Matthew 2:1-12 (NIV)
The Magi Visit the Messiah
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Magi Visit the Messiah
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Last week we gathered as witnesses to the birth of Jesus. A tiny babe in a world dominated by Romans and for the Jewish population, the Sanhedrin and Sadducees – those priests and aristocrats of Jerusalem. These were the people who told the Jewish people who they were, what they could and should do, and taxed them for the privilege. Herod, the Roman King in the area, appointed by the Roman Emperor, heard the Magi were asking “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Herod requests that they come back and tell him where they have found the child so that he can go and also pay homage – which is of course, a lie. They have a dream in which they are cautioned not to return to Herod and go home by another route; which they do. Herod, however, is so afraid of the possibility that a new king could possibly upset his apple cart, and hearing nothing from the Magi, he orders that all male children under two years old in and around Bethlehem be killed. Joseph, Mary and Jesus by this time have all escaped to Egypt after Joseph also has a dream, in which he is told to leave and not return home to Nazareth.
But this tiny baby, Jesus, is also born into a world of shepherds, tax collectors, gardeners, farmers, Pharisees, carpenters, rabbis, mother and fathers, people like you and me – making their lives in a world they couldn’t control.
It feels like that, doesn’t it: like we used to be able to plan, we used to have some control, some idea of what the world was like, what the future might be like and now – now it’s like stardust – a glimpse and then it’s changed.
Now, it feels like we will never know what the future holds, we will be buffeted around by all manner of realities and fears. COVID just acerbated whatever fears we do have; whatever fears have hold of us. As we stand at this gateway to the New Year, we have choices to make.
But how do we make those choices? Soren Kierkegaard wrote: “Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards.” So what is our intention as we go forwards? What is our dream?, what is our hope?
I want to I have big hopes: hopes for the world. It would look something like this: a major international pharmaceutical company just says OK, here’s the formula for the COVID vaccine, it’s patent free, the whole world is free to manufacture and use it – because that is what the world needs now, no more manoeuvering, no more negotiating, no more hoarding, - just make it and use it; because the alternative is killing people today, the alternative is letting people die – today! And, yes, there is a historical precedent for a patent free vaccine – Salk’s polio vaccine.
I have big hopes for reconciliation of nations where all people are proud of who they are, the languages they speak and are learning to speak, and the cultures they cherish.
Big hopes that the human in humankind brings us all together, that love and compassion extends to embrace all our neighbours.
I have big hopes that this year families will be able to hug one another and sit and have all the conversations that they have missed out on in the past couple of years.
I have hopes and I know you do, today, as we stand at the gate of the New Year, our wishes, hopes and desires say that anything is possible.
Except – I don’t feel optimistic, I feel complacent, I feel powerless, I feel like this world is out of control and here I am – here you are – we don’t know what is going to happen or what is going to happen next! But standing at the gate we have a choice. Are we entering this New Year alone or is this the year we reach out and admit we can’t keep doing this alone? Is this the year we reach out and put our hand into the hand of God, just let go and put our trust in God?
Trust in God! It kind of sounds like someone is trying to put something over on us, something from an age gone by, something the superstitious ancients did – we trust in data, we trust in a properly financed pension plan, trust is just not so easy to do and yet- didn’t Jesus have the same problem, didn’t Paul have the same problem, didn’t the disciples have the same problem?
After all, here was Jesus proclaiming to be the light of the world in John 8:12 “ When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Here was Jesus proclaiming to be the light of the world, to the Pharisees who said “wait, the Kingdom of God will come when we are righteous enough: when the tax collectors fail, and the lepers are cleared out of our streets, and the prostitutes go somewhere else, - then God will end the Romans rule over us and we will be saved.”
Proclaiming to the Sanhedrin and Sadducees who said “look the Romans are really powerful so we should co operate with them and do the best we can within their rules, the Kingdom of God will come when our sacrifices and rituals at the Temple are pleasing to God”
Proclaiming to the Zealots who said “ when the Messiah comes and we take up arms and rout these Romans out of our Land, then we will have the Kingdom of God”
Here is Jesus who says “I am the Light of the world and the Kingdom of God is at hand right now!”
The same Jesus who stood in the local synagogue in Nazareth reading the scripture from Isaiah 61:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke4:18-19
And Jesus trusted in God that that was exactly what he could do and would do but all the others listening that day just shook their heads and muttered about the son of Mary and Joseph.
As Jesus’ followers how can we do anything less than trust God to take us safely from one day to another; from today to tomorrow to the next day.
Maybe we don’t have New Year’s resolutions or maybe we do.
Maybe we don’t have big hopes or maybe we do.
Maybe all we want is one hug, one smile, one kind word.
As we stand at the gate there is one thing we are assured,
in everything we do, in everything we go through, we can trust that we are not alone. God is with us.
May it be so Amen
Herod requests that they come back and tell him where they have found the child so that he can go and also pay homage – which is of course, a lie. They have a dream in which they are cautioned not to return to Herod and go home by another route; which they do. Herod, however, is so afraid of the possibility that a new king could possibly upset his apple cart, and hearing nothing from the Magi, he orders that all male children under two years old in and around Bethlehem be killed. Joseph, Mary and Jesus by this time have all escaped to Egypt after Joseph also has a dream, in which he is told to leave and not return home to Nazareth.
But this tiny baby, Jesus, is also born into a world of shepherds, tax collectors, gardeners, farmers, Pharisees, carpenters, rabbis, mother and fathers, people like you and me – making their lives in a world they couldn’t control.
It feels like that, doesn’t it: like we used to be able to plan, we used to have some control, some idea of what the world was like, what the future might be like and now – now it’s like stardust – a glimpse and then it’s changed.
Now, it feels like we will never know what the future holds, we will be buffeted around by all manner of realities and fears. COVID just acerbated whatever fears we do have; whatever fears have hold of us. As we stand at this gateway to the New Year, we have choices to make.
But how do we make those choices? Soren Kierkegaard wrote: “Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards.” So what is our intention as we go forwards? What is our dream?, what is our hope?
I want to I have big hopes: hopes for the world. It would look something like this: a major international pharmaceutical company just says OK, here’s the formula for the COVID vaccine, it’s patent free, the whole world is free to manufacture and use it – because that is what the world needs now, no more manoeuvering, no more negotiating, no more hoarding, - just make it and use it; because the alternative is killing people today, the alternative is letting people die – today! And, yes, there is a historical precedent for a patent free vaccine – Salk’s polio vaccine.
I have big hopes for reconciliation of nations where all people are proud of who they are, the languages they speak and are learning to speak, and the cultures they cherish.
Big hopes that the human in humankind brings us all together, that love and compassion extends to embrace all our neighbours.
I have big hopes that this year families will be able to hug one another and sit and have all the conversations that they have missed out on in the past couple of years.
I have hopes and I know you do, today, as we stand at the gate of the New Year, our wishes, hopes and desires say that anything is possible.
Except – I don’t feel optimistic, I feel complacent, I feel powerless, I feel like this world is out of control and here I am – here you are – we don’t know what is going to happen or what is going to happen next! But standing at the gate we have a choice. Are we entering this New Year alone or is this the year we reach out and admit we can’t keep doing this alone? Is this the year we reach out and put our hand into the hand of God, just let go and put our trust in God?
Trust in God! It kind of sounds like someone is trying to put something over on us, something from an age gone by, something the superstitious ancients did – we trust in data, we trust in a properly financed pension plan, trust is just not so easy to do and yet- didn’t Jesus have the same problem, didn’t Paul have the same problem, didn’t the disciples have the same problem?
After all, here was Jesus proclaiming to be the light of the world in John 8:12 “ When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Here was Jesus proclaiming to be the light of the world, to the Pharisees who said “wait, the Kingdom of God will come when we are righteous enough: when the tax collectors fail, and the lepers are cleared out of our streets, and the prostitutes go somewhere else, - then God will end the Romans rule over us and we will be saved.”
Proclaiming to the Sanhedrin and Sadducees who said “look the Romans are really powerful so we should co operate with them and do the best we can within their rules, the Kingdom of God will come when our sacrifices and rituals at the Temple are pleasing to God”
Proclaiming to the Zealots who said “ when the Messiah comes and we take up arms and rout these Romans out of our Land, then we will have the Kingdom of God”
Here is Jesus who says “I am the Light of the world and the Kingdom of God is at hand right now!”
The same Jesus who stood in the local synagogue in Nazareth reading the scripture from Isaiah 61:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke4:18-19
And Jesus trusted in God that that was exactly what he could do and would do but all the others listening that day just shook their heads and muttered about the son of Mary and Joseph.
As Jesus’ followers how can we do anything less than trust God to take us safely from one day to another; from today to tomorrow to the next day.
Maybe we don’t have New Year’s resolutions or maybe we do.
Maybe we don’t have big hopes or maybe we do.
Maybe all we want is one hug, one smile, one kind word.
As we stand at the gate there is one thing we are assured,
in everything we do, in everything we go through, we can trust that we are not alone. God is with us.
May it be so Amen
