“Confidences at the Court”

Ephiphany

Matthew 2:11-17

January 3, 2010

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Amen

Our biblical IQ is very high when it comes to the story of Jesus birth. Year after year Sunday school teachers and ministers fuse Gospel accounts into one cohesive story for pageants and celebrations of hymns and carols. It is wonderful. But today we let Matthew’s gospel stand alone and need to wonder about the unique way he tells the story and what it might mean for us as we make the Christmas story our own in 2010.

A quick sketch of the gospel accounts might be useful to frame our thinking. The Gospel of Mark is silent when it comes to the lineage and birth of Jesus – it begins with John the Baptist. The Gospel of John tells the story in elevated terms using light and darkness to craft unforgettable imagery and phrasing such as, “The Word made flesh and dwelt among us.”

Matthew and Luke give us details about Jesus birth but the accounts are actually quite different. Luke emphasizes Mary; Matthew Joseph, Luke tells us about angels in the sky and shepherds looking for a child in a manger who shall be king; Matthew describes a star in the sky and foreigners from the east seeking a child who is King. Luke describes the family trip from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to the temple courts to present Jesus to Simeon in the temple and the witness of an ancient prophetess named Anna.

In Matthew, it is courtiers who come to Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea 5 miles from Jerusalem to present him with gifts and pay homage to the “King of the Jews” based not on prophecy but astrology. And they come at the direction of another King with ill intent who bears witness not to prophecy fulfilled but ominous signs that there can be only one king at a time.

Today we celebrate Epiphany – a Greek words that means to manifest make visible and while both Luke and Matthew describe epiphanies – moments when Jesus was recognized as King our charge today is to think about King Herod as well as Jesus, foreigners from the East, Gentiles, as well as devout Jews, astrology and seers as well as scriptures and prophets.

Matthew the most Jewish of the four Gospels, laden with references to the law, embroidered with quotes from the Hebrew Scripture and grounded in the theme of prophecy fulfilled begins the story with King Herod, Gentiles and astrology. Why?

Because at the time he composed this Gospel Matthew was writing for a Jewish and a Gentile audience that had come to understand that Jesus came into the world, every part of the world, and his manifestation to the world is not limited by the parameters of our traditions.

We just sang of “We Three Kings” but in Matthew we meet not three kings but two: Herod the Great and Jesus. King Herod was appointed governor in 40 as a reward for bringing order to Palestine. In the reign of Augustus the Roman Senate appointed him King of the Jews in 37 and he ruled until 4BC.

A brilliant strategist he routinely played Roman leaders off against Jewish aristocracy to gain absolute power. Ruthless, sly and filled with suspicion he was without scruples. The builder of the temple in Jerusalem is the same man that killed his own wife, mother-in-law, eldest son and two other sons all suspected of disloyalty of some kind. And he is King. And word arrives of a new child King of the Jews – word that had already spread to countries in the east.

While the men that reveal Jesus’ true identity to Herod and to us are not kings they are nonetheless very powerful and influential men. Kings welcome them in court: even take them into their confidence. We call them magi, a transliteration of the Greek word that means wise men or astrologer or magician. In our story they seem to be an amalgam of three distinct cultures in the “east.”

Magi were the priestly class in Persia esteemed for their ability to interpret natural phenomena and dreams to predict the future. Because of the emphasis on the star in the story the wise men could have been astrologers from Babylonia where astrologists were highly favored for their ability to predict the future.

The gifts speak to the desert in Arabia where resins were made into frankincense and myrrh. The gold centers us in certitude that the magi were emissaries from another kingdom come to pay homage to a new king. Naturally their first stop was Jerusalem and the court of King Herod.

Kings Herod welcomed the magi because knowing what is to come is crucial to preserving one’s power. The magi go where King Herod sends them but then the most critical part of the story: “having been warned in a dream not to return they left for their own country by another road.”

One scholar asks, “How do we merge the biblical horizon of this story with our world?” Sometimes I think we close the bible with the feeling: all is fulfilled it is all accomplished so it is just a sentimental story of comfort. But when Matthew wrote about “fulfillment of the scriptures” his audience knew that he was talking about fulfillment in the sense that Jesus, God’s son, came into the world and that is not the end but the beginning of a whole new life. Now we have an easier way to predict our future: in Christ we know our future and we see it in Christ.

That is what made the wise men listen to the warning and we are warned this morning to listen with a heart that knows the future is God’s plan for us not our own, Gods kingdom not our own.

So I invite you to imagine a spiritual vision that includes all the details of your life. We all hold court – each of us has a sphere of influence whether we admit to it or not. We have centers of influence in our homes, our work, our church, at the club.

Consider the places you hold court and the people you take into your confidence – how do they speak to you of Jesus or help you see where God is calling you? King Herod was a murderer and he terrorized a nation yet Jesus prevailed – a child outwitted the man who would be King. He still does.

We are not meant to be king or even magi but disciples and that is how Matthew concludes his gospel, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the truth that I came that you might have life and love one another..

May we listen for the word of God this week to see if he might be prompting us to go in a new direction so that we truly serve in the court of our Lord not our own. Amen.

The Rev. Elizabeth Kuehl

Temple Terrace Presbyterian Church