Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12
January 11, 2015
© 2015
From the cluster of earthquakes near Dallas
to the terrorist attack in Paris, the unsettling events of this week have
knocked many people off balance. Reacting out of fear and anger almost always leads
to the wrong course of action. From the account of the visit of the Magi to the
child Jesus in Matthew 2:1-12 we learn that to receive joy when unsettling
events knock us off balance, listen for the voice of God behind circumstances
and unexpected people through Scripture.
Most people seem to know that Matthew did not
say there were Three Magi but the tradition comes from their three gifts.
Matthew also did not say they were kings or came with camels. That comes from
Isaiah 60:1-6 which the Church has long associated with the Magi, but the New
Testament never refers to in that connection.
To keep this story straight with the rest of
the New Testament, we need to know that Herod is a family name used by five different rulers in the New Testament. Herod the Great here at Jesus’ birth.
Herod Archelaus caused the Holy Family to go to Nazareth when they returned from Egypt. Herod Antipas disrupted the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. Herod
Agrippa I opposed the Apostles James and Peter. Herod Agrippa II tried the
Apostle Paul.
Listen carefully to the familiar story in
Matthew 2:1-12.
In the time of King
Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came
to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who
has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have
come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he
was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the
chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah
was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of
Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the
land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you
shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” 7Then
Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem,
saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him,
bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
9When they had heard
the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had
seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that
the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him
homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been
warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by
another road.
Herod was an old man at the time Jesus was
born. He was paranoid and murderously violent. His fear prevented him from
receiving the wholeness Messiah came to bring.
Apparently Herod learned of the Magi seeking
a child born King of the Jews from the buzz on the streets. In his fear he only
spoke with the Magi secretly after consulting with the Chief Priests and
Scribes.
Herod knew enough of the Hebrew Scriptures to
realize this child born King of the Jews was likely the Messiah, and he
believed the Scriptures could name his birthplace.
But Herod was so arrogant and paranoid he
thought that he could stop the Messiah by killing Bethlehem’s babies.
The Chief Priests and Scribes had taught the
hope of Messiah since the return from exile in Babylon, but their spiritual
insensitivity prevented them from welcoming this hope.
They must have been aware of the buzz on the
streets prompted by the Magi. Whether they made the Messianic connection before
Herod asked, his question should have awakened the hope they might welcome the
Messiah.
These scholars knew and agreed on the Scripture’s
answer: the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
However, their academic arrogance and
indifference was so deeply engrained they couldn’t hear God’s voice in the very
Scripture they knew and taught.
In contrast, the Magi heard and responded to
the voice of God that came through unconventional means and received joy!
Not only were the Magi foreigners, they were
pagan astrologers. The Hebrew Scriptures mock (Isaiah 47:13-15; Daniel 1:20;
2:27; 4:7; 5:7) and forbid (Jeremiah 10:1-2) the practice of astrology.
The Magi seem not to have much if any access
to the Hebrew Scriptures. The star that prompted their journey was some astrological
sign at it rising in the east, but not a beacon guiding them west to Jerusalem.
How it reappeared to guide them south to Bethlehem is unclear. Mystical dreams
were also familiar in their culture, and God spoke to them through a dream, as
God sometimes did with the Hebrew prophets.
Unlike Herod or the Chief Priests and
Scribes, the Magi heard and heeded the voice of God and were transformed. They
did not prevent Herod’s fear driven slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem or
break through the indifference of the Chief Priests and Scribes. But they received
joy that they carried with them for the rest of their lives.
To receive joy when unsettling events knock
us off balance, listen for the voice of God behind circumstances and unexpected
people through Scripture.
While the news may keep us informed about unsettling
events, we must listen more deeply to hear God’s voice.
Herod rightly recognized the child born King
of the Jews was the Messiah, but he reacted out of fear. The Chief Priests and
Scribes rightly identified Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah, but they
reacted with arrogance. If we listen deeply enough we can hear the voice of God
scrambled with unlikely people.
While we correctly affirm Scripture as the
inspired, reliable, authoritative Word of God, as we read we must listen
expecting not only to hear the voice of God in the pages of the Bible, but also
expecting Scripture to enable us to discern God’s voice behind unlikely
circumstances and people. Following God’s voice will take us on unfamiliar
paths that lead us to deep, abiding joy.
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