’s perspective, whilst Luke’s is from Mary’s. Matthew is writing for a primarily Jewish audience, and his presentation of the good news of Jesus, constantly refers to Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah. You will find plenty of references to the Old Testament prophecies in Matthew. He was also explaining to Jews that Jesus is for everyone, not just the Jewish people.
In popular presentations of the story of Jesus’ birth, the shepherds, the three kings all turn up on the same night in a stable in Bethlehem. But it’s not what the Bible actually tells us. Matthew says nothing about shepherds, stables or sheep.
First, we are told “Magi from the east” came; it does not say how many, nor that they were kings; they were wise men from the east; almost certainly they travelled from the area which today is Iraq and Iran. It was from where Abraham originated, where the Jewish people were exiled to in the fifth century BC, where Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, where Jesus appeared in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and where Jonah preached to the Ninevites.
Second, they brought three gifts, and that is why we assume there were three of them.
Third, they didn’t come to the stable, but to a house where the child was. This is where some Greek is useful, for the word Matthew uses for child means toddler, not babe in arms, for which a different word would be used. It is possible that Joseph and Mary had stayed on in Bethlehem to allow time for Jesus to grow, minimising the scandal of Mary expecting “before they came together.”
Fourth, what revelation had been given to these wise men? They were not Jews, used to reading the Old Testament scriptures as we have them today. Their seeking after a God beyond themselves may have led them to star gazing, and clearly they attached significance to an event in the sky, that they thought signified a new king born to the Jewish people. It may be that it was they did know something about the Jewish God; Numbers 24:17 says, “I see him but not now; I behold him but not nigh; a star shall come forth out of Jacob and sceptre shall arise out of Israel.” Jews and non- Jews were expecting that signs in the skies and stars were significant and heralded big events on earth. Did the Wise men see Halley’s Comet in 11 BC? Did they see the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn 3 times in 7 BC? (Jupiter was the royal planet, and Saturn had long been the symbol of Israel.) So these wise men concluded that this sign in the heavens had huge significance for everyone. They decided to go to Jerusalem as capital of Judea to find the child of promise that they thought had been born.
They would have taken some time to get there, and as Herod died in 4 BC, Jesus must have been born sometime before – any time from 7BC – possibly 6 or 5 BC. The later reference to Herod killing the male children of two years old or younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem to make sure he’d got rid of the baby born to be king tells us Jesus could well have been 18 months old by the time the wise men arrived.
But there are still more things we can learn from this story: the Wise men went to the wrong place. I once was asked if, as the wise men were astrologers, was reading horoscopes OK? Well, no. The fact is they were not astrologers as we know them today. And their astrology didn’t lead them to Jesus. It led them to the wrong place, to Jerusalem, but it was there that king Herod had the sense to call for those in his court who knew the scriptures. It was the Old Testament that pointed the wise men to the right location, as Micah prophesied “In Bethlehem of Judea – But you Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” The scriptures corrected them and pointed them in the right direction. So the answer about astrology is, it sends people to the wrong place, because it is the scriptures that point us to Christ.
Matthew includes this story for his Jewish readers to help them see that Jesus is not only fully the Jewish Messiah, fulfilling scriptures and prophecies from birth, life, death and resurrection; he is also the Saviour of the whole world, not just for Jewish people, and God speaks in many and various ways to get our attention to lead us to Jesus.
Jesus is “God with us”, Immanuel, for every human being. Following Christ is a matter of revelation; that is, people are not Christians because their parents are – although there is a heritage from one generation to another; people are Christians because they come to know Jesus loves them and He becomes real to them. I, like many of my generation was brought up in a Christian home, taken to church, learned the stories of Jesus and some of the Old Testament characters, but it was second-hand until the moment came when I knew Jesus was speaking to me, calling me to follow him. I had the benefit of the background, and then it all came alive for me as I reached the point of surrendering to Him.
For those with no Christian background, how do they journey to find Christ, with no Christian understanding, little knowledge of the Christian narratives, and sometimes odd and ill-informed views of the church and Christianity, formed by the media or by encounters with Christians?
In the Moslem and the Hindu world, there are an increasing number of people coming to know Christ because He is speaking to them in dreams and visions, not unlike what we read in the Bible when God spoke to various people. And these dreams and visions are encouraging those who are open to God, to read the gospels if they can get hold of them, to understand the narrative and Christian story.
Sometimes we dismiss dreams and visions because this society is hardened and cynical towards the Christian faith. But I meet people to whom God is clearly speaking, and we are told: “God is always speaking, first this way, then that way, though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber…; he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,… ” Job 33:14. God spoke to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, to other prophets – to Daniel and to the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar in dreams, so why would God not continue to speak in those ways, as well as speaking to us through His Son Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
Application: 1. Make sure we read what the Bible actually says, not what we think it says.
2. Stars and astrology do not lead us to Christ; the scriptures point us to him.
3. How does God speak to us? Reflect on the times He has spoken to you – did you perceive it?
4. How do we help others to interpret God’s voice?
