To Follow a Star! A Sermon by Bill Chadwick Oak Grove Presbyterian Church Epiphany Sunday January 8, 2017 Epiphany, January 6, the culmination of the Twelve Days of Christmas and the observance of the coming of the magi to worship the Christ child. Today we ll look at some of the cultural context behind Epiphany and next week the homily is a true story out of my life that relates to Christmas and Epiphany. And both weeks we will sing carols. So let s look together at the places, people and phenomena populating Epiphany. Much of this information comes from the famed Biblical commentator, Scotsman William Barclay. In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea... (Matthew 2:1) Six miles south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, whose name literally means house of bread, is a small town with a big history. It was there that Jacob had buried Rachel, and had set up a pillar of memory beside her grave (Genesis 48:7; 35:20). It was there that Ruth had lived when she married Boaz (Ruth 1:22), and from Bethlehem Ruth could see the land of Moab, her native land, across the Jordan valley. (Barclay, Matthew, vol. 1, pp. 23-24) But above all Bethlehem is associated with King David and it was from Bethlehem that the Jews expected great David s greater Son to be born (Ibid., p. 24). In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the East came to Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1) We typically have translated that word magi as wise men. We don t know exactly who or what they were, probably Persian astrologers. Actually, they were probably a hybrid of astrologers and astronomers. They became the teachers and instructors of the Persian kings. (It is doubtful
2 that they themselves were actually kings.) In Persia no sacrifice could be offered unless one of the Magi was present. They became men of holiness and wisdom skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural science. They were soothsayers and interpreters of dreams. (Ibid., p. 26). We actually don t know much about these exotic characters. Some scholars suggest they were exiled Israelites, which makes understandable their eagerness to worship the King of the Jews. If they were Gentiles (non-jews) then we see that right from the beginning that the good news of Jesus is not just for Jews, but for all. How many Magi were there? Three, of course! Actually, Matthew doesn t give us a number. The word magi is plural, so there were at least two. The earliest tradition has it that there were twelve, a nice biblical number. The idea of three magi comes from the three gifts gold, frankincense and myrrh. Tradition has even given them names and ages, neither found in the scriptures: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Caspar is old, Melchior is middle-aged, Balthasar is young. (WikiAnswers) Garrison Keillor says there were three wise men, the Assistant Wise Man, the Associate Wise Man and the head of the Wisdom Department (A Prairie Home Companion monologue). At any rate, as Barclay writes, at their best the Magi were good and holy men, who sought for truth. In those ancient days all (people) believed in astrology. They believed that they could foretell the future from the stars, and they believed that a (person s) destiny was settled by the star under which he (or she) was born.the stars pursue their unvarying courses; they represent the order of the universe. If then there suddenly appeared some brilliant star, if the unvarying order of the heavens was broken by some special phenomenon, it did look as if
God was breaking into (God s) own order, and announcing some special thing. (Barclay, p. 26). 3 wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 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. (Matthew 2: 1b-2) What did they see in the night sky? What was this star? There have been many suggestions over the years. We don t know for sure, but it is worth recalling the theory of Karlis Kaufmanis, who taught astronomy at the University of Minnesota from 1961-1978. Through the years he became famous for his lecture on the Star of Bethlehem, which he gave many times each December throughout the Twin Cities and the nation. I believe he lectured here at OG at least once. How many of you heard him give that lecture somewhere? Kaufmanis s theory is that the star which the magi saw was the conjunction of two planets, Jupiter and Saturn. These two planets had particular importance in Jewish astrology. Jupiter was called the King s Star, while Saturn was called the Star of the Messiah. Prophet Amos called it the star of gods, and an old Jewish saying asserted that God had created Saturn to shield Israel. In one year Jupiter and Saturn came together no fewer than three times and where in the sky did they appear, but in that portion of the sky known to ancient astrologers as the house of the Hebrews. (Minnesota Astronomy Review, vol. 18, Fall 2003/2004.) Today known as pisces. These conjunctions took place in the year 7 BC. Hmm. Wait a minute? The explanation is that when the calendar makers wanted to start the new calendar with the year of Jesus birth they goofed in figuring out when that was. For one thing Herod only reigned until 4 BC. The consensus of scholars that I have read is that Jesus was born somewhere between 9 BC and 4 BC. (We do know with some certainty that the year of his execution was 30 AD or CE, Common Era. So Jesus was
4 somewhere between 34 and 39 when he died, not a terribly young man for those days.) Back to the star. Barclay notes: It may seem extraordinary that those men should set out from the East to find a king, but the strange thing is that, just about the time Jesus was born, there was in the world a strange feeling of expectation of the coming of a king. Even the Roman historians knew about this. Not so very much later than this Suetonius could write, There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judaea to rule the world (Suetonius: Life of Vespasia, 4:5). Tacitus tells of the same belief that there was a firm persuasion that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire universal empire (Tacitus :Histories, 5:13) The Jews had the belief that about that time one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth (Josephus: Wars of the Jews, 65,4) So, when Jesus came the world was in an eagerness of expectation (Barclay, p. 27)! Isn t that cool? Vs. 3: When Herod the king heard of this he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him Who is this King Herod? He is one of several rulers named Herod, all related to one another. This is the first of the Herods, known as Herod the Great, appointed by the Romans as governor of Palestine in the year 47 and given the title king in the year 40. Half Jew, half Idumean. He ruled until his death in 4 BC. Word had come to King Herod that some men from the East were inquiring about a new king of the Jews who had just been born. Any ordinary king who wanted to hang on to his throne might have been a bit disturbed by this. But Herod was no ordinary king. He had earned the appellation Herod the Great in many ways. He was a great builder, even paying for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. During hard times he cut taxes to make things easier for people. In the famine of 25 BC he had actually melted down his own gold plate to buy corn for the starving people. (Ibid. p. 28)
5 But he also brought the word paranoid to new heights. Or depths. He was totally terrified of being replaced as king. If he suspected someone of usurpation he had that one killed. He murdered his wife, mother-in-law and three of his sons. Late in life, knowing that death was near he was well aware that he was not going to be mourned by the populace. So he gave orders that a collection of the leading citizens of Jerusalem be arrested on trumped-up charges and jailed. He gave orders that when he died those people were to be killed so that on the day of his death there would be tears. So, you can imagine how a man like this would greet news that a new king had been born. When Herod the king heard of this he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him for who knows what he might do? But we do know. When thwarted by the magi who returned home by another way he had all the infants in and around Bethlehem killed. Jesus life was wrapped in politics from the very beginning to the very end. Back to the magi. They follow the star until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 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. Well, these gifts were not hostess gifts, nor baby shower gifts, nor birthday gifts. These are gifts of tribute, such as a vassal would bring to his king. These gifts are a way of saying, You are my sovereign. From the very earliest of times people have seen the significance of each of these gifts. Gold is the gift for a king. When our children were small they would sometimes say to us in indignation, You re not the boss of me. Oh, yes we were. When we say Jesus is our lord, we are saying, You are the boss of me. Before and above anyone else government, work, even family. Gold, the gift for a king. Frankincense and myrrh are both aromatic tree resins. Frankincense is the gift for a priest. It was in the Temple worship and at the Temple sacrifices that the sweet perfume of frankincense was used.
6 The function of a priest is to open the way to God for (people). The Latin word for priest is pontifex, which means a bridgebuilder. The priest is the (person) who builds a bridge between (people) and God. (Ibid. p. 32). Certainly that is what Jesus did, revealing in a unique way the love and grace of God. Myrrh is an embalming spice. It is the gift for one who is to die JESUS Jesus life story is foretold in the gifts of the wise men: King, priest, faithful even unto death. Across the centuries this wonderful story from Matthew s gospel speaks to us in many ways. It speaks to us of the amazing workings of the God of history and of Creation. It speaks to us of faithfulness, of Mary, of Joseph, ultimately of Jesus. It speaks to us of the use of political power to attempt to thwart the ways of God. It speaks to us of devotion of wise people traveling afar to bring their tribute gifts and their worship. Wise men and wise women and wise children still call him Lord and bring their worship. To him be the honor and the glory and the praise, now and forever. Amen!