A Sermon for Epiphany preached at Knox Crescent Kensington and First Presbyterian Church, Montreal on Epiphany, 2008
11 Dec 2008
Starstruck
“When they saw the star,
they were beside themselves with joy and excitement.”
- Matthew 2:10
The night sky
is so often hidden to we city dwellers.
but I am sure all of you
have stared up at the stars
on a clear dark night,
and been star struck, amazed, in wonder
at the beauty of the night sky.
some of you can pick out and name constellations.
Have you ever noticed something unusual
in the sky?
Perhaps a comet,
an unusually bright star
that can be identified as a planet,
probably Venus or Mars.
Scholars have laboured
to discover what Matthew’s star might have been.
Any number of things have been proposed,
but most likely
it was the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn
which occurred 3 times
in 7 BC.
Since Jupiter was the “royal” or kingly planet,
and Saturn was sometimes thought
to represent the Jews,
the conclusion was obvious:
a new king of the Jews
was about to be born.
Perhaps that is why
the wise and learned men
came from the East.
We cannot be certain.
Even if this was not their reasoning,
Nothing is more likely
2.
than that thoughtful astronomers or astrologers
(the two went together in the ancient world),
noticing strange events in the heavens,
would search out their earthly counterparts,
to share and ponder the news.
If, as it appears, they were also wealthy,
they would have no major difficulty
in making the journey.
Matthew is not telling us all this
simply to satisfy astronomical curiosity.
Nor is he offering us
the kind of cosy, picture-book story
we have created for ourselves
out of it,
with strange, but gentle oriental kings (as in “We Three Kings of Orient Are”)
bringing gifts
to a child in a stable.
(Matthew says nothing about a stable;
as far as we know from his Gospel,
Mary and Joseph were simply living in Bethlehem
at the time,
only moving to Nazareth
after returning from Egypt.
Nor does he say the visitors
were royal,
and there is no mention of the number three).
The overtones of this story
are quite different.
What he tells us is political dynamite.
Jesus, Matthew is saying,
is the true king of Israel,
and old Herod is the false one,
a usurper, an imposter.
He was also not a very nice man,
3.
having not only murdered most of his close friends,
but also his beloved wife,
and three of his own sons.
He felt no inner personal security and was threatened by everybody.
It was said of Herod in his own day,
that is was better to be Herod’s sow
than his son.
The pig in the royal barnyard
stood a better chance of survival.
The star of Matthew’s Gospel
struck Herod not with wonder and curiosity,
but with apprehension,
with fear, not joy.
As we shall see,
this Herod died soon after Jesus’ birth;
but his remaining sons ruled on,
and one of them, Herod Antipas,
plays a significant role
in the developing story of Jesus himself.
The house of Herod
did not take kindly to the idea of anyone else
claiming to be “the king of the Jews.”
The arrival of the magi
(that’s the word Matthew uses for them;
it can refer to “magicians” or “astrologers,”
or “experts in interpreting dreams,
portents and other strange happenings”)
introduces us
to something which Matthew
wants us to be clear about
from the beginning.
At the heart of many prophesies about the coming king,
the Messiah,
there were predictions that this rule
would bring God’s justice and peace to the whole world
(Psalm 72 and Isaiah 11:1-10, for example).
4.
Matthew will end his Gospel
with Jesus commissioning his followers
to go out
and make disciples from every nation;
this, it seems,
is the way
that the prophesies if the Messiah’s worldwide rule
are going to come true.
Although Jesus did not deliberately seek out Gentiles
during his ministry,
there are hints of this worldwide dimension
in the Gospel.
At. Matthew 8:11 Jesus states,
“Many people will come from East and West
and join Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
at the great feast
to celebrate the kingdom of Heaven.”
But even here in our story this morning
there is a hint of things to come
in the gifts the Magi bring
to the newly born child.
The gold, frankincense and myrrh
were the sort of things that people in the ancient world
thought of as appropriate gifts
for kings, or even gods.
There is another way
in which this story points ahead
to the end of the Gospel.
Jesus will finally come face to face
with the representative of the world’s greatest king
– Pilate, Caesar’s subordinate.
Pilate will have rather different gifts to give him,
though, he too is warned in a dream
not to do anything to him.
His soldiers are the first Gentiles
since the Magi
5.
to call Jesus “the King of the Jews,”
but the crown they made him was of thorns and his throne is a cross.
At the moment of his death,
there is no star,
but an unearthly darkness,
out of which we shall hear an a single Gentile voice say:
“Yes, truly,
this was God’s Son.”
Our story this morning
is the beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew,
and in so many ways,
it also represents the end.
This is the year of Matthew.
As we encounter this gospel this year
and listen to what Matthew is saying,
let us think about what it means
for Jesus to be the true king of Israel.
And then come to him,
as the Magi did,
as Matthew 2: 10 literally reads:
“rejoicing with a really, really, big joy.”
Come to him,
by whatever route you can,
and with the best gifts you can find.
That is the evangel for today.
Rejoice and be glad.
Rod Ferguson
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