In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “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.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They 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.'”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then 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.” 9 When 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. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.” – Matthew 2:1-23
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Sunday, Epiphany Sunday, brings us to the end of the story of Jesus’ earliest years. During the first week of his life Jesus was greeted by shepherds, sung about by angels, presented in the temple, and circumcised on the 8th day. This Sunday brings us to the visit of the Wise Men.
As we read this part of the Christmas story, it makes me wish we could linger over Christmas Day for a while. I wish we could savor the innocence of the new baby, and the sweetness and the joy of that first Christmas night when the angels and shepherds were there. God knows we need that sense of peace today. We need a break from the demands of work or school, from the news and the politics and the violence, even from the shopping – let’s face it, we could all use a vacation right about now!
But the time for that peaceful Christmas night has passed – for now, at least. The story of the Wise Men mixes the greatest of joys with the greatest of sorrows, and brings an end to our holiday with the deepest of tragedies.
The story of the Wise Men, or the Magi (as they were called) is shrouded in mystery. Scholars have debated about who they were, and about their journey, for centuries. Here’s what we do know: the Magi were from Persia, which was in modern-day Iran/Iraq. They were not kings, in the sense of royalty. They were more like priests or sages or seers – which is why we speak of them as ‘wise men’. They were royal advisors. They knew how to study the stars: they were trained in a mixture of astrology and astronomy, as the two fields of study were one back then.
They were definitely Gentiles, in the sense of being not Jewish; so already God is reaching out to the Gentiles through Jesus to these men. But the Magi were also monotheists, which was somewhat unusual at the time – they believed in one God, as opposed to the pantheon of gods the Romans and Greeks believed in.
The Magi may have even had some Jewish ancestry or influence: the Jewish people had been captive in Babylon for 70 years, and during that captivity, the prophet Daniel had been appointed the head of the royal advisors – he was the “top Magus” so to speak. And he certainly would have taught the other Magi something of the Jewish faith and would have told them to keep their eyes open for a prophesied Messiah. So the Magi may have had some hint that something big was going to happen in Israel someday.
We also don’t know exactly how many of these Wise Men there were. The ‘three kings’ have become traditional; but there may have been more, and they probably traveled with a large entourage, as wealthy and powerful men did back then.
What got them started on their journey – what made them pack up and leave home – was that they saw a star. This wasn’t just any star; it was something extra-ordinary. It may have been a unique alignment of planets; it may have been a supernova somewhere out in the depths of space; but they saw something – something that told them God was on the move, and that a child – a king – had been born, somewhere in the direction of Israel.
The Magi were so moved by this star they didn’t want to wait until more news arrived from Israel. They saddled up their camels and hit the road. They traveled hundreds of miles, crossing over national, ethnic, cultural and religious boundaries (to say nothing of some mountains) until they arrived in Jerusalem and King Herod’s palace – where they guessed the baby king would be.
They discovered that King Herod knew less than they did about this child – which did not sit well with Herod. The Bible says Herod was “troubled, stirred up, thrown into confusion” – and when a king who is described by historians as “a brutal, ruthless, and dangerously high-strung tyrant” is feeling stirred up and confused, this is not a good thing! Matthew comments, “… and all Jerusalem was troubled with him.”
Herod asked the priests and other court scholars where the Messiah was to be born, and they answered from prophecy: “in Bethlehem of Judea”. Herod then asked the Magi when the star appeared, and they told him; Herod also said to them, “and when you find the child, let me know where he is so I can come and worship him also.”
Herod didn’t mean this of course; he was setting a trap. If Herod had really wanted to see and worship Jesus he could easily have gone with the Wise Men, and joined his entourage to theirs. The Magi would have been wonderful traveling companions: wise, learned, and traveling in comfort. But Herod chose not to go with them – he chose instead to wait in the palace while the Wise Men met Jesus a result King Herod never saw Jesus.
Ironically, a similar thing happened to his son, Herod, during the ministry of Jesus. Luke tells us in chapter nine of his gospel that Herod “wanted to see Jesus” because (1) he wanted to see a miracle (spiritual sight-seeing), and (2) people were saying that Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life – John, who Herod had killed. So Herod wanted to see Jesus; but he wasn’t willing to go to where Jesus was. When he finally did see Jesus – after Jesus was arrested – Jesus performed no miracles and he didn’t speak a word to Herod. Herod, like his father, was not willing to get up off his throne and see Jesus himself. (Runs in the family.)
This is a word of wisdom to us all: not to let opportunities to be with Jesus pass us by.
Anyway, back to the Magi. After speaking with King Herod, the Wise Men continued to be led by the star, and it brought them to exactly the place where Jesus and his family were staying. Scripture says the Wise Men were filled with “exceedingly great joy.”
Matthew also says the Magi “entered the house” to greet Jesus. This tells us some time has passed since Jesus’ birth – probably a year or more – so Jesus and his family are now living in a house. The stable and manger are in the past (which also tells us the Magi and the shepherds never met.) When the Magi see Jesus they are so full of joy they kneel in front of him and offer very expensive gifts: gold – a gift for a king; frankincense – representing the prayers for (or of) a priest; and myrrh – a healing oil also used in burials.
After visiting with Jesus and his family, the Magi had a dream from God telling them not to go back to Herod. So they went home another way.
Immediately after they’re gone an angel visits Joseph and warns him: “Go, take your family, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod is going to seek the child’s life.” Joseph doesn’t waste a moment: they pack and are gone. Matthew adds for our sake: this fulfills the prophecy of Hosea that says “out of Egypt I have called my son.”
Herod, meanwhile, discovers the Wise Men have disobeyed him. Herod interprets this as the Magi “making a fool of him” (v 16) and Herod is beyond furious. He sends his army to kill all the children in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas two years old and under. (That’s all the babies, not just the boys.)
Can we imagine what it was like living in Bethlehem then? Can we imagine even being a soldier and receiving an order like this? Being forced to choose between killing babies and being killed yourself (which would have been the penalty for saying ‘no’)?
The people of Bethlehem were dealing with a tragedy that goes so far beyond Sandy Hook we can’t even begin to imagine it. Matthew quotes the prophet Jeremiah: “Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, for they are no more.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within a few years, Herod himself will be dead. According to Wikipedia, Herod will die of “an excruciatingly painful, putrefying illness of uncertain cause.”
After this, the angel appears to Joseph one more time and tells him the coast is clear: they can move back home. But Joseph and Mary find Herod’s son, Herod Archelaus, on the throne, and they don’t trust him. And being warned again in a dream, Joseph and family head north to Nazareth – fulfilling the prophecy that Jesus would be called a “Nazorean”.
The family settles in Nazareth – a city in the north of Israel, not too far from the Sea of Galilee – a working-class town (both then and now). Joseph sets up shop as a carpenter, and that’s the last we hear of Jesus and his family until Jesus is twelve years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what are we to make of these events?
It is jarring and saddening to hear of this unthinkable tragedy within the context of the birth of Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace. I don’t know about you, but I would have been happy to keep on celebrating Christmas for a while, with the shepherds and angels and the songs and the candlelight and peace on earth. Why does this have to be in the middle of the Christmas story?
First and most importantly, because this shows so clearly why our world needs a savior. Jesus came for this exact reason: to save us from evil and death. To break the chains that bind our world in violence and murder.
Second – a side note, but an important one – God led Joseph to take his family to a foreign country in order to stay alive. This is the dictionary definition of refugee. In this way, God and Jesus identify with refugees and homeless people in every time and place. The author of our Christmas series, Dr. Christine Hong, is herself the child of refugees, and she shares her family’s story of being immigrants from Korea in our Advent devotional. She says her family’s story includes people who welcomed them when they arrived in the United States – people who helped them learn the language and find jobs. She says, likewise, people in Egypt would have helped Jesus and his family: “helped [them] settle… in a new country… helped them learn a new language, and new ways of life.” People did this for Jesus and his family; and we, in our time, can do things like this – in Jesus’ name and in his honor – for other families who are newly arrived in our country.
Third and last, and the toughest thing to come to terms with in this story is: the king of the universe, who came to our world to bring peace and love, is greeted with hatred and murder. One commentator, Mike Frost, said: “followers of Christ are called not to side with the empire, but to sit with the terrified, to comfort those who mourn…”
Episcopal theologian Fleming Rutledge adds: “…by putting Rachel’s lament at the heart of the Christmas story, Matthew has shown us how to hold on to faith and hope until the second coming. […] The Savior reigns even now in the faith of all those who continue to stand for humanity in the face of barbarity. The unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ will be the Last Word.”
So take courage, Church. God is in control. The Savior has come. And in the words of the Christmas carol, Joy to the World:
“He comes to make his blessings known
Far as the curse is found…”
AMEN
Preached at Carnegie United Methodist Church and Hill Top United Methodist Church, January 8, 2023
Getting Started 
Leave a Reply