Today’s sermon explores the story of some wise men from East bringing gifts to the holy child, Jesus. Imagine what their arrival and gifts must have meant to Mary and Joseph. Not only did they provide resources for the young family—no doubt needed on their trip as refugees to Egypt—but their arrival pointed to the impact this child would have beyond Israel. This child is born for the whole world, for all of creation.
Today’s Scripture readings are Isaiah 60:1-7, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14, and Matthew 2:1-12. I found helpful this commentary by Diane Chen on Working Preacher.
Here’s the sermon podcast audio from Christ the King and the service livestream from Living Hope.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
You don’t have to raise your hand and confess, but do any of you still have your Christmas decorations up at home? Did any of you take them down on Friday?
If so, you get major liturgical bonus points, because Friday was Epiphany, the 12th and final day of the Christmas season. We’re celebrating it today, but traditionally, Christmas concludes on January 6th. And Christmas ends with the story of the Magi.
Last week, we actually heard the next part, where the story goes from here, with the Magi saving Jesus’ life by defying King Herod. We heard the dark side of Christmas, with Herod’s fear turning to violence. If you weren’t here for that part of the story, remember you can go back and watch online – I think that part is important too.
Today for Epiphany, we’re focusing on the magi themselves, with the three kings following the star all the way to Bethlehem to give their gifts to the newborn baby Jesus.
Except, nearly everything in that sentence is incorrect. That’s not what happened.
I think this story gets some of the most unfair treatment of any story in the Bible. We think we’re so familiar with this story, but almost everything we think of is from tradition, not the Bible. There’s a lot to deconstruct here if we want to focus on what Matthew is actually trying to tell us about who Jesus is.
Many of the misconceptions in this story show up in the song, We Three Kings. It’s a fun Christmas carol, but it’s wildly inaccurate to the actual story.
Several good Christmas carols do this, right? It’s right up there with The Little Drummer Boy – can you imagine how you’d react as a parent if some kid shows up banging on a drum while you’re dealing with a newborn?
Or my personal pet peeve, I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In to Bethlehem in the morning. I get that it’s symbolic, but Bethlehem is landlocked.
Anyway, yes, we’re going to sing We Three Kings today, and it’s a fine song, but it’s only loosely connected to the story in the Bible itself.
First of all, Matthew records nothing about how many travelers there were. The idea of there being three comes from the number of gifts, but I know I gave more than one gift this Christmas to some people, and Christin and I and Micah all shared credit for others.
Second, however many of them there are, they’re also not kings. The word Matthew uses is Magos, or in the plural, Magi, which means astrologer or magician. These magi might possibly be court officials sent as a delegation to greet a new king, and they’re certainly bearing valuable gifts, but that’s no reason to assume they’re royal.
Our translation says “Wise men,” which is closer than kings, but they’re more seekers of wisdom and knowledge, and I’d say astrology and looking to the stars for signs isn’t a very good way to gain useful knowledge. But, apparently God speaks through the stars in this case, so what do I know?
They might be called kings because of the prophecy we read from Isaiah. Isaiah talks about “kings [coming] to the brightness of your dawn.” A few verses later, Isaiah talks about people coming from far away bringing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. These magi are pretty clearly part of that prophecy’s fulfillment.
That’s where the image of the camels comes from too. The Psalm today talks about foreign kings bringing tribute to God too, so there’s a connection there, although the places don’t quite fit.
Speaking of places, we don’t know exactly where the magi started their journey, but “from the East” likely means near Babylon, which is located in modern-day Iraq. Not really what I think of when I hear “orient.” It’s about a 650-700 mile trip each way, so their journey takes a while, at least a few weeks (that’s another reason there’s probably more than three of them – you want a good-size group for that long of a roadtrip). By the time they get to Jerusalem, they’re looking for a young child, not a new-born, and they find him in a house, not lying in a manger.
Also, the song makes it sound like they followed the star the entire way, like it was sort of hovering there in front of them—or maybe they only traveled at night or something.
Matthew doesn’t say that. He says they saw the star at its rising, but they only went in its general direction, stopping in Jerusalem at the palace, because that’s where you’d expect to find a newborn king. They didn’t see it again until they’d consulted with King Herod’s advisors, who looked up in Scripture where the Messiah was prophesied to be born.
Martin Luther says, “Why did the star not take the Wise Men straight to Bethlehem without any necessity of consulting the Scriptures? Because God wanted to teach us that we should follow the Scriptures and not our own murky ideas.” (Source: Martin Luther’s Christmas Book, page 52)
So there are lots of traditions around this story that aren’t exactly Biblical. But here’s what I do like about the song: When we sing it, listen to the words of the middle three verses. Each verse is focused on one of the gifts, and the gifts do have symbolic meaning.
Gold is the most obvious one. Gold means earthly wealth and royalty. It’s the metal a king’s crown is made from, so symbolically it represents the magi recognizing Jesus as king.
This child is the one who will rule all things, and we owe him our earthly allegiance. Gold is also the most practical gift – perhaps this is how they survived during their time as refugees in Egypt.
The second gift is frankincense, a fragrance from Arabia used to make an incense used in worship. Symbolically, this gift recognizes Jesus’ deity.
This baby is more than just an earthly king. This child is God in the flesh, the savior prophesied, the one worthy of our worship, worthy of a long journey and valuable sacrifices.
Finally, there’s myrrh, and this is the odd one. Back in that Isaiah prophecy, two of the three gifts were named: Gold and Frankincense.
Myrrh is an unexpected addition. It’s an embalming oil used for anointing at burial. It’s an odd gift for a child, more a symbol of death than a birthday present. But for Jesus, it points forward to how Jesus is going to save the world, laying down his life.
It’s in the last verse of the song: “King, and God and sacrifice.” It’s not what Isaiah had in mind for a savior, but God’s plan doesn’t follow what we expect. God enters the world in an unexpected way, coming in vulnerability, as a child. Jesus sacrifices his own life for our sins.
The magi themselves represent all nations. Jesus the Messiah is revealed not only to God’s chosen people, the Jewish children of Israel; but to Gentile foreigners as well. Jesus is the light not only of Israel; he’s the light of the world.
Good news for us! This epiphany, this revelation is for everyone, you and me included.
The magi understand who Jesus is; they know him as Lord and savior, the only one truly worthy of our worship. Do you know him that way?
I love the symbolism in this story. I think Matthew records those details because he wants us to understand the symbolism, to recognize the deeper meaning of what’s going on.
But at the same time, there’s a trap here. We can get so focused on trying to find deeper meanings, trying to interpret coded symbolism and allegories, that we miss the top level reading of the story, what literally happens in the text. This is about us knowing who Jesus is.
The magi are meant as role models for us. In this story, people come to worship Jesus. You and I are called to follow their example. We don’t have to travel vast distances, or interpret strange signs, because God has come to be with us, revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We don’t need to give massive gifts loaded with symbolic meaning; whatever we have to give is enough. But we too are called to worship, called to give of ourselves, our time, and our treasure. God willing, we don’t need to defy government orders to do so, like they did. We have so many advantages by comparison!
But we too are seekers of knowledge, called to know the true King. The glory of the Lord has risen upon us, and we too respond with worship.
We too bring our offerings for Jesus to use. We too proclaim the praise of the Lord.
Let’s pray.
Lord God, thank you for the gift of Epiphany, for revealing yourself to us in Jesus Christ as the light of the whole world. Thank you for the example of the Magi, who came to worship you, who offered their wealth for your glory. Help us to follow their example of faithfulness, worship, and generosity. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen