The Sermon for Sunday, January 5th, 2025, the Second Sunday after Christmas
The Lessons: Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1:3-14; Matthew 2:1-12
The Text: Matthew 2:1-12
INTRODUCTION
In the spring of 1992, fourth-grade students in Portland, Maine, carried out a novel experiment. Their teacher, Pamela Trieu, was teaching the kids about the ocean, specifically about the Gulf Stream that flows along the East Coast and then turns toward Europe. According to Reuters, she had the kids put messages with their addresses in empty wine bottles, and then a fisherman took the twenty-one bottles away from shore and threw them into the ocean. They hoped that some of the bottles might drift to England.
Three months later, two bottles washed up in Canada. The class heard nothing else and assumed that the rest of the bottles were lost at sea. Two years passed. Then one of the students, Geoff Hight, received a surprise letter from a girl in Pornichet, France. She found one of their bottles while walking with her father on the beach.
Our efforts at evangelism are often like tossing a bottle with a message into the ocean. We share the gospel with others however we can – giving them a piece of literature, a personal testimony, a prayer with someone in need. When we see no response, it is easy for us to think our message has been forgotten, “lost at sea.” But years later we learn that the Spirit of God – like the mighty Gulf Stream – has carried our message to its destination.[1]
God himself has assured us through the prophet Isaiah that His word, or message, will always achieve its intended purpose:
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:9-10, KJV)
MATTHEW 2:1-12: THE VISIT OF THE MAGI TO WORSHIP THE LORD
Here in our Gospel Lesson for today, we read about the journey of the wise men to Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem, where they gave gifts to the infant Jesus Christ as an expression of their worship of the King of the Jews. We do not know how much their lives changed as a result of this journey and their worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. This passage, in which the Magi offer precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Lord Jesus Christ at Bethlehem, became one of the principal passages in the celebration of the Festival of the Epiphany in the western churches. In our 1928 Prayer Book, for example, it is still the Gospel lesson for the Festival of the Epiphany.
The wise men are otherwise described as “Magi” (translating the Greek word used, “magoi”). They belonged to the priestly caste in Persia and Babylonia that devoted themselves to astronomy, astrology and occultic knowledge. From its Old Testament roots, Christianity has had no time for astrology, but the amazing story of wise men of the East, Gentiles and not Jews, astrologers to boot, being shown the impending birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and setting forth on the journey to find him, has captivated Christians down the ages. Christian piety, influenced by texts such as Psalm 72:10-11 and Isaiah 60:3, came to see these Magi as “kings” representing the various nations of the world. Later tradition concluded that there were three kings because Matthew 2:11 lists three gifts that they offered, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
King Herod, who ruled from 37 BC to 4 BC, was an Edomite, who was a client king for the Romans, not the true King of the Jews. The announcement of the birth of the King of Jews, therefore, was a great political threat to King Herod. No wonder that he wanted to know the Biblical prophecy concerning Christ’s birth, as found in Micah 5:2. In secret he wanted to know where our Lord Jesus was born so that he could kill him and be rid of the threat of a rival king. But God, by warning the wise men to return to their country by another way, deprived King Herod of this opportunity.
The purpose of the Magi’s coming was to worship the King of the Jews born in Bethlehem. They achieved their purpose, offering the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were costly gifts to give, but they all have a special significance and symbolism for our Lord and for us as his followers.
Gold symbolizes Christ as King, being a symbol of royalty; frankincense was an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:34) and is symbolical of Christ as High Priest. Myrrh was also an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30::23-33), and it was also offered to Him as an anodyne (painkiller) on the Cross (Mk. 15:23), as well as being one of the spices employed at His burial. We might say then that myrrh represented prophetically our Lord’s death on the Cross. These gifts have relevance to us in that they represent Christ as King, Priest, and Prophet, as One who is to rule forever as King, but laid down his life on the Cross as High Priest to reconcile the world to God, who speaks as Prophet through His life and death, bringing God’s Gospel to all mankind.
Just as the Magi went on a long journey from the east to find and worship the infant Lord Jesus Christ at Bethlehem, so we are taking a journey of faith, a spiritual pilgrimage to the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Psalter Lesson for the day speaks of the blessing of those that dwell in the Lord’s house, and how this leads them to be praising God always (Psalm 84:4). Having come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must seek his presence always, knowing that our eternal home is God’s kingdom. Our journey to God is a journey of seeking, of longing for, the presence of the Lord in its fullness. We look forward to the fulfillment of the Epiphany of the Lord to the nations of the world that we glimpse in the visit of the Magi to worship him. The Magi were overjoyed to arrive before the Lord Jesus Christ and to offer him their costly gifts. We, too, as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are called to offer joyfully to the Lord all that he has given us.
CONCLUSION
Seeing that we are followers of Christ as Lord and King, as Priest and Prophet, we are called to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him, always living to please Him.
Where are you today in our Lord’s service? Are you living a life of obedience to Christ, in worship, praise, and the offering of yourself to Him continually? God calls you to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), and having found him to worship Him with all that you have, giving him the gifts that you have, and using all that He has given you in His service!
[1] p.139, , 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Writers, from Craig Larson and Leadership Journal. Baker Books, 2002, 2nd Printing, 2008.