SERM: Matthew 2:1-12, Epiphany of our Lord
Note: As an option, you may choose the Old Testament reading for this sermon to be 1 Kings 10:1-10 Intro About 1,000 years before the birth of Christ, the Queen of Sheba journeys to visit the King of the Jews. She travels from what today is Ethiopia. The Queen arrives with camels and many servants bearing gifts of gold, spices, and jewels. She is curious and wants to confirm what others tell her about the King of the Jews and his glory. Main Body So, the Queen decides to meet this king. She doesn’t need to ask, “Where is the King of the Jews?” She needs only to enter king’s city, Jerusalem, to gaze on Jerusalem’s glory and splendor. In finding the glory of Jerusalem, the Queen will locate the king. So, she travels to Israel and finds him, Solomon, the King. What her eyes take in astounds her. A king in all his finery stands before her. So, she challenges him with hard questions and problems, testing if what the legends announce about him and his wisdom are true. They are. She revels in the gold-lined Temple, which Solomon built. Her mouth waters from the food on his table. The king’s cupbearers and servers wear only the finest clothing, displaying vast wealth. The glory of Israel, verified by sight, leaves her breathless. No wonder she offers Solomon such gifts—several tons of gold, more spices than came to Israel in times of old, and jewels to bedazzle the eyes. The queen and her staff go back to Sheba, filled with joy and gladness, for they celebrated with their own eyes in the glory of Israel. In King Herod’s day, Magi from the east make a similar journey. They also do the obvious: travel to Jerusalem. Still, they do not find the king they seek, so events force these men to ask for directions. “Where is the One born King of the Jews?” A King now lives in Jerusalem, named Herod. He claims to be the King of the Jews. The Roman Emperor appointed him, but he lacks proper Jewish ancestry. Is an appointed, non-Jew the man born King of the Jews? No. Without Solomon's wisdom, Herod cannot direct others where to find this Messiah. The Temple scribes must do what Herod cannot. These gift-laden visitors from the east now find their task all the harder. For someone can only find the real King of the Jews if he believes the spoken Word; these men need faith. The Wise Men come to worship—but as in all matters of faith, without God, they will only meet failure, not find success. Proper devotion to God is never easy. So, why is worship a subject near to the heart of so many? Here’s why. From time’s beginning, God created us as beings to revere and receive from Him, glorifying Him by what we think, speak, and do. Consider Adam. God made him to rule, to manage everything in the Garden, to be king. One day, God comes to visit him, but Adam chooses the darkness and hides from God. Though created to be king, he turns away from his Maker and becomes a slave—a slave to the devil, a slave to the dust, a slave to death. Adam now lives in a darkness of his making, but God, his Creator, beams His rays of mercy on this failure of a king. The Lord shines light into his darkness. He comes to Adam and draws him away from the gloom with the light of His Word. The Lord promises a triumphant king to come, who will atone for Adam’s failures. God gives Adam a gift, a gift greater than gold. He gives him faith, a trust in the promise of the King to come. Such is our God. We fall into sin, and our worship goes awry. We still glorify something but focus our hearts where they should not be. Our preferences become our God. We choose what we want to worship and how; so, are we so different from Adam and Eve? All people are worshippers; everyone glorifies and trusts in something. God wired us to be so since our first breath. The Apostle Paul describes humanity’s fall into sin. We refused to give God the glory (Romans 1:21). We decided to make God less important than our wants and wishes. So, the generous, self-giving heart of God becomes a stranger to us. Unlike Him, we harbor well-hidden agendas with our generosity. Our fists clench tight, refusing to let go of our money. We are not the cheerful givers described in Scripture. How can this be? We worry more about trivial matters than how the Gospel is faring in our town. Do you not find such priorities to be unbalanced? Our actions reveal the false gods living in our hearts! We consider our stuff more important than God. Sinful ways and death-filled corruption are what we bring. Like Adam, our worship leads to enslavement and ruin. The same sin afflicted the Wise Men. To worship as God demanded, they needed help, divine help. So do we—and God does not fall short, delivering to us, as well. The Queen of Sheba found the King with her eyes. Now, if the Magi sought the king as she did, the real King of the Jews would still elude them, as would their salva
SERM: Matthew 2:1-12, Epiphany, LSB B
The Feast of the Epiphany Preserving the Kingdom Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen. In the Gospel for the Feast of the Epiphany, “When Herod the king heard [of the new King’s birth], he was troubled.” Dear Christian friends: God’s Old Testament depicts King David as a forerunner of Christ Jesus our Lord. God presents David as the shape, the shadow, and the basic outline of the sort of king we should expect our Messiah to be (Ezekiel 34:23-24). In David, we see our first picture of Christ the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23, John 10:11-18), the courageous, sacrificial King who places his own life between the flock of sheep and the attacking lion or bear (1 Samuel 17:34-37). David is an imperfect picture of Christ our perfect King. Only Christ is sinless (Hebrews 4:15); David displayed his many sins: • You remember that terrible chain of events involving Bathsheba and her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11). • Less famous is David’s greater sin of doubting God and ignoring the divine command that David should NOT count the fighting men of Israel (1 Chronicles 21). • More to the point for this evening, David also orchestrated the death of his own son. Absalom had risen in rebellion against his father David, threatening the kingdom and the throne. David convinced himself that only death of his son would solve the problem, so he sent the most notorious killers in his kingdom out on a deadly mission. When he said to the assassins, “Be gentle with Absalom” (2 Samuel 18:5), he essentially meant, “Make sure the boy dies quickly.” When David wept at Absalom’s death, he was warned not to be a hypocrite (2 Samuel 19:1-7). Why did Absalom die? Because David felt like he needed to preserve everything he had worked to build in his life. Why did Absalom die? Because not even Christians are able, by their own reason or strength, to trust the promises of God. Why did Absalom die? Because insecure people lash out and achieve their sensations of security by destroying others. Why did Absalom die? Herod knew exactly why: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. The kingdom is threatened. The kingdom must be preserved. Someone’s child must die: And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the wise men departed to their own country by another way. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men (Matthew 2:12, 16). When David walked before the Lord “in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart” (1 Kings 3:6), he showed himself to be the Lord’s king par excellence; a living prophecy of Christ, the King whom God had promised of old. When David set aside God’s promises—when David chose the insecurity of his own fears over the security that comes through faith in God’s promises—David became the polar opposite of the Promised King. David became Herod, as it were, and men lost their lives on his account. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. By placing Herod the king before us in tonight’s Gospel, God the Father is providing us with a contrast so that we may see the Christ, His chosen and promised King, with greater clarity. In Christ there is no insecurity. In Christ there is no fear. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:32b-33). Christ Jesus our King establishes His kingdom, not with the blood of others, but with His own blood, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins” (Matthew 26:28). King Jesus preserves His kingdom, not with a sword in His hand, but “the mark of the nails in His hand” (John 20:25). In Christ you have a King who requires nothing from you for the sake of His security. In Christ you have a King who gives everything to you for the sake of your security, both now and forevermore. “And going into the house they saw the Child.” Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and
SERM: Matthew 2:1-12, Epiphany
A very breif sermon for an evening service filled with readings and hymns. Holy Epiphany (Observed) Take a Bow Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In tonight’s Gospel, the wise men “saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him.” Dear Christian friends, Bowing is a sign of servitude. Bowing is how someone of a low position would act in the presence of someone in a high position. We Christians often bow when approaching the Holy Communion. We do not bow because we must. We bow on account of the respect and honor we hold for our God’s presence in our midst. I also bow to you in our worship. I do not bow as a theater performer, seeking applause or praise. I bow to you in my office of the lower position, as your shepherd (1 Peter 5:2) and steward (1 Corinthians 4:1) and slave (2 Timothy 2:24). “Going into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him.” The wise men did not bow sweepingly, as if they were actors feigning humility on stage. The wise men did not straighten to attention and smartly nod their heads in an effort to keep some personal dignity. The wise men dropped onto their palms and their bellies and their knees. They faced the floor in the presence of their King. In so bowing before the Child, the wise men abandoned their dignity, their honor, their intellect, their position, their kingdoms and their thrones. They made claim to nothing. They placed themselves in the presence their Lord as men of low position and servitude. These men have chosen a good Man to bow before. The wise men do for the Child Jesus what the Child Jesus has already done for them. What has Jesus done? Our dear Lord Jesus made Himself a servant in order that we may be elevated to the position of lord. Seated there in the house, Jesus had already abandoned His divine dignity, honor, knowledge, position, kingdom and throne. “They fell down and worshiped Him” but our Lord has already bowed Himself before them—before you and before me. Jesus does not bow because He must. He bows so that He may be God in our midst. ___ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
SERM: Matthew 2:1-12, Epiphany, LSB 1-Yr Lectionary
Intro The Magi went to the most-reasonable place to discover the newborn, Jewish King. After all, where else would He be but in Jerusalem? That’s the capital city! That’s where you would find God’s Temple. That was God’s city. But when they arrive to join the party, all dressed up and on time, no one is celebrating. Excitement has not taken over the city. Those in Jerusalem are going about their daily routines: They are eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage. And so the overwhelmingly ordinary living of everyday life leaves these men perplexed, these men from the east. They ask, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” To the astonished faces around them, they add: “For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship him.” Main Body Word reaches old King Herod that rich visitors from the Eastern lands had arrived in Jerusalem. They were sitting on his doorstep, asking about the birth of the new King of the Jews, the Messiah. That troubled Herod. And not only him, but all Jerusalem with him. For when Herod was troubled, the rest of Jerusalem quaked in fear. But that’s how it is. The birth of Jesus, even He who is the Prince of Peace, often brings about trouble. He’s trouble for those who want to be a king over God. He’s trouble for those who want to have the final say over their lives, over what they do, and how they live. For Jesus comes, not merely as a human, but also as the King. Jesus is the King to whom we owe obedience. Of the Messiah, the Patriarch Jacob prophesied long ago: “To Him, the peoples’ obedience belongs” (Genesis 49:10). For no one may call Him Lord if he does whatever he pleases with his life. On the Last Day, Jesus will ask all such false disciples: “Why did you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but didn’t do what I said?” (Luke 6:46). So the news of Easterners looking for the King of the Jews troubled Herod. But even as despicable and bloodthirsty that Herod was, he still knew where to turn. He called on the chief priests and scribes. He asked them where the Messiah would be born. Scripture gave the answer: In Bethlehem of Judea. Herod turned to the Church and to the Scriptures. Even from such a despicable king, we can learn where we, even today, still find Jesus: in the Church and the Scriptures. The prophet Micah had foretold that Bethlehem would be the place of the Messiah’s birth. Bethlehem was an insignificant, little town whose only claim to fame was that it was the birthplace of King David--and that a thousand years before! Yet, Bethlehem was the place. We should not let it escape us that these Magi needed more than a star to find Jesus. They needed the Word of God. And it’s the same with us. We do not find God for us in the beauty of nature. He’s not in the evening sunsets and mountain peaks. We do not find the Lord Christ in such places. For although these are all His and declare His glory, the place to find the Lord Jesus is in the words that He gave. You find the Word Himself, Jesus, in the Scriptures preached, taught, and read. But how marvelous is the grace of God! For after giving the Magi the Word that pointed them directly to where the Christ was, He again added the star. This time the star did not fail them. It came to stand right over the place where the Child was. And how they needed that little extra sign from God! For when they got there, they found a teenage mother with a baby living in poverty. They saw an ordinary baby boy. Silken garments and the finery of kings did not enrobe this child. Instead, they found a little boy dressed in working-class clothes. There, they saw the long-promised King of the Jews. Did the Magi feel let down or disappointed? After all, the King they had sought for so long, from such distant lands, looked to be as ordinary as any other child. Was this King just the child of a peasant? But look what they do! They don’t say: “He can’t be the One. He’s no King.” What do they do? They close their eyes to what they see and fasten before their eyes the Word of God. They believe, contrary to all that they see. They believe that what God has said is true, even when their eyes and feelings tell them otherwise. There, before them was the Babe whose origins were from of old, from the days of eternity. They believe that He is the promised King come to be King, not only of the Jews, but of all people. He is the King of all who rest their final hope and confidence in Him. And so they fall on their knees--even on their faces--before the holy Child to worship the One on His mother’s lap. They did not stumble at His poverty and lowly appearance. Instead, they brought out their gifts and offered them to Him. They brought Jesus gold. Gold confessed that He was a king. They brought him their treasures of earthly wealth, just as we do, confessing that Jesus is also our King, the One who owns
