Epiphany: Matthew 2:10-11
When they [the Magi] saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:10-11 (ESV)
Epiphany is not a word we use every day. Maybe I can explain its meaning by referring back to one of the Superman movies. When Clark Kent (a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet) finally revealed his true identity as Superman to Lois Lane, it came as an epiphany to her — a mind-bogging revelation. That’s what our Christian word “epiphany” means. Seeing Jesus and then suddenly realizing that He is God in human flesh — that is a mind-bogging revelation…it is an “epiphany”.
The season of Epiphany begins on January 6th as we commemorate the visit of the Wise Men (“Magi”) to Jesus. Two details in Matthew show us that the Magi came some time after Jesus’ birth. Matthew 2:11 says, And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Mary and Joseph are now living in a house, and Jesus is called a “child”, no longer a “baby”.
We usually place the Wise Men in our manger scenes next to the shepherds of Christmas Eve. While that may give a slightly “false” picture of Jesus’ birth, it really doesn’t hurt anything. But there are other false pictures of Jesus which are damaging to people’s faith. Picturing Jesus simply as a great teacher puts Jesus in the same category as other religious teachers like Muhammad or Confucius or Gandhi. But when the Magi saw the child, Jesus, they fell down and worshipped Him. And that puts Jesus in a completely different category; nobody worships a teacher...not even a great teacher. When the Magi came to the house where Jesus, was, …they fell down and worshipped Him. This Baby is the Holy One of Israel, God in human flesh.
The Wise Men (or “Magi”) were astronomers from Persia (today’s Iran) who studied the stars looking for signs from heaven. When they saw a unique star in the eastern sky (astronomers are still trying to figure out just exactly what that “star of Bethlehem” was) they decided to follow it. And it led them to Israel. Since they were looking for a king, they did the logical thing and went to the king’s palace in Jerusalem. There they asked the present king, Herod, “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”
The only problem was that Herod was “crazy” — today psychiatrist would probably label him as a “paranoid schizophrenic”. When he heard of the possibility of a new “king of the Jews”, his paranoia burst forth in full vigor. It is significant that the Wise Men said they wanted to worship this newborn king. By mentioning this, Matthew wants both his Jewish readers and all of us Gentiles who read his Gospel to know that Jesus was born to be the Savior of all people. Jesus was born in order to give His life on the cross as the sacrificial payment for the sins of the whole world. For that, Jesus deserves to be worshiped by all people, both Jews and Gentiles alike.
In this season of the Church Year that we call “Epiphany”, we are standing just where the Wise Men stood when they came to worship Jesus. Whether in this time of Covid-19 we are worshipping in church, in the parking lot or in our homes as the Divine Service is streamed to us electronically, we are standing before Jesus, the One who was born to be the King of the Jews. We come to Jesus for the very same reason the Wise Men came to Jesus on that first Epiphany. We come to worship Him. We come to worship Jesus and to offer to Him gifts — our service, our prayers, our praises, our gifts, indeed, our very lives.
The prayers we offer, the hymns of praise we sing, even the monetary gifts we offer might not seem like much when compared with the gold, frankincense and myrrh the Wise Man offered to Jesus. But in God’s eyes, they are just as precious, for they come from hearts cleansed of sin by the blood of Christ. And so, like the Magi, in this Season of Epiphany and all through this new year, let us worship Him as our Messiah and Savior. Amen.
Rev. Paul D. Doellinger January 6, 2021