January 6, 2008
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church Pr. Per Inge
Vik This is a marvelous Bible story about the wise men coming from the East, led by the star. About how they found the child, fell on their knees and paid him homage. They opened their treasure chests and gave their gifts. What can we pick from this beautiful story? Here we find rich treasures for our faith! Here is both gold, frankincense and myrrh. The first thing I want to focus on today, is the end. That they took another way back to their homeland. It is like reading the story backwards. I do not think Matthew tells this only to convey all the facts he knew about. Only to make clear that the wise men took a detour and steered away from Herod. No, this little detail at the end of the text has a deeper meaning: They had found their way. They had followed the star to the place where the child was. They had entered the house. They had found the one that they adored. After that it was impossible to return the same way as they had come. Their lives had been changed. They had gone from superstition to faith in Jesus. From astrology to theology. The wise men had gone from the wisdom that they brought from the East to God's foolishness that is wiser than human wisdom, to put it in the same way as Paul does in 1 Cor. 1:25. The wise men were given a new life direction. They were to go home and live where they belonged. But they wandered on another way. The direction of life was different, the direction marks were new. The goals were changed. So it is with everyone who finds Jesus and adores him as King and Savior! The wisemen, the astrologists from the East have in the Christian tradition become three kings. Even if Matthew does not mention kings, nor the number. Only the three different kinds of gifts. The story about the wisemen has probably been combined with the prophecy that we heard in the first reading. In Isaiah 60 we read about the kings from Midian and Ephah and Sheba that were to bring their gifts and worship the God of Israel. That Matthew is the only one of the gospel writers to give us this pearl of a story, is interesting, and even sensational. Since Matthew is the most Jewish of all the 4 gospel writers, meaning that he all the time points out how Jesus is the fulfillment of the old prophecies. As the wisemen from the East were not Jews. They were astrologists that had noticed a specific phenomenon in the starry sky. The general opinion is that the star of Bethlehem was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, so that seen from the earth, they were so close to each other that they looked like one, bright star. According to the astrologists, Jupiter was the King’s planet, while Saturn was the planet of the Jews. By this conjunction the astrologists believed that a Jewish king must have been born. We know that such a conjunction of the two planets appeared in the Pisces constellation. Yes, this happened 3 times in one year, at the time of Jesus’ birth. So this can be explained out of actual knowledge that we have. The point for Matthew is that the newborn king of the Jews is not only the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. Also people from remote corners of the earth, from different religious background feel drawn towards him. They come and they find him. They pay him homage and he is also their savior! In the tradition the wisemen were given names. Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar became representatives for the whole world known at that time: Asia, Africa and Europe. They were descendants of Noah’s 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, who after the flood became ancestors for all mankind. One of the 3 was a Shemite from Asia, another a Hamite from Africa and the 3rd a Japhethite from Europe. Furthermore, in church art they have been depicted as representatives of different ages. The one, a youth, the next an old fellow and the third a “man in his best age” as they say. In this way the text for Epiphany of our Lord at an early stage became connected with a world mission perspective. This is still an important thing. Namely that Jesus is the Savior for all of mankind. Everybody can claim to hear the gospel about him, so they can come and kneel and pay him homage. We too can come with our gifts and pay him homage. Gold, frankincense and myrrh! Is there anything specific hidden in these three gifts? Yes, they share in revealing to us who Jesus is! This is an important issue on Epiphany Sunday. The gifts reveal the identity of the receiver. The gold Jesus got because he was a king. The ruler of the kingdom with no borders, the kingdom of God. Frankincense, that is something being used in paying homage and in worship. The baby Jesus got that gift because he was God. The third gift that the wise from the East brought for him, was myrrh. That is an ointment used in some cultures to prepare dead bodies. This points at Jesus as a human. That he became one of us. One that was going to die. So gold, frankincense and myrrh remind us that Jesus is our King, our God and brother. Can the wisemen be good models for us? Can they teach us anything about worship? Yes, they squandered both time and money. They made a long trip that had no other goal than to kneel down and pay homage to Jesus. Open their precious treasure chests for him. So think about this, what do you spend time and money on? A lot of time, and a lot of money? We have started a new year. Where does the way into the future go? The wisemen took another direction. Their lives were changed. They got a new perspective. So they could go home. That’s where people are to live their lives with Jesus! In meeting the one who is our King, our God and our Brother, some things in our lives need to be corrected. That we need to go new ways, prioritize other things. We are invited to come and kneel for him at the altar in a few minutes. And we can return as renewed persons. Let Jesus show you the way back to your daily life. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, who was, is and will always be one true God from eternity to eternity. (Congregation responds: Amen!) |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |