Matthew 2:1-15. "How Do We Find Christ?"

 In this podcast, Pastor Tim Walsh reflects on the significance of Epiphany, the event marking the sudden appearances of the Magi and Jesus. This underscores the importance of relying on God's Word for guidance. The episode emphasizes the three signs appointed by God where Christ is present: the preaching and teaching of the Bible, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The narrative explores the limits of human intelligence and the distinct role of worldly governments, using the biblical story of Herod. Ultimately, the podcast encourages listeners to seek Christ where God has promised to be found – in His Word and among His people.  Join us in Matthew 2 verses 1-15 as we discuss the power of God's word at work.


This Sunday sermon, based on Matthew 2 verses 1-15, was preached at Grace of God Lutheran Church on January 7, 2024.  This sermon is preached by pastor Timothy J. Walsh, a member of WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod). Scripture selections come from the New International Version.

Our services are at 9:30am every Sunday morning, at our campus in Dix Hills on Long Island. Visit our website for more information, at www.graceofgod.church 


Intro Music "On the Way" by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Outro Music "Divenire" by Ludovico Einaudi
copyright (℗) by: Ludovico Einaudi (in 2006)

Transcript

How Do We Find Christ?

Matthew 2:1-15

May the Holy Spirit ever guide you by God’s Word to see Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

The event we heard recounted in our Gospel reading is called Epiphany. That’s a Greek word, and it means, “the appearing.” When we use that word in English, we usually speak of someone “having an epiphany.” A solution or an idea suddenly appears to them; it just pops into their brains. The word epiphany has a sense of suddenness.

This particular event in the Bible is called Epiphany because of two sudden appearances. First, these Magi - wise men - sometimes they’re known as the “three kings” - they come out of nowhere, looking for the baby Jesus. They just appear. It’s their epiphany.

The other epiphany, appearance, we’re remembering is Jesus’. Epiphany is, in some ways, a second Christmas. The decorations are left the same from Christmas until Epiphany. The wise men appear because Jesus has appeared. And through these two epiphanies, we learn much. We learn about how we are to find Jesus. We learn about the limits of humanly attainable knowledge. We learn about life in this world. Epiphany teaches us many things.

Who were these “Magi” who showed up in Jerusalem? I mentioned them briefly in last week’s message, as royal emissaries from a far off land. To be honest, we do not know very much about the Magi, the wise men. The popular tradition is that there were three of them, but we can’t even say that for certain. The only reason people have thought that is because they bring three gifts to Jesus and his parents. Three gifts, three Magi; certainly reasonable. But there could have been twenty, all bringing these gifts together. There could have been two. All we can say is that there were more than one.

Even their title, “Magi,” is hard to pin down. At times, this Greek word, “magos,” means what we might call a sorcerer or a wizard; someone who practices magic, or the occult arts. But in a few places, it seems to mean, “head chef.” So are these pointy-hatted wizards visiting the baby Jesus? Or contestants on Top Chef?

These particular magi seem to be neither of those categories. If there’s any word for them in modern English, it might be “scientists.” These magi were not practitioners of magic arts. Maybe they were decent chefs; can’t speak to that one. But the understanding Christians have handed down over millenia about these men was that they were scholars in the natural sciences and in philosophy. In the ancient world, scholars like them tended to have broader areas of knowledge. Today, people who engage in scientific research generally focus on a very tight area of study; molecular biology, particle physics, bioinorganic chemistry. Scholars can focus so tightly because we have modern scientific instruments allowing them to dig deeper than ever in history.

The magi could not dig so deeply in their studies. And so, they and other ancient scholars had broader areas of knowledge. The magi are sometimes called “the three kings.” If you have Spanish-speaking friends, the Feast of the Three Kings - “Los Tres Reyes” - is a big holiday marking Epiphany in Spanish-speaking cultures. But the magi were almost certainly not kings. They would have been servants of kings. All the magi in the Bible, whether wizards or head chefs, served kings with their particular knowledge. These magi would also have served in the court of some king to the east of Israel; we don’t know what king, or what kingdom, though. 

They, like others, probably had broad knowledge. But their particular field of expertise seems to have been astronomy. The study of the stars and the planets. And it was in their studying the stars and the planets that they saw a star unlike any other. A star holding steady in the sky to their west, over the land of Israel. It’s been suggested that the star was actually an angel sent by God; perhaps it was something new which God created for this particular event, which then disappeared. Regardless, the magi saw it and recognized the fulfillment of a particular Bible prophecy. We heard it earlier, in our first reading, from Numbers twenty-four. Around fourteen hundred years before Jesus, God had Balaam son of Beor give this prophecy: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” The magi recognized what that prophecy meant. God would, one day, send a special star into the sky to mark the birth of his special King, his Messiah; his very own Son.

Now this is an interesting thing. These magi were not Jews. How did they have a prophecy recorded by the Jewish people in the Hebrew Bible? Around six hundred years before Jesus was born, the Jewish people were conquered and removed from Israel for nearly a century. During this exile, the Jews maintained their knowledge of the Bible. And because of the exile, they came into contact with people of many other nations, who learned from them about the promises God had given to send this Messiah-Savior.

The magi had learned these promises from the Israelites in exile hundreds of years before. Perhaps the promises were only passed down as oral tradition, or perhaps the magi had their own copies of the Bible. (And to be clear, it was a lot harder two thousand years ago to get any book, including the Bible, than it is now.) These promises about the Messiah, and about this special star that would herald his birth, had been passed down through generations of magi. When the star finally appeared, these magi knew what it was.

Here Epiphany teaches us something very important. The magi found Jesus because God’s Word told them what sign to expect. They had read in the Bible of this star which would mark the Messiah’s birth; when they saw that sign, they knew they could find the Messiah. They did not invent their own signs which they thought would lead them to finding the Messiah. They followed the sign which God had appointed.

Likewise, God tells us in his Word that we can find our Savior where the signs he has appointed are present. These signs are three. The preaching and teaching of the Bible, one. Baptism in the name of the Triune God, two. And the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, three. 

Where these things are present, Christ Jesus himself is present. Not to receive gifts, as he did from the magi, but to present us with gifts. Through the Word, we receive knowledge of our sin and his love for us. Through baptism, we receive adoption into the family of God. Through the Supper, we freshly receive assurance of our forgiveness and strength for life. 

Like the magi, we ought not look for other signs to find our Savior. We ought not look for particular charisma on the part of the preacher. We ought not look for extravagant and grandiose church buildings to confirm the rightness of the ministry there. Nor should we look only for small, humble buildings, or uninspiring preachers. These external things are not the signs. We look for the Word of God preached, and the Sacraments rightly administered. There - here - we find Jesus Christ, present with his people.  

When God’s signs - his Word, the Sacraments - cannot be found, he will not be found. Not that he couldn’t be. God can make himself known to anyone, anywhere, anytime, anyplace. But for our assurance, he has established the Word and Sacraments as the place where we find him. If we were told to find God through our feelings, our experiences, we would never know if the funny feeling we had in our stomachs was a religious experience or a reaction to some cheap pizza. Instead, we can be certain that we have found, and been found, by our Lord, as we gather around his appointed signs. 

The magi show us this when they travel to Jerusalem. Their guiding star had disappeared. The sign which God had appointed was vanished. Thus, they could not find the Messiah. So they went to Jerusalem, thinking that this was a likely place to find the newborn king of the Jews. But they found him not. Instead, they found Herod; a murderous usurper, who plotted to kill this baby just as he’d killed his own family members to secure his throne.

Here Epiphany offers us another two important teachings. One on the limits of human intelligence, and one on the nature and role of worldly governments.

First, we see that despite all their learning, the wise men cannot find Christ by themselves! Just as Paul the apostle wrote in our second reading: “Since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” That is to say, only through God’s Word - preached, taught - can we come to know God. The wise men, the most learned of their age, could not find God without the Scriptures. Nor can you or I.

Secondly, Herod teaches us of the nature of worldly government. All worldly government is intrinsically opposed to the Gospel. All governments which have ever existed have one particular power which makes them government. Governments can kill. They can raise armies, and equip law enforcement. 

And to be clear, this is exactly what God establishes governments to do! He establishes governments so that they maintain order in the world through the use of deadly force, where necessary. As Paul the apostle writes in Romans thirteen: “The authorities that exist have been established by God. Rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on wrongdoers.”

This is intrinsically different from the work of the Christian Church, which is to bring forgiveness through the Gospel message. The state may send a man to prison for theft; we are called by our Lord to give the one who takes our coat our shirt as well.

Two things should be said here. The Church does also wield the Law of God to address sin. Yet the power of the sword - deadly force - does not and will not belong to the church. And secondly, not every worldly government will oppose the Gospel outright in such a way as Herod did. It is a blessing from God when government allows the Gospel to be freely shared. 

Yet we dare not count on such a blessing. The role of government is not to lead sinners to their Lord Jesus Christ. It is not, and it will not be. Herod was unable to lead the wise men to this baby. Neither government nor wisdom could lead them to the child. In the end, what did?

Once more, it was the Word of God. Herod and the magi consulted pastors, preachers, teachers of the Bible, who came to them with an answer. “In Bethlehem in Judea. This is what the prophet has written.” There, you’ll find the baby Messiah.

When the Word of God has been consulted, the appointed sign returns. Again, this is for us to learn a lesson. Where God’s Word is read and believed, it will create faith. And in faith, Christians will gather together around God’s appointed signs, where Christ himself is present. So the magi, following the Word of God and the appointed sign, find Christ and his Church in a house in Bethlehem. A humble place, and a poor family. But they do not look on these external things. Their faith is in the promises given in God’s Word.

May we, like the magi, remember every day to find Christ where he has promised to be found. In his Word, and among his people, who gather around that Word. Amen.