“The Women of Christmas: And Our Eyes Shall See Him” Matthew 2: 1-11

01/06/19 “The Women of Christmas: And Our Eyes Shall See Him” Matthew 2: 1-11

I have a lot of friends that are clergy. It comes with the territory of being a religion major in college, going to seminary, and now being my ninth year of serving the local church. One question that comes up from time to time amongst us is how we are going to take time to celebrate the holidays. Some people leave right after Christmas Eve to go spend time with relatives. Others have a quiet morning at home on Christmas Day and then have a service or community dinner their church sponsors in the afternoon, so they can’t travel for a few days until after Christmas. But I have one friend who has decided that he and his family are going to celebrate on Epiphany. 

Today is that day, Epiphany. It is the twelfth day after Christmas (hence the Twelve Days of Christmas song) and as a church it’s the day we celebrate the coming of the Wise Men to the Christ Child.

Last week we talked a little bit about who makes it into our telling of the Christmas story and nativities and who gets left out. The opposite effect tends to happen with the Magi. They play such a vital role in the Christmas story that we place them in our nativities and Christmas pageants, when the truth is they showed up months to years later. We don’t know exactly how long it took them to travel or when they exactly left, but it's believed that they traveled to Israel from modern day Iran, traveling thousands of miles, following a star to find the Christ child. 

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth is different from Luke’s. While Luke tells us that God announced the birth of the Christ child to the humble and lowly, the Shepherds, Matthew tells us that God announced Christ’ birth to all people. God indiscriminately invited everyone to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child. 

Let us pause to consider who the wise man really were. First, while we have just sung the song “We Three Kings”, Matthew does not describe the men as kings but as magoi, which translates in English to magician. However, they were probably not like our modern concept of magician, rather priests who study the stars, and believed that the positioning of the stars told of future events. This would make them similar to a cross between an astrologer and an astronomer.

When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, where Herod was located, they went to the King’s court to ask about the child that has been born king of the Jews, because they made the logical assumption that the child must be Herod’s, as he is the current king. However, Herod was not a Jew - he was an Idumean who had simply been appointed to be king of the region over the Jewish people by Rome. Herod knew this and knew he could not be the one who had a son who was born King of the Jews and he was not happy. In all honesty, he probably would not have wanted his own son to be declared the King of the Jews either. During Herod’s reign, he had his favorite wife, his mother, his brother-in-law, and three of his sons killed out of fear for his throne. It is not a surprise than that Herod wanted to use the Magi to know more about this one who had been born King of the Jews so he could have him killed. He summoned his advisors, who pointed him to Micah 5:2 which stated, “But you, Bethlehem Eprathat, though you are small among the clans of Judea, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Based on this scripture, he sent the wise men on to Bethlehem to search for the child.

  The wise men did find Jesus in Bethlehem, in a house, probably Joseph’s parents home with the additional room built on for Mary, Joseph, and their family. When the Magi finally found the child, they were overwhelmed with joy. This is the response that we saw from the Shepherd’s in Luke’s gospel as well, and it should be our response as well when we recognize who Jesus is and what he has done for us. They came and presented gold for kingship, frankincense for the high priesthood, and myrrh for burial of the dead (and in this case his resurrection) all at the feet of Christ and his mother. 

But here is what strikes me the strikes me the most about the Wise Men, a part we don’t often talk about, these men were not Jewish. And they were not of humble circumstances, for they could afford to make such a long journey. They were men from a foreign land seeking truth in their own way. And God provided them with a sign that they would recognize and understand. Matthew’s gospel truly tells us that God is the God of all people and wanted everyone to have the opportunity to experience the birth of Christ! Jesus is not the King and Savior of the Jewish people, or later those who identify themselves as Christians, but everyone.

  Sometimes we get so caught up in placing people into categories - good and bad, right and wrong, Christian and non-Christian, that we forget that God extends grace through Jesus Christ to all people. God does not see people through the same lens that we see them. God sees people as Beloved and worthy of being saved, even if they are not Jews or Christians. Even if they do not worship our God or even know who God is at all.

The Magi were the first people who began taking the message of Christ to the ends of the world, even before Jesus gave his disciples the great commission. God went as far to coax the wise men to come meet the Christ child through something they understood and could respond to - a celestial event.

There are many other stars attracting people to ministry today. When I taught Bible studies on campuses, often their would be more atheists and agnostics in my group each week then Christians. They would come in for a cup of coffee and feel compelled to join us to learn more about this person who would make us so willing to give them time. How are we drawing people to Christ as individuals and as this Parish? What is our compelling sign that we extend to other people of Christ’s love?

  Today we are celebrating Epiphany, a time in the church that marks the appearance or manifestation of the celestial event in the sky that marked the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ. This time also celebrates the appearance of Christ’s ministry through his first miracle in the gospel of John, the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast at Canaan, reminding us that Christ appears to us in many different ways to different people. I would encourage you to take time to truly think about how you are shining Christ to others, as an extension of what Christ means to you. I would also challenge you to think about how your priorities reflect what Christ means in your life, honestly. How would you like to change in the coming year? How can you be open to Christ revealing himself to you over the coming year? For each of us have the ability to serve as stars for other people, attracting them to Christ in a variety of ways, if only we would open ourselves up to allowing God to use us and if our light is a reflection of how we live into God’s gift to us each and every day. Amen.