Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12; Matthew 2:13-15; Matthew10:21-23
Today is the Christian celebration of Epiphany, the
day that the Magi arrived to worship the newborn Christ Child. But an even greater significance is that the
Son of God had now been revealed to the world, and is no longer limited to the
people of Israel. Of course, it was
never the Lord’s intent to keep Jesus a secret from others and held solely for
Israel’s benefit. But the people never
saw Messiah as a gift to the world, and they never even saw Jesus in the true
light of His existence! As a matter of
fact, they believed that Messiah would be God’s gift to them alone, and to no
one else.
But as we know, the Lord’s Gifts are offered to all
who will believe. God has never intended
that anyone should be deprived of His grace if they will accept and follow the
ways that He has laid down for all of the people of this world. The
point is, though, that we have to make a choice between the way of Jesus Christ
and the ways that the world would have us follow.
The world will never allow this to be an easy
choice! There will constantly be false
teachings about Jesus, as well as worldly attitudes that are intended to lure
the Lord’s people away from God’s truth.
Scripture is full of warnings regarding the world’s deceitfulness, for their
ways may all sound perfectly in tune with God’s desires and commands, even
though they are anything but! But
the faithful must constantly be on the alert for the slightest deviation in the
word that God has set down for us, and must reject those lies outright.
Read Matthew2:1-12
The word Magi does not imply
royalty, as the hymn “We Three Kings” might lead us to believe. They were more in line as educated
astrologers who watched the movement of the moon and the stars for signs of
events that called for human attention. When
they refer to the star that led them to Jerusalem as “rising”, it was one that
they had never seen before, and therefore they saw it as something of special
significance, which it truly was! When
it led them to Judea, they saw it as a sign of major proportions, such as the
birth of the next king of a nation might represent.
These “wise men” obviously
knew nothing of scriptural context, as they began asking where this king might
have been born. Interestingly, Herod
doesn’t seem to know anything about scriptural prophesy either, and has to rely
on the knowledge of his advisors.
If we really think about this,
and reflect on its meaning for our own lives, we will discover that unless we
are familiar enough to understand scripture’s call on our lives, we will begin openly
depending on what others tell us instead of what we should already know! This is how false teaching can so easily become
ingrained in our lives! We just might
accept anything that even remotely sounds reasonable, instead of knowing
the truth before others try to lead us astray with their lies! Unless the truth already resides in our own
heart and mind, we will always be susceptible to the world’s work of destroying
our true faith.
And as Herod sends those Eastern
visitors on their way, he has no intention of worshiping and rejoicing over
this birth, for his only thought is to end the apparent challenge that this
unknown child could bring to his reign as king of Israel! But the entire reason for the magi’s long
trip and obedient search for the child was to honor, worship, and bless him
with their presence and royal gifts. And
the Lord isn’t ever going to let the world win on this one.
God was not about to let Herod’s
hatred of this Godly Gift endanger the plan that was beginning to unfold for
the salvation of the world. The Magi,
again in faithful wisdom, followed the Lord’s command to return home without giving
Herod any more information about the whereabouts of this God ordained king.
Even the gifts that they
presented to the Christ Child defined His divine Being. Gold was a gift fit for royalty; frankincense
was an essence that was used in the Temple; and myrrh was an ointment that was
used in the preparation of bodies for burial.
Royalty, Divinity, and Death – this was to be Jesus’ reality in coming
to care for our lives.
Read Matthew 2:13-15
As this story continues with both
obedience and evil intentions being so apparent, God also sends a message to
Joseph that would take him and his family out of harm’s way and away from
Herod. The king’s plan for death would
not come to rest on Jesus for many years to come, and yet, as we know from the
rest of this story, many other children would be ordered killed by Herod, in
his crazed drive to remove the child Jesus as a threat to his throne. (Matthew2:16-18)
The family lived in Egypt for
3-4 years before God, again, informed them that it was safe to return
home. But instead of establishing a new
home in the area of Jerusalem, Joseph takes them all to the Galilee region, to
live and grow in relative safety in the small town of Nazareth.
But the beginning of Christ’s
life was a historical portent of what the church was about to endure at the
hands of the world’s evil. Christian
believers, as well as Jewish people, would be severely persecuted throughout
the years since the birth of Messiah, and will continue until the day that
Jesus returns to this place of hatred and disbelief to set all things right
once again. And yet, the way of Jesus and
all that He taught will continue to be proclaimed and followed in spite of the
world’s harassment, discrimination, and torment that will never abate until
that day of Jesus, just as He told us that it would.
Read Matthew 10:21-23
Hatred, and the world’s false teaching that
reinforces it, has reached the very depth that Jesus warned us about. Families are divided in faith, friends have
turned against us, and even one of our nations most precious founding
principles, the freedom for speech, has been eroded to the point that there
have been times when speaking about faith in Jesus has even been labeled as “hate
speech”!
But Jesus also tells us that persecution itself will
never damage our faith, as long as we stand firm in His way. We need to remember that He also tells us
that when our words and example of Christian witness is no longer being
received by others, that it is perfectly acceptable to move on to a new
venue. In Luke 9:5, the
Lord also tells us “ 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and
shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Take nothing of them with you, not even their
dirt.
In other words, we don’t have to remain in unwelcoming
or abusive surroundings if our Christian witness is no longer bearing spiritual
fruit for Christ! But never think that this
gives us a valid excuse for avoiding those places in the first place. Those are the perfect places to be a witness
for Christ, for these are the very people who need to hear the truth of God. But if they choose not to listen, and take a belligerent
attitude toward us, Jesus tells us to move on to another opportunity and begin to
share His way with a new eyes, ears, and hearts.
This is what the story of Epiphany is all
about. We are to go wherever the Lord
leads us, but when the opposition becomes oppressive, move on to the next
opportunity, and share your experience with the Lord in a new place, and with another
set of potential converts.
And through it all, may our Lord Jesus Christ be
praised and glorified wherever we may find ourselves, just as those wise men from
the east did over 2000 years ago.
